When It Comes To Your Property Listings There’s No Excuse For Letting Your Standards Slip. How You Do One Thing Is How You Do Everything.
This could apply to your listing copy or your photography. I suppose if you’re having a really bad day it could even apply to your pricing strategy.
Following decades of research, Rightmove advise that the property listing short description (the first few lines that show up in the search results summary), the photos and the pricing are the three critical factors that affect how many clicks your listing gets.
That’s where people click your property summary to read more information, see extra photos etc.
You’re hoping your ideal buyer or tenant will see your property listings.
But it’s worth noting they’re also seen by the nosey neighbours, the curious and the property porn voyeurs who share the British obsession with all things bricks and mortar.
That means your property listings need to be on-point. Always.
PERFECT PROPERTY PHOTOS
I’m often appalled by the “Crimes Against Photography” committed by agents who should know better!
There’s a notable multi-branch agent close to me who have a habit of taking exterior photos from inside the car. With the window up.
If the weather is so bad you can’t get out of the car then should you be taking photos in the first place?
Are you so busy that you don’t even have time to step out of the car?
There’s no excuse for this.
It’s hardly presenting the property in the best light to attract Buyers or Tenants. And will any prospective Landlord or Vendor who sees this listing think ‘They’re the agent for me!’
PREPARATION
It may be my own personal OCD coming to light but I would never publish a shot of a bathroom where the toilet seat was up. Or an outside front shot on bin day. I’ve sent staff members back to properties to correct such small things (Boss Of The Year 2013).
Preparation is vital. It’s also something most of your competitors won’t bother with. So by getting this right you will stand out. Yes, even with Rentals.
Get permission to temporarily remove items so the shot looks as good as possible. Then 100% make sure you put everything back where you found it.
Remove all bathroom shampoos, shower gels, toothpaste, bleach, cleaning products, towels, lotions and potions.
In the kitchen, leave the work surfaces as clean and clear as possible.
Remove everything but the toaster, microwave and kettle. Remove the oven gloves and tea towels from the radiator or the oven door.
Clear away little Archie’s charming artwork stuck to the fridge. Also hide the washing up liquid, scourers or cloths.
Remove everything but an attractive fruit bowl or vase from the kitchen or dining room table.
With living rooms and bedrooms it’s often harder to remove the occupier’s personal effects. But keep things that shouldn’t be there to a minimum. Or hidden.
Ironing boards, piles of laundry, exercise equipment, that sort of thing. And make the bed!
With experience, you’ll get to know what’s going to be visible in the final shot and what isn’t.
This often means you don’t have to remove things completely, you can often get away with scooting them behind a bed or piece of furniture.
One final piece of advice on preparation. From the outset be strict with your Landlords & Vendors about what you expect from them.
Give them a checklist of what they need to do before the photo-shoot. Tidying up, removing items, painting etc. Stick to your guns if they haven’t lived up to their end of the bargain.
Call them the day before to check they’ve done everything. If they haven’t, rearrange the photo-shoot.
If you’re in any doubt, ask them to take a quick couple of photos on their phone and send them over to you. Your time is precious so be firm.
LISTING COPY THAT CONVERTS VIEWS INTO CLICKS
The Short Description is the two or three lines of copy that comes up in the search results summary.
It is incredibly important.
That’s because it will affect the number of clicks that your property receives. And so it directly affects the number of viewings requested.
But more often than not, half the valuable Short Description character count is wasted.
“Blah De Blah Estates are proud to receive instruction and bring to the market this well presented…”
That’s 97 characters wasted.
97 characters that tell me nothing about the property. 97 characters that say nothing about why the property may interest ME.
You might only get 250 characters for the ‘Short Description’ on some UK portals.
I’ve just seen this complete waste of the entire Short Description on Zoopla:
“Well presented and very much a welcomed addition to the market for sale. With high levels of interest anticipated, we would strongly recommend internal inspection to fully appreciate. Offering spacious living accommodation throughout this pleasant…”
The above is a truly shocking example.
Even so it’s rare to see the Short Description copy saying anything that looks anything like a ‘proper’ ad headline. And that’s a real missed opportunity.
Let me explain.
Headlines are super important.
All the expert studies agree on one thing – the headline can make or break an ad. It’s the headline that draws you in and determines whether you stop to read more.
The Short Description copy is the Headline for a property listing.
You can have the most well written property description but that won’t help if your ideal Tenant scrolls right by…
If the lead photo doesn’t immediately capture interest or attention you have one more opportunity to stop the viewer in their tracks before they scroll on. The Short Description.
The property listing Short Description needs to Get Attention.
SUMMARY
You may not have previously thought about it this way – but you property listing says an awful lot about your agency.
They’re seen by hundreds if not thousands of potential buyers and tenants but also vendors and landlords every month.
You need them to reflect the standards of your business.
Because how you do one thing is how you do everything.
With that in mind, take an honest look at your listings.
Are they optimised to get the most attention from your ideal buyers or tenants?
Are they presenting your agency in the very best light?