The mobile Internet is still a young frontier for builders. While directories and large brokerages have invested in mobile apps beginning a couple years ago, most builders have just begun to dip their toe in the water. The benefit to a company with an “innovator/early adopter” approach to marketing technology is that, while they pay the occasional dumb tax, they also get paid with insight their competitors miss by waiting on the sidelines.
Recently, I’ve been seeing a solid trend across the mobile websites of clients – increasing organic search traffic. To be clear, I’m not talking about examples where users are Google-ing “ABC Homes.” We’ve seen a significant rise in broad keyphrases; “new homes in Washington,” “home builder in Florida,” etc.
In the past, the majority of traffic to a builder’s mobile website has been either direct traffic or a search for that builder’s name. Direct traffic describes people typing in ABChomes.com into the browser of their phone. They were directed there by a friend, or a sign, or some other “unplugged” activity. When someone Googles your name, its nearly the same as direct traffic. They had already chosen YOU as their target.
What we’re seeing is traffic coming from broad phrases like those above — phrases builders typically target for Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
So what’s the big deal about an increase in broad search organic traffic to mobile websites? Its an evolution in consumer behavior. The promise of mainstream mobile traffic is becoming real. Instead of seeking a specific target website, more consumers (a 300% increase in the last year from our sample) are using search on their phone to find homes. This means the mobile web broswer has been come a home search tool, not just a home information tool. This is territory previously owned by mobile “apps.”
So what’s a builder, broker, or marketer to do?
- Look at your current website traffic data to see how many people are accessing your FULL website using a mobile device. If you’re a Google Analytics user, go to to VISITORS > MOBILE > MOBILE DEVICES in the left menu. Ignore the quality metrics like time-on-site and pages-per-visit, as you should expect them to be low when trying to navigate a full website via a mobile device.
- If 5% or less of your traffic is coming from mobile, maybe you’re an active adult project, or in a rural area. Mobile is still coming to your town, but you’ve got some time if you want it.
- If 5-10% of your traffic comes from mobile, you’re like many other builders. I recommend building a mobile site. That number will be growing.
- If more than 10% of your traffic comes from mobile, I hope you already have a mobile site. Your potential customers clearly want you to have one.
What else does this signal?
- The rise in organic search means that consumers are using search engines on their phone like they do on their desktop. This seems like a overly simple statement, but consider that advanced real estate searches on mobile phones are most often done through an app. No one uses an app to search the web on their home computer.
- This is good for builders and brokers without the budget to build an app for every smart phone platform (iPhone, Androind, Blackberry, Windows) – a costly endeavor.
I am NOT saying that apps are dead in any way. For a long time to come, they will offer rich functionalities that will be tough, if not impossible, to replicate through a mobile website. However, 2010’s numbers are promising. It’s clear that mobile websites are a smart and viable alternative to mobile app development.
