Surgeon Generals Warning: there is no exact science in search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM).
That said, April 21, 2015, was a standout date for marketers around the country. Dubbed Mobilegeddon, it was the day Google mandated that all websites should be mobile friendly.
There are multiple levels that account for why this is happening, but primarily Google is trying to encourage the broadest use of mobile search, says Greg Sterling, Vice President of Strategy and Insights for the Local Search Association.
To that end, Sterling and a group of experts including Disruptive Advertising Owner Jacob Baadsgaard, Yext Vice President of Partner Services and Community Raj Nijjer and Entrata Director of SEO/SEM Veronica Romney gathered to provide the following top four strategies for maximizing multifamily SEO and SEM investments in 2016:
1 Be a Curt Loader. Long load times impact a site immediately. After a load time delay of only a second, most sites experience a significant 7 percent conversion drop, so optimize very heavy bulk images, and use Google Page Speed Insight and the Google search console to test loading speeds.
2 Incorporate Video. This is positioned as the year there will be more video consumption on mobile versus desktop. It probably was happening even before the end of 2015, says Sterling.
This is yet another signifier that everything in apartment housing marketing is mobile first. And keep in mind Googles recent guidelines for videothat it needs to educate, entertain or inspire in order to qualify for positive SEO juice.
3 Get Ready for Apple Search. It feels like Apples entry into the game might be the biggest moment in local search, Romney says. Indeed, the company has begun to index a search database using app content and context within iOS, and are also actively going out and crawling the Web too. Overnight, Apple could be a quarter of search, Nijjer says, so make sure your property is in Apple Maps.
4 The Future Will Be Filtered. We havent seen a lot of it in our industry yet, but be prepared for more filters, Romney says. That means SEO filtering by hours of operation, by star rating, and increasingly, by ratings and reviews. Reviews attract the most clicks, period, Romney says.
Finally, apartment marketers should also consider advertising as a primary means to get above the fold on mobile searches. Ultimately, it may be the only way you get results via mobile, says Sterling.