What to put on a realtor website for referred clients

If you're working out what to put on a realtor website, start with the person who already has your name. A friend said "call Dana, she was great with us," and before calling, they look you up. On your site they want to know whether you're the person their friend meant, whether you'll understand their situation, whether you're good at the job, what other people say, and how to reach you without getting a hard sell. Listings come after all that. The 12 things below go in that order.

That person is a big share of your business. In NAR's 2025 Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends report, 40% of buyers found their agent through a friend, neighbor or relative, and so did 38% of sellers. Two in three sellers (66%) either used a referral or went back to an agent they'd worked with before. And according to NAR's 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 88% of buyers and 91% of sellers used an agent at all.

A lot of agent websites are built for someone browsing homes: the home page is a search bar and the agent is a thumbnail in the corner. The referred client got your name from somebody they trust, and on their phone they'll decide whether to call you or ask the friend for a second name.

"Is this the person my friend meant?"

The first screen has one job: confirm the name. Plenty of agents share a first name, and a few share a last name with someone at the next brokerage over.

1. A real, recent photo of you

Use a photo that looks like you do now. If you've changed your hair since your last headshot, take a new one, because the friend described the current you.

2. Your name the way people say it

If everyone calls you Kate, put Kate. Add your brokerage right under it, because the friend might have said "the one at Summit Realty." Most states want the brokerage name on agent advertising, and many want a license number, so check your brokerage's advertising rules before you publish.

3. Where you work, by name

List the towns, counties or parts of the metro you cover, using the names locals use.

Describe the area you serve and leave out who you think it suits. Lines like "great for families" or "a safe neighborhood" are the kind of wording fair housing guidance warns agents about, on your site and in your bio.

4. A short story

Three or four sentences, in first person. Here's an example for a fictional agent: "I grew up off Route 9 and sold restaurant equipment for eight years before I got my license. I still answer my own phone. Most of my clients are people I met through someone else."

Write it like you'd say it at a cookout. There's a full walkthrough in how to write a realtor bio people actually read.

"Will they get me?"

Once the name checks out, the visitor wants to know if you handle people like them. They're looking for their own situation in your words.

5. Who you work with

Name the situations you handle, such as first-time buyers or sellers of an inherited house, and write a line or two on each about what you do for them. For the inherited house, maybe you know the cleanout crews and probate attorneys people use locally.

Keep this to your services and the client's situation. "I help first-time buyers understand every step" is fine. Anything about who a neighborhood suits is not.

6. How you communicate

Referred clients often ask the friend what you're like to work with. Say how you like to be reached and how fast you usually reply. If you don't answer texts during showings, say when you do.

"Do they know what they're doing?"

When NAR asked buyers what mattered most in choosing an agent, experience came first, followed by honesty and trustworthiness (same Generational Trends report). Your site can show both at once by being specific.

7. Recent sales, with dates

A short list of homes you've helped buy or sell in the last year or two: street or area, buyer side or listing side, and the month it closed. Dates matter because a "sold" list with no dates could be from 2015.

Only use numbers you can back up. If you put a total sales volume or an average days on market on the page, it should come from your MLS records, and you should know which time period it covers.

8. Credentials, said plainly

License type, years licensed, designations you hold, and any languages you work in. One line each. Spell out what an abbreviation means the first time; a referred seller won't know what three letters after your name stand for.

"What do other people say?"

The referred client already has one review: their friend's. Now they want to see that it wasn't a one-off.

9. Real reviews, with names and context

Pull a few real reviews onto the page with the client's first name and what you did for them ("helped us sell my mother's house in Oakwood"), and link each one back to where it was posted. Check the platform's rules for reusing reviews, and ask the client before you quote them.

A screenshot of a five-star rating doesn't say who wrote it. Never write a review yourself or tidy one up.

"How do I reach them without a sales pitch?"

The visitor is ready to get in touch, but a lot of people would rather send a text than make a phone call to someone they've never met, so make the first step small.

10. A text button, and a call button

Put Text and Call buttons where a thumb can reach them on any screen. A lot of referred buyers will text first ("Hi, Maria gave me your name, we're thinking about spring"). If your form signs people up for text follow-ups, add a plain consent sentence above the send button and run the wording past your broker.

11. A home value request

Sellers in your referral pool usually start by asking what their house is worth. Give them a short form for the address and a rough timeline, and say who answers it and when ("I'll send you a range from recent sales nearby within a day"). Someone who got your name from a friend doesn't want a ten-email sequence for asking one question.

Then the listings: where IDX fits

12. Listings and search, one tap down

Some buyers will still browse. If your brokerage or an IDX provider gives you a search tool, put it on the site one tap below the sections about you. If you have your own listings, a "current listings" strip with a photo, price and a line in your own words is enough.

FAQ

Do I need IDX on my website?

It helps if your buyers like to browse, and many brokerages and IDX providers offer a search you can embed. A referred client usually isn't there to search, so keep it below the sections about you. Without IDX, a short list of your current listings and a link to your brokerage search is fine.

Can I put my Zillow or Google reviews on my own site?

Many agents do, copying them word for word, naming the source and linking to it. Check the platform's current rules first, and ask the client before using their name.

Isn't my brokerage profile page enough?

For some agents it is, at least for now. The trade-offs, including what happens to that page when you change brokerages, are in do realtors need their own website?

What if I'm new and don't have sales yet?

Put more weight on items 1 to 6 and on reviews from people you've helped in other ways. Show the sales you worked on with a team, and say they were team deals. Leave the "recent sales" list off until you have real ones.

The short version: what to put on a realtor website

Open your site on your phone and pretend a friend just gave you your own name. Go top to bottom: could a stranger tell it's you, who you help and how you work, then find your recent sales and reviews, and send you a text or a home value request in one tap? Anything you had to hunt for, a referred client had to hunt for too. Start with the first screen, since that's where they decide whether to keep reading.

If you'd like a second opinion on your current site, the free site check scores it.

If you'd rather not build it yourself, we build and look after real estate agent websites laid out this way: you first, then who you help, real reviews and a home value request that comes only to you. It's $99 to start, refunded if you pass on the preview, and $399 all in at our founding price for the first 25 clients. Hosting is $99 a month. Here's Hollis & Son, one of our sample designs for fictional businesses.