Major online enhancements and focus on improved consumer experience drive accomplishments
Norfolk, VA - (July 22, 2013) – Following the introduction of a new look and improved consumer search experience, For Rent Media Solutions™ (FRMS) achieved a successful first half of 2013 with notable accomplishments. Among these were multiple product launches, enhancements and extensive gains in leads and traffic due to increased mobile and video strategy and website optimization.
● Improved Search Experience – The user interface updates to ForRent.com were extensive, including a new look, a goal of higher conversion rates for advertisers, and faster page load times. The updates were designed using a “tablet first” mentality, and calls-to-action and touch points have generous padding to facilitate a positive search experience on touch-screen devices. Over 98% of consumers surveyedⁱ said they switch between devices multiple times daily. FRMS implemented these updates with consumers in mind, providing consistency for users switching between screens.
● In Ad Reviews – With renter-generated reviews becoming more accepted and expected in the rental industry, ForRent.com added “In Ad Reviews” to its FRWeb customer advertisements. This feature increases shoppers’ confidence in their apartment searches and provides valuable content for SEO purposes.
● Social Search Apps – A YouTube search app has been created, giving ForRent.com a new distribution point from which to leverage more than 10,000 videos. An entertaining search app promotional commercial can be viewed here. A Facebook Search App has also been created as an additional distribution point of the FRMS YouTube app. Facebook Available Apartments App was built by ForRent.com, using real estate properties’ ForRent.com profiles to display property information on their Facebook business pages.
● ForRentUniversity.com – This is the first major Internet Listing Service, which came out of beta in early 2013, that is dedicated to the student housing space. Adapted for any device, ForRentUniversity.com centers around college campuses and search options, including amenities and criteria aimed at college students and their parents.
● SeniorOutlook.com – Committed to serving targeted markets, SeniorOutlook.com was redesigned using responsive framework. It houses approximately 60,000 listings which provide extensive content for search engines to index and consumers to browse.
● New Publication Designs – In an effort to further streamline its products, FRMS redesigned its FRPrint rental listing books throughout the country and updated the title to “ForRent.com® Magazine” on all publications.
Continued integration of listings in the Rental section of Homes.com has increased leads 23% over 2012. An impressive 26.2 million monthly unique visitors accessed ForRent.com and its mobile website during the first six months of 2013. The mobile site has continued to see an increase in traffic and leads, with an 89% increase in unique visitors from 2012. According to comScore, it was the first of all competitors to hit one million monthly visitors in January 2013 – a 91% increase over the prior six months – and it continues to increase month over month. With many users searching via smart phones and tablets, mobile leads are up 73% from 2012. The mobile interface was recently updated to match ForRent.com, creating greater brand consistency and easy use for apartment shoppers.
“We are very excited about the enhancements we’ve made thus far in 2013,” said Terry Slattery, president of ForRent.com and Homes.com. “By placing a greater emphasis on video development and mobile technology and staying ahead of consumer trends, our goal is to be everywhere the renter is searching.”
Employing its Easyology philosophy, For Rent Media Solutions is proud to be providing clients with simplified marketing solutions that are easy to use, easy to understand, and easy to measure.
About For Rent Media Solutions™
Founded in 1982 as For Rent Magazine®, For Rent Media Solutions™ is headquartered in Norfolk, Va., and provides property managers and owners with diverse marketing and advertising products. These products are easy to use, easy to understand, and designed with the renters in mind. For apartment shoppers, For Rent Media Solutions provides robust community listings in a multitude of media, including print, social, online, mobile, video and an extensive distribution network. For Rent Media Solutions publishes 85 magazines covering more than 80 markets nationwide, including After 55™ Housing & Resource Guide, ForRent.com Magazine and ParaRentar. For Rent Media Solutions operates five additional websites: ForRent.com®, SeniorOutlook.com®, Corporate Housing.com®, ParaRentar.com® and ForRentUniversity.com®. Visit ForRent.com for more information, or visit us on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and LinkedIn.
About Homes.com®
Homes.com is a leading provider of real estate marketing and media services, including brand advertising, property listing exposure and syndication, search engine marketing and instant response lead generation. Homes Connect by Homes.com offers the real estate industry’s first-ever, all-inclusive marketing platform for agents and brokers featuring single-login convenience. Over 12.5 million consumers visit Homes.com each month to search nearly 4 million properties for sale or rent, to locate real estate agents in their area, and to find useful home buying tips. For more information, visit Homes.com.
Homes.com is a division of Dominion Enterprises, a leading marketing services and publishing company headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia. For more information, visit Dominion Enterprises.