If the 331 Million mobile users in the U.S. alone were not reason enough for you to go mobile with your website and brand this next reason might just be the motivating factor you need to take action. Google has announced their smartphone Googebot-Mobile. What is this you ask? Googlebot-Mobile is what will crawl the internet acting as a smartphone in order to increase coverage of smartphone related content in order to provide a better search experience for smartphone users.
Yes – Mobile SEO is here. This means that for mobile search, you will rank higher if you are serving content optimized to be browsed on smartphones along with smartphone specific redirects. In addition, if you’re mobile strategy is designed to detect the specific type of device that is accessing your content (feature/non-smartphone) and smartphone and serve a different experience based on the device type, this will also be taken into account by Google when they index your content.
In addition, they are launching their Skip Redirect for Smartphone-optimized Pages. This feature changes the target link shown in the search results to the mobile destination, when a mobile redirect is present, ensuring the user goes directly there which saves them .05 – 1 seconds on average; Another great benefit of this new enhancement.
For many of us, Google is the Holy Grail. We want nothing more than to show up at the top of the search result rankings when someone searches for real estate in our market. Simultaneously, SEO remains a constant “work-in-progress” because the criteria are continually changing. One thing that is not changing however is the importance of mobile.
Google wants nothing more than to ensure that they’re search experience is the best it can possible be for their users and they’re pretty good at this to put it lightly. They have taken detailed measures to ensure they now know who is serving mobile and smartphone optimized content to ensure that their mobile users, potentially their largest user demographic, get the information they are looking for in a format that works on their device.
If Google thinks it’s important you should too. If you haven’t taken action on going mobile and positioning your brand for the mobile user, use this as the reason to do so. There is no better time than the present to go mobile, it’s not going anywhere.
For more information on how to best optimize your site for use on a mobile device visit www.testmysitenow.com
In a recent blog post by Joel Burslem, Mobile real estate: old battles and new realities, he begins with a quote from Matthew Lynn who wrote for Bloomberg, “The iPhone is nothing more than a luxury bauble that will appeal to a few gadget freaks. In terms of its impact on the industry, the iPhone is less relevant. Apple will sell a few to its fans, but the iPhone won’t make a long-term mark on the industry.” The sheer tone of the quote indicates that it is clearly not a recent quote, but in fact was made in 2007.
My how things have changes since then! Clearly, the iPhone and Apple have had a huge impact on both the mobile space, tech space, and real estate space. Since, they have become the largest publicly traded company in the world by market cap (more than Google and Microsoft combines), released one of the most popular consumer products in history with the iPad and coined a the phrase “there’s an App for that”. Obviously they’ve kept busy over the past five years.
Simultaneously the real estate industry has been busy as well adapting to the mobile world expanded exponentially during the world real estate market in history. Joel, author of the blog in which I barrowed the above quote from wrote in 2007, “House hunting seems to me to be an inherently mobile activity but as yet all of the house hunting options we have require you to root yourself in front of the computer…What I’d love to see is a mobile versions of Yahoo! Real Estate or Trulia‘s search engine. Something that would allow me to punch in my current location, search criteria and then have it return driving directions to each of the results to me.” Joel certainly has his share of options in today’s market.
In fact, many CEO’s in today’s market have stated that they are thinking “mobile first” and that “without a mobile strategy you have no strategy at all,” the shift has been that great. While there are a number of real estate portals and local brokers who make searching real estate possible from a mobile device, there are far fewer who have taken the time to detail out their mobile strategy.
Sometimes we confuse having a product with having a strategy. Other times we simply don’t have the time to create a strategy or the resources/personnel to follow through with the strategy that we have created. Last, we may have a strategy which doesn’t include mobile as a vital component. Either way, one thing is certain; mobile, because of its availability and nature will be the biggest and most impactful outlet for communication and marketing that we have ever seen. This will continue happening as it has since 2007 right before our eyes.
My two cents, start putting stock in your mobile strategy, as well as the products you incorporate sooner rather than later and you’ll find yourself better off for it.
For more information on mobile products and services visit www.testmysitenow.com
As business owners, we would all like to take the time to do our research and make a sound decision on where to invest our marketing and technology dollars. Unfortunately, more often than not, we find ourselves looking for additional hours in the day just to get all the core business functions done, which doesn’t leave much time for doing one’s due diligence when it comes to research.
So what do you do when you know you need to make a change, but haven’t had time to do the research? Follow the money!
