I think anytime that this question gets asked, you are going to find a lot of different opinions. The things that you need to start with are looking at what your goals are with your website. Are you looking to dominate the search engines? Are you looking for a site that is for the clients that get your business card? Are you looking to list all your homes for sale on your site as well? There are many different options that will allow you one or the other. I personally myself prefer wordpress when it comes to realtors, because there are some great plugins available, and once you get the hang of it, you can do it on your own.

It depends on several factors.

What is your budget?
How hands on are you?
What is your technical skill level?

People often warn against getting a site built on aesthetics alone (as though an SEO friendly site couldn't look good as well) which is good advice.

Most people 'get' that their website should do more than just look pretty. These same people advise building a website that gets traffic. Good idea but incomplete.

Getting a website that brings traffic is like opening a store in a good location. It helps but you'll still starve if you can't sell.

The third pillar to the equation is conversion. Your website not only needs to draw visitors but it needs to get a good percentage of those visitors to raise their hand and say they are interested in your services. That doesn't mean that they will sign an agreement today; what it does mean is that they are interested in what you have to say and if you don't screw it up they'll work with you when the time comes.

Everybody talks about 'their website'. Expand your thinking. What if you had 5 websites? 1 for buyers, 1 for sellers, 1 for investors, 1 for your community and 1 specializing in condos? These are all hypothetical of course and depend upon your goals.

Use your sites to become perceived experts in a number of specialties and you'll find they get more visitors and more importantly convert more visitors into genuine leads (if you do it right).

Sorry if I am rambling; it's just that everybody talks about traffic to the site but very few agents know what to do with the traffic they get.

Zach,

I work for an Oklahoma Based Website Company called Geek Storage. We specialize in website hosting, website design and development, mobile website development, mobile app development for the iPhone, iPad, and Android mobile devices, and website maintenance.

Check us out at: www.geekstorage.com

I'd love to have the opportunity to talk with you more in detail about working on a project for you!