Introducing listd.com.au: Redefining The Property Portal Model

For decades, property portals in Australia have followed the same playbook: aggregate listings, maximise website traffic, and sell that traffic back to agents (and their clients). Many have tried to compete by building essentially the same model.

We believe we’ve built something truly unique that goes against the grain of how property portals have worked in Australia for decades, and we’re excited to share our vision for a different kind of property portal – one that puts agents first.

Our Journey: A Decade of Digital Real Estate Research

For over a decade, we’ve been the team behind the websites of some of Australia’s leading real estate brands. Every project we build and every digital strategy we execute has taught us something new about how search engines are changing (and, more recently, AI search).

We’ve helped high-growth focused agencies and individual agents rise to dominate local search results, consistently ranking number one for searches like “real estate agents [suburb]” and “property managers [area]” – outranking even major review sites and industry portals.

These aren’t just occasional wins. Our clients regularly appear in the top positions when vendors and landlords search for local agents. We’ve achieved this by deeply understanding how Google prioritises local market authority and building websites that demonstrate this expertise.

But while our clients succeed in agent-related searches, even the strongest agency websites struggle to compete with major portals for property-specific searches. When someone searches for “houses for sale [suburb]” or a specific property address, the major portals dominate these results because they have more domain authority than your website, more listings in the area than your website has, and more traffic to their website than you do, among many other technical SEO-related reasons.

Our website clients generate over 15 million unique visitors collectively each month – 4 million more than Australia’s most visited property portal. We’ve often thought to ourselves, given how much traffic real estate websites generate individually, how can we help them benefit collectively? What if we turned the traditional portal model on its head completely?

The Real Opportunity

Here’s something you might not know: 40% of major property portal traffic comes from Google searches. This means that a significant percentage of the major portal’s traffic starts their search on Google and finishes it on major portals and other sites.

Think about that: nearly half of all portal visitors start their journey with a local property search like:

• “houses for sale in [suburb]”
• “real estate agent in [area]”
• “property manager near me”
• “apartments for rent in [location]”

Millions of Australians search Google for properties, agents, and market information in local areas – searches that should lead them directly to local experts. Instead of letting portals intercept these searches, what if we could help you intercept some of this traffic for your website instead?

Introducing listd.com.au

Listd.com.au is the first property portal purposely engineered to elevate your website on Google, helping you intercept traffic before it goes anywhere else.

While other portals focus on competing for traffic, we’re focused on one thing: helping agencies appear more prominently in Google.

Traditional portals have a simple goal: to maximise website traffic and sell advertising back to agents/vendors. Every visitor they keep on their site is a visitor who doesn’t make it to an agent’s website. Their success depends on competing with agents for online visibility.

We’ve built Listd to do exactly the opposite. Here’s our fundamental belief:

“We believe property portals should empower agents, not compete with them.”

Our success is measured by how much traffic we send away to agent websites, not how much we keep. Think of us as a digital springboard, not a destination.

How Listd Actually Works: The Technical Side Made Simple

Think of Google as a giant referral network. When respected websites link to your website, Google sees this as a vote of confidence. The more quality “votes” or links you have, the higher you tend to rank in search results.

Here’s how Listd creates a powerful network of these digital votes:

Your Listings on Listd:

• Each property listing creates a dedicated page
• Every page includes a prominent link back to your website
• These links tell Google “this agency is the authority for this property”

Two-Way Street:

• Your website links to your Listd profile
• Listd links back to your website
• This creates a strong connection that Google recognises

Network Effect:

• As more agencies join, more quality links are created
• The network becomes stronger
• Everyone’s “voting power” increases
• Google sees the entire network as more authoritative

It’s like creating a web of references, all pointing to local real estate expertise. The more interconnected this web becomes, the stronger every agency’s online presence grows.

How It Works (In Plain English)

Imagine a local coffee shop chain competing against Starbucks. Alone, each local shop struggles to appear in Google searches. But what if all local coffee shops created a network, each promoting the others? Suddenly, their collective strength helps them compete with the giant.

This is exactly what Listd does for real estate agencies:

Traditional Portals:

• Keep visitors on their website
• Rank above you in Google searches
• Charge you to reach local customers
• Compete with your website

Listd Approach:

• Sends visitors to your website
• Helps you rank higher in Google searches
• Lists your properties for free
• Strengthens your website’s presence

Benefits That Grow Over Time

The beauty of this network is that it gets stronger as more agencies join:

• More local property content
• More connections between websites
• Stronger presence in Google
• Better results for everyone

Think of it like a snowball rolling downhill – it gets bigger and more powerful as it goes.

This isn’t just about today’s Google search results – it’s about tomorrow’s AI-powered property searches. As AI tools evolve, they’re learning from current search patterns to identify local market experts. By building your digital authority now, you’re not just improving your current visibility – you’re securing your position as the go-to local expert for future AI-powered property searches.

Like in this example, where one of our website clients secured a listing from Google’s Gemini AI platform when a vendor searched “Who is the best real estate agent in Castaways Beach”.

List Your Properties on Listd

Listd is open to every real estate agency in Australia. Whether you’re:

• An independent agency
• A major franchise
• A boutique local office

You can list your properties on Listd for free and start benefiting from our network effect.

For Existing Stepps Website Clients

If we’ve built your website, you’re already part of this growing network. You’re among the first to benefit from:

• Enhanced Google rankings
• Stronger online presence
• Free property listings
• Network growth advantages

The Future of Digital for Real Estate

We see a future where:

• Agencies have more control over their digital presence
• Local expertise is easier to find online
• Marketing costs are more sustainable
• The industry works together for mutual benefit

Join the Movement

Learn more about getting your listings on Listd here.

Together, we can create a property portal that truly serves the industry it represents.