Six simple tips to help your home stand out online
Have you ever given much thought to the function and purpose of property portals like Rightmove? As we all know, Rightmove is the go-to platform for home-seekers. But while you’re busy browsing the listings for your forever home, what you may not have considered is the behind-the-scenes secrets that can help you stand out from the crowd when it’s your home that’s being marketed.
In this month’s blog, let’s explore some top tips for getting maximum exposure on Rightmove.
Top tip #1: Get the price right
In order to get your home seen by the most buyers, it’s crucial that you understand how the price bandings work on Rightmove. Rightmove works with whole numbers, increasing in £50,000 increments. Avoid at all costs the temptation to plump for that old sales tactic of the ‘99’. For example, if you list your home at £399,995 and Rightmove has another 15 homes in your area priced at a round number of £400,000, your home will actually show up 16th in a buyer’s search, giving them 15 opportunities to phone up and make a viewing for another house before they’ve even seen yours. Another factor to consider is bridging the bandings and that by listing at £399,995, your home will not appear in a buyer’s search for properties between £400,000-£450,000.
Top tip #2: Sum it up in a nutshell
Nutshell being the operative word, as good things come in small packages! Your Rightmove summary should be strong, enticing and captivating – enough so to convince potential buyers to click through to the main advert. Bearing in mind that the summary only allows you around 300 characters to work with…what are the unique selling points you would like to convey? How can you capture the lifestyle this home offers in a handful of words?
Top tip #3: Choose your words wisely (and wondrously)
Standing out from the crowd isn’t just about pricing and pictures, you must use every tool available to remain head and shoulders above the rest.
When it comes to descriptions, there are a number of things to consider.
1. Property Style
Try to replace dated and dull words such as ‘terrace’ or ‘detached’ with more descriptive and evocative words such as ‘18th century barn conversion’, ‘cosy cottage’ or ‘family home’.
2. Spelling and grammar
Your potential buyer’s first opinion of your home starts here, and if the description is riddled with typos and grammatical glitches, then not only is it a tricky-to-read turn off, but subliminally, your buyer may wonder what other corners you have cut if you couldn’t even take the time to proof-read your marketing.
3. Descriptive detail
Who wants to hear that the lounge is ‘accessed via a composite door with uPVC glazed window to front elevation with ceiling light point and power points and central heating radiator’? Surely it’s a given that a home in the 21st century has lighting and windows!
Choose your words with care. Tactile, exposed stonework, roaring log-burning stoves and intricate stained-glass bay windows paint a much warmer picture than telephone points and mains water points.
Top tip #4: Local area information
As we all know, it’s not only what’s inside your home that matters, it’s what you have on your doorstep. Be sure to add in a section at the end of your description letting potential buyers know all the lovely amenities your local area has to offer. If you’re selling a four-bedroom family home, don’t miss the opportunity to highlight the Ofsted Outstanding local school only a five-minute walk from the door. Likewise, if your two-bedroom country cottage is only a stone’s throw from the train station with abundant walks on the doorstep, make sure you let your buyer know.
Top tip #5: Styling and photography
Your photos are what potential buyers first fall in love with, even before they read the main description, so put in the hard work before the photo shoot. A few quick tips for styling a home before its photo shoot include:
• Decluttering and depersonalising rooms by removing photographs, toys and trinkets.
• Replacing ‘busy’ or strongly coloured bedding and bathroom towels with simple white linen.
• Introducing some ‘props’ to key rooms, such as flowers by the bedside table, or a rustic bread board with a crusty loaf and selection of crudites onto the kitchen counter top.
Top tip #6: Floorplans
Not every home advertised on Rightmove comes with a floorplan, but you’d be remiss to overlook this key piece of information.
A floorplan can help a viewer imagine how their life might fit within the walls of your home, so it’s unsurprising that following the photos, the floorplan is the next item scrollers search for on a Rightmove listing.
If you include a floorplan, make sure it serves its purpose: clear text, specific measurements and best of all – colour coded to show the distinction between living space, bedrooms and bathrooms.
If you’d like more tips on how we get the very best out of our Rightmove listings, or if your home has been idling on the market for some time, please get in touch or drop into our office and see how we can help set your house move dreams in motion.
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