Want Success? Offer People [easy access to] What They Want
August 29th, 2009I posted an entry on Bloodhound Blog that turned into a gigantic sh*tfit. My statement was pretty simple: We’ve done a lot of A/B testing, and forced registration produces many more leads and results in more closed transactions than open registration. Pretty simple concept. I invited people to offer data to the contrary.
As Russell Shaw pointed out, it turned into a near religious argument (Bob Wilson summarized well in a comment, as well.) But enough of the whole milieu.
During the course of the conversation/argument, I visited a lot of real estate sites. This is good practice for me, as I run 5 broad & niche term sites & I’m always looking for new ideas. Something struck me on many of the sites…
People don’t like to read. Why do you think television is so popular? Hulu? Youtube? Most users like to passively watch video or look at pictures.
Many agent sites are heavily text based – some going so far as to make their blog their home page. Many had “tutorials” you had to click through before you hit their IDX search. Here’s a hint:
Put down the ego pipe and give your users what they want.
What do they want? Funny enough…most people go online searching for real estate to find listings. People want listings with lots of pictures. An easy way to contact you if they want more information. *Maybe* market stats (for when they get really serious.) Interest rates. Prospective mortgage payments.
If you got into real estate to publish books, rethink your business strategy. If you’re in real estate, like it or not, you’re in the business of selling houses. You sell by giving your buyers what they want.
August 29th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
Interesting concept of less text getting in the way. I always used a “What are the benefits of registering with HouseMeetsOwner.com?” with about five or six bullet points explaining why to register (because they have to anyway). After reading your post I started to wonder if this text block before the search was causing people to leave the page so I removed it… We’ll see how it goes!
August 29th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
Great topic…
@Eric – Yep, market Stats, walkscore integration per area page would be engaging, video would be my perfect world . But thoughts on potential lost traffic from long tailed searches based on something in a basic 3/4 small
paragraph synopsis…
- And if you’re using an integrated IDX solution, thoughts on this structure:
a) few opening sentences on area/city
b) properties in that specific area/city
c) few more paragraphs list of properties contained in that area/city?
@Josh
- Love the redesign and great post on the evolution/rules – did you think about integrating a quick search into the top portion of the site or did you feel it would clutter it up?
- Call to action – I have mixed feelings on this one…great topic. Right now, I, like you, am going with approx. 6 quick bullets, However, I like the idea of an icon within the registration with a “1 point” call to action. I tend to split hairs but I think an inviting CTA inside an inviting graphic can go a long way… “Save your favorite listings”…I can come up with a better language
and probably a few examples. Just need to think. PM me if that makes sense and/or sounds interesting and I’ll find a few…kk at koitzgroup.com
August 30th, 2009 at 1:31 am
Crap! Ya mean I have to actually offer something on my site the paying customer wants? Hmm, I guess I’ll have to think about this! [grins}