Presenting the face of your building to the public is more about clicks than bricks. Consider your property website the front door for current and prospective tenants. Just like the physical space, it should be branded, easy to navigate, professional and just a little sparkly. And visitors shouldn’t have to ask for directions.

As a community information space for building tenants and a marketing face for prospective tenants, your site is a critical component of your business – it’s design and functionality should reflect that!

Here are five features to kick it up a notch:

1. Get Snap Happy–

You know what a picture’s worth, feature a compelling photo display. Photos usually make the first impression for a visitor so make sure they’re up-to-date, professional, and obviously flattering (no bleak, dimly lit hallway shot with sad flora).

Just as important as the photos themselves is how you display them. Make research easy and visually appealing with multiple albums and a sleek photo gallery that’s hard not to navigate.

2. Show the Location, Location, Location

–Include a maps feature, such as the Google Maps API, to provide directions and area information. Create interactive maps to show the neighborhood, local transportation options and nearby points of interest.

3. Make Information a One Stop Shop

Tenants and vendors should be able to visit the website to find and access all the following:

• Building and community information
• Forms, policies and procedures
• Service requests
• Visitor access requests
• Tenant Handbook

Your tenants operate online, and so should your building. Cut the need for paper-based documents and communication wherever possible by integrating online form submission for maintenance actions, parking permits, overtime HVAC requests, etc.

4. Ready, Set, Privacy!

The privacy of the above information should be configurable. Perhaps you don’t want your Tenant Handbook to be public facing, but only accessible by tenants. Choose what information is available to the public and what will sit behind a login.

5. Integrrrrreat! Tenant Portal

Don’t take your tenants to Narnia when they try to make a request on your property website. Provide an entry point to a private tenant portal that is seamless, not jolting. They shouldn’t feel like they’re being transported to a different website to access a Work Order system and other external information. Integrate the site with your property management platform to keep the branding and user experience consistent.

A modern property website with form and function offers property managers and owners a huge competitive advantage. Allow tenants to access building information, fill out forms, grant visitor access and more, all from one central point – and market that! If you can accomplish all that and incorporate modern design and features, well that would be a website for sore eyes!