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Website Design Guidelines

Introduction

Created specifically for both design professionals and those with limited design experience, these guidelines provide structured direction to adhere to most brokerage design standards - applying color theory, custom fonts, and a template-specific checklist to guide you or your design team through the customization process.

Follow these standards to create an online presence that not only reflects your brand identity but also delivers the professional experience clients expect from your website!

Design Principles 101

Color Theory

  1. Web Accessibility
  2. Color Palettes
    1. Brokerage Specific
    2. Curated by Sierra

Fonts

  1. Web Fonts (Google/Adobe)
    1. Font Pairings Curated by Sierra

Design Checklist - Site Templates

  1. Pro
  2. Ace
  3. Pinnacle
  4. Exec

 

Design Principles 101 > Color Theory 

A Strategic Approach to Color Theory

Color on your website does heavy lifting – it's not just decoration. It shapes user experience, builds brand recognition, and triggers emotional responses. Smart color use guides potential clients, highlights key information (like listings or contact buttons!), and builds trust that leads to action.

To make your site the go-to resource it should be, ensure your color choices deliver on these points:

  • Brand Power - Use colors that reflect your unique value and make you memorable against competitors.
  • Brokerage Compliance - Stick to your brokerage’s established color palettes and brand guidelines.
  • Web Accessibility - Make sure your colors work for everyone. This means good contrast ratios and checking for color blindness issues (WCAG standards are key here).

By getting these color elements right, you create a website that looks polished, functions effectively for all users, and meets your brokerage's branding requirements. (top)

Design Principles 101 > Web Accessibility 

An excellent real estate website provides a smooth experience for everyone, including meeting ADA standards for those with visual impairments. This relies heavily on good color contrast. If text blends into the background, crucial details like listings or contact info become frustratingly hard to read. Strong contrast isn't just about compliance; it's fundamental to an accessible, user-friendly site, ensuring all potential clients can easily engage with your services without barriers. (top)