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WordPress is a remarkable tool with lots of options to help with design, SEO, performance, security, etc. You don\u2019t need most of these features at a deep level but you should have a basic understanding of what they do.<\/p>\n
In this list we cover all of the WordPress features you need to know to get your real estate website<\/a> ready to launch.<\/p>\n Make sure the Yoast SEO Plugin<\/a> is installed and setup. The pages should have a unique title, meta description, and keywords.<\/p>\n Now, let\u2019s give your content that extra edge. Incorporate AI-based SEO tools like HubSpots Breeze<\/a>. These aren\u2019t your everyday tools; they harness AI to dive deep into your content, making sure it speaks the language of both your audience and search engines. They\u2019ll sift through your words, suggest enhancements, and ensure every page and post is primed to rank. Think of them as your SEO coaches, guiding your content to the top of the search results.<\/p>\n Make sure the permalinks are configured<\/a> in a way that is logical to visitors and benefit Google indexing.<\/p>\n Make a pass through your plugins and theme builder tools to see if there are any unnecessary or redundant items. If you\u2019ve installed any plugins to test out and don\u2019t end of using them make sure they get deleted. The same goes for extra themes. Not only do they take up unnecessary space they will require updating regularly, even if they are inactive.<\/p>\n But let\u2019s not stop there. It\u2019s time to bolster your site\u2019s defenses. Enhance your website\u2019s security by integrating AI-driven security plugins such as Wordfence or Sucuri. These aren\u2019t your run-of-the-mill security solutions; they\u2019re powered by machine learning, constantly evolving to outsmart the latest threats. They\u2019re like having a digital security guard that never sleeps, always there to protect your real estate haven from unwanted intruders.<\/p>\n Pro Tip:<\/strong> It\u2019s a good idea to keep a spare inactive theme like \u2018Twenty Twenty-Four<\/a>\u2018 installed in case you need to deactivate your theme for any reason.<\/p>\n Pro Tip:<\/strong> Some premium themes like Avada<\/a> and Divi come with lots of great design tools built in. Many of these tools never get used and can potentially affect your site speed. Fortunately you can remove them. Check the list when you are done and take out anything not being used. Avada even comes with a nifty Performance Wizard that walks you through the process in minutes.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Make sure the time-zone is set correctly for scheduling updates. Go to Settings > General and look for the Timezone dropdown menu.<\/p>\n Add a custom 404 page that will redirect users back to your site should they encounter a broken link. Without it the visitor encounters a dead end and they leave your site.<\/p>\n Clean up any page redirections and avoid 404 errors. If you are rebuilding or making significant changes to a site you may need to include a plugin to manage the 301 redirects. A great option for this is a plugin simply called \u2018Redirection<\/a>\u2018. It\u2019s easy to use and you\u2019ll have it all set up in no time.<\/p>\n If you have Google analytics installed make sure it\u2019s configured correctly and analyzing traffic.<\/p>\n Make sure a backup is installed. The better hosts, like WP Engine, include daily backups as part of their service. You can also include backup your site with a utility like Updraft WordPress Backup<\/a> Plugin.<\/p>\n We like WP Rocket, it\u2019s super easy to set up and will get your site humming. Check the cache options, file optimization, LazyLoad, and preloading. Make sure your site still looks the way you expect. Using LazyLoad and minifying CSS or JavaScript file in particular can cause problems on the front end.<\/p>\n Pro Tip:<\/strong> Some website hosts, like Siteground, have built in site caching plugins as part of their service. Make sure you don\u2019t have similar plugins that may cause a conflict.<\/p>\n Pro Tip:<\/strong> Use a CDN like Cloudflare. What is a CDN? A CDN, or Content Delivery Network is a geographically distributed network of servers used to distribute a websites images locally, reducing load time. Cloudflare is a popular service with a great free account option that will work fine for most real estate agents. Many premium caching plugins like WP Rocket automatically configure with Cloudflare.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Website hosts all provide some level of security built in but you can always get more. Top security plugins<\/a> for 2025 include Cloudflare, Sucuri, MalCare and Wordfence.