# Websites for estate agents

> Websites for estate and letting agents, built for the audience that actually pays the bills: the vendor deciding who to instruct.

- Source: https://nerdsharks.com/industries/estate-agents
- Publisher: Nerdsharks (Exeter, Devon, UK)
- Updated: 2026-09-27

There are 26,090 estate and letting agencies across 375 UK local authorities (ONS UK Business Counts, SIC 68310, 2025, OGL v3.0).

## How customers choose

Two audiences, and agents consistently optimise for the wrong one. Buyers browse listings, but buyers do not pay you - they will find your properties on the portals regardless. The vendor deciding which agent to instruct is the customer, and they are assessing three agents on evidence of selling comparable homes at good prices in good time. They look at how your properties are photographed, because that is a direct preview of how their own home will be marketed. Landlords, similarly, are choosing a managing agent on fee structure and how tenant issues are handled.

## What most websites in this trade get wrong

Almost every agency website is a second-rate portal search that nobody uses, because Rightmove exists and is better. Meanwhile the valuation request - the only conversion that generates fee income - is a small link in the corner. The site should be built around persuading a vendor to instruct you, with listings as evidence of marketing quality rather than as the main event. Poorly photographed listings are actively counterproductive, because a vendor reads them as a preview of their own listing.

## What the website has to do

- **Valuation request** - The only conversion that generates fee income, and it should dominate the site.
- **Landlord management enquiry** - Recurring revenue, far steadier than sales commission.
- **Demonstrate marketing quality** - A vendor judges how you will sell their home by how you present others.

## Pages

- **Home** - Valuation request front and centre.
- **Free valuation** - The primary conversion page.
- **Selling with us** - Fees, marketing approach, evidence of results.
- **Landlords** - Management levels and fee structures.
- **Properties** - Evidence of marketing quality, not a portal clone.
- **Area guides** - Genuinely useful local content that attracts vendors.

## Features that matter

- **Valuation request as the dominant call to action on every page** - It is the only action that produces revenue.
- **Exceptional property photography and floorplans** - Vendors read your existing listings as a preview of their own.
- **Fee structure stated openly** - Online agents compete on published fees; silence looks evasive.
- **Local area guides** - Attracts vendors researching the market and supports local search.
- **Landlord fee and service levels published** - Lettings management is recurring revenue and is bought on clarity.

Trust signals: Property photography quality; Sold and let evidence; Redress scheme membership; Client money protection.

Seasonality: Listings peak in spring and again in early autumn. January produces a surge of valuation requests.

## Local authorities with the most

| Local authority | Businesses |
|---|---|
| Westminster | 1,080 |
| Barnet | 575 |
| Birmingham | 460 |
| Camden | 450 |
| Hackney | 445 |
| Leeds | 310 |
| Redbridge | 300 |
| Kensington and Chelsea | 295 |
| Manchester | 280 |
| Tower Hamlets | 280 |

## The offer

- **Monthly**: £299 upfront, £99/month (the upfront is a setup fee), 12-month minimum term. We build it, host it and look after it - and after 24 monthly payments, it is yours.
- **Own It**: £1,795 upfront, £49/month, no minimum term. Buy the website outright. It is yours to keep, move or cancel.
- **Pro**: £6,950 upfront, £299/month, 12-month minimum term. No limits. For large, multi-site and fast-growing businesses.
- Payment: The setup fee is paid when you book, and it starts the design. Monthly fees are collected by Direct Debit, covered by the Direct Debit Guarantee, from the day your site goes live.
- Guarantee: You see your finished design on your phone and approve it before anything goes live, with two full rounds of changes included. Nothing launches until you are happy with it. The Monthly plan runs for 12 months from launch.
- Bolt-ons: Google Business Profile management £29/month; Local SEO pack £49/month; Business email £5/month. Coming soon, not yet on sale: Missed-call text back, Review booster.
- VAT: We are not VAT registered, so there is no VAT to add to these prices.

## Questions

### How do I look established without exaggerating?

Name your people, show your qualifications and registrations, be specific about who you work with, and publish something that demonstrates you know what you are talking about. Vague claims about excellence read as filler; specifics read as competence.

### How important is photography, really?

In visual trades it is the entire decision. Customers shortlist from photographs and read the words afterwards, if at all. It is worth paying a photographer for half a day once a year - it will change the size of the jobs you are asked to quote for more than anything else you could spend the money on.

### Should I put my prices on my website?

Almost always yes. Hiding prices loses more enquiries than it protects, because people assume the worst and go to a competitor who publishes theirs. If your pricing genuinely varies, publish a range and explain in one sentence what moves it - that converts far better than "contact us for a quote".