Real estate agent website: what brings sellers and buyers to call you

People who visit a real estate agent's site are choosing a person. Sellers want to know what their home is worth. Buyers want to search homes. Both want to know whether you're local, licensed and any good, and how to reach you today.

In October 2026 we opened 23 independent real estate agent and small brokerage websites in 17 places across 14 states, on a phone, and looked at what people search for. Most had a home search. Fewer had a way to ask for a home value, only 9 had a testimonials page, and 16 never showed a license number. This guide goes through them in order of how much they matter, with the steps to set each one up.

Make it easy to call, and say who you are

Twenty of the 23 sites had a phone link somewhere on the home page, but only 8 showed a tappable number on the first phone screen. Three had no tappable number at all.

1. Click Business info in the left menu and type your Phone. On phones, visitors can tap it to call. Use the number you answer, and say in your FAQ if it takes texts.
2. Use your Tagline to say who you are and where, like "Jane Doe, Associate Broker with Acme Realty in Ithaca". It shows in your footer, next to your phone number.
3. Under Location, fill in the Street address if you have an office, and the towns you work in under Service area.
4. Click Menu in the left menu. Under Header button, set the Button text to "Call" or "Free home value" and point it where most people should go next.
5. Put your own photo on your home page and your About page. A clear photo of you, in daylight, tells people there's a real person here. See Edit text and photos.

See Business info and hours.

Offer a home-value request

"How much is my home worth" is the most searched seller question. Thirteen of the 23 sites offered a way to ask for one. The good ones asked for an address and promised a person's answer, not an automatic number. Visitors already have Zillow's estimate. What you offer is a real price from someone who knows the street.

1. Click Pages, then New page, and make a page called "Sell your home" from the Service page template.
2. Add a Form section. Give it a Form name like "Home value request", so these messages are easy to spot in your Inbox.
3. Turn on Ask for phone number. Under More questions, add "Property address" and pick an Answer type for it. Mark only what you truly need as Required. A short form gets filled in.
4. Say in the text above the form what happens next, like "I'll look at recent sales near you and call you within one business day. There's no cost and no contract to talk."
5. If you'll text people, fill in Consent checkbox (see "Texting leads" below).
6. Point a button on your home page at this page.

See Forms and your inbox.

Link to your home search

Nineteen of the 23 sites ran a search of homes for sale. Every one of those searches is a paid service from the MLS, a website vendor or a brokerage, and it comes with legal notices the MLS requires. Your site can't run one itself.

What your site can do is send people to yours:

1. Ask your brokerage or MLS where your search page lives.
2. Add a button to your home page, with a Call to action section or your Hero. Under Goes to, choose Another website… and paste the link. Label it "Search homes".
3. Add the same link to your Menu, so it's on every page.

Please don't copy another brokerage's listings, MLS photos or Zillow descriptions onto your pages. Listing data and photos are covered by the MLS's rules and the owner's rights, and rules vary. Show homes you represent, with photos you took or have the right to use (see "Show homes you've sold" below).

Show your license, your brokerage and Equal Housing Opportunity

This isn't legal advice, and rules differ by state, so ask your broker. Seven of the 23 sites showed a license number. Eleven showed the Equal Housing Opportunity wording or logo, or linked a fair housing page. Here is what we found when we checked six states:

• California: advertising that's a consumer's first contact, including online, has to show your name and license number and your responsible broker.
• Texas: your home page needs a link to the TREC Information About Brokerage Services notice. It has to be labeled "Texas Real Estate Commission Information About Brokerage Services" (10-point type or larger) or "TREC Information About Brokerage Services" (12-point or larger). Your ads also need your broker's name, at least half the size of the largest contact information.
• Florida: the brokerage's licensed name has to sit next to your contact information. A team name can't be larger than the brokerage's.
• Oregon: your home page needs your name and your registered business name. A license number is required when you advertise under an alternative name.
• New York: every page needs the brokerage name and its address or phone number. A team's home page must link to the brokerage's website.
• Pennsylvania: your employing broker's business name, and phone number, have to be prominent, and a team name has to follow the state's team rules.

On your site:

1. In Business info, type your License number under Location, like "NC Broker #123456". It shows in your footer. It holds one short line (60 characters), so put your brokerage's name in your Tagline.
2. Add "Equal Housing Opportunity" to that line, or add a Text section at the bottom of your home page with the Equal Housing Opportunity logo or words.
3. In Texas, add the notice link as a button or a link in Menu › Footer links: click Add footer link, type the exact label, choose Another website… under Goes to, and paste the notice's address. Ask your broker where the link has to sit.
4. If you work in a team, put the brokerage's name as large as the team's name, or larger.

The Fair Housing Act makes it unlawful to advertise a home in a way that shows a preference or limit because of race, color, religion, sex, disability, family status or national origin. Describe the home and the area, and let buyers decide who it suits. Phrases like "perfect for young professionals" or "no kids" can read as a preference, so avoid them.

Show reviews

Almost everyone reads reviews before choosing a local business. Nine of the 23 sites had a testimonials page or menu link, and only two showed a Google rating.

