Estate Agents have time for website maintenance?

Running a business isn’t easy. If it was we’d all be doing it! There’s so much to do both dealing with your clients and the day-to-day tasks that keep everything running smoothly. With so much on the cards, it can be a wonder that there’s enough hours in the day!

With so much being crammed into your schedule, sometimes it can be hard to squeeze keeping on top of your website maintenance. We’ve seen many an agency website go out of date and the reason is always the same, “I don’t have time”. With all that in mind, I can almost picture the look in your eye when I tell you that you should have a live chat feature on your website.

In terms of lead generation a live chat feature is one of your strongest tools. Every person who comes across your website didn’t happen upon in by accident, they have a need that you can service and they’re looking into why you are the business to use. However, as people’s attention spans become increasingly brief, the content on your website may just not be enough.

On average, a user will look at roughly 20% of a website, and of the 20% they read, only another 20% will be retained. That leaves just 4% of your website content stuck in their mind!

As much as your website is an important tool and needs to be as strong as possible, to an average user who’s just browsing it can be hard to convey the information you need. It’s here that live chat comes in.

A live chat feature on your website allows your visitors to quickly and efficiently get the specific information they require in an engaging manner. They don’t have to scroll through pages and pages of text looking for an answer, they have a helpful human there to guide them. In addition to helping your visitors get the information they need, by talking to a person they are far more likely to leave you their contact information making a conversion far easier.

Let’s face it; you agencies have your work cut out. It’s a crowded market with stock becoming harder and harder to come by. With traditional agents being undercut by online agents, and online agencies (allegedly) not being able to provide the same service as the traditional, competition is fierce. Anything you can do that provides that added value is well worth doing and live chat certainly fits that bill.

I know what you’re thinking though “I don’t have time to be sitting around waiting for someone to chat through my site”, and you’re right, not many people do. The great thing about some of these services is that you don’t have to run them yourself. With providers like Yomdel and various others, they will man your chat service for you, capture your users’ data, and provide answers to any queries your users can throw at them based on information you’ve supplied.

We began live chat back at Estate Apps as a trial a few months back now and I have to say the response has been great. We’ve got more incoming leads than before and in general our users experience has been improved. Having a human to guide our clients through the process has had such a positive effect for us and I’m sure it will do for you too!

 

Alex Evans

You May Also Enjoy

small house bird box
Breaking News

UK First Time Buyers better off than many other global nations

Is it really that bad being a first-time buyer? UK better off than many other global nations when it comes to affordability The latest market analysis from Yopa, the full-service estate agents, reveals that first-time buyers (FTBs) in the UK may be paying 63% more to get a foot on the property ladder than they…
Read More
new build homes colchester essex
Breaking News

Building Safety Regulator Reform

The Government has announced reforms to the Building Safety Regulator, including leadership, process and investment. The changes are hoped to deliver 1.5 million homes. The reforms pave the way for creation of a single construction safety regulator, as recommended by the Grenfell Tower enquiry. David Smith, property litigation partner at London law firm Spector Constant…
Read More
Breaking News

New anti-money laundering rules now in effect: what landlords need to know

New anti-money laundering (AML) rules came into effect this month, marking a significant change for landlords and the lettings industry as a whole. The new rules mean financial sanctions checks are now required for all lettings, regardless of how much rent is charged. Here, Steve Bond, managing director of residential lettings for Beresfords, explains what…
Read More
Breaking News

What landlords need to know about the upcoming Renters Rights Bill

The government’s long-awaited Renters Rights Bill is one of the most significant overhauls of the private rental sector in decades. While it has not yet received royal assent, the legislation is expected to come into effect late this year, or early in 2026. With the bill moving closer to becoming law, Steven Bond, managing director…
Read More
Breaking News

Mortgage approvals bounce back in May

The latest figures show that: – Mortgage approvals on house purchases for May sat at 63,032 up 3.9% from 60,656 in April. The monthly increase seen in May marks the end of four months of previous decline, with approval levels having fallen each month since January of this year. Approvals are also 2.5% higher than…
Read More
Breaking News

Money and Credit – May 2025

Key points: Net borrowing of mortgage debt by individuals increased by £2.8 billion to £2.1 billion in May, following a large decrease in net borrowing of £13.8 billion to -£0.8 billion in April. Net mortgage approvals for house purchases increased by 2,400 to 63,000 in May. Approvals for remortgaging also increased by 6,200 to 41,500…
Read More