Just how easy is it for a renter to find my properties on the Internet?  This is a question we have been asked many times from our clients as they look to understand how well their paid and non-paid property advertising efforts are working for them.  As anyone who has done any internet advertising knows, these costs are both expensive and time-consuming and money doesn’t grow on trees.  So just how can a property manager find out how their advertising is working for them?

Fortunately, our diverse customer base allows us to speak with many property managers to understand and develop best practices for advertising online.   To help answer this question for our clients, we have been working to develop a method to help our property managers best allocate their advertising dollars.  We’ve coined this term “Propability”, and define it as: the ability of a property to be easily found on the internet and to attract well-qualified renters.   Propability should be an important consideration to take into account for any property advertising and marketing that you plan to do.

What Determines Propability?

·         Ad Content

Does your ad’s content sound professional and does it entice the renter to continue reading to learn more about your rental?  The better the content, the more engaged your ad reader will be.   This also includes correcting spelling and grammar errors that can make your business look unprofessional

·         Photos, Video, and Floor plans

These are probably the most important, since as the saying goes, a picture is worth 1,000 words.  Do you take professional looking pictures of your properties?  Do you have 360 degree views, great lighting, high quality video walkthroughs, and include floorplans?

·         Keyword Tagging

Property listing websites and search engines rely on specific search terms that help renters to find properties that interest them.  Are you using the right terms to find a great match for your property?

·         Web Search

Rentals typically aren’t listed long enough to be indexed by Google and Bing, but the website that you list your properties on is very important.   Listings on high-quality websites are going to have a higher number of renters and will drive more traffic to view your rental.  Also, don’t forget about niche websites if you have unique properties, for example luxury apartments.

·         Social Media

The use of social media websites and tools such as Facebook, twitter, and Google+ are great ways for your rental to quickly and easily spread among groups.  For example, a Facebook “like” of your rental can quickly lead to hundreds or even thousands of people seeing your property.  This also helps to build brand recognition for your business.  We believe social media will continue to become more important over time as an advertising mechanism.

·         Linkability

An important tie-in to social media is how linkable your property is so that a renter can save it for later or send to another person.  Do you offer social media buttons, emailing of property listings, and the ability for a renter to print or save properties for later without having to do a new search?

In the coming months, we will be publishing more information on propability and how it can help your business, and also discuss how we plan to integrate propability into the E-Rental Tools property management software package.

Any others we’re missing that are important to your property advertising?