So, you’ve just set up your first rental property as a property manager. You’ve even kitted the place out with all the extras in an attempt to generate interest. Despite everything you haven’t got the attention that you hoped for

It’s not just you. Around the world everywhere, property managers are struggling to generate interest in their rental listings. Rather than sitting and waiting for bookings to come in, take control of your business and make the changes required to have a brighter future.

Keep reading for three reasons why you’re not getting any traction as a property manager.

Your website is shocking

For a lot of companies, your website is how a prospective client will be introduced to your business. It’s easy to pay the up-front cost to have a website made and then assume your online presence has been taken care of. A property managers website needs to continually be being tweaked and optimized to keep up with the latest SEO, and industry trends.

It’s best to start small when you are analyzing your website. We suggest looking at two factors that heavily contribute to a successful website; aesthetic and usability.

Aesthetics

When it comes to websites, it’s far better to show not tell. Images entice viewers to keep scrolling, making them spend more time on your website.

The longer someone spends on your website, the more opportunity you have to turn them into a client. Creating a text-heavy webpage only kills user engagement and gives people a reason not to engage with you and your business.

Pictures speak a thousand words. Scatter your website with images that will attract attention.

Usability

Today’s online user won’t spend time trying to figure out the layout of your website if they can’t immediately find what they are looking for they will simply restart their google search.

Leave no room for questions about where users can find different information on your website, make everything obvious and then some.

Over 85% of the world population has a smartphone. If you haven’t already optimized your site for mobile users, you are missing out on a vast portion of the market.

Snap Inspect recommend using a mobile responsive design. A mobile responsive design is when your site is displayed on a mobile device, it automatically adjusts its sizing, layout, and proportions to display them aesthetically on the device. The best part about a mobile responsive design? You only have to configure, and design one website as opposed to two!

You have no social proof (reviews)

Social proof is the influence that the actions and attitudes of the people around us have on our own behavior.
How often do you check online recommendations before going out to eat? Most people won’t even consider going to a restaurant with a 4/10 or lower rating

There’s no difference for you and your property management company; you need social proof to win the business of other users.

Get into the habit of softly asking each of your tenants if they would be interested in providing a testimonial about your property management services and their experiences with you. The more reviews you have on your site to display the better.

No one can “stumble upon you.”

What good is an easy to use website, with solid reviews that look incredible if you have no traffic? Overlooking SEO to drive new business to your website is a common problem within the property management industry.

SEO or search engine optimization is a form of marketing which focuses on growing the provenience of your website in organic or non-paid search results. Said simply- SEO is doing everything in you can to ensure your website shows up on the first page of a google search.

For example, if you were a property management company in New York, and you searched “property management company in New York” and were not displaying in the first page of the google search you would know that there is a lot of work to do in order to appear higher up the chain.

If you are just beginning or have no idea what SEO is, we suggest brushing up your knowledge with our 2018 Seo for property management companies: Your hard and fast guide. Our guide is designed to help you understand SEO and the steps you need to take to start appearing higher in the search engine results page as soon as possible!