Data Post November 12, 2009 - Forced vs. Unforced Registration Test
Website Data for November 5 - November 11, 2009
Well, not much changed from last week. The total visitors and total uniques are nearly identical and Saint-paul-real-estate.com (unforced site) had slightly better non-IDX lead totals while BarkerHedges.com (forced site) saw the same net total of non-IDX leads and an increase in IDX leads. A few more weeks of testing and maybe we'll be able to make some sense out of these numbers!
Raw Data:
| Saint-Paul-Real-Estate.com (Unforced) | BarkerHedges.com (Forced) | |
Total Visitors | 1,220 | 1,415 |
| Unique Visitors | 1,048 | 1,214 |
| Avg Pages Viewed per Visitor | 15.1 | 11.7 |
| Avg Time on Site per Visitor | 9 minutes 58.3 seconds | 7 minutes 30.1 seconds |
| Bounce Rate | 32% | 37% |
| IDX Registrations | 6 | 60 |
| Showing Request Forms | 6 | 4 |
| Property Inquiry Forms | 3 | 2 |
| Other Misc Forms | 0 | 1 |
| Call In from Website | 0 | 0 |
| Bad Information Given | 0 | 1 |
Conversion Rate:
As usual, we start with a side by side analysis of the website conversion rates. The conversion rate is the % of Unique Visitors who convert into a lead. We calculate leads including all lead types, minus those that give bad contact information. For Saint-Paul-Real-Estate.com (the Unforced Website), the conversion rate was 1.43% (15 net leads ÷ 1,048 unique visitors). For BarkerHedges.com (the Forced Site), the conversion rate was 5.60% (68 net leads ÷ 1,214 unique visitors). This is a sizeable increase in conversion rate for both websites, but the percentage spread between the sites remained about the same as previous weeks.
Stay Tuned!
Discussion
The stats are essentially the same but in "IDX Registration" category of course. Doesn't this disprove what we (bloggers, SM experts, etc) hoped to believe as true for years? That if you "give the information away" they will come and register eventually and that if you required regstration customers would felee forever? Seems to indicate that they will come and registration is not an issue. At least under one scenario a relationship can be formed.
@ Jeff...
Thanks for your comments! I think you are correct. I have always been vehemently opposed to forced registration, but the numbers don't lie. If we are going to receive the same response either way, I would prefer to require registration and have the opportunity to cultivate a relationship with my on-line customers.
Hi Matt, long time no talk. Nice looking site. Seems the debate has proof positive. You can't expect to cultivate a relationship with the anonymity of the internet without requiring registration. Some think so, but facts are facts. Like anything, then the art of sales begins as an opportunity to provide value is started. Good job, thanks Gregg
We had a killer website that was climbing organically in our marketplace... the problem was that none but a few would raise their hands and want help... we became the great information website and nothing more! Like wikipedia... we need paying customers. I got on the bandwagon to get a lead capture module added to our website but instead we went with a lead provider that markets for us. It's generated so much more business for us and I wouldn't ever go back to a website that doesn't ask the prospect to signup
It would be great to know how many of the converted leads on the forced site converted again into appointments. I think that will be the tall tell sign of which method is better.
Great program guys. I've been touting forced registration for years and have taken a lot of heat. I will always contend that my success in our little Melbourne Florida office is because we have forced registration since 2002. I tested non registration back in 2002 and found very similar numbers that you are finding, I wish I had kept the info but I didn't. Back then it just made sense to me that if I capture more leads I will get more sales.
Are you guys tracking sales from the leads. That would be the next level of testing. My belief is that the closing rate of each category will be similar. Just wondering if you guys have tracked that now that you are close to a year. Great job!
Hi Matt_ maybe see you at the summit again. I have been doing that and have questions on the registration form as I did not really see much difference with bare bones versus half a dozen questions. We are finding things vary, but about 110-120 leads to sale seems to be somewhere in the range we are finding with some agents.
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