Does Your Property Pass the Portal Test?
Does your property pass the portal test? There’s no doubting that property portals are an important part of any property marketing strategy, and used correctly, they can have a huge impact on the success of your sale.
Some of us here at Hannells (in fact, truth be told, most of us!) have been in the property industry long enough to remember the days before Rightmove was even a thing and the mark of good property marketing was a small advert in the local paper and a Polaroid picture glued to the front of a hand typed property brochure! But times have most definitely changed and so should your agent’s approach to preparing your property for the portals.
So does your property pass the portal test? Take a look at our top tips!
A Strong Opening Paragraph
The very purpose of listings on Rightmove, Boomin and any other property portal is to create interest in your property and encourage viewings, so a clear, concise, and strong opening paragraph to your property description is a must. Ideally the very first paragraph should neatly sum up the key positives of your home and give enough information, that, if the reader only ever read that one paragraph, they would know enough to make a decision as to whether they want to view or not.
We tend to make sure our listings are all typed in clearly defined paragraphs, making them easier to read and understand at a glance.
Bullet Points
Time is of the essence when it comes to portal listings. The amount of time a potential buyer spends actually looking at each individual listing on a search page can be milliseconds, so it’s important to get as much information in front of them as possible, in an easy-to-understand way. This is where your bullet points really count. Make sure your listing makes the most of them by having the key selling points at the top of the list. Your agent should be well aware of what the target buyer for your home is looking for and these should stand out straight away,
Pricing Strategy
995’s are a thing of the past! The so called 99p principal, pricing just under the next price band, used to be a favourite with agents, but, crucially, portal price bands don’t work that way anymore. It’s best to try and place yourself in the top of the price band bracket, rather than underneath, that way you’re listing should appear at the top of the search page, assuming buyers are searching for highest price first! It’s handy to know how the price bands work on the major portals to make sure you get the strategy right first time, but also in case of a price reduction further down the line.
Photographs
We live in a visual age, more so now perhaps than ever before. Today’s buyers are the Instagram generation and visual impact is probably the most important thing to get right. Excellent photographs that showcase your home to it’s best are almost a given these days, but here’s a little secret, Rightmove analyses the amount of photographs too! Your agent will be able to log in to Rightmove analytics and see exactly how many images will get your home most interest, too many images, too few images or images in the wrong order can impact the number of visits your property details get.
Floorplans
Many people have looked at the impact of floorplans on potential buyers. Rightmove themselves have suggested that listings without floor plans get less views, and we have first-hand experience of potential buyers saying they wont even bother to book a viewing on a property if they can’t see the floorplans first. Make sure yours are on the listing, professionally created and clear and easy to understand.
Additional Extras
You may have seen some of the listings on the major portals stand out more from the standard. This is because the agents dealing with those properties have purchased additional marketing packages through the portal, including things like Rightmove’s feature property and premium listing. These additional extras can make sure your property appears at the top of the search page every time and doesn’t get lost lower down the list. On top of this, properties that have 360 tours, virtual walk through tours, highlighted tags and even video, all get noticed more and get additional views on the portals. Your agent should be able to log in to the portal and monitor the interest your property is getting, provide you with a report documenting that interest and use the analytical tools that the portals provide to suggest ways to make sure you’re getting more views than competing homes.
These are just some of the things to look out for when preparing to list your property on the property portals, and, in all honesty, understanding property performance and analytics on these sites can be a full-time occupation in itself! The best advice we can give is to find an agent with trained staff who have a great relationship with their portal account manager and who can understand the data provided, translating that into the best advice for you!
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