Your high street presence has momentarily gone and your website is now your main shop window, well that and the portals. It’s as though every estate agency in the country has been forced to trial having an online model – something that most of you have explored and tentatively tried in the past but never fully committed to. Now you have to; you’re out of your comfort zone, giving it a go.

Mobile and desktop activity is soaring at the moment as we become a nation of keyboard warriors. So we caught up with website and digital media specialists Starberry to get some tips from them on how to get your new shop window – your website – looking ‘awesome’. They’ve also given us an exclusive kerfuffle offer for our members – more on that later.

Ben Sellers, co-founder of Starberry and expert speaker at EA Masters 2019 on Digital Strategy commented: “Content, content, content. This is the thing that agents can take control of instantly to drive higher engagement and boost their profile as local experts in their area.

“With estate agents moving their whole activity online, their website becomes their virtual shop window and the main point of communication with existing and prospective clients. So make sure, as an estate agent, that your website content is updated to best serve these two objectives. Here are some tips to help you.”

1) Keep customers informed on your business availability and services during the lockdown

2) Emphasise and bring forward on your website all the ways users can reach out to you online - including email and phone contact details, social media pages & team profiles

3) Take advantage and update your website with real-time communication tools such as live chat, Whatsapp or Facebook messenger widgets.

4) Beyond chat functionality, consider adding on your website other tools that would allow customers to connect with your team - online video calls are a great way to keep your users engaged while social distancing.

5) Update your viewings and valuation calls-to-action on the website to reflect the new virtual set-up that you have in place. If you’re struggling to get started with virtual viewings and virtual valuations, reach out to Starberry to show you how you can do that for free.

6) Make sure your property listings are up to date, complete with useful information, including all the photography available and virtual tours, maps and other 3rd party widgets at your disposal.

7) Adapt your content marketing strategy to be relevant to the current lockdown situation. Create video and written content that answers your customers’ immediate questions and needs - just a few ideas that estate agents can do: keeping safe and working from home advice, how to sell, let or move home during these unprecedented times, things to do with your kids during the lockdown, ways you can get involved in the local community. If you need help with your digital marketing, Starberry can be your “in-house out-house” team.

Kerfuffle deal summary - a free, virtual one-on-one consultancy session where they’ll help you set-up virtual system (Calendly/Zoom integration) and recommend free digital marketing tips to implement during the lockdown. Find out more