Builders need to develop online, social media presence: Report

No real estate developer has a monthly traffic of 10 lakh on its website, a study has said while suggesting builders to improve their online as well as social media presence to boost sales.

"None of the 50 websites of property developers that we studied had a traffic of one million (10 lakh) per month," online visibility management platform SEMrush and property consultant Colliers said in a report, titled 'Digital Real Estate -- Wining the Indian Market with Data,' released Tuesday.

Out of the 50 websites studied, only 16 had a traffic of more than 50,000 per month, it said.

Lodha topped the list of 'top 20 developers' websites by traffic' with a web traffic of 7.13 lakh during last month, followed by Sobha (6.10 lakh), Prestige (6.08 lakh), Godrej Properties (5.46 lakh) and Mahindra Lifespaces (nearly 4.2 lakh).

While organic search accounted for more than half of all web traffic, referral contributed 28 per cent.

"Social media was the most dismal performer, sending just 3 per cent of the traffic. This clearly means builders and property developers need to shore up their social presence and engagement," the report said.

The detailed study from January to December 2018 shows that over 1 lakh people search monthly for buying and renting houses or flats around India, and more than 900 crore pages cater to these searches, Fernando Angulo, corporate speaker, SEMrush, said.

"Competition in the property market is getting fierce with every passing day. In the new consumer-driven digital economy, industry players such as builders, brokers, and aggregators must rely on data and analytics if they hope to capture a greater market share," he added.

Sanjay Chatrath, executive director (North) at Colliers International India said increasing incomes, urbanisation and economic growth are driving high demand in the real estate sector.