Did you know that mobile device users are 5 times more likely to abandon a website if it’s not optimized and mobile-friendly?
Having a mobile-first design isn’t just a passing trend anymore; it’s a popular way for renters to experience an apartment website.
With more than 70% of renters browsing listings, comparing floor plans, and scheduling tours from their phones, it’s clear the importance of a good mobile website.
Despite all of this, a lot of apartment realtors treat mobile as an afterthought and then are surprised when their website isn’t growing as they expect it to.
A solid mobile-first web design strategy ensures that every aspect of your apartment website feels fast, frictionless, and renter-friendly.
Below we’ll go through 25 mobile-first web design tips for apartment sites and explain why you should use them and why you should care in the first place.
Trying to optimize your apartment website but don’t know where to start? Let us help.
Our Top 25 Mobile-First Web Design Tips for Apartment Sites
This list is in no particular order. All of these tips should be considered when creating or rebuilding your apartment website.
You should implement every actionable tip as soon as you can.
1. Speed Above Everything
While most people might think that the most important part of a website is how it looks, the reality is that speed is the most important aspect.
Visitors nowadays expect a website to load almost instantly, and every second of a website not loading only increases the odds they leave.
With so many websites offering similar services, especially in the real estate industry, visitors don’t have to wait to get what they want.
Compress all of your images into a modern format such as WebP, make sure your code is clean, and remove any unnecessary third-party scripts.
2. Mobile-First Navigation
We usually see apartment websites that rely on gigantic desktop menus that don’t look good on phones.
On mobile, navigation should be simple, intuitive, and not cluttered.
Only include essential pages such as floor plans, amenities, photos, location, and scheduling a tour.
Make sure you’re hiding any long submenus and double-check that your icons are as clear and easy to read as possible.
3. Make Your Phone Number Easy to Access
Potential renters searching on mobile want an easy way to communicate with you. A simple and effective way to do this is by having a fixed header with a click-to-call button that they can always access.
But you don’t have to stop there; make sure to add your phone number in other areas such as the webpage footer and in apartment renting sections.
Three is more than enough for a page, especially when you have a fixed header.
More than three might make visitors annoyed with your number constantly showing up when they’re trying to learn more about an apartment.
4. Big CTAs
On a phone, small CTAs can easily get lost. Every conversion button should be big enough that a visitor can easily spot it, read it, and tap it in one go.
If your CTAs require several taps to get in due to size, then you have to make them bigger. Place buttons in the center and close to the bottom of the screen to make it easier to access.
While having CTAs up high seems intuitive due to demanding attention, it also makes it harder to reach.
With phones getting bigger and bigger nowadays, it is important for your website to facilitate access to all a visitor needs.
5. Optimize for One-Handed Scrolling
Renters might be looking for a new apartment while commuting, walking, multitasking, or waiting in line.
Design your mobile-first website in a way that makes it so anyone can do anything with one hand.
Sticky headers, floating CTAs at the bottom, and simple forms all help renters do what they want without having to do any finger gymnastics.
6. Responsive, High-Quality Photos
Photos sell apartments, but they have to be well taken if you want them to sell the apartment.
There is a big issue, though: oversized and full-quality images destroy mobile web speed, and low-quality images look blurry and unprofessional.
The ideal fix for this is using responsive images that adjust automatically to screen size, which ensures that the visitor always sees crisp, well-scaled visuals with zero lag.
This also helps keep galleries clean, swipeable, and simple to navigate on mobile.
Explore how we reduced Blue Fin Group’s bounce rate by 16.7% with a brand-new web design in our latest case study.
7. Vertical Layouts Over Horizontal Ones
Mobile web design should always follow a vertical flow.
While apartment desktop websites generally rely on horizontal or multi-column formats, they translate poorly on mobile and small screens.
What might look amazing on your laptop might look weird and small on mobile.
The fastest solution to this is to stack sections vertically and create linear pathways that guide renters through each step in a simple way.
8. Virtual Tours
Virtual tours and 360 walk-throughs are becoming more and more popular as the technology becomes more accessible.
The biggest issue virtual tours face nowadays is the load times on phones.
This means that you’ll need to compress them, place them behind a “tap to load” button, or break them into segments.
Renters should be able to experience virtual tours of the apartment they are interested in without getting frustrated due to loading times.
