Delta Media reports real estate brokerages see big gains in online traffic, lower cost-per-lead despite COVID-19 outbreak

Real estate brokerages of all sizes are seeing significant gains in their online traffic as well as a lower cost-per-lead despite the COVID-19 outbreak, according to research from Delta Media Group, one of America's most established and largest broker technology solutions providers.

Delta Media tracked the performance of brokerage websites that it provides to large (250+ agents), mid-size (70 to 250 agents), and smaller (<70 agents) brokerages. The research shows the vast majority of brokerages are outperforming last year based on average organic online traffic and lead generation performance through May 2020, which includes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The biggest surprise: organic leads. Brokerages' cost per organic lead is well below market standards, averaging between $4.56 and $6.69. WAV Group, a leading real estate consulting and research firm, notes many brokerages pay between $35 to $100 or more per online lead.

"Despite COVID-19, the pause button was not pressed by consumers," said Michael Minard, CEO and owner of Delta Media. "While traffic growth slowed, particularly in luxury markets, the market never paused. What this means for small, medium and large brokerage websites is they are poised to come out of this strong. Each is deploying fully baked SEO strategies that will help them dominate in organic traffic and lead gen, giving them an advantage over advertising portals as real estate rebounds," he added.

Highlights of the Delta Media broker website research includes:

Averages for all brokerages year-to-date through May 31, 2020:

• Overall, brokerage web traffic is up an average of 28% year-over-year.
• Organic brokerage web traffic is up an average of 36% year-over-year.
• Lead generation is up by almost 10% — 9.32% higher than 2019.

The average cost per organic lead for all brokerage websites was only $5.41.

Large brokerages turned in the some of the most robust averages:

• Overall, brokerage web traffic is up an average of 23% year-over-year.
• Organic brokerage web traffic is up an average of 56% year-over-year.
• Lead generation is up by 13% year-over-year.

The average cost per organic lead from large brokerage websites was only $4.56.

Mid-size brokerages enjoyed website traffic as nearly as strong:

• Overall, brokerage web traffic is up an average of 24% year-over-year.
• Organic brokerage web traffic is up an average of 30% year-over-year.
• Lead generation is up by 13% year-over-year.

The average cost per organic lead from mid-size brokerage websites was only $4.98.

Even small brokerages, those with 70 or fewer agents, enjoyed similar gains in their brokerage website's organic traffic and lead gen:

• Overall, brokerage web traffic is up an average of 32% year-over-year.
• Organic brokerage web traffic is up an average of 22% year-over-year.
• Lead generation is up by 6% year-over-year.

The average cost per organic lead from small brokerage websites was only $6.69. While this is slightly higher than the average cost-per-lead that large and mid-size brokerage clients captured from their Delta-provided websites, it is still substantially below the average cost to purchase online leads.

Minard notes that the key for brokerages achieving a lower cost-per-lead is the advanced SEO strategies that backs these websites. "At Delta, we committed to the user experience as part of our SEO strategy about 15 years ago because we believed that combined with great content, it was the right thing to do. These numbers bear out the success of those strategies as these traffic reports demonstrate."