Sick of watching traffic come to your property site only to leave without converting? You’re not alone. The good news: you probably don’t need a total website overhaul. You just need to stop making things harder than they need to be.
In the multifamily and student housing world, your website should be more than a digital flyer with floor plans. It should be a leasing machine. But if it’s clunky, pushy, or trying too hard, most prospects will bail. And fast. They’ll find a smoother, easier site from a competitor and forget yours ever existed.
Here are four simple tweaks that can make the experience better for your prospects without blowing up your entire site.
Imagine walking into a store and the first thing that happens is someone yells “APPLY NOW!” That’s what your site is doing when those buttons dominate your property website.
Yes, having a prospect fill out an application is the end goal. No, it shouldn’t be the first and only thing you’re pushing. Most of your website visitors are still in research mode, comparing floor plans, making sure their pup is welcome, and trying to figure out if that “resort-style pool” actually lives up to the hype. They’re not ready to commit just yet.
So chill out. Keep an Apply Now button here and there, but mix it up and give people breathing room with softer CTAs like “Schedule a Tour,” “Request More Info,” “Get Directions,” or something else that’s clever. These still show intent without asking for such a hard commitment.
A popup on your homepage? Smart. A popup every time someone clicks to a new page? Rage-inducing.
We’ve seen it all the time. A user starts on your homepage, gets a popup. Clicks to Floor Plans—popup. Gallery—another popup. By the time they hit Amenities, they’re not interested in the promotion anymore. They’re interested in closing the tab forever.
We recommend having the popup show once, right when someone lands on the homepage. That gets your message across without interrupting the rest of their browsing experience. If you want visibility across pages, use a subtle banner above the navigation. It’s always there, doesn’t get in the way, and won’t make your visitors feel like they’re playing Whac-A-Mole.
This one’s so obvious it hurts, but we see it a ton. Your leasing team is ready to talk, but the phone number is buried in the footer like it’s part of the fine print in a legal document.
Fix it. Put your phone number, or better yet, a “Call Now” or “Text Us” button, right at the top of the site. Make it clickable. Make it visible on every page.
You never know if the website visitor is browsing your site while physically touring properties that day. Make it fast and easy for them to connect with you. When we run Google Ad campaigns, we consistently see strong performance from “Click-to-Call” actions. If you make it easy, they’ll reach out. If you don’t, they’ll move on.
Maybe your website doesn’t need a complete redesign. Maybe it just needs a few small, easy adjustments to get it on the right path.
If it’s too aggressive, too clunky, or too hard to navigate, people will leave. No matter how great your property website is.Â
Clean things up. Lower the pressure. Make it easier to take action. Do that, and you’ll stop losing leads you should already be capturing.
