--- title: "Do Estate Agents Need a Website If Rightmove Gets Buyers?" description: "Rightmove and Zoopla bring the buyers. Real 2025 data on what sellers actually check before they pick an agent, and what your own site needs to show." canonical: https://buildmydigital.co.uk/blog/do-estate-agents-need-a-website-if-rightmove-gets-buyers/ --- Rightmove and Zoopla bring the buyers. Real 2025 data on what sellers actually check before they pick an agent, and what your own site needs to show. Source: https://buildmydigital.co.uk/blog/do-estate-agents-need-a-website-if-rightmove-gets-buyers/ [Home](https://buildmydigital.co.uk/) · [Blog](https://buildmydigital.co.uk/blog/) # Do Estate Agents Need a Website If Rightmove Gets Buyers? 14 September 2026 · Build My Digital The short answer: yes, but not for the reason most agents assume. Rightmove and Zoopla already have the buyers, far more of them than any agent's own site will pull in on its own. What the portals don't decide is which agent gets the instruction. [Zoopla's own 2025 research](https://www.zoopla.co.uk/discover/selling/what-really-matters-when-choosing-an-estate-agent-in-2025/), run with YouGov and Opinium, found local presence and reputation beat price as the reason sellers pick one agent over another. Zoopla's own advice to sellers, separately, is to get valuations from at least three agents before choosing. Every agent on that shortlist gets looked up individually. We build [estate agent websites](https://buildmydigital.co.uk/estate-agents/), and the objection we hear most is some version of "the portal does my marketing, why do I need my own site." **Key takeaways** - Zoopla's own 2025 research with YouGov and Opinium found **20% of sellers** picked their agent because that agent was already selling other homes nearby, and **13%** because the agent was well known locally. - **30% of sellers** used an agent they'd used before, and **14%** used one recommended by family or friends. Reputation decided the sale for nearly half, not portal traffic. - [Zoopla itself advises sellers](https://www.zoopla.co.uk/find-agents/) to get "at least three estate agent valuations" before choosing. Whichever three make that shortlist get checked individually. - Rightmove and Zoopla sell the house to the buyer. Your own site's job is winning the seller's instruction, a different sale entirely. - Our prices: the website is free and £39 a month keeps it online, service pages £89 each, Google Business Profile setup £179. ## What the portals do, and what they don't Rightmove and Zoopla are where a buyer searches for a three-bed semi in a postcode. Your listing sits next to every other agent's, same layout, same size, your logo shown small if at all. That's the portals' job and they're very good at it: reaching people who are already looking to buy. What a portal listing was never built to do is help a seller compare agents. A seller doesn't go to Rightmove to decide who should sell their house. They go there once they've already chosen someone, to watch their own listing appear. The decision that gets you the instruction in the first place happens somewhere else, before the property is ever listed. ## What sellers are actually choosing on Zoopla's 2025 research is useful here because it's the portal itself telling agents what actually moves the decision, and it isn't the fee. Local presence topped the list: 20% of sellers said the main reason they picked an agent was that the agent was already selling other homes nearby. Another 13% chose an agent well known locally for their expertise and experience. Word of mouth mattered too: 30% went with an agent they'd used before, and 14% went with one a friend or family member recommended. There's a mismatch worth noting. When Zoopla asked estate agents the same question, 11% said negotiation skills would win the sale and another 11% said mortgage and financial advice. Sellers ranked both lower than local presence and reputation. If your own site leads with "expert negotiators" instead of showing the homes you've actually sold three streets away, it's answering a question sellers aren't asking first. As Zoopla's own summary of the research put it, "it really is about building trust with vendors from the outset, not just promoting low fees." ## Where your website actually matters: the shortlist Zoopla recommends sellers get "at least three estate agent valuations" before instructing anyone. That's the moment a website earns its keep. Not driving buyer traffic, the portals already own that, but tipping the decision once a seller has narrowed the field to three names and starts checking each one out. What they're checking for lines up with the research: proof you're already active in their street or postcode, reviews and a track record they can verify. They're also weighing up how you work, looking for enough to feel like a safer bet than the other two agents on the shortlist. A site that only repeats "call us for a free valuation" doesn't answer any of that. ## What an estate agent's own website needs to show - **A local sold and listed record for the area**, not a generic "we cover the whole region" claim. This is the single factor sellers ranked highest. - **Reviews and reputation up front**, since word of mouth and repeat business between them decided the sale for close to half the sellers in the research. - **A valuation request that takes a minute**, because the seller getting three valuations is comparing how each agent handles that first contact, not just the number they quote. - **Who actually sells the home**, names and experience, answering the "well known locally" factor rather than a generic team photo. - **Which redress scheme you belong to**, because [every UK estate agent handling residential property is legally required to join one](https://www.gov.uk/redress-scheme-estate-agencies), The Property Ombudsman or the Property Redress Scheme, with fines up to £5,000 for not doing so. It should be findable on your site, not just on request. ## What it costs to have this ready Real prices, same as everywhere on our site. | What's missing | What fixes it | Price | | No local sold record visible, or no website at all | Website, free with Starter | £39 a month | | Lettings, valuations or land listed but no dedicated pages | Extra service pages | £89 each | | Thin or scattered reviews | [Google Business Profile setup](https://buildmydigital.co.uk/google-business-profile/) | £179 | | Valuation requests go to a contact form nobody checks fast | [Funnels and follow-up](https://buildmydigital.co.uk/funnels/) | from £199 | | Site is fine but a few sections need rebuilding | [Website rescue](https://buildmydigital.co.uk/website-rescue/) | £449 | Half up front, half at launch, and the site is yours. Run your current site through our free scanner at [buildmydigital.co.uk/scan](https://buildmydigital.co.uk/scan/). It checks the trust, content and technical basics, including whether your local track record and reviews are actually visible, and takes about a minute with no email required. See [every price](https://buildmydigital.co.uk/pricing/) before you talk to anyone. ## Common questions ### If Rightmove and Zoopla already bring the buyers, why do I need a website? Because the portals decide which properties a buyer sees, not which agent a seller instructs. Zoopla's own 2025 research found local presence and reputation, not portal visibility, are what actually win sellers over. Your own site is where that case gets made. ### What should an estate agent's own website actually show? A local sold and listed record, reviews and reputation, a fast valuation request, and the people who'll actually handle the sale. Zoopla's data shows those four things map directly onto what sellers said mattered: local presence (20%), reputation and repeat business (44% combined), and expertise (13%). ### How many valuations does a seller typically get before choosing an agent? Zoopla itself recommends at least three. That means most instructions are won on a shortlist, against named competitors, with the seller checking each one before deciding. ### What does fixing the gaps cost? The website is free and £39 a month keeps it online, extra service pages are £89 each, and a Google Business Profile setup is £179. Every number is on the [price list](https://buildmydigital.co.uk/pricing/), same as everyone else pays. Want the version of this with your name on it? Run the free scan on your current site, 50-plus checks including AI search, no charge, or ask for your free website: we build it first, then the systems that get you booked. £39 a month keeps it online once it’s live, and there is no obligation either way. ## Get your website, free. Tell us your business name and town. We’ll send back a scan of your current web presence and a preview of your site. The build costs nothing, and you don’t have to book a call to get it. Open Monday to Friday, 7am to 10pm. Calls and WhatsApp answered same day, emails within one working day. Or [book a callback](https://buildmydigital.co.uk/book/) at a time that suits you. Find us on