User Registration Wars

A long, long time ago, a great debate was spawned that pitted real estate pros against each other and created a rift that could be felt far and wide.

The debate: should you require visitors to register when searching for listings on your website?

Then, as now, many agents and brokers were opposed to the idea of requiring registration. They believed that visitors would not stay if they were required to share their name and email address, and that this would result in fewer leads.

Others believed that the only way to turn visitors into leads was to require they step up and provide their information. They believed that any visitors who did leave when required to register weren't truly serious, and that the remaining leads were therefore even more valuable.

For years, war waged between the two opinions, until one day, a third option arose: an option that allowed you to both require, and require not, a visitor to register on the site. With the new option, agents and brokers no longer had to choose between these two extremes. They found they could set their website to a middle ground by allowing a certain number of searches or listings to be viewed before registration was required. They could also allow searches or allow listing views without registration. They now had the choice to let visitors see their own listings, but require registration to see others' listings.

With so many new possibilities for capturing leads, a balance was found where agents and brokers could provide visitors with the valuable information they sought and still receive registered leads on their sites, thus, finally bringing harmony to internet lead generation. Real estate pros found peace at last, knowing that it didn't have to go to one extreme or the other.

To view the original article, visit the Homes.com blog.