9. Make Floor Plans Mobile-Friendly
Floor plans are generally the number one deciding factor for renters, yet most apartment websites make them small, blurry, and difficult to interact with on mobile devices.
Make use of pinch-to-zoom functionality, allow for full-screen toggle, and make pricing, availability, and Apply Now features easy to access.
When designers create floor plans with mobile devices in mind, those apartment websites will see how their conversions improve.
10. Simple Forms
Mobile visitors will most likely abandon a website if long forms greet them as soon as they enter.
Only ask for simple and basic information, such as name, phone number, email address, and preferred tour type. Make good use of features such as auto-fill, large input fields, and minimal drop-downs.
A form that is easy to go through and doesn’t ask for too much information can easily double the number of booked tours and inquiries.
11. Improve Readability
Small text is the second biggest reason why mobile users bounce.
Make use of font sizes (16px minimum), strong contrast, generous spacing, and clean typefaces.
And avoid creating walls of text with multiple paragraphs that force people to scroll down to keep reading.
Instead, make use of bold lettering and break up paragraphs into smaller sentences that make scanning through the content much easier.
Renters shouldn’t have to struggle to skim through content; instead, it should feel seamless and easy to read.
12. Make Leasing Buttons Visible
Don’t force visitors to find the “Check Availability” or “Apply Now” button; instead, make it easy and intuitive for them to find it.
On mobile devices, the most effective apartment websites make use of sticky CTAs that follow the user as they explore the apartment page.
The easier and more accessible it is to take action, the more likely visitors will consider planning a tour or an application.
13. Make a Simple Amenities Page
Apartment amenities are a top priority for most renters, as they want to know what they are getting when renting their new apartment.
That being said, renters want to avoid going through a massive list or a wall of text to find out what those amenities are.
Instead, use icons, short headers, quick descriptions, and collapsible sections that fit different themes (fitness, outdoors, pet-friendly).
This lets renters evaluate whether the property and amenities fit their lifestyle or if they have to find somewhere else to go.
14. Double-Check Your Location Section
Renters should easily find the location of the apartments they are interested in.
Maps and a long list of attractions are great for desktop users, but they are hard to use and see on mobile.
Instead, you should be using a lightweight, responsive map embed that adjusts to the devices renters are using.
Don’t make an extensive list of things to do nearby; instead, make a short list of the most important places nearby, such as transit, parks, shopping, and dining.
And of course, you can’t forget to add a simple “Get Directions” button.
This turns your location section into a selling tool rather than the complicated section that most visitors skip.
15. Simplify the Header and Footer
Headers and footers can become cluttered in little to no time, especially with apartment sites and CTAs.
Too many links, too much text, or too many CTAs can distract renters in the long run.
On mobile, these sections should be reduced to only those things that help with conversions.
Headers should only have your logo, a simple dropdown menu, and a phone or CTA that someone can quickly tap on.
For footers, you should only add contact info, hours available, social links, and all of the required legal information or resident portal links.
This makes your apartment website look and feel modern and sleek.
16. Smart Content Prioritization
Attention spans are lower on mobile devices. Renters won’t bother spending time hunting for the content they care about.
This means that you need to prioritize high-intent content as close to the top of the page as possible.
These include things such as:
- Photos.
- Floor plans.
- Amenities.
- Pricing.
- Tour options.
Secondary content like your blog, community events, or in-depth neighborhood descriptions should appear lower on the page.
This ensures that any visitor skimming through the page encounters the important information that drives conversions first.
17. Touch-Friendly Interactive Elements
Every single tap, swipe, or scroll should be effortless and lag-free on your website. Small sliders, thin buttons, and hard-to-click links can all lead to visitors leaving out of frustration.
You should always check that your buttons have enough padding on the sides to avoid visitors tapping something they don’t want to.
Sliders should be sensitive to swipes so they feel natural to use.
All icons that take visitors to another page should be big enough to tap on in one go. Last but not least, every menu dropdown should open smoothly and with no lag.
Having a touch-friendly design increases engagement and reduces mistaps, which improves the experience of any visitor using your website.
18. Mobile-First Animations and Transitions
Animations can help keep the attention of visitors while also making your apartment website feel modern and polished.
But when used too much, they can severely slow down a page, especially on mobile devices.
Mobile-first animations should be subtle and tasteful, mainly focusing on enhancing the user experience without adding unnecessary load.
Fade-ins, slide-ups, and micro-interactions help guide a visitor’s attention without overwhelming them.
