What Are the Alternatives to RightMove for Estate Agents? 

There’s no question that Rightmove dominates the property search landscape. But what if you’re looking for a cheaper platform, or looking to list a unique property for specialist buyers? 

It’s no secret that Rightmove is expensive, so it’s well worth scouring the market to find the alternatives which will help your clients sell up quicker.  

Property portals have been around for over 20 years now and Rightmove has become the go to ‘search engine’ for many house hunters. And yet, just because the portal boasts the highest volume of visitors, it doesn’t mean there aren’t valuable opportunities elsewhere. 

Discover some of the alternatives below, which escape the reach of Rightmove’s 80% market share and highlight other ways you can win more leads through your property listings. 

Alternative Property Portals to Rightmove 

Property Portals Like Rightmove 

Aside from Rightmove, Zoopla and On The Market provide approximately the same service, with varying costs and reach. Explore how these property websites and Rightmove alternatives differ from one another when deciding to branch out from Rightmove, and how they might be worth more or less investment according to your needs. 

• Zoopla – Second to Rightmove, Zoopla mirrors its competitor in many, many ways with its user friendly interface and many search options. The main difference for estate agencies is the pricing, with Zoopla boasting cheaper price packages to keep up with its rival. Traffic data places Zoopla second in traffic to Rightmove, currently standing at 27.9m visits per month (compared to Rightmove’s 76.8m). It’s Zoopla’s smaller reach that persuades most estate agents to prioritise Rightmove – if they had to pick.
• On The Market – On The Market is similar to both Zoopla and Rightmove, except its exposure is also smaller (currently around 15.3m per month) and it is estate agent owned. One of the known advantages of OTM is that properties often appear 24hrs before they show on Rightmove or Zoopla, giving them the advantage of quicker and earlier exposure. It also tempts agents with lower price points than its competitors, which is one of the reasons it was created in the first place. 

Niche Alternatives to Rightmove 

Rightmove, Zoopla and other portals provide the widest possible range of properties to the widest range of customers. But what if you sell a very unique type of property? 

If you do, then it’s possible to use several property portals which are dedicated to specific customers and preferences. 

If they work for you, then this is very valuable. It helps you reach a specific customer base quickly with the homes that are relevant to their preferences and intent, increasing the chances that they will buy a property from you or book a valuation. 

Here are some of the examples: 

• Prime Location – This Zoopla-owned portal caters to high-end properties and property buyers, so this is a good location to target high-value buyers, depending upon the property you’re trying to sell. Equally, it’s got a substantial number of visitors for a niche site, currently over 3 million per month. Additionally, its focus on high-value properties also attracts motivated, international buyers to browse what’s on offer.
• Waterside Properties – As you might guess from the name, this niche portal focuses on homes for sale by (or near to) the water. So, if you’re an estate agent with properties near idyllic rivers or seaside locations, this site could be an excellent place to advertise. As you might expect, they also list house boats, holiday lets and marina berths.
• New Homes (Zoopla) – Zoopla has a separate search function which specifically lists new-build properties and developments. This is an excellent offshoot to consider if your property stock tends to include new builds of any kind. The filtered search options allow buyers to easily find properties which are separate from the main housing stock, as well as any new developments (searchable by developer).
• Propertylink – If you’re selling commercial property, then this specialist site is worth considering. Unlike Rightmove and Zoopla which allow commercial listings, this site is dedicated to letting buyers and tenants carefully sift through commercial opportunities. For example, it allows people to browse through 7 different commercial property types – like ‘leisure’ – with further subdivisions like hotels, pubs, cafes and more. They also have exposure to around 350K visitors per month. 

Market your unique property type through these channels to reach the most relevant buyers and sellers. There are many more niche portals to explore, like the UK Land Directoryfor rural land and property sales, or Mouseprice, which comes with extra analytics data for estate agents. 

Your website as an alternative to Rightmove 

What can your estate agency website offer which Rightmove can’t? 

It’s depth. Your logo and web link might appear on property portals, along with a short bio, but this isn’t enough to give a holistic impression of your business. 

Once a visitor heads over to your website from a property portal (or elsewhere), you’ve got the opportunity to keep them there. If your site is useful and helpful enough, buyers and sellers will click through your ecosystem of properties without heading back to Rightmove – which contains your competitors. 

Secondly, buyers and sellers who come to your website tend to be motivated and interested. They have probably spent time on portals already. This means that you’ve got an interested lead who can be persuaded to take the next valuable step – whether booking a viewing or valuation. 

So, you need to consider what will keep people browsing your properties rather than returning to Rightmove and resuming their search.  

Here’s what keeps buyers and sellers interested on your site (though it’s not exhaustive): 

• Listings quality – Quality listings offer lots of detail, like relevant transport links, commute time, local schools and a helpful description, this will keep house hunters delving into what your properties offer. 

• Website design – Websites that are easy to navigate, fast to load and look professional increase the chances that visitors will stay on your site (or keep returning to it). 

• Related services – If you clearly offer and display related services and partnerships (e.g. surveying or conveyancing), this can persuade people to choose a property with you because of the added convenience – a fact they may not know or realise if they looked at your listings on Rightmove alone. 