<\/p>\n You can limit spam by disabling comments, or using the moderate option. With the moderate option you will need to approve any comments before they show up on your site, This is a great way to interact with your customers as well as keep the annoying bots out. Also, be on the lookout for pingbacks and trackbacks<\/a>. Use a plugin like Askimet\u00a0<\/a>to control the spam.<\/p>\n Pro Tip: <\/strong>When moderating comments look for the following: embedded links \u2013 in the comment section or the URL field \u2013 linking to a suspicious source, the use of keywords in place of a name, broadly worded comments that could apply to any post, and foreign language characters.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n This is included with all the better hosing services. SSL stands for Secure Layer Socket certificate and it\u2019s used to show your site is secure. The bigger browsers like Chrome will flag you if you don\u2019t have it. If it is included with your hosting service it\u2019s easy to install with the help of Really Simple SSL<\/a> . If you need help just contact your host.<\/p>\n PRO Tip:<\/strong> If your hosting service<\/a> charges extra for this certificate you may want to reconsider who you are using since it\u2019s pretty much standard these days.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n This should have been turned off while in development. When you are ready to go live go to your WordPress dashboard and select Settings > Reading, check \u2018Search Engine Visibility\u2019, and Save Changes<\/em>.<\/p>\n A sitemap<\/a> provides information about the pages, images, , videos, and other files on your website to search engine crawlers. It gives them a \u2018map\u2019 of your site allowing for better site indexing and better SEO. It helps search engines<\/a> like Google understand you so users can find you. In short, it helps your site get discovered.<\/p>\n WordPress automatically creates a sitemap but you should always check it for unwanted pages. Plugins like Yoast SEO<\/a> will also do the job for you.<\/p>\n Google checks your sitemap the first time it gets discovered, and again if notified of a change. The robots.txt file specifies the location of the sitemap. Example: \u2018Sitemap: http:\/\/example.com\/sitemap_location.xml<\/em>\u2018.<\/p>\n This is the email used to notify the site administrator of anything going on with the site. It is only necessary to change the email if the person developing the site is different that the person who will be managing it.<\/p>\n Depending on the service you are using you may have an API key. Double check and make sure the correct API key is being used. If you have wrapper pages make sure they are showing the correct header\/footer design.<\/p>\n Pro Tip:<\/strong> Double check the background cron to see what intervals it is set for. The \u2018cron\u2019 is a software utility schedules intervals for a task, in this case, your real estate listings<\/a>. Choose an interval that works for you, I usually go with a short interval like three minutes. If for some reason you find this slows your site down you can bump the number a little higher.<\/p>\n Pro Tip:<\/strong> Sometime there are conflicts between IDX services that use wrapper pages and caching plugins. IDX Broker has a great wrapper page<\/a> option but using a cache plugin can cause problems. For example; If you notice the listings aren\u2019t showing up in the wrapper page simply disable caching for the wrapper page. Caching plugins like WP Rocket offer this option on every page.<\/p>\n Pro Tip:<\/strong> If you are using IDX Broker you should consider creating a CNAME record to point your subdomain address to. IDX Broker lets you customize your subdomain address and it\u2019s easy to do, plus it has added SEO value. Check out our complete guide to ordering and optimizing IDX Broker and adding custom subdomain names.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\nInstall and Configure SEO Plugins (Yoast, RankMath, etc.)<\/h3>\n
Set Up Logical Permalinks<\/h3>\n
Remove Unused Plugins, Themes, and Tools<\/h3>\n
Secure Your Website with AI-Based Plugins<\/h3>\n
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Clean Up Drafts, Revisions, and Media Library<\/h3>\n
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Set Your Website Timezone<\/h3>\n
Create a Custom 404 Page<\/h3>\n
Set Up 301 Redirects<\/h3>\n
Install and Test Google Analytics<\/h3>\n
Configure Backup Plan<\/h3>\n
Configure Caching Plugins<\/h3>\n
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Secure Your Site<\/h3>\n
Spam<\/h4>\n
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SSL certificate<\/h4>\n
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Turn On Search Engine Indexing<\/h3>\n
Create and Submit a Sitemap<\/h3>\n
Optimize Your robots.txt File<\/h3>\n
Update the Admin Email Address<\/h3>\n
Double-Check IDX Integration and API Keys<\/h3>\n
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