Brokerage website vs your own
Your brokerage page or your own website?
Should you make a website as a real estate agent when your brokerage already gives you a free profile page? Here's what that page can't do, what your own real estate website adds, and when it's worth it.
We'll look at your market and goals, then recommend what fits.
3x Web Excellence Award winner
What your brokerage page does well
A free, compliant start.
Most brokerages give every agent a profile page on the brokerage site at no cost. It carries the brokerage's name and search traffic, is set up to meet advertising rules, and often has listing search built in. For a new agent, it's a sensible first page.
- Free with your brokerage
- Backed by the brokerage's name and traffic
- Set up to follow advertising rules
- Often includes listing search
Side by side
Your brokerage page compared with your own website.
What's typical. Every brokerage sets its own policies, so check yours.
| Your brokerage page | Your own website | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Usually free with your brokerage. | A one-time project price, paid in full or spread over monthly payments. |
| Who owns it | Your brokerage. | You do: the site, the domain, the content and the leads. |
| If you change brokerages | It usually goes away, along with its address. | It moves with you. Only the brokerage name on it changes. |
| Design | The brokerage's template, the same for every agent. | Designed for your brand and your market. |
| Your listings | Listed alongside the brokerage's inventory. | Each listing gets its own marketing page you can show sellers. |
| Leads | Depends on how your brokerage routes inquiries. | Every request comes straight to you. |
| Search | Builds the brokerage's search presence. | Area guides and articles build yours. |
A general comparison, not a description of any one brokerage. Check your own brokerage's policies.
Where a site you own differs
Your brokerage page belongs to your brokerage.
A profile page builds the brokerage's brand first and yours second, and it looks like every other agent's page beside it. Your own site is the one place online that is only about you.
You own it
Change brokerages and your site, your domain, your content and your leads come with you. Your brand never starts over.
Custom, not a template
Designed from scratch for your brand and built to do what you need, from a listing page to a full lead tool. Nobody in your market has the same site.
Built to win listings
Each of your listings gets its own page with gallery, tours, facts, schools, map and open houses. It's the page you show sellers in a listing presentation.
Built on SEO best practices
Fast pages, clean structure and structured data on every page, plus area guides and articles that only your site has.
Designed to convert
Home value requests, showing requests and clear paths for buyers and sellers, with every lead sent straight to you.
Questions
Do you need your own real estate website?
Should I make a website as a real estate agent?
Yes, if you plan to build a business beyond your brokerage's leads. Your own website is the one place sellers and buyers can check you out that you control and keep, whatever brokerage you're with. A brokerage page is a good start, not a substitute.
Do I need my own website if my brokerage gives me one?
You don't need one to start. You need one when you want sellers to choose you for you: your listings, your solds, your neighborhoods and your reviews, on a site that stays yours if you move.
What happens to my brokerage page if I change brokerages?
It usually goes away with the job, along with the address people knew you by. Policies vary, so check your own brokerage's terms. A website on your own domain moves with you.
Can my own website follow my brokerage's rules?
Yes. Agent sites must show the brokerage name and follow your state's advertising rules. We build for that, and you confirm your state's and brokerage's requirements.
How much does a custom real estate website cost?
A custom site is a one-time project price, which you can pay in full or spread over monthly payments. The Price Guide shows where each package starts and what it includes.
Ready for a website that moves with you?
Book a strategy call. We'll look at your market and your brokerage's rules, and tell you what your own site should include.
3x Web Excellence Award winner