eKomi launches StarInsights™ Report for Real Estate Portals

(Berlin) –  eKomi, the world’s largest provider of user-validated ratings and reviews, has unveiled its StarInsights™ (ref #30032017) report. This highly anticipated study ranks the top online real estate portals in Europe and the United States.

Customer ratings and reviews are crucial tools for driving traffic to a company’s website, and in boosting revenue – especially when they’re integrated into Google search results. As most marketers now recognize, user-friendly website is only one component in a modern online strategy. Public reviews build trust among consumers – and in the high-stakes business of real estate, high levels of trust and social proof are absolutely essential for attracting new clientele.

In fact, a recent Zendesk survey found that a stunning 88 percent of customers make their buying decisions based on online reviews by other customers.

Publicly visible customer feedback is no longer just icing on the cake – it’s become a core component in the success of every company with an online presence. What’s more, recent changes to Google’s ranking algorithms now favor user-generated content more highly than ever before. That means organizations who fail to invest in positive ratings and reviews are leaving tremendous amounts of profit on the table.

Real Estate Portal Market Overview

In the business of real estate, user-friendliness often – though not always – translates into high ratings and positive reviews. The companies that topped eKomi’s StarInsights ™ 30032017 report invested not only in friendly, informative websites but also in cultivating positive customer feedback in the online ratings space.

Among all real estate portals analyzed, these are the ones that came out on top:

• Zoopla: zoopla.co.uk –4.8 Seller Rating with no Active Seller Reviews to date
• Zillow: zillow.com – 4.7 Seller Rating with no Active Seller Reviews to date
• Immobilienscout24: immobilienscout24.de –  1.724 Ratings & Reviews to date across Google Shopping Selling; Ratings from the past 12 months have an overage Star Rating of 4.6
• Remax: remax.com – 4.6 Seller Rating with no Active Seller Reviews to date
• Primelocation: primelocation.com – 4.3 Seller Rating with no Active Seller Reviews to date
• Redfin: redfin.com–   4.3 Seller Rating with no Active Seller Reviews to date
• Trulia: trulia.com – 4.2 Seller Rating with no Active Seller Reviews to date
• Realtor: realtor.com – 3.7 Seller Rating with no Active Seller Reviews to date
• Seloger: seloger.com –  227 Ratings & Reviews to date across Google Shopping Selling; Ratings from the past 12 months have an overage Star Rating of 3.6
• Ziprealty: ziprealty.com – Neither Seller Rating nor Active Seller Reviews to date
• Immonet: immonet.de– Neither Seller Rating nor Active Seller Reviews to date
• Rightmove: rightmove.co.uk – Neither seller Rating nor Active Seller Reviews to date
• Century21: century21.com – Neither Seller Rating nor Active Seller Reviews to date

Our Analysis

This first StarInsights™ Study (30032017) on Real Estate discovered some surprising findings of the top-ranked portals in the US and UK. Most strikingly, very few of these companies have activated their Google Seller reviews – which means even a smaller real estate company that activates these reviews may quickly rise in the ranks, and claim one of those coveted top spots on the first page of Google search results.

In addition, the same study acknowledges that popular real estate portals like Rightmove, Centrury21 do not currently use customer feedback tools, potentially driving them to gain less credibility online.

“If one of these portals choose to introduce reviews to their websites, they could potentially grow their market share significantly at the expense of the other, just by moving up their Google ranking,” commented Michael Ambros, eKomi Founder and CEO.Our experience in other sectors and markets has shown that brands that are able to activate reviews and ratings can see a rise in search engine referred traffic.”“We’ve seen this in a wide range of other sectors and markets: the brands that activate their reviews and ratings are the ones that see the biggest boosts in referred search engine traffic.”

Interestingly, in Germany there has been a significant focus on reviews in the real estate portal sector:

“The largest German Portal, ImmobilienScout24 has been able to dominate the market because of its high search ranking,” continues Michael Ambros. “Our research really highlights the opportunity within the online real estate vertical market to influence brand consideration and purchase intent by promoting positive feedback.”

“This first of many studies, focused on the real estate portals market, highlights the importance of having a trusted feedback platform that assists customers when making a real estate purchase decision.”

⇒ Want to know more about the power or Ratings & Reviews for your Website? BOOK A FREE DEMO today and get actionable insights for how your business can benefit from valuable customer insight, increased trust, more traffic and accelerated conversions with eKomi.