3 Tips for a Great CRE Listing

Presentation is everything and appearances count. This is especially true within the real estate industry; you can be the best commercial real estate (CRE) broker in town, but if you don’t properly present your CRE listing in an eye-catching, appealing manner, then you’ll have a hard time selling any property.

In particular, you need three things for an appealing presentation: informative text that gets your readers hooked, amazing photos that align with your description and a clever SEO strategy to drive potential customers to your listing. Here’s how to combine all three for a great CRE listing presentation:

1. Write Copy That Sells

Writing real estate descriptions isn’t exactly rocket science, but there are some ground rules to make them successful and alluring enough to generate leads. First, it’s extremely important to know your audience. Have a profile in mind about the people and/or businesses that you want to target with your presentation. Keep this in mind as you formulate the description in order to capture the attention of your target audience.

Next, a good CRE listing description has a solid structure. For instance, rather than writing a large chunk of text, strive for shorter paragraphs that break up the description and are easier to read. Along the same lines, instead of simply putting the address in your headline like everyone else does, use descriptive adjectives or succinct statements to stand out from other CRE listings. Similarly, the opening statement should be just as captivating because it determines whether the reader will keep reading or abandon your listing.

Then, when you have their attention, craft an equally enticing narrative description. Here, build your text upon a unique storyline and highlight the exclusive, key features of the commercial real estate listing. Be sure to keep your description accurate and don’t overcomplicate it by using too many adjectives or exaggerated statements to impress potential clients if the property doesn’t match the remarks. Also, remember your target audience; selling a New York office to a large financial firm is different than pitching a smaller office in a secondary market to a startup company that’s fresh out of the incubator.

Finally, check and double-check your text for any spelling or grammatical errors. There’s nothing as distracting to a potential buyer as someone who is trying to present themselves as an expert in their field, but whose writing is riddled with mistakes. Likewise, be sure to use punctuation properly to avoid misunderstandings.

2. Let Photos Speak for Themselves

While the information you present in your description is paramount, top-quality photos that support the descriptive text are equally as important. So, if photos are not your strong suit, hire a professional photographer.

Preparation and planning are the first steps in commercial real estate photography. To begin, define what you want to achieve with the listing and let your goals shine through in the photos. Then, it’s all about the timing. Think about the time of day when your CRE listing looks the best. This is especially important if you’re taking photos of the exterior or want to capture the beautiful golden hour light that brightens the executive office. Meanwhile, try to keep any seasonality out of the photos; nobody wants to browse through snow-capped roofs while looking at listings in July.

Once your goals and timing are established, it’s time to put things in motion. Declutter and organize the space you’re working with to maximize the appeal of the photos. Check that all of the light bulbs are working, empty the parking area for exterior shots and have someone from maintenance on standby in case something goes wrong.

The location of your CRE listing is an important factor for potential customers, as well. So, in addition to the interior, emphasize the area or neighborhood through your photos, too. Don’t overdo it with special effects; rather, present the listing as it is to the audience. There’s nothing more disappointing than finding out that, in reality, the space looks nothing like the photos online.

3. Optimize Your Website for Search

Search engine optimization (SEO) helps enhance your visibility and improve your rankings in search engines so potential customers can find your CRE listings more easily. Writing unique content is one of the key elements to good SEO, so use this opportunity to stand out from the crowd instead of including the same words and structure that everyone else does.

Another great SEO tactic is to define a solid keyword strategy and apply those terms cleverly throughout your listing. Take advantage of power adjectives, high-level commercial real estate language and specific niche terms to try to outrank other CRE listings. While you’re at it, optimize various on-page SEO elements to drive traffic and generate leads.

For example, the page title and headlines should contain simple, short phrases that include your company name and the city in which the CRE listing can be found. Meta descriptions should include the city you’re operating in, along with a few specifics about the featured listing. Images should also be optimized through alt tags and descriptive text to increase click-through rates.

Last, but not least, ensure your page loads quickly and effortlessly; nobody will stick around if your site is slow and doesn’t load the CRE listing in a matter of seconds. An SSL certificate is also a worthwhile investment because it’s a testament to the fact that all of the information provided on your website is protected and safe from being compromised.

Keep these tips in mind and your commercial real estate listings will surely get the attention they deserve.