Building a real estate website, in detail
Property buyers shortlist projects online long before they visit a site, and they check the details: the RERA registration, the carpet area, the builder's completed projects and how far the site really is from the highway or metro. This is how I plan and build websites for builders, developers and property agents in India: project pages, RERA details, lead capture, ad landing pages and tracking. Real estate website must-haves lists the features in brief.
A real estate website project, step by step
- Free review and a fixed quote. Send your current site, the projects you want to feature and whether you run Google or Meta ads.
- Structure. We decide how projects are organised, by city, status or type, and whether a launch needs its own microsite; project microsites explains the trade-off.
- Content and compliance details. RERA numbers, approved plans, carpet areas, amenities, location details and brochures, all from your team.
- Build on staging. A project template, enquiry and site-visit forms, gated brochure downloads and WhatsApp, at a private address.
- Tracking and testing. Test enquiries for every project, conversion tracking for ads, and each page checked on phones over mobile data.
- Launch and walkthrough. Search Console connected, and a call showing your team how to add a project, update its status and swap a price sheet.
Property portal listing or your own website?
| Portals such as 99acres, MagicBricks or Housing.com | Your own website | |
|---|---|---|
| Who sees you | Buyers browsing the portal, next to competing projects | Buyers searching your brand or project name, and visitors from your ads |
| Leads | Buyers usually enquire with several sellers at once | Come only to you |
| Presentation | A fixed template set by the portal | The full project story, walkthrough video, floor plans and location |
| Ad campaigns | The portal's own paid packages | Your Google and Meta ads, with leads tracked by campaign |
| Cost | Listing or subscription packages | The build, then hosting and upkeep |
Portals are useful for reach, resale and rentals. For a new project, your own site is where ad clicks, brochure requests and site-visit bookings should land.
Project pages buyers trust
What every project page shows
- Configurations, such as 1, 2 or 3 BHK, plots or shops, with carpet area as defined under RERA, not only super built-up area.
- Floor and unit plans as images that zoom on a phone, with a PDF for printing.
- Amenities, specifications and construction status, with dated site photos.
- Location: a map, distances to schools, hospitals and transport that you have checked, and directions to the site office.
- A price or starting price with what it includes, if you choose to publish it.
RERA details, displayed properly
Under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, advertisements for a registered project must show its RERA registration number and the address of the state RERA website, and a project page on your website is generally treated as advertising. I put both near the top of each project page, and agents' pages carry the agent's registration number. Some authorities add their own requirements, such as MahaRERA's QR code on advertisements, so check your state's current rules. A project that needs registration should not be marketed before it is registered, which rules out "pre-launch" pages for it. Renders are labelled as artist's impressions.
Lead capture: site visits, brochures and WhatsApp
- Site-visit booking with a preferred date and time, so your sales team calls to confirm a slot rather than asking "when can you come?".
- Gated brochure downloads that ask only for a name, phone and email, with the brochure sent to the email address given.
- A short enquiry form with configuration and budget dropdowns. Studio Agama Interiors, an interior design studio I built a site for, asks for project stage, budget and time frame, so the team knows what each lead needs before calling; the same idea works for property buyers.
- WhatsApp and tap-to-call on every page, with the project name pre-filled in the message.
Each enquiry is emailed instantly and can also go to a Google Sheet or your CRM, with a consent line and privacy notice under the form. Property leads cool quickly, so the first call should happen the same day; responding to enquiries fast covers alerts and auto-replies.
Landing pages, tracking and speed for ad campaigns
Builders often run Google and Meta ads around a launch. Each campaign should land on a page about that project alone, with a headline matching the ad, one form and no menu leading elsewhere; see landing page design. Form submissions, WhatsApp clicks and calls are tracked as conversions in GA4, Google Ads and Meta, so you can see which campaign brings site visits, not just clicks. Google Ads conversion tracking on WordPress explains the setup. Walkthrough videos are embedded from YouTube and load only when tapped, and renders are compressed, because a slow page wastes paid clicks on mobile data.
Local SEO and schema for builders and agents
Buyers search by locality and configuration, such as "2 BHK in Wakad" or "plots near Hinjewadi". A page for each project, and for agents a genuinely useful page for each locality you work in, matches those searches; copies with the area name swapped do not. Local landing pages without doorway pages explains the difference. The business gets RealEstateAgent or Organization schema, project pages get breadcrumbs, and your Google Business Profile links to the site. Keep project status current, because a sold-out project still shown as available costs trust.
What is included, and what is not
The list near the top of this page is what every real estate site includes. These are separate or come from you:
- RERA details, approved plans, price sheets and legal disclaimers. They must come from you and your advisers so they are accurate.
- 3D renders, walkthrough videos and drone shoots.
- CRM software and running ad campaigns. Forms can feed the CRM you already use.
- Managing portal listings.
How long it takes
It depends on the number of projects and whether each needs its own microsite or landing pages, and I confirm the timeline with the fixed quote. A launch date is often the real deadline, so start once the registration number and approved plans are in hand.
Who it is for
Builders and developers with one or several projects, plotted developments, commercial projects, channel partners and property agents, and companies whose site still shows projects that sold out years ago.
How to prepare
- Each project's RERA number, approved plans, configurations and carpet areas.
- Brochures, renders, site photos and any walkthrough video.
- Price sheets, or a decision to share prices on request.
- Who handles leads for each project, and access to your ad and analytics accounts.
What you get at the end
- A website on hosting in your name, with projects your team can add and update.
- Enquiry, site-visit and brochure forms tested, with conversion tracking in place.
- Search Console connected, a walkthrough and a full backup.
Send me your current website or project brochure for a free review and a fixed quote.
