Browser Geolocation TechnologyReal Estate brokers invest a lot of time and money into maintaining and sustaining a strong relocation business. Franchise Organizations and broker networks like Leading Real Estate Companies of the World connect brokers across the country.

Advances in technology have enabled location aware Internet browsers. This allows technologists to create predictable outcomes on user visits.  If you are a broker in Ohio, and a consumer visits your website from California – you can say “We welcome Californians! Leading websites like Trulia, Zillow, Realtor.com, Homes.com and Homefinder do this effectively. Why don’t broker websites do the same?

Browser auto-detect allows website owners to create actions around the criteria of a visitor including location or browser type. To illustrate browser type, visit http://c21home.com from your mobile browser.  The broker website will direct you to choosing the mobile site, or offer a mobile app download specifically designed for your phone. In this case, the website will detect your phone type, and you will be directed to the Smarter Agent mobile solution optimized to your device. This is pretty commonplace.

Here is a fresh idea that I have not seen on real estate websites yet. This idea detects the State that a visitor is from and provides some special information designed specifically for them.

Using browser detect, a broker may welcome them with a light box –

Light Box Welcome

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you look at your website performance using a tool like Google Analytics, you will likely see that the bulk of your real estate traffic is local. This is common. But mouse over the other states and you will find something very surprising – lots of people come to your website from out of the area.

Google Analytics Real Estate Traffic Map

In this case – states like New York, California, Florida, Texas and Illinois are driving hundreds of thousands of visits.

It stands to reason that a method to provide visitor-specific content would have many benefits to a broker and the consumer. The consumer would recognize that you have services designed for them. Relocating from out of the area has many psychographic challenges beyond finding a home.  A broker committed to helping them should stand out.

If you are a web developer for real estate websites who is willing to develop this functionality, please contact WAV Group.

If you want to read more articles from WAV Group about trends in broker technology, Click Here.