WEBSITE CHECKLIST. Property Management OPTIMIZE YOUR WEBSITE & MANAGE YOUR ONLINE REPUTATION

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1 Property Management WEBSITE CHECKLIST OPTIMIZE YOUR WEBSITE & MANAGE YOUR ONLINE REPUTATION On-Site PayLease Casey Van Zandt Professional Equity Management Brought to You By

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Website Tools 1 Photography 2 Call To Action 3 Responsive Design 4 Security 5 Claim Your Listing 6 Manage Your Reviews 7

3 WEBSITE TOOLS MOBILE TOOLS Rent Payments Package Notifications Leasing and Payment Tools Are a Necessity For a full online leasing experience, there are seven key online tools you can integrate into your website to attract and retain residents. A prospective resident doesn t even have to set foot on your property until move in day if you provide them these website features (if they don t want to). And by providing them convenient tools like online rent payments and online maintenance requests, they will want to remain a resident long-term. Lease Agreements Online Applications ELECTRONIC FORMS Tenant Screening Lease Renewals Maintenance Requests MAINTENANCE REQUEST 1

4 PHOTOGRAPHY Use Original Images, NOT Stock Photography Images on social media do not need to be professional. People want to see real content that could have been taken on a mobile phone. For example, rather than posting a stock photo of people at a pool party, snap pictures of your residents at the pool and post them to your social sites. Build an arsenal of photos by regularly taking pictures around your community. Stock photography is a turnoff to most prospective renters and doesn t accurately portray life at your community. Not to mention your competition could be using the same stock photos. Instead, hire a professional photographer to take photos of your community. Social Media Quick Tip Real People and Places Stock Photo Zombies 2

5 CALL TO ACTION Used originally to describe newspapers, Above the Fold refers to the portion of the Web page that is visible in a browser without scrolling. Because users engage more with content that is above the fold, key website functions such as an Apply Now or Pay Rent button should always be located above the fold. Incorporate Clear Calls to Action Residents and prospects visit your website for very specific reasons. Make it easier on them to find what they need by using clear calls to action like Pay Rent, or Apply Now in large font and above the fold. Definition: Above the Fold Color Theory Tip A powerful, blue button won t stand out on a page that is dominated by that same color. Choose contrasting colors for your buttons to have your call to action stand out on the page. 1 1 Adpearance, Color Theory and Landing Page Buttons, 3

6 RESPONSIVE DESIGN Consumers Visit Biller Sites Mostly for Billing and Payments3 In the last 6 months have you visited the website of any company from whom you receive a monthly bill? Use Responsive Design With a responsive design, your website automatically responds to the size of the device you re viewing it on. That means your team only has to maintain one website and residents don t have to download an app a win-win for everyone! No 18% Yes 82% For which reasons? 82% Pay a bill Access a monthly invoice or view billing payment history 45% 22% Shop for products and services Use online self-service options 18% Contact customer service 17% Take advantage of marketing offers 7% Did You Know? Nearly 1 in 5 visits to a biller s website come from a mobile device - a 55% increase over Fiserv 2015, 3 Fiserv 2013, 4

7 SECURITY Grill Your Vendors on Compliance Is your company doing everything it can to protect resident data? Read our Security Audit Checklist to find out DOWNLOAD A data breach can be disastrous for a property management company. Any vendor handling resident information needs to have the highest security certifications available. Online payment and leasing vendors should be PCI Level 1 compliant and E3IPA certified. What is PCI Level 1 The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) regulates the security and business processes of service providers that store, process or transmits consumer credit card data. Transactions processed comply with the most stringent security standards. Level 1 is the highest level of compliance available for payment merchants. Free Download SECURITY CHECKLIST What is E3IPA Experian Independent Third Party Assessment (EI3PA) requirement, closely based on the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), establishes 12 requirements for organizations to assess their security measures in protecting consumer data supplied by Experian. ( 5

8 CLAIM YOUR LISTING Claim Your Listing on Google and Yelp Did You Know? 50% of Smartphone users & 34% of computer/tablet users visit a store within a day of their local search. 3 Drive more traffic to your communities and your website through Google My Business. It s free, and will put the right information about your property on Search, Maps and Google+. This includes your website, operating hours, directions and contact information. It will also give your website higher search rank and give you the ability to respond to reviews. To claim your listing visit: To claim your listing on Yelp go to: This will allow you to respond to reviews privately and publicly, add photos and links to your website, and update important information such as your business hours and phone number. The methods used to boost the ranking or frequency of a website in results returned by a search engine, in an effort to maximize user traffic to the site: The first step in SEO is to generate keywords that are relevant to your site s content. Definition: Search-Engine Optimization 3 Google, 2014, 6

9 MANAGE YOUR REVIEWS Set up a Google Alert for your company name so you can monitor your reputation on an ongoing basis: 1. Go to google.com/alerts and login in with your Google account. If you don t have a Google account you will need to set up your own free account. 2. Type in your management company name or keywords you d like to monitor. Using the Show Options button you can customize your settings. Take Control of Your Online Reputation Do you know what people are saying about your community? If the answer is no, it s time to find out. Search review sites like Yelp, Google, and Facebook and identify your communities current online reputation. Use your negative reviews as an opportunity to improve your business. If there are common complaints, identify the issues and get to the source of the problem. Respond to negative reviews in a timely and professional manner with the goal of taking the conversation offline. Your response will show prospects that you care about community and are committed to quality service. Prospects Care About Your Reviews 46% of renters look at ratings and reviews when searching for an apartment. 49% of renters have the perception that if you respond to online ratings and reviews, you have good customer service. How To: Google Alerts 90% of renters care on some level whether property management team is responding to reviews. Only 10% weren t concerned with reviews at all. 4 4 Satisfacts s 2014 Online Renter Study, 7