How to capture and convert more leads from your website and portals

Estate agents invest heavily in attracting attention – whether through Rightmove, Zoopla, social media, or PPC campaigns. But attention means little without conversion. To grow your business effectively, you need to capture every possible opportunity, and then convert those leads into instructions, valuations or viewings.

This article explores how high-performing estate agents capture more leads from both their own websites and from property portals – and how they convert them into real business.

Why lead capture still lets most agents down

It’s easy to assume that lead generation is all about volume. But in reality, two things matter far more:

• The quality of the leads you’re capturing
• Your ability to follow up effectively once you have them

Many agents overlook fundamental issues like:

• Poor form design that frustrates users or misses data
• Weak response mechanisms that create delays or drop leads
• Lack of visibility over which channels are working

Great lead management starts long before the phone rings – it begins with smart capture.

Capturing leads from your own website

Your website should be your most valuable marketing asset – but only if it’s doing its job.

1. Make it easy for users to get in touch

Great websites have multiple, clear calls to action, such as:

• Valuation requests with postcode entry at the top of the homepage
• Viewing booking options on property detail pages
• Live chat widgets for general enquiries
• Contact forms available on every key page

These CTAs should be accessible, concise and reassuring. Too many estate agent sites hide contact forms behind layers of navigation or use forms that ask too much too soon.

2. Avoid the trap of “form fatigue”

Don’t overload your users. Long, complex forms are a major barrier to conversion. At the initial stage, only ask what’s essential:

• Name
• Contact details
• Nature of enquiry (valuation, viewing, etc)
• Property address or postcode (if known)

You can gather more data later through automation or personal follow-up. The goal at this point is to reduce friction and capture the lead.

3. Ensure your site works perfectly on mobile

A large percentage of users will access your site on a phone or tablet. That means your forms, valuation tools and booking widgets need to:

• Load quickly
• Resize properly
• Be easy to use with thumbs

Every small delay or glitch risks abandonment.

4. Track the source of each enquiry

Understanding where your leads are coming from is vital for marketing ROI. Ensure your website captures UTM parameters or source tags to show:

• Which campaigns generated the most leads
• Which forms convert best
• Which pages drive the most engagement

Leading agents use these insights to optimise their digital spend and continuously refine their website structure.

Capturing and managing portal leads effectively

Portals like Rightmove, Zoopla and OnTheMarket drive huge volumes of traffic. But portal leads present distinct challenges:

• High volume, low average quality
• Multiple agents receiving the same enquiry
• Enquiries that look like buyer interest but may hide vendor value

Here’s how top agents manage them well.

1. Use auto-responders to set the tone

Portals typically deliver leads into email inboxes or CRMs. A good automated response helps you:

• Confirm receipt immediately
• Brand the interaction professionally
• Encourage further qualification (e.g. asking if they have a property to sell)

This can also buy you time to prepare before making a personal follow-up call.

2. Qualify intelligently to reveal hidden opportunities

A large percentage of viewing enquiries come from people who also have a property to sell or let. But many agents never ask.

Great agents use:

• Short follow-up surveys
• Pre-call qualification templates
• Lead management systems that prompt questions

A viewing enquiry could easily become a valuation opportunity – if you ask the right questions.

3. Prioritise the right leads

When multiple portal leads arrive, it’s vital to sort and act fast. Lead scoring can help you:

• Flag valuation leads above viewings
• Prioritise higher-value properties
• Focus your team’s time where it matters most

Systems like Homeflow Lead Manager support this by allowing automated lead prioritisation.

4. Don’t let leads disappear into inboxes

Portal leads are often emailed directly to negotiators or shared inboxes. Without the right system:

• They go unnoticed or double-handled
• There’s no visibility of follow-up
• Opportunities are missed

A lead management platform ensures every portal lead is logged, allocated, and responded to within a defined SLA.

Converting more leads into action

Once you’ve captured the lead, the real work begins. Converting it into business depends on:

• Speed of response – ideally within 15 - 45 minutes
• Quality of follow-up – using the right message, tone and context
• Persistence – following up again if there’s no reply
• Preparation – reviewing the property, lead notes or survey responses before the call

Top agents treat every lead as if it could be the instruction that makes their month.

Final thought

Most agencies lose business not because they fail to generate leads – but because they fail to handle them properly.

By improving the way you capture and convert leads on your website and from portals, you can:

• Win more valuations
• Extract more value from each enquiry
• Make your marketing spend go further

The technology to do this already exists. What makes the difference is mindset, process – and commitment to getting it right every time.

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