Forced Registration: Good or Bad?

On a recent scroll through my Facebook feed, I came across a disgruntled post about forced registration. They made a comment along the lines of “no thanks, nothing to see here, moving along” and it made me stop and think: Is a business really expected to provide a website that cost them money to produce to give free information on a service site with a data feed?

Now, I’m not talking about websites that provide a service, such as the complete homes for sale via a paid for data connection. That is another thing, but websites that are out there for information? Yes, you shouldn’t be asked to register before viewing products. However, if you make your way to a site that provides real time, accurate, correct information that the site owner or business owner pay for, wouldn’t you think it is more than reasonable to ask for your information to view the data?

The purpose of any website for the business or site owner is to generate a lead. A website can be the most productive tool any business can have. Just one a single visit and the over-all appeal can make a consumer choose to contact you or not.
The purpose of any website for the business or site owner is to generate a lead. A website can be the most productive tool any business can have. Just one a single visit and the over-all appeal can make a consumer choose to contact you or not.
We aren’t paying for and sharing the information for the fun of it, nor do we want to give away our information for free without at least getting your name, right? Fine use a fake name and incorrect phone number and get our information, no problem. Let us play the numbers game and gamble on who registers. We will still get our fair share of real names, but a business cannot let a visitor view a data feed that cost the company for free in hopes that you will sign up if you see something. If you like our site enough to search and stay on the page for any longer than two minutes, doesn’t that prove that we are serving as a helpful source of information? Doesn’t that at least deserve your information in exchange? We promise to not hassle you, call the heck out of you, and be obnoxious, but at least give us a chance to assist you.

Calling it “forced” registration is a bit unfair. It’s an even exchange of information. We are providing a service to be useful to you and are giving you access to our area of expertise. You can find our award winning real estate search site here, called The Boston MLS