Google co-Founder, Larry Page, told investors last week that mobile is quickly becoming the “backbone” to their advertising strategies. Smartphone and tablet search accounted for 12 percent of total search advertising spent in Q1 and the ad spend on these devices rose 221 percent over this period last year. At this point, mobile is bringing in more than 10 percent of Google’s revenues and that is growing quickly. We could go into detail as to why advertisers are shifting their dollars to mobile, but it’s pretty clear when you walk down the street, enter a Starbucks or watch a group of teens sit glued to their phones amongst one another; people have become addicted to their mobile devices.
Advertisers aren’t the only ones spending money on mobile either; the consumer spend on mobile is growing quickly as well. In April 2011, RichRelevance measured 1.9 percent of online sales coming from a range of mobile devices by the end of March 2012 that had increased to 4.6 percent. What’s more is that it is tablet devices that are driving this growth. According to RichRelevance 68 percent of e-shoppers on their partner sites are using an iPad and those users are responsible for 9 percent of the mobile revenue. iPad users also spend more with an average of $158 per order compared to $105 on other mobile devices.
The iPad essentially makes people want to spend more money which means you should be utilizing the iPad to sell to consumers! In real estate, this means converting your listing presentations to be optimized for the iPad, ensuring that your IDX search is designed to capitalize on the features of the iPad and that consumers can download your custom-branded icon to the home screen of their iPad.
The iPad is changing the way consumers behave and as such we as business owners must adapt. It has been and will continue to be one of the most successful consumer products of all time. It warrants to diversion of resources (time, energy, dollars) to put your firm in a position to capitalize on this growing and more importantly spending demographic.
For more information on how you can optimize your brand for use on the iPad contact tabletidx@mobilecardcast.com.
Mobile – that’s what Gucci is! The Italian label that is synonymous with all thing luxury is turning to mobile to enhance their shoppers’ in-store experience.
Mobile Marketer’s Tricia Carr reported that the fashion house is equipping its store associates at select locations with Apple iPhone 4S devices that contain a mobile point-of-sale program that lets employees process sales, email receipts to customers, access the Gucci Style app and use a translator and currency convertor on the spot. The brand is gradually implementing the app in select branded stores in the United States, Europe and Asia.
Increasingly, luxury brands like Gucci are turning to mobile devices to enhance the overall customer experience from an efficiency and presentation standpoint. Just last week Coach REALTORS®, New York in conjunction with Mobile Real Estate, LLC (MRE) announced the release of their new Tablet Listing Presentation which allow them to generate branded content and presentations for their agents to use to create and present the company’s listing presentation to prospects on their iPads.
“We know how incredibly influential tablet devices are in today’s market and we believe their influence will only continue to grow,” explains Coach COO LP Finn III. “Coach REALTORS® has always been ahead of the curve in utilizing cutting edge tools and the tablet potentially represents one of the most significant evolutions of listing presentations to date. Real estate professionals must be able to deliver their message and the information the consumer wants, when they want, and in the method they prefer. Today’s consumers will increasingly expect and agent to be communicating and delivering information through a tablet device.”
According to John Lim, CEO of Mobile Real Estate, LLC, MRE’s Tablet Listing Presentation program will not only optimize for display on the iPad as well as other tablet devices, but will provide the ease of creation and customization that is paramount to luxury brokers and agents. With this tool, brokers are ensured that their brand image is protected while agents are allowed to create a truly interactive experience for prospective sellers regardless of the software or operating system installed on the tablet.
The iPad has quickly become the most powerful presentation device on the market today. What MRE’s Tablet Listing Presentation product does is help luxury brands overcome the hurdle of creating and managing content to present on the device in a manner that accentuates all of the great features on the device. Much the same way Gucci is combining their POS system onto mobile devices to create a better in-store presentation and experience by their sales associates for their luxury consumer.
For more information on how to leverage the power of tablets contact tabletidx@mobilecardcast.com
Great conversation via text the other day with R. Ashley Brunner of the Brunner Burkhart Group in Lancaster PA. Not only is MRE ID the leader in gross commission leads, but Ashley went on to say, “We have made thousands of commission dollars from your service. I’ve made well over 1000 times more than the monthly cost in the past year.”
Last week I had the opportunity to attend one of my favorite real estate events of the year; the Leading Real Estate (LRE)Companies of the World Annual Conference. What makes this event different from others in my opinion is the level of engagement by the broker/owner or main decision maker themselves throughout the entire conference.
It comes as no surprise that technology, mobile technology and how to harness the power of the tablet were a main focus of this year’s conference. In fact, Imprev, a leading real estate marketing technology company, released a survey of conference attendees in which three-out-of-four selected an iPadPresentation App as the single most preferred marketing tool they would like to have.
