multifamily website

It seems the tipping point is here with regard to the way consumers use the Internet for information to make purchases. There is a stat out there that suggests that 53% of users get their information in places other than corporate web sites. I wonder if it is time to re-imagine the corporate website.

In lieu of a shiny new one dotted with the general me me me stuff accompanied by a map of all our properties, should we move in the direction of a social classified [Craigslist] concept? I’m not suggesting we ditch the specific company and community information but maybe we just display it in a different manner. Can we give them what they want right when they want it? Can we get to the point without sacrificing engagement and overall experience? Or, would the engagement and overall experience be amplified positively by a less cluttered approach? I think the overriding theme in developing a web presence going forward should be to make it more social in nature.

That in mind, do you think it is conceivable that an apartment prospect just wants to get to the pertinent information via a search box – for all intents and purposes, they are expertly trained by Google to do so. Could we get away with just having a search box on our home page? Maybe after that, they just want to read a few reviews so that they can make a more informed decision about joining our apartment experience? Could each one of our listings carry with it a review or two? – And on that point, why use a third party when you could provide your own feedback [Yelp or Aptratings like] mechanism? Would it carry the same credibility?

Maybe the site is a mashup of Goolge and Craigslist [Craigooglelist], where your homepage is a search box that leads to a set of classified listings that include reviews. We could include links to the other stuff just in case the user wants to see it.

The over-riding point here is, do we need to rethink the corporate apartment website?

Have a stellar Sunday. M