• Search features – Rightmove has excellent search features, but your website can too. This won’t replace the portal, but it gives interested buyers the opportunity to browse your listings, and decreases the chance they will head elsewhere. This can be achieved with advanced search features like radial search, ‘draw-a-search’, nearest offices on the map, and a range of other filtering options. 

• Testimonials & case studies – Your website lets you show off your reviews and testimonials in a way that’s not fully possible on Rightmove. If these are tailored to the right pages (i.e. buyers’ testimonials to buyers’ pages), then you can demonstrate a relevant, proven quality of service to people who are looking for their next property. Even better if they are integrated Google or Feefo reviews.

Ultimately, your website is a critical tool for winning leads (even if you’re not an ‘online estate agent’). Since it hosts the bulk of content for your estate agency service, it can serve as the end point for your email, social and Google Ads campaigns – and work alongside your Rightmove listings. 

Your Digital Marketing Campaigns 

Social media platforms are invaluable for real estate marketing. Identify the platforms where your audience is most active and create engaging content. Visuals such as high-quality images, virtual tours, and videos work exceptionally well in the real estate industry.

Here are our top 3 channels when looking to attract landlords or sellers:

1 Email Marketing  

Email marketing is a great way to draw buyers and sellers back to your website, and persuade them to book a valuation or viewing– especially if your email list is properly segmented and categorised. 

Your website should enable buyers to fill out a form according to their preferences, whether for flats or 3-bedroom homes, and then provide space for them to discuss their buying situation (e.g., in a chain, first-time buyer, etc.) and even their budget. Once you’ve collected this valuable store of information, you can begin tailoring email updates to them, according to their preferences. 

Even better, if you make it clear that the properties sent to them are exclusive and reach them before they land on Rightmove, it will keep them interested enough to open your mail. 

These buyers and sellers are valuable, because they can be fully ‘qualified’, and you can tailor the properties you send to them according to their preferences – something you don’t have directly on Rightmove. Even better, if those properties are hosted on your website, then that keeps them in your orbit – and not that of other agents in the area, who they would see on Rightmove. 

As a result, these people are more likely to buy a property through you or book a valuation for their own property. On top of this, you’ve got plenty more opportunities to send them special offers and educational content as part of larger, more coordinated campaigns. 

2 Social Media 

Sure, social media is not somewhere your properties are listed, but it’s a great place to promote the properties on your website, both through paid advertising and organic exposure. 

Once again, the advantage of this is that it can drive traffic back to your website and the properties listed there rather than to a property portal. 

Local community groups are a great place to start, allowing you to post your homes for sale so they’re visible in a specific neighbourhood. And of course, you’ve got the chance to show off property tours, answer questions and run promotional offers from your company profile. 

Building on the basics, you can use retargeting campaigns to advertise to specific buyers and sellers, offer free downloads for sign-up information, or promote customer-relevant blogs to become a reliable, local source of property knowledge. 

3 Google Ads 

Advertising across Google and its associated Google Display Network (GDN) is a great way to attract buyers and sellers who have already visited your website through remarketing.  

Equally, you can use the Google Display Network to display you banner adverts across millions of relevant sites which your potential local customers are likely to visit. 

These advertising campaigns will send people back to landing pages on your website, where you have even more chance to get a valuation or viewing from interested customers. 

Alternatively, you can also use Google’s traditional Pay-Per-Click option. While the property portals are an excellent option to reach a large volume of buyers or tenants using those sites, Google Ads are a great way to target the local customers specifically searching for the services you provide. 

4. AI Optimisation

Although Google remains the dominant search engine, an increasing number of users are now turning to AI tools, such as ChatGPT, to find answers to their most pressing questions. These users want more than a simple list of links. They are seeking clear, conversational responses that directly address their query, with the flexibility to ask follow-up questions if needed.

At the same time, Google’s AI Overview is occupying more space at the top of search results pages, which is pushing traditional and local listings further down.

Together, these changes mean that a smaller proportion of searches are leading to clicks through to websites.

This may seem concerning if your objective is to drive traffic to your estate agency website and convert visitors into customers. However, digital marketing has always been fast-moving, and success depends on recognising change and responding to it effectively.

As a result, search engine optimisation strategies need to evolve to include AI-driven platforms. Generative engine optimisation (GEO) represents the next stage of SEO in an AI-led landscape. It focuses on adapting your content so that it appeals not only to traditional search engine crawlers but also to AI systems that generate direct answers for users.

The crucial distinction is this: traditional SEO aims to position your page within a ranked list of results, whereas GEO is about ensuring your business is referenced or cited within an AI-generated, narrative answer to a user’s question.

Frequently Asked Questions

Use All the Tools Available 

Ultimately, the many resources found across property portals, your own website, social media and more should not be seen as an ‘either/or’ choice. It is better to take a ‘more/less’ approach, where you maximise investment into marketing resources that get you the best results. 

You want to achieve the broadest exposure to the most relevant buyers in the property market, so that’s the best place to start. 

For most estate agents, this will include Rightmove (without question), but if you’ve got niche buyers or unique properties to sell, don’t let this stop you from reaching out through unconventional channels that your competitors haven’t thought of.