Free resource
The 15-point checklist for auditing a real estate agency website
July 25, 2026 · 10 min to apply
The grid I use on every agency, before writing a single line of design. 15 concrete points, from hero to footer, to spot in exactly 10 minutes where your home page is losing seller leads.
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Before you start
Open your agency's website on a large screen, then go through each point in order — from the top of the home page down. That's intentional: a visitor reads your site top to bottom, and decides to stay (or close the tab) within the first 3 seconds.
For each point: read the audit question and look at your site, compare against the leak and the target, and check the box only if the “target” state is met. Budget 10 minutes — dev console open (F12) for the last two points.
Examples marked “Club Immobilier”come from a real teardown: a 40-year-old Belgian agency, excellent on the ground, whose website said exactly the opposite. If you recognize your home page in it, that's normal — it's the most common case.
Block A — The first screen
What the visitor sees without scrolling. 80% of the decision happens here.
Point 1
A clear promise
Landing on your home page, without scrolling, does a stranger understand in 3 seconds who you are, where you operate, and for whom?
Leak: no headline, no hook — a slider pushing one listing instead of a promise. (Club Immobilier: 'Spacious 260 m² office space' instead of an H1.)
Target: a real H1 that anchors your value and your area, e.g. 'In good hands for 40 years' + a localized subheading.
Point 2
The buyer / seller split path
From the moment they arrive, do a seller and a buyer each see where to click, separately?
Leak: one blurry path, or worse, several blocks competing for attention. (Club Immobilier: three competing panels side by side.)
Target: two buttons, no more: 'See our listings' and 'Get my property valued'.
Point 3
The primary CTA in a dominant position
Is your priority action — usually 'Get my property valued' — the most visible button on the screen, in a color that stands out?
Leak: the seller CTA buried among other links, same color as everything else.
Target: a contrasting 'Get my property valued' button in a dominant position above the fold.
Point 4
Social proof at first glance
Do your trust signals — years of experience, properties sold, Google rating — show up at the top, without scrolling?
Leak: no number, no star, no date up top. (Club Immobilier: the '40 YEARS' badge — the number-one argument — relegated to the footer.)
Target: a stats bar right under the hero: years of experience · properties sold · Google satisfaction.
Point 5
Visual identity: premium and local, or generic?
Does your home page have an identity that says 'serious, upscale local agency', or does it look like any other real estate template?
Leak: generic green-and-orange palette, color blocks stacked with no hierarchy.
Target: a coherent, deliberate identity aligned with your actual positioning.
Block B — The body of the home page
The visitor decided to stay. Now, turn interest into contact.
Point 6
Listing cards: a mental picture, or a postage stamp?
Are your listings presented so people can picture themselves in them (large photo, readable price, specs at a glance)?
Leak: tiny thumbnails, buried prices, no breathing room.
Target: large editorial cards — full-bleed photo, price up front, aligned specs.
Point 7
Empty-state handling
When a filter returns no results, what does your site show? Test it: apply an absurd filter and look at the message.
Leak: a discouraging message shown big, front and center ('Sorry, no property matches these criteria').
Target: a useful empty state: nearby listings suggested + a CTA toward a valuation or an alert signup.
Point 8
A visible lead magnet
Do you have a lead magnet (brochure, guide) clearly featured?
Leak: the brochure exists but is tucked away in a corner, no reason to click.
Target: a free offer showcased clearly, with a benefit and a short form next to it.
Point 9
The 'About us' section: faces, not a wall of text
Does your identity section show real faces and read at a diagonal glance?
Leak: a dense paragraph of abstract values, not a single photo.
Target: values turned into scannable chips + real faces (team, agents).
Point 10
Testimonials: photo, stars… and spelling
Do your client reviews have a photo, a star rating, an error-free heading?
Leak: testimonials in plain text, no photo, under a sloppy heading. (Club Immobilier: 'TESTIMONALS', no accent, a typo.)
Target: a staged review — photo, star rating, short quote, a flawless heading.
Point 11
The valuation form: the heart of the site
Is your valuation form treated as a full section, with few fields and a delivery-time promise?
Leak: a bloated form, or reduced to a footnote.
Target: a full-width section, 'Free property valuation — no commitment, within 48h', a short form: name, phone, address, type, size.
Point 12
Easy access to contact
Can a visitor reach you without scrolling to the footer?
Leak: the only way to contact you is at the very bottom of the home page.
Target: an always-reachable contact point — menu button, clickable phone number, valuation CTA repeated throughout the page.
Block C — Footer and technical hygiene
What few agencies check — and yet it undoes the work done at the top of the page.
Point 13
Footer and freshness
Does your footer show the current year, or a date that says 'abandoned site'?
Leak: a 'Copyright 2018' (or worse) at the bottom of the page.
Target: a clean footer that repeats your anchor story and shows the current year.
Point 14
Technical hygiene: console and speed
Opening the dev console (F12 → Console), do you see errors in red?
Leak: JavaScript errors piling up, a slow-loading page.
Target: zero red errors in console, fast loading (under 3 seconds).
Point 15
Mobile rendering
Open your home page on your phone: are the hero, the valuation CTA, and the form as clear as on desktop?
Leak: a site designed for desktop only.
Target: a home page that stays readable and actionable on mobile — visible promise, thumb-reachable CTA, easy-to-fill form.
Your score
Count the points where the “target” state is met.
- 0 to 5 — Your site is scaring off your sellers. The potential is intact, the storefront is sabotaging it. Start with points 1 to 4.
- 6 to 10 — You have a foundation, but you're losing leads on details. Often fixable in a week.
- 11 to 15 — Your site is working for you. Time to optimize and measure, not repair.
An honest note on results:this grid doesn't work miracles. For this type of redesign, the targets I aim for are roughly a -40% bounce rate, 3x more valuation requests, and a 4-6% conversion rate— targets, not guarantees. A website doesn't replace a good agency, it just stops sabotaging it.
What's next?
The checklist stops at diagnosis — the guide closes the leaks
The complete guide is out: “Rebuilding a real estate agency website that converts” — the method laid out section by section, from hero to valuation form. One-time purchase ($49), on Gumroad — never a subscription.
About the “pay what you want” price:this checklist is available for free. It has the same value at $0 as at $10 — it's the real grid I use on every agency. If it helps you spot even one leak that was costing you leads, take it, use it: that's already why it exists.
Hamza Benjaaba
Web designer and no-code developer, specialized in websites for real estate agencies and local service businesses. I audit every site with this 15-point grid, console open, before writing a single line of design. This checklist is the one I used to tear down, and then rebuild, the Club Immobilier website.