I’ve had a very enlightening experience over the last few days. I’ve been trying to find an apartment to rent in Altrincham (don’t ask).
So, what would you do? Exactly. Google – apartment rent Altrincham. Right at the top of the organic listings, good old RightMove. Completely pointless.
So, I went on the website. Excellent design, good, intuitive navigation, excellent search function. Totally useless.
I quickly found several apartments that ticked all my boxes, it was then very quick and easy to contact the letting agents direct with my criteria, budget, contact email and phone number to arrange a viewing. Waste of time.
I then thought I’d give some of the agents in Altrincham a chance direct. Scrolled down Google a bit and there they were straight away. Good bit of SEO. Useless.
Yet again, they’d all got their act together on their websites. Good search, excellent pics and descriptions then simple functionality to leave your contact details. Rubbish.
I was left thinking what a huge improvement there had been in this sector’s online marketing. And what good work some agencies had been doing. So why all the negativity?
Well, it’s now 4 days and I haven’t had a single email or phone call back! None.
What is the point in all the time, effort and financial investment that have been put into these websites and SEO? I suggest not much. So – RightMove, Verve, Hallmark, Rooftop you are named and shamed. Yes, I know you are just the portal RightMove, but your credibility depends on the performance of your content.
A serious point is the role of the agency here. If you are developing a client’s website or SEO and social media strategy should you be analysing their response and customer service effectiveness? As a paid and trusted advisor I think you should. And sheer pride should drive you to make sure the assets you have created for a client are being exploited to their greatest effect.