Rightmove is to make wholesale changes to its website.
Agents are being told that this is in view of the fact that over half of Rightmove visitors now browse listings on its mobile site and apps.
New technology and fresh design “will see more than double the exposure on average,” commercial director Jason Bushby says.
He adds that feedback from early testing has been “very positive”.
The next stage will involve testing with a larger group of users.
Bushby says: “To do so we will be giving a random selection of visitors the opportunity to try out the changes on Rightmove – a beta test.
“Before this happens, we want you [ie, agents] to be the first to see the new pages.”
The beta testing will run into November, when the changes will be rolled out for both lettings and sales.
Agents will be told ahead of time before the switch-over to the new pages.
James Micklethwait, head of product development at Rightmove, said: “We want to help agents increase the exposure of their brand and properties, as more people search for property on tablet and mobile devices.
“Over the past year we’ve been working hard to improve our advertising products and deliver them across both desktop and mobile.
“We’ve also implemented a brand new, cutting edge search technology which is faster and enables much more powerful functionality.
“One example is that home hunters are now able to select multiple property types at the same time, like searching for both detached and semi-detached, something many agents and users have said they’re keen to have as an option.
“We believe that these changes will make Rightmove an even more compelling search experience and make the advertising products even more engaging.”
One agent who has seen the new-look Rightmove said it looked fully responsive and very clear.
He added: “I think they have had to up their game because OnTheMarket looks so very clean and crisp.”
But he expressed concern that it was being wrapped up as a benefit to agents and that Rightmove would see it as a new income-generator.
We would be interested to know what others think.
More here
Comments (37)
EYE – why are comments not being linked when ‘replying’?
WOW!!! What a day…
Back (hopefully) to normality tomorrow, folks!
Nighty night.
GPL – when you wake up in the morning NONE of this happened and it is just another lovely posting day – okay?
;o)
In the last few years, smart phone usage has overtaken PC usage for browsing the web. Therefore sooner or later most website will have to be redesigned to give a great experience on the smart phones.
I expect any leading website to have a redesign ever few years given how fast the web is changing.
Why are people making such a big deal out of this???
Well I have enjoyed, mostly, drinking in this bar…. however the person carrying the nuts around the room today rings loud and clear….. for me it is time to retire as I have no desire to waste time reading or responding to banal comments.
When we find a way to restrict The Trolls from the forum let me know….. otherwise SP and her/his like are the drunk person spoiling the gathering.
Rejoice my detractors…. you are free of me at last!…. however so many of you have no passion or interest in our industry…. you are merely agitators…. and not worthy of my and many others time.
Well done Ros and team…. it’s been an enjoyable and informative hostelry. My best wishes for continued success.
……and like Spock….. I am ejected into empty space…. with Captain Ros holding her hand against the Enterprise Velux Window displaying the famous Spock finger gesture V! …..and saying “look for the first OnTheMarket sign and land there!”
Well I have enjoyed, mostly, drinking in this bar…. however the person carrying the nuts around the room today rings loud and clear….. for me it is time to retire as I have no desire to waste time reading or responding to banal comments.
When we find a way to restrict The Trolls from the forum let me know….. otherwise SP and her/his like are the drunk person spoiling the gathering.
Rejoice my detractors…. you are free of me at last!…. however so many of you have no passion or interest in our industry…. you are merely agitators…. and not worthy of my and many others time.
Well done Ros and team…. it’s been an enjoyable and informative hostelry. My best wishes for continued success.
……and like Spock….. I am ejected into empty space…. with Captain Ros holding her hand against the Enterprise Velux Window displaying the famous Spock finger gesture V! …..and saying “look for the first OnTheMarket sign and land there!”
The Rightmove employee in the video says…..
“The market is so competitive at the moment so we have looked at areas of the website so that we can help agents get more exposure and deliver more leads”.
It will no doubt generate more revenue for Rightmove but ‘m not sure how it will generate more leads.
Grabs popcorn, sits back, feet up. This is gonna be a ride
WELL… I guess this conversation must have been had at some level…
Some big cheese or other – “So, chaps and chapesses – we need to keep the rabble happy – what will be our next tranche of ‘improvements’ we chuck at them before we hike their subs again?”
Senior Marketing Minion – “Well… we’ve looked at the latest developments in portal advertising and decided that we’re going to make the page look cleaner, load faster – and move all the search facilities up to the top of the page to maximise page width. We think it’s a brilliant idea and a fantastic innovation.”
Fantastic. Brilliant. Unlike Z, RM are taking the tack that the best form of attack is to simply mimic the enemy’s uniform.
Proves that imitation – even loose imitation – is the sincerest form of flattery… dunnit? ;o)
As you have asked what we think, it is a superficial and rapid reaction re-jig rather than anything new.
Someone got all hissy with me when I pointed out (incorrectly) that it wasn’t possible to apply those basic filters to Rightmove searches, it was possible but the filters were hidden off of my screen and not obvious. I’ll happily take credit for those improvement but would suggest it is now only a slightly more polished G3 system as opposed to a G5agent centric system.
Even with the improvements, which have to be welcomed, the basic version of rummage4.property still applies a more veracious search to Rightmove than will be possible with that new system
They are playing catch up to OnTheMarket.com ‘s design already!
I don’t think it was Herb on the 13th July “Ohh FFS” spat a dummy* because I pointed out something 15 years of extensive UX testing hadn’t picked up.
At present to search for a detached house is 3 page views; 1= area, 2= price & type press search, 3 = apply filter for detached.
Depending on the whole process, which wasn’t obvious from the video, Rightmove might just be about to cut their traffic by 66%
*signing up a new account on Eye with Ohh FFS as a user name is spitting the dummy in my book.
Let’s just remember this quote:
“Depending on the whole process, which wasn’t obvious from the video, Rightmove might just be about to cut their traffic by 66%”
Is there a problem with the maths Graham?
Thank you for the dislike but someone needs to consider that reducing 3 page views down to 1 by improving the UX is a 66% reduction.
HarryN, in fairness nobody at OTM, Z or RM – or the wider industry – expected so many people to drop Z in favour of RM. Every industry player / analyst if spoke to expected a 65-70/35-30% split in favour of RM. The 90+% dropping Z was bad news for OTM as much as anyone! That said, it doesn’t change the power of RM position now…
It proves that on the one hand that people were ballsy enough to get behind something of their own (OTM) but then, deplorably, stick with something they knew was shafting them. What a massive bunch of scaredy cats. RM must be loving this AND they know your new fees. Mwah ha ha.
Pleased to have kept Z/PL
Sorry – I meant ‘last’ year
You’re not getting much right at all are you, ‘HarryN’…
He never does, but just claims that he is being picked on when he gets something wrong and that he is “entitled to his own opinion”
None of his arguments ever stack up and I for one am really glad he keeps posting as it further highlights how little he actually knows or understands..
It couldn’t have worked out better for Rightmove.
I imagine that some will be hanging their heads in shame for the decisions they have made over the next year.
You know how it works by now:
1. New product launch
2. Offer value for free
3. Whack members with price increases
Now that so many agents have weakened their negotiating position by leaving RM’s main competitor, I wonder how they will feel when RM comes a calling…
Erm… 1, 2 & 3 happen EVERY year.
Where have you been for the last DECADE, ‘HarryN’?
HarryN doesn’t pay the bills, so has no idea – Just pops on here when the manager is not looking to wind a few people up. Haha, bless.
Counting down the days until I get “the” call for fee restructuring…
Surprised you even get a call, dave_d – we just get a letter.
At least that way we know someone is still there… ;o)