You should also avoid transitions such as parallax effects. While they look great and add a sense of depth to your website, they can cause excessive strain on mobile browsers.
19. Scroll-Friendly Page Structures
Mobile renters generally scroll quickly because they are trying to find the exact apartment they are looking for.
This means that if your apartment website isn’t structured in a way that makes sense while scrolling down, then it might confuse people looking for a specific thing.
A scroll-friendly layout uses clear section breaks to showcase where visitors are, strong headlines, balanced spacing, and a logical content progression.
While counterintuitive, having a good structure on your website significantly increases content consumption.
This is because visitors can find what they are looking for without having to navigate through multiple pages.
Learn how we increased CBS Rentals’ conversions by 14.1% with a new web design in our most recent case study.
20. Smart Internal Linking
Small internal text links are very powerful on mobile since they allow renters to jump to relevant pages without having to go through menus.
Internal links such as “See all floor plans,” “View amenities list,” or “Book a tour now” should all be added seamlessly into your copy.
These internal links all support a visitor’s natural flow of exploration and can help them navigate toward the conversion funnel.
21. Better Mobile SEO for Apartment Searches
Mobile search behavior is generally locally focused and intent-driven, which means that renters will usually search for terms such as “apartments near me,” “pet-friendly apartments,” or “2-bedroom availability now.”
To rank well, you need to optimize several things:
- Page titles
- Meta descriptions
- Schema markup
- Local SEO elements
- Page load speed
- Mobile-friendly content structure
A strong mobile SEO strategy ensures that your website and listings appear as soon as renters start searching for a new apartment to rent nearby.
22. Make Photos and Videos Load Lazy
Lazy loading basically means that images and videos only load if the visitor scrolls to that area of the page.
This improves initial load speed drastically and can lead to boosted rankings, lower bounce rates, and an overall improved user experience.
For apartment websites, lazy loading is vital since galleries and amenity sections often contain dozens of high-quality visuals.
Lazy loading is a great way to let visitors see key content fast without having to wait longer than it usually would if the page had to load completely.
23. Use Clean, Modern, Scrollable Photo Galleries
A swipeable gallery is a great way to easily showcase parts of an apartment to potential renters.
This saves visitors time by allowing them to see all of the important images they care about in quick succession.
While there are several options when it comes to using photo galleries, we generally recommend the following ideas and settings:
- Full-width images
- Swipe-friendly interactions
- Clear captions
- Logical photo sequencing
Your gallery should help potential renters consider the apartment they are looking at by helping them imagine their lives in the space.
24. Test on Real Mobile Devices
While using emulators is great due to convenience and speed, it doesn’t compare to testing on an actual mobile device. Not to mention that emulators only approximate the mobile experience.
When testing, we recommend using an iPhone, two different Android devices, and multiple browser types.
This will help you find out and catch any mistakes on your mobile device, such as slow scripts, UI misalignments, or some buttons that are difficult to tap. Emulators are amazing, but they still haven’t replaced true device testing.
25. Optimize Based on Renter Behavior
Mobile-first optimization is a process that never ends. Renters’ habits evolve, the market changes, search trends shift, and even new UX patterns emerge.
When thinking of what and how to optimize, you should first look at metrics and analytics, such as:
- Heatmaps of your website pages
- Scroll depth reports
- Google Analytics
- Form drop-off points
- CTA engagement
- Page speed audits
Small consistent changes can all add up after some time, which creates a higher-performing website over time.
Get a Custom Mobile-First Apartment Website That Converts With Blacksmith
After going through this list of 25 mobile-first web design tips for apartment sites, you might have noticed that most, if not all, of the changes and tips require you to change a good part of your website to properly implement said strategies.
A project where you restructure and apply most of these tips to your apartment website can take a week to complete, let alone to maintain.
This is time you could be using on other aspects of your business, so what now?
That’s where we come in. Blacksmith is a professional web design agency with a group of seasoned web designers and developers ready to create the perfect apartment website for you.
From applying all of the tips in this article to niche and specific ones tailored to your website, we’ll ensure that your site stands out from the competition.
Still unsure if a new apartment website is what your brand needs to grow? Don’t worry, click here to schedule a call with us and we’ll provide you with a free brand and website audit.
This way, we can show you how your website compares to your competitors, which website areas in particular need help the most, and what we can do to help.
