5 Fool-Proof Mobile Marketing Tips for REALTORS®

Our Real Estate SEO experts offer tips all REALTORS® must keep in mind when optimizing their website for the optimal mobile experience.

Did you know? The average customer connects to the Internet via five or more different devices. 

The majority of real estate agents and brokerages in the Greater Toronto Area have functional websites, but are they mobile responsive? A mobile optimized website is one that gives your visitors the best experience no matter which device they use to access the link.  If you open up a website on your mobile device and have a hard time navigating around because you need to pinch the screen to zoom in/out, you officially are on a website that is not responsive. Not all website designs will automatically change to fit the screen used by the viewer. 

The following are some tips that REALTORS® must keep in mind when optimizing their website for the optimal mobile experience:

1. Test the Layout

Pull up your website URL in any browser on your smartphone or tablet, how does the layout look like? If it looks messy and the content is difficult to see, then it is probably time to make a few changes to reflect the best real estate web design 21^st century practices. Alternatively, you can head to your website from your desktop browser, right click anywhere on the page, and select ‘Inspect.’ This option should open up a window that allows you to pick any mobile device and take a look at how it will appear when it is viewed from it.

Alternative you can visit the following link to view how mobile friendly your website is, according to Google standards. When it comes to Real Estate SEO, Google does take into consideration the mobile experience when it ranks websites.

2. Invest in Social Media 2.0

Conduct a quick poll the next time you meet with a client to see how they prefer to stay in contact with you and what social media platforms they utilize the most. With 75% of real estate agents using Facebook, there is a good chance you are already on there. With 40% of Twitter users utilizing the microblogging platform to keep up with general news, there is an abundance of opportunities to share your listings, quick updates, or fun facts about the neighborhoods you work in.  To stay ahead of the game, you may wish to promote your page or posting on social media via paid ads programs.

Mobile messaging apps are now considered “social media 2.0” phenomena. WhatsApp, a popular messaging app with REALTORS®, is perfect for agents with long distance clients.  For instance, you could keep track of all your communications by using to WhatsApp to discuss properties and transaction details. You could also make use of the the app’s video chat technology when you host a recorded showing or share big news. Snapchat is another excellent messaging app that can be used to share success stories via Stories.

Do not post the same content at the same time across all platforms. This leads to message fatigue and is the quickest way to lose subscribers. 

3. Get Rid of Mobile Popups

Google has recently announced that webmasters should be avoiding the use of website popups, especially on mobile devices. That is screens that popup as soon as you enter a webpage with videos, advertisements, links to other websites etc. Websites that use popups on mobile are not appreciated and will likely lose their search engine rankings and crucial conversions.

4. Pay Attention to Page Loading Speed

If your customer cannot find what they are looking for in three seconds, you will lose them. For anything over this number, conversion rates go down 18%. Removing barriers in mobile with ongoing user testing, split-testing of features and feature enhancements, mobile-friendly payments, and relentless mobile site speed improvements makes for an optimized mobile experience.

5. Invest in a Google+ Local Account

A recent study suggests that approximately 70% of people who search on their mobile devices for something nearby visit or contact the enterprise within 24 hours. As well, one-third of these searches usually end with some kind of purchase. In response, Google is implementing innovative Apple Maps-integrated ad units for localities, affording businesses with the opportunity to exploit geographical searches. To take advantage of this new feature, you will need a verified Google+ Local account.