The Importance of Good Data (e.g. Address, Title, Description, Photos, Video)
In this post, I want to share some knowledge with you, and explain why having good data is very important. I think good data comes in three forms, quantity, quality and accuracy. Often times people ask us how they can maximize their exposure and get more leads? What websites are we uploading listings to? Why can’t they find their listings? I hope to answer some of these questions here.
YGL automatically sync your listings to multiple websites, such as Hotpads, Google Real Estate and Oodle. We also run our own renter’s website PerfectUnits.com. These websites receive hundreds of thousands of listings from different sources daily, which often contain large amounts of duplications. The following rules are commonly required:
- Listings must have titles and descriptions. Listings with no title nor description are rejected.
- Photos help you rank higher. Each website has their internal ranking system to filter out duplications and low quality listings. Listings with good title / description and photos are displayed more prominently.
- Duplications are bad. Each website has mechanisms to filter out the large quantities of duplicated listings they receive. If listings have the same photos, title and descriptions, they’ll be automatically filtered out. So it is important that each unit has their unique photos and description.In our case. We notice that many users keep only building photos and building descriptions. While this is a very effective way to make the Craigslist ads look decent with very little efforts, this practice is detrimental when it comes to other websites. For example, if you have 10 units in a building that has only a building description but no unique unit description, all 10 units will be rejected / filtered, because they have identical information which are considered duplications.
- Accurate & Mappable Address. Some of the websites are map based, such as Hotpads. They require listings to have accurate address that can be located on a map. To you, this means to make sure the listing address you enter is complete and accurate. Do not use abbreviations such as Comm vs. Commonwealth. Spell out the street name completely and include the “St.”, “Rd.” at the end. Make sure the zip code is entered or generated correctly. If you cannot map your listing on Google Maps, chances are neither can they.
In the newspaper advertising days, people do not expect up to date information from the ads. But in the Internet age, information is cheap and abundant. Young renters grow up with easy access to lots and lots of good information on the web. They demand good and accurate data. Almost all modern advertising platforms and efforts are built on the foundation of data.
One good way to check how your data rank among other agencies and brokers, look no further than our very own PerfectUnits.com. Do some simple searches, do you find your listings on there? Do your listings appear at the beginning of the search results? If not, it is because your listings are out ranked by others who have better information.
Keeping good data is a long term commitment, it will most certainly pay off in the long run. In the next blog post, I want to mention some YGL tricks to help you gather good data faster.
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Sorry Adam but I disagree. The newspaper ads were not all bait and switch. Because they lacked pictures and video tours only meant “sunny, hw, dd, eik, pkg, ht/hw inc.” may apply to more than one unit in inventory (just like today). Can you tell me exactly what all the ads posted with no pictures and just headline, price, date avail on craigslist or anywhere else represent? Garbage bait and switch ads. You would not do that in the newspaper age. You paid for your ads and you had to be precise, every letter cost you. The jargon d/d or w/w or pkg inc. may have been the difference in you getting a call or not. Today’s customers are “way better” informed. By what, craigslist and the like and using ads found there as their basis of reference? No today’s customers are “easier” informed via the internet. Up until 1999 no one really even used email. No one ever made a phone call and asked just a one line question as they do now with email or text messaging. They demand” better” service. Maybe what you really mean is they want to talk to someone who really knows the market and what they’re talking about. That’s always been the case and they don’t get that today from most of the agents they contact. How do I know this? Many agents call me to show my property and have no clue who they have for clients or what their really looking for. It’s “they called so I made an appointment”,” Oh I didn’t ask that”,” where’s that street exactly? ”. Clients have a second to breathe? When’s the last time you said “oh go take your time and think about it, it’s a great place but no rush”. This business is built around the “sense of urgency” to make a commitment. He who hesitates loses. You work at a good office that’s been around for a long time. Don’t mistake the level of quality in your office for the norm, it’s not. Good luck to all or GLTA that’s how they say it in 2010 right?
“In the newspaper advertising days, people do not expect accurate information from the ads. But in the Internet age, information is cheap and abundant. Young renters grow up with easy access to lots and lots of good information on the web. They demand good and accurate data.”
ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!! IN THE SO CALLED NEWSPAPER DAYS ACCURATE INFORMATION WAS MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER. YOU HAD ONE SHOT WITH CUSTOMERS, THAT ONE SHOT WAS THE !!PAID AD!! YOU SUBMITTED TO THE BOSTON GLOBE ETC. THERE WAS NO SUCH THING AS POSTING THE SAME GARBAGE OVER AND OVER AS IS DONE NOW BY MANY OF THE SUBSCRIBERS OF THIS SERVICE (SORRY GUYS). YOU HAD TO PAY FOR ADVERTISING, SOMETHING COMPLETELY FOREIGN TO MOST.
YOUNG RENTERS DEMAND GOOD AND ACCURATE DATA….LOL…TODAY CLIENTS ARE NO MORE INFORMED THAN 10 OR 20 YEARS AGO. IN FACT THE OPPOSITE IS PROBABLY TRUE. RENTERS 10-20 YEARS AGO ACTUALLY HAD TO DO REAL RESEARCH. NEWS FLASH THEY ACTUALLY CALLED AND SPOKE TO A HUMAN, NO ONE LINE EMAILS OR TEXTS. TODAY RENTERS SEARCH CRAIGSLIST, WALK DOWN THE STREET USING GOOGLE EARTH, READ YELP REVIEWS AND THINK THEY ARE WELL INFORMED… YEAH RIGHT
THE REST OF YOUR ARTICLE IS ACCURATE BUT NOT THE PART I COMMENTED ON… BYE THE WAY GUYS THERE WAS A TIME WHEN YOU DID NOT HAVE TO SIT IN FRONT OF A COMPUTER ALL DAY WASTING YOUR LIFE POSTING TO CRAIGSLIST… OH FOR THE GOOD OLD DAYS..
I changed the entry to say “up to date” instead of “accurate”. What we meant is that when advertising on newspaper, the ad is usually not unit based (rather building / complex based), since by the time the ads are published and read by someone, the units can very well been rented.
We are by no means arguing today’s rental industry is better than yesterday’s. We are simply saying why having good data is ever more important.
The FACT is that back in the day, the newspaper ads were pretty much all bait and switch just to get the phones to ring. Now-a-day, the renters are definitely more savvy than ever and for that reason, demand better service than before. Also, remember that you’re talking about a much different rental market in those days as well. People have a second to breathe and do their research before making a semi-educated decision. You’re selling the average apartment renter short which can be a pretty detrimental mistake on your part. Just because they’re not reading the newspaper ads and since they have easier and more efficient methods of doing their research certainly doesn’t mean they aren’t doing it. As a matter of fact, I’d say they’re WAY BETTER informed today than they were before.