BI Intelligence’s, Future of Mobile Report, forcasts tablet sales to outpace PC sales within just the next two years. This would mean there would be over 250 million tablet users by 2014. As such, the interest in tablets and wanting the ability to use them comes as no surprise. One of the best things about the iPad, the most popular tablet, is that it is a phenomenal presentation tool which businesses are just beginning to capitalize on.
The LRE’s Luxury Portfolio division announced their new iPadListing Presentation and Coach Realtors, Long Island New York debuted their new custom iPad Listing Presentation at the conference as well. In addition to using the iPad as a listing presentation tool, it also presents a great opportunity to capture search traffic.
By catering specifically to the iPad/tablet user via the web, you can create a unique experience that allows them to utilize the features of their device to get the same information in a different way. We saw a strategy like this used by MTV who crafted a new site, specifically for iPad users just to watch videos. The corresponding example in real estate would be having an iPadsite specifically designed for users to search for properties. Allowing them to use maps, GPS, swiping imagery will further engage them with your brand on their device.
If you’re interested in learning more about how you can create a custom search experience for tablet users – send your questions to TabletIDX@mobilecardcast.com or visit MTV.com from your tablet device to see the unique tablet experience they have created.
So if you’ve heard about QR codes – in order to crack the QR Code you need to have a solid Mobile Website strategy in place. This is the destination all your QR Codes will point to. So, what is it you should be looking for? There is a lot that goes into building a solid Mobile Website which will be the foundation for the QR codes or text codes for that matter which you decide to employ within your marketing. Here are the most important things to know about implementing a Mobile Website.
- Phone Recognition – it is important to understand that when building a website for the computer developers focus primarily on 3 different browsers; internet explorer, Mozilla and safari. However, there are over 6,000 different mobile devices with web browsers and all have different specifications. Your mobile website should be built using a platform that is able to recognize not only that the consumers accessing your site is a mobile consumer, but what type of device they are using and exact specifications of that handset and browser. This will allow for different users with different devices to have an experience that is unique to them and their particular device. A more elegant experience for more elegant devices and simpler experience for simpler devices; all on the same site.
- Integration – having a mobile website is not meant to be a standalone marketing initiative. Your mobile website should integrate with your traditional online website; using redirection code, all mobile users to your existing URL can be identified and immediately sent to the mobile version of the site. This allows you to continue to promote your existing website and brand. In addition, you mobile website should easily integrate with the other mobile technologies you are employing such as text, QR and Apps. Often, the best and most efficient way to ensure that this can be accomplished is to work with a company which provides a complete solution.
- Ease of use – The reason that so many of us frequent Google from our mobile devices is because it’s easy to use – they do a great job of formatting their site for mobile searching. However, we have all had the experience of doing a search, finding the right link, and then not being able to get the information that we want because that site does not format for mobile. As mobile users we are looking for a quick and efficient experience to get to the information that we want. Maybe our consumers want to see a particular property at 123 Main Street or see the properties around them using GPS; either way it’s all about the experience they have finding that information. Your mobile Website should cater to the mentality of the mobile consumer. The best way to know whether a company can provide this for you is to test examples of live sites they have built for other clients which are currently live.
Keeping these three things at the forefront of your search for a Mobile Website provider will allow you to choose a solid solution and build a solid foundation for all your future mobile marketing endeavors.
Mobilize: (verb) to assemble and make ready for action…on mobile devices.
If you looked up the word Mobilize in the dictionary you would find an array of definitions ranging from “to put into movement or circulation” to “make ready for war”. With the 3rd generation of iPad hitting the stores this past Friday and over 300 million mobile users in the US alone the definition of the word Mobilize is primed for a change.
Moving forward in a business setting it will be used to refer to whether or not you have “mobilized your brand”. Have you assembled and made ready for action your content and brand for access from mobile devices? Understanding of course that’s a broad question because mobile devices today are so versatile and allow for so many different access points; text message, QR Codes, Mobile Web and Apps to name a few. Have you covered them all?
The goal here is not to confuse or overwhelm, but more importantly bring to light the overwhelming need to ensure that you can today’s largest and fastest growing audience; mobile users. As with anything there is more than one way to skin the mobile cat. I would recommend first ensuring that you understand the mobile tools available and then identifying those you feel could make the biggest impact on your existing marketing.
Once of the most exciting characteristics of mobile technology and mobile marketing is that it need not be a new stand alone initiative. It is designed in a way in which it can compliment and integrate with all of the existing marketing you are already doing and increase the ROI of that marketing. Mobile also gives you the ability to enter new marketing channels in which you previously may not have been able to quantify the ROI and therefore stayed away.
