Low inventory in your market is impacting total sales. But did you know that it’s also causing your brokerage website traffic to plummet?
Every website featuring property listings is experiencing lower overall web traffic because of record-low inventory. Even brokerages with top-notch SEO programs are experiencing big drops in overall web traffic as IDX listings fall.
In some markets, listings have fallen 60% year-over-year, and web traffic for local brokerages has also dropped upwards of 60%.
What do you, as a broker/owner, and your agents, need to know about declining web traffic, and why is SEO more crucial now than ever?
Real Estate Web Traffic Is Down Everywhere
Zillow and realtor.com® report that their listing inventory is down about 50% nationally. Leading brokerages are also seeing an overall traffic decline that tracks local listing inventory. Delta Media has seen this happen for clients across the board.
Yet, here’s the silver lining: SEO and content services continue to drive traffic to broker websites to make sure your firm gets its share of overall real estate-related web traffic.
Understanding the Cause
A single-listing detail page for a property can generate anywhere from a few to hundreds of visits. If your average listing generates five visits, with 1,000 active listings in your market, that’s 5,000 visits from listings. One hundred visits per listing generates 100,000 visitors. Lower inventory means lower traffic.
But don’t throw in the towel on SEO because web traffic is down. Staying with your SEO efforts is key to long-term success because it does more than generate website traffic.
Impact of SEO
One misconception is that websites can’t rank for IDX listings. With the right SEO, traffic comes from all the listings on a brokerage’s website.
SEO drives 50% – 80% of all traffic to a Delta broker’s website. Additionally, more than 50% of all leads come from search.
Don’t Panic!
Site traffic ebbs and flows. The key is to remain steadfast with your SEO efforts.
Why? SEO is like a company’s reputation: it takes years to build, and with one misstep, minutes to lose.
The blunder that many brokerages make occurs when they switch brokerage website providers. If your new tech firm doesn’t do it right, you could lose the search equity it took years—sometimes decades—to build overnight.
A firm that excels in SEO, like Delta, knows how to manage website migration without negatively impacting your search results.
The Power of SEO and Staying Committed
Optimizing your fresh content is essential to maintain your overall ranking, despite lower traffic numbers.
The key to any successful SEO program is to remain committed. The most effective SEO takes time. If you are not satisfied with the SEO effectiveness of your brokerage website, Delta Media can help.
Michael Minard is CEO and owner of Delta Media, a leading and trusted technology partner for many of real estate’s top brands. Learn more at deltamediagroup.com.