1. Click Lists in the left menu, then Edit reviews. Add your best recent reviews word for word, with the client's first name and last initial, the date and where each was posted (Where it was posted). Add Detail like "Sold, North Campus".
2. Add a Reviews section to your home page and your About page. See Reviews.
3. Paste your Google review link into Leave-a-review link under Social links in Business info.
4. Add your rating and review count to a Highlights section, like "4.9★ · 61 Google reviews".

The Review requests add-on can email clients a review request the morning after you mark a message Won in your Inbox, so you don't have to remember. See Ask customers for reviews.

Rules to keep: reviews must be real, and offering a gift only for five stars is not allowed under the FTC's review rule. Ask permission before you post a client's name, photo or address.

Show homes you've sold

Six of the 23 sites had sold homes or results on them. They're the proof that you're active. Use Projects for your sales:

1. Click Lists in the left menu, then Edit projects, then Add project.
2. Under Project name, use a short title like "Cape Cod near Cass Park". Skip the street number unless the owners said yes.
3. Fill in Town or neighborhood, Kind of work (like "Seller" or "Buyer") and Finished (the closing date).
4. Add an After photo and, if you like, a Short description and The story: what the home needed and how it sold.
5. Add a Projects section to a page called "Recent sales". See Projects.

Only say you sold a home if you were the listing agent or the buyer's agent. If you mention a price or "over asking", make sure it's true. A number you can back up (days on the market, sale-to-list price) is worth more than a bare "Sold".

Make a page for each town

Eighteen of the 23 sites had pages for towns or neighborhoods. This is where a local agent can say more than Zillow. What is the winter like on that street? Which school zone just changed? Where is the new construction?

1. Click Pages, then Town pages at the top right.
2. Under What do people search for?, type something like "real estate agent". If you've told us your kind of business, Common for your business offers a few to click.
3. Under Towns, check the towns you work in, and click Make pages.
4. Open each page and replace the first draft with what only you know. Add the projects you've sold there.

See Make pages for the towns you serve. Add a Service areas section to your home page so visitors find them.

Say how you're paid

Visitors search for "real estate agent commission" and "buyer agent contract". Since August 2024, offers of compensation can't be made on the MLS, and agents working with buyers need a written agreement before touring a home. Compensation is negotiable. None of the 23 home pages explained how the agent is paid.

Put a short answer in your FAQ, like "My fee is written in our agreement before we tour or list, and it's negotiable. Here's what it covers." Don't promise a fee you can't stand behind.

Be careful with "#1" and "top producer"

Seven of the 23 sites made a ranking or "top" claim. Two said who ranked them. If you say "#1" or "top producer", say who ranked you, for what and in what year, like "Top 5% of agents in Tompkins County by units sold, 2025 (local MLS)". If you're a REALTOR®, the Code of Ethics asks you to present a true picture. A claim you can't source reads as a weaker claim anyway.

Texting leads

If you text the people who fill in your form, add a consent checkbox so they agree first.

1. Open the Form section and find Consent checkbox.
2. Under Use wording for:, click Text messages. It says how to stop the texts, that rates may apply and that agreeing isn't required.
3. Publish.

See Add a consent checkbox. The FCC adopted new rules for stopping texts in September 2026, effective November 25, 2026. Ask whoever runs your texting tool how it handles "STOP".

Book a showing or a call

• With a calendar you already use: add a Booking section with your Calendly or Google Calendar link. See Connect a booking calendar.
• On your own site, for a team: the Bookings & RSVPs add-on lets people pick a time for a call or a consultation. See Take bookings on your site.
• By phone: say so next to the number, like "Showings by appointment: call or text."

Rentals and property management

If you also manage rentals, give it its own page (Pages, New page) with a Price list / menu section for what you charge owners, and a Form for owners who want to talk. Property management is licensed in many states, so check yours. Please don't collect earnest money, deposits or fees through payment links or the online store; those belong in your brokerage's trust account.

Photos that help people trust you

Real photos beat stock for the ones people use to recognize you. With your phone, take:

1. You, from the shoulders up, in daylight
2. You in front of a sign at a home you represented, with the owners' permission
3. A recent listing's front, straight on in good light
4. The best room of a recent listing, with the lights on and the clutter gone
5. The street or view in the neighborhood you know best
6. A local landmark that shows it's this town

Until you have your own, Free photos has good ones for "real estate agent showing house to couple", "house for sale sign front yard" and "handing over house keys". Avoid luxury interiors if you sell mostly in a small town; they don't match your homes. See Free photos.

Answer the questions people ask

Add an FAQ section. Questions people ask real estate agents most:

• What is my home worth?
• How do you price and market a home?
• How much do you charge, and who pays?
• Do I need a written agreement before touring homes?
• How does buying a home with you work?
• I'm a first-time buyer. Where do I start?
• Are you licensed, and who is your broker?
• Can I text you?

In Lists › FAQs, Suggest questions drafts more from your own site. See Use suggested questions.

Tips

• Give your home page a search title with your kind of agent and your town, like "Real estate agent in Ithaca, NY", and your Sell page one with "home value" and the town. See Set a page's search title and description.
• Send a market update to past clients with the Newsletter sending add-on. See Send a newsletter.
• Share a market update as a news post. See News posts.
• Every site can have a Spanish version at no extra cost. See Show your site in Spanish.
• Read your site once a quarter for anything out of date: an old market number, a sold home still marked for sale, a license you've renewed.