Completing mobilizing your business means that you have integrated all the various mobile technologies that are available in the market today in a coordinated and integrated manner. This can be a large undertaking for any organization and may be something you want to handle in stages. If this is the case, ensure that you are working with a mobile solutions provider who provides the full range of technology as well as the capability to integrate with third party systems and providers for the best long term results.
For more information on how you can get started mobilizing your brand visit www.testmysitenow.com
As a business owner operating in a local market, the reliance of consumers on their smart phone and tablet devices has put you in the position to capitalize more so than ever before. The way in which the technology, mobile apps and social media have come together has placed the focus on “local” more so than ever before.
A recent study by comScore revealed that 64% of tablet owners are searching weekly and 61% of smart phone users conduct local searches from their device. In addition, the report shows a 67% increase in social network local business searches since 2010. One thing we know about social network users is that they are in large part accessing form their mobile device.
Take for a moment a real life scenario; you’re out to dinner with friends and you mention you are going to start looking to a new home. Your friend replies, “I know a great company who you should work with.” The common practice in many social circles now-a-days is to immediately Google or look up that recommendation through a social network from your mobile device. We’ve all done this in one for or another.
This means that your information not only needs to be accessible and updated in the various business profiles and on maps in engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo, but it also means that the link to your website needs to work on mobile and tablet devices as well as it does on PC’s. Your brand and your information need to be consistent no matter the device the consumer is using.
A great example of a brand that is consistent is Patterson-Schwartz Real Estate (PSRE), DE. They have they transitioned their brand to meet the search demands of today’s mobile consumer; if you go to their website from any mobile internet enabled device you will land on http://m.pattersonschwartz.com, the mobile version of their website. In addition, they have combined their mobile web presence with real life touch points to give local consumers additional access and further their brand awareness.
Each ‘for sale’ sign PSRE has out in the market has both a text code and a QR code on it. This allows consumers who are just starting their home search or who may have never heard of PSRE to instantly get access to information right from their mobile device. What’s more is that both of those mechanisms take consumers directly to the PSRE mobile website where they can access additional information. In 2011, PSRE received 29,653 text message inquiries for their listings and 2,787 scans of their QR code (from 3/11 – 2/12) in addition to all the web traffic that came from mobile devices.
PSRE’s success in engagement is a tribute to the consistency of their brand across multiple devices, search engines and social media outlets. To see how your brand fairs on mobile go to www.TestMySiteNow.com.
MTV knows a thing or two about reaching, captivating and controlling the eyeballs of their audience. Their rein as the go to source for pop culture information as well as the inventors of Reality TV has them ingrained within the TV’s, Desktops, Mobile Devices and now Tablets of America’s youth as well the young professional demographic that was the youth when MTV launched back in 1981.
MTV recently released a new Video Site custom designed for the iPad in order to cater specifically to the growing number of tablet users frequenting their domain. Now when you go to MTV.com, MTV.com/news or any of their other affiliate sites they automatically recognize you as an iPad user and immediately displays a pop up that states, “You’re on an iPad! Check out our new Video site custom made just for your iPad.” They then give you the ability to click to “take me there”.
Why would they want to segment out iPad users and drive them to a site specifically for that particular device? Well without having access to the planning committee meetings where they put this initiative together I can only take an educated guess as to the following; when they looked at their web traffic stats they realized that the overwhelming majority of iPad users were visiting their website in order to watch videos. Those iPad users were then sifting through videos the same way traditional desktop users were sifting through videos.
Instead of treating both users the same, they decided to cater to the iPad demographic and utilize the feature set that iPad users know and love such as the ability to swipe through different home page options, scroll up and down using touch screen functionality to determine which videos they want to watch and provide full screen high definition videos which work well on the iPad. This keeps iPad users more engaged with the brand and on the site longer.
In real estate, your equivalent to the music video is property search. If you look at your web stats, how many users are visiting your site from an iPad? Of those iPad users is the overwhelming majority immediately going to the property search function? If so, then you should strongly consider optimizing your property search for iPad and tablet users.
Give them the experience they want such as touch screen functionality, swiping imagery, maps, overlays and most important of all GPS search; something your desktop site does not offer! If you cater to this user, not only will they stay on the site longer, but they be more engaged with your brand and more likely to connect with you to assist them with their real estate search.
For more information how to optimize your site for tablet users contact: tabletidx@mobilecardcast.com
