Is SW Florida Ready for Mobilegeddon?

Circle the date. April 21, 2015 things are going to change in a significant way. These are the words directly from Google. We’re talking about Mobilegeddon, and whether you’re a real estate agent, business owner, or consumer, you will be affected on April 21. So we ask the question, is SW Florida ready for mobilegeddon?

Since 2013 I’ve been speaking to agents nationwide about the importance of having a mobile friendly website. Google has stated how important mobile is and they do not want to rank websites high if the consumer doesn’t have a good experience on their mobile device when they get there.

Last year we told readers that consumers were spending more time on the web from their mobile then they were on their desktop computer. ComScore data proves this out, and many webmasters who view their logs will tell you mobile is more popular now than desktop.

The problem is, many websites are not setup to handle mobile visitors properly. Portent recently crawled 25,000 sites and found that 40% of those sites were not mobile friendly.

If you’re on your mobile device you can do a search in Google and it will return results. It will say if the results are mobile friendly, but you better pay attention to those results. The companies you see today may not be the same companies you see on April 21. If they do not have the mobile friendly seal of approval from Google, they are going to drop out of the search results. This is significant.

Mobilegeddon will be a larger algorithm change than either the Panda or Penguin updates. If this is all Greek to you, it’s OK. Consumers don’t need to know all the details, but local businesses do.

Consumers who are hiring a real estate agent should ask questions about the agent’s web presence and whether it’s mobile friendly. The public tends to think all agents are the same and all advertising is the same.

I can assure you all agents do not have the same negotiating skills, nor do they have the same marketing skills. Pretty soon we’re going to find out which agents win in the online marketing business.

If you’re a buyer or seller, Mobilegeddon is going to matter to you. The buyers will be directed to sites that are mobile friendly. According to one site buyers are 53% more likely to purchase from mobile while they are shopping.

Imagine buyers driving around looking at neighborhoods. When they see a neighborhood or sign they like, do you think they write it down to pull up later or do they inquire on their Smartphone? The answer is they are not waiting.

The Ellis Team is receiving many mobile leads per week. The registration form even says Mobile lead. We’re receiving phone calls directly from the online information as well.

Buyers today want immediate information. They go on Smartphones first. If they call, they don’t want voicemail. They want to talk to a live person. They can get general info online in an instant, so your systems better be designed to answer that call when the buyer is ready. If the agent isn’t ready when the buyer is, they’ll find another agent. Statistics show buyers and sellers work with the first person they talk to 70% of the time.

If you’re a seller, you’ll want to list with an agent who’s ready for Mobilegeddon and has systems and people to answer the phone. If you miss either step, you miss the buyer. Buyers want the same thing. They don’t like wasting time, and they want an agent who is up to today’s way of doing business.

Our website is mobile friendly. www.Topagent,com You can search for homes, find out your home’s value, ready weekly articles, and get market statistics on your desktop, tablet, or Smartphone. Do some searches on your Smartphone this weekend, then try again on April 21st. What you see may be different.

You can call us at 239-489-4042

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