Much can be said for having a good looking website and its ability to attract the right renters for your business.  How much thought have you given to branding, advertising and marketing, and the overall look and feel of your company to create the right impression you want to present to the world?  In this post we will discuss website design and help you understand the importance of advertising, marketing, and branding to better see how they work hand-in-hand to affect your business.

Reason #1: Creates a Great First Impression

More than ever, renters are beginning their search for apartments on the internet.  If you don’t have a web presence yet or your website was designed years ago and is looking stale, you are probably missing out on a large pool of technology-savvy renters that are influenced by how your website looks.   As an example of how look and feel plays an important role, think of how Apple Computer has risen to dominance by building great looking and easy to use products.  You may be thinking, “I’m just a property management company, not Apple!”, but in many cases your website is the first impression your renters have of your business.  If they see an old, out of date, and unmaintained website the high-quality renters you want may look to your competitor who has that snazzy new website.  When it comes to technology, it only takes 2-3 years for a product to become obsolete so staying up to date and making use of new technology is important.

Take-away: Great property management website design plays a key role in convincing these renters to look at your company instead of your competitors. 

Reason #2:  Improves Advertising and Marketing Reach

Imagine this scenario: one of your apartments becomes available for rent, you post that is vacant to your social media enabled website, and you almost immediately have potential renters contacting you about showings.  Does this sound far-fetched?  With the increase in use of social media and the connectedness of the internet, we’ve seen many forward-thinking property managers use this strategy and rent their properties much more easily with a lot less cost.  New advertising and marketing tools like QR codes, Facebook and Twitter, and text messaging all help to spread the word about your business much faster than was possible even a few years ago.  You may have tried some of these tools or just don’t see the benefit, but believe us when we say that it is there for property managers who can use it effectively.

Take-away: Using new social media tools helps to advertise your business and market your properties much more easily that was possible before and for a lot less cost.

Reason #3: Builds Your Brand

While you may have not given much thought to developing your brand and what it stands for, branding is as important to attracting renters.   Taking the time to build your brand so that renters can relate to you and want to rent your properties is worth the effort.  To further explain why, think of a brand you admire.  What does using this brand mean to you?  How does it make you feel?  Would you recommend it to others and what would you say about it?  Think about how these questions you asked yourself relate to your business and use them to mold your brand's image.  

Take-away: Branding is important to develop the right image that you want renters to see of your company and plays a role in generating new business and referrals.

These three reasons we’ve discussed just touch on the subject of how property management website design plays a role to create the right impression of your business that impacts your advertising and marketing and helps to build your brand image.  How much though have you given to the importance of having great property management website design for your business?