PORTALS App-titude
Websites are no longer enough, we all want Apps! Well, some of us do, but do they work?
I
t hardly seems possible but it is less than three years since the first ‘App’ was launched. Now, everybody is talking about them, almost everyone who is ‘into’ mobile phones on a smart phone level uses Apps and all the property
portals have them. Some are much better than others, many only work on iPhone, quite a few now work on iPad, some are also designed for use on BlackBerry, Android, Windows Phone 7 or tablet. This month PROPERTYdrum takes a brief look at Apps from the property portals, next month, we’ll review estate agents’ own Apps. If you’d like to be featured, send us details of your App, why you created it, how you went about it – complete bespoke build or white label purchase – if it really works, whether it has brought you increased business, we’d like to hear from you! Just a note – all details are as we have
them on 15 April, this market is changing daily so there could be more versions of more websites by the time you read this! While the number of iPhone Apps has
increased dramatically, Apps for iPads have been slower to hit the market; clearly not all of us have iPads but they are rapidly becoming the demonstration tool of choice for the savvy agent, who feels the need to be as up to date as possible in the iWorld and to be able to demonstrate that USP when he/she is with potential clients. Primelocation launched their iPad App
last June. It is not only useful and efficient but it has some very pretty features that exploit the UK public’s passion for property porn. The rotating kaleidoscope of properties that comes up to match your search criteria is quite gorgeous, and makes you feel as if you are spinning the roulette wheel to find the home of your dreams. Very clever.
Primelocation.com product manager Chris Boorman says that portals with iPad apps not only boost their ability to generate traffic and leads, but strengthen their relationship with their audience. “There’s a massive hunger to access content across several platforms,” he argues. “Why would you limit your brand’s reach when consumers want to interact with it?” Rightmove’s iPad App is also excellent, if
20 MAY 2011 PROPERTYdrum
Rightmove’s crisp iPad version and Zoopla’s map in an App.
iPads are rapidly becoming the savvy agent’s demonstration tool of choice, when visiting potential clients.’
less sexy. As you would expect, it does exactly what it says on the tin and replicates all the speed and clarity that makes the Rightmove website so popular. It has more search functions than
Primelocation, we particularly like the map search which not only shows the search results plotted on the map, but as you expand the iPad screen to zoom in on your area, it changes the two boxed adverts shown at the side of the map to show the central ones in the current map. Zoopla doesn’t yet have an iPad App but
it does have an iPhone App, which had over 50,000 downloads in its first two weeks alone and has now launched an App for users of Android powered smartphones. The Zoopla Android App
www.zoopla.co.uk/android, much like its iPhone counterpart, is packed full of features that make it the UK’s most comprehensive property market app. With hundreds of thousands of property listings, over 16 million sold prices dating back to 1995 and free instant value estimates for every UK home all in the palm of your hand, it’s a pretty comprehensive resource, assuming your eyesight is up to it. Alex Chesterman, Founder and CEO of
Zoopla said, “Our iPhone app has already become an essential tool for house hunters and property professionals alike. We have now brought this same experience to Android users, providing easy access to property listings and market information ‘on location’ as the perfect mobile resource
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