We checked 100 Houston realtor websites. Here's what we found.

Key findings

We checked the homepages of 100 Houston-area real estate agent, team and small brokerage websites on October 12, 2026. These are the numbers that stood out.

• 1 in 99 loaded its main content within 2.5 seconds in Google's phone test, the line Google calls "good." 90 took longer than 4 seconds, the line Google calls "poor." The median was 13.1 seconds.
• 56 out of 100 was the median Google PageSpeed score on phones, compared with 79 on computers. Only 2 sites scored 90 or higher on phones.
• 47% had no structured data describing the business, the code that tells Google and AI search tools who you are, where you work and how to reach you.
• 24% had no tap-to-call phone number on the homepage.
• 41% didn't have exactly one main headline (H1): 32 had more than one and 9 had none.
• 93% had at least one thing to fix, and over half (52%) had three or more.
• The good news: every site used HTTPS, 97% were set up for phones, and 96% had a sitemap Google can find.

How we did the study

We found agent and team websites through ordinary web searches for realtors across four parts of Greater Houston: inside the Loop and central Houston, west and northwest (Katy, Cypress, Tomball), north (The Woodlands, Spring, Kingwood, Conroe), and south and southwest (Sugar Land, Pearland, Clear Lake, League City). We didn't collect anything from listing portals or directories.

• Who's included: individual agents, teams and small independent brokerages on their own domain. The 100 sites break down as 28 solo agents, 43 teams and 29 small brokerages.
• Who's left out: Zillow, HAR, Realtor.com and other portals, national franchise websites, agent pages hosted on a brokerage's site, and large brokerages.
• What we ran: our free website check (12 homepage checks for speed, mobile setup, Google titles and descriptions, headlines, structured data, link previews, tap-to-call, robots.txt and sitemaps), plus Google PageSpeed Insights on phone and computer settings.
• The sample: we found 143 sites. 18 blocked automated checks, 1 was down and 3 didn't respond, so we couldn't test them. From the rest we took the first 25 we found in each of the four areas, for 100 in total. Google didn't return speed results for one of them, so the speed numbers cover 99 sites.

How fast are Houston realtor websites on phones?

Slow. In Google's PageSpeed test for phones, the median Houston realtor homepage scored 56 out of 100. Google rates 90 to 100 as good, 50 to 89 as needs improvement and 0 to 49 as poor, according to Google's Lighthouse scoring guide. The same sites scored much better on computers.

The biggest gap is Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): how long it takes for the main image or headline to appear. Google says a good LCP is 2.5 seconds or less and anything over 4 seconds is poor. In the phone test, 1 site was good, 8 needed improvement and 90 were poor. The median was 13.1 seconds. The most common cause Google flagged was unused JavaScript, found on 91 of the 99 sites it tested.

One caveat: these are lab numbers. PageSpeed simulates a mid-range phone on a mobile network, so real visitors on fast phones and home Wi-Fi will often see the page sooner. Google only had enough real-visitor data from Chrome for 7 of the 100 homepages, which is normal for small business sites. Even so, a lab LCP of 13 seconds means a visitor on a weak signal in a parking lot is waiting a long time for your photo to show up.

Does speed affect rankings? Partly. Google says Core Web Vitals are used by its ranking systems, but good scores alone don't guarantee a top spot. The bigger cost is the visitor who gives up and goes back to Zillow.

Which SEO basics are Houston agent sites missing?

The most common gaps were structured data, page weight and headlines. Here's how often each homepage check passed across the 100 sites.

Structured data is the easiest of these to overlook because visitors never see it. It's a short block of code that tells Google, ChatGPT and other AI tools your name, brokerage, service area, phone number and reviews. With AI search answering more "who's a good realtor in…" questions, it's one of the cheapest upgrades an agent can make.

How did the sites grade overall?

On our 12 basic checks, most sites did fine: the median score was 88 out of 100. Speed is scored separately by Google, so a site can earn an A on the basics and still be slow on phones. Many did.

The takeaway: most Houston agents have a site that's set up correctly. Far fewer have one that's fast on a phone.

What should an agent fix first?

Start with speed, because that's where almost every site fell short, then the quick SEO fixes. This is the order we'd work in, based on what Google's test and our checks flagged across the 100 sites.

1. Cut unused JavaScript. Google flagged unused JavaScript on 91 of the 99 sites it tested, and it was the single biggest speed win on 75 of them. It usually comes from page-builder features, plugins, chat bubbles, tracking tags and IDX search widgets that load on every page whether they're used or not. Remove what you don't need and delay the rest until after the page appears. Our guide to IDX websites explains which setups are lightest.
2. Cut unused CSS. Google flagged it on 88 sites. Like extra JavaScript, it's mostly left over from themes and builders, and it holds up the first paint.
3. Add RealEstateAgent structured data with your name, brokerage, service area, phone and license details.
4. Make your phone number tap-to-call in the header, so it's on every page.
5. Use one H1 per page, and write Google titles under 60 characters that name your area, like "Katy Realtor | Your Name."
6. Add a link preview image so your site shows a branded card when you text it to a client.

Not sure where your site stands? Our free website check runs the same checks we used in this study and emails you the results. AtEase is a Houston, Texas studio that builds AI agents, websites, mobile apps and SEO for small businesses. If you'd rather start fresh, see how we build real estate agent websites and what they cost on our pricing page.

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