Mortgage-related online searches by consumers plunged 63% in Q1
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Online searches for mortgage-related products nosedived 63% in Q1 2010, falling from 3.2 million in January to 1.2 million in April.
Research from online marketing firm Greenlight shows the number of searches for the term ’buy-to-let mortgages’ dropped by 87% between January and April - from 301,000 to 40,500.
Searches for the term ’second mortgages’ declined 99% from 246,000 in January to just 1,900 in April, while those for ’fixed mortgages’ were down 98% in the same period.
Greenlight’s Retail Banking April 2010 report uses industry data to classify 700 of the most popular search terms used by consumers when looking for mortgages on Google. The company also analysed natural search rankings on Google and paid-for searches.
The research found searches for the phrase ’mortgage calculator’ also fell considerably during Q1, from 637,000 in January to 301,000 in April.
Given that mortgage-related keyword searches decreased substantially since January both Halifax and Woolwich lost 11% visibility in natural searches, as this is the segment in which both websites attained most of their overall share of voice.
But research last week by Unbiased.co.uk shows that the phrase ’mortgage advice’ took top place among terms used by consumers looking for independent financial advice online.
It looked at the 100 most common variables related to the search term ’independent financial advice’ in the past 12 months to compile a list of relevant keywords IFAs could use to make the most of their online presence.
It found that while ’financial advisers’, ’financial adviser’ and ’independent financial adviser’ occupied three of the top five search terms, ’mortgage advice’ came out on top.
Terms such as ’pensions advice’, ’mortgage advisors’ and ’equity release calculator’ also featured in the top 10 keyword list.
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