How to Create a Real Estate Website with WordPress

Real estate is one of the most exciting and profitable industries out there. Everyone wants in on the action, and with the right tools, the process can be rather easy.

The fact that so many people are interested in real estate website creation shows that it’s an industry in transition. Younger generations aren’t as likely to want to live in a house as their parents did, and so traditional websites aren’t going to cut it anymore.

Fortunately, the world of real estate website creation has evolved with the times, and so has the best platform for doing it.

WordPress is a great solution for real estate website owners who want to create something that’s both functional and beautiful. It’s a versatile platform that can be used for various real estate website purposes, from simply showcasing properties to helping buyers find the perfect home and providing them with all the necessary information they might need (from mortgage to furniture shopping).

In this article, we’ll walk you through the steps to create a functional, beautiful real estate website with WordPress.

Step 1: Select The Right Theme

The first step is to select the right theme for your website. There are hundreds of free and premium WordPress themes out there, all with different qualities and styles. You have to find one that’s perfect for your needs and then make sure to install it on your site.

When selecting a theme for your site, you have to keep in mind what you’re trying to accomplish. Are you aiming for a luxury real estate website with a magazine-like feel? Or do you have a more traditional estate website in mind?

Although WordPress offers a stunning range of free themes, finding the right one for your needs can still be tricky. That’s why we recommend going through the WordPress themes checklist (courtesy of ThemeGrill) to find the best possible fit for your needs.

Step 2: Activate & Configure WordPress

Next, you have to activate and configure WordPress. Visit the WordPress dashboard, and you should see a small cog icon at the upper-right corner of the screen. Click on that, and you’ll be asked to enter your email address and password. Once you’ve done that, you’ll be transported to the dashboard, where you can click on the Activate button to continue.

After clicking on the Activate button, WordPress will briefly download and install the necessary plug-ins to make your site functional. At this point, you can go back and check your email for further instructions (usually there will be a confirmation email waiting for you).

Once everything is set up, you can click on the Settings button to reach the WordPress admin area. Here, you can change settings such as the theme used for your site (you can choose from hundreds of free and premium options), the color scheme, the header, and the footer for your website.

You can also choose to have a search box on your site (with a Google Analytics tracking code installed), enable comments (which will let people post comments on your site), and set the homepage to either display a specific property or to be the home page (sub-page) of your website.

Step 3: Install & Configure the Plug-ins You Need

Now that your site is live, you have to install and configure the plug-ins you need. These are the tools, apps, or extensions used to make your site work the way you want it to. Examples of plug-ins include the WP e-Commerce plugin, which allows you to sell products online via WordPress; the Open Real Estate API which adds a range of features to your site, such as the ability to add a virtual tour of a property; and the WP Super Cache plugin, which speeds up your site and helps it appear more personalized by caching (saving) frequently visited pages.

To get started, click on the Plugins button on the admin dashboard, followed by the Install button (you’ll see this button once you’ve reached the admin area of WordPress). This will bring up a page with a list of the available plugins. Click on the Install button next to the plugin you want to install.

Alternatively, you can click on the Activate button next to a plugin and the button will appear immediately as in Step 2. Just remember to click on the Activate button before using the plugin. This will ensure the plug-in is properly configured.

Once you’ve installed and activated the desired plugins, go back to the dashboard and click on the Settings button. Here, you can manage and customize the look and feel of your site (you can choose from hundreds of free and premium options). You can also check off plugins to enable them or disable them on a per-blog basis.

Now that your site is live and plugins are properly configured, it’s time to test your new site to see if it’s working the way you want it to. Go back to the dashboard and click on the Writing button. A menu will appear with the various functions of WordPress, such as the ability to create and edit posts, galleries, and meta-data.

Just remember that as a beginner, the functions you’re most likely to use are the ones that appear at the top of the menu. Posts are what we’d traditionally think of as articles, while the pages are the landing pages for your site, which include such things as the About Me page or the Gallery page.

Step 4: Create Your First Blog Post

Once you’ve tested your site and are sure that it’s working perfectly, it’s time to write your first blog post. Start by entering a title for the post in the Title input field on the admin dashboard. Next, you’ll want to write the content for your post. For the sake of this tutorial, let’s say that you want to write about luxury real estate in London.

You might start by simply typing “luxury real estate in London” into the Content area on the admin dashboard. From there, you can click on the pencil icon to open up a drop-down menu and select the various tools you might need to make your post standout (for more info on each of these, click on the corresponding tool in the menu).

For this post, we’re going to use the most basic tool in the menu, the classic text editor (which works just like Microsoft Word but is much more suited to creating blogs). If you’d like, you can also use the classic text editor to format your post like this one (add images, add video, change fonts, and more).

Once you’ve started typing your post, you can use the Preview button to see how it looks (you can click on the blue pencil to make changes and content as you go along). When you’re happy with the way it looks, hit the Publish button to officially publish your post.

Step 5: Set Up Automatic Publishing

Now that your blog post is published, you have to set it up to automatically publish. To do this, return to the dashboard and click on the Settings button. Next, click on the Auto publishing tab and make sure that the boxes next to Posts on my own site and Automatic feed generation are checked.

If they’re not checked, posts will only appear on your site when you manually publish them (via the Writing button on the admin dashboard). If they are checked and you want to ensure that new posts are published on a regular basis, you can follow the steps below.

Go to your favorite podcast app (such as Apple Podcasts or Google Play Music) and search for your favorite podcast (ensure that it’s a reputable source). Once you’ve found it, hit Subscribe and you’ll be taken to a page with all the necessary info you need to connect to the podcast (such as your name, email address, and a verification code).

Now that your podcast is connected, come back to the WordPress dashboard and click on the Writing button. You’ll see an option to create a new podcast episode (your first podcast episode will likely be free. To get started, you can use a tool like Anchor to create a free podcast archive. Doing this makes your work accessible to everyone and increases the likelihood of more people listening to your podcast (and subsequently, subscribing to your content)).

Once you’ve created a podcast episode, you can use the Write button to publish it (just click on the arrow next to the button to see the drop-down menu and select Publish Now). The process of creating and publishing a podcast episode takes less than five minutes, and it’s one of the easiest and most straightforward ways to get content out there for free.