Across four apartment websites, 88 percent of the clicks Google Search Console reported a search for came from people who searched the community's name or its management company's name, in the 90 days to October 14, 2026. Searches for apartments in a place earned far less. The figures, the method and a way to compare your own site follow.
This is the Apartment Website Search Benchmark, published by Kihan Marketing. We provide apartment website SEO and apartment competitor analysis for communities and management companies, and we run this benchmark from the same Search Console data we read for them.
It pools Google Search Console data from four apartment websites Kihan Marketing works on and is refreshed every quarter with the same script and the same rules. Use it as an apartment website search benchmark to see what a typical community site earns, how much of that comes from name searches, and where your own site sits against it.
What is an apartment website search benchmark?
An apartment website search benchmark is a set of Google Search Console figures from several apartment websites, pooled and split by kind of search, so one community can see how its own clicks, impressions and positions compare. Kihan Marketing provides apartment website search benchmarking.
This one covers four apartment websites and 236 community pages in the 90 days to October 14, 2026, and it splits searches that name the community or its manager from searches that name no property. As part of our apartment website SEO service, we read a community's own Search Console against it, so a property manager can see whether a flat quarter comes from the site, the season or the market.
Who publishes this apartment website search benchmark?
Kihan Marketing publishes it and provides apartment website search benchmarking for communities and management companies, comparing a site's own Search Console figures against it. We are a marketing agency that provides SEO, websites and ads for apartment communities and the property management companies behind them, and the four websites in the sample are sites we work on.
We built the benchmark because most apartment search numbers are reported as one pooled average that hides the split between people who already know the name and renters who do not. Kihan Marketing will read your own community's Search Console figures against it as part of a marketing audit.
Two sites can post almost the same totals and sit on opposite sides of it.
What is apartment website SEO, and does Kihan Marketing do it?
Apartment website SEO is making a community's own website, or a management company's page for each community, show up in Google for the searches renters type, and Kihan Marketing provides it. We build a page for every floor plan and community, write amenity and neighborhood copy about the real building, keep the Google Business Profile accurate, and read the site's Search Console numbers the way this benchmark does, split into name searches and searches that name no property.
The benchmark shows why that split drives the plan. A site that ranks first for its own name but sits on page three for apartments in its neighborhood needs pages built for those open searches, while a site that cannot rank for its own name needs that fixed first. The work itself is set out on our multifamily SEO page.
How do you do an apartment competitor analysis?
An apartment competitor analysis compares your community's pages and search rankings with those of the communities, management companies and listing portals that rank above you, and Kihan Marketing provides it as part of a marketing audit. Start with the searches that matter, then see who holds them. For an apartment community that means three lists: the community's own name, the neighborhood and unit type searches where renters have never heard of it, and the address searches people use to check a building.
For each, note which listing portals, nearby communities and management companies rank above you, and compare their pages against yours: whether they have a page per floor plan, a stated pet policy, and neighborhood copy that names real streets and routes. Then compare numbers.
This benchmark gives a reference point for your own: name searches at an average position of 6.5, searches naming no property at 25.7, and a median community page at 2 clicks in 90 days. A marketing audit includes this comparison, reading a community's or management company's own Search Console figures against the benchmark to show where the gaps are.
When a site does rank for a unit type, the searcher is close to a decision.
Key findings, October 2026
Most clicks to the four apartment websites in the October 2026 benchmark came from people searching a community's own name, and most came from phones. Each finding pools Google Search Console data for July 17 to October 14, 2026, and stands on its own, so it can be quoted as written.
Across four apartment websites, 88 percent of clicks with a reported search came from searches naming the community or its management company (Google Search Console, July 17 to October 14, 2026).
On four apartment websites, searches that did not name the property were 27 percent of impressions but 12 percent of clicks, at an average position of 25.7 against 6.5 for name searches (Google Search Console, July 17 to October 14, 2026).
Phones produced 63 percent of clicks and 53 percent of impressions on four apartment websites, at a 5.2 percent click-through rate against 3.4 percent on desktop (Google Search Console, July 17 to October 14, 2026).
The median community page on a management company website earned 2 clicks and 129 impressions in 90 days, and 23 percent of 236 such pages earned no clicks at all (Google Search Console, July 17 to October 14, 2026).
On four apartment websites, home pages took 41 percent of clicks from 16 percent of impressions, while community pages took 45 percent of clicks from 55 percent of impressions (Google Search Console, July 17 to October 14, 2026).
How many clicks does an apartment website get from Google?
An apartment website gets few clicks per page, and most come from people who already know the name. Pooled across the four websites in this sample, 4.4 percent of Google search impressions turned into a click, at an average position of 12.6, over 90 days. The median community page earned 2 clicks in that time.
| Measure | All four websites, 90 days |
|---|---|
Websites | 4: two single-community sites, two management company sites with a page per community |
Community pages measured | 236 |
Window | July 17 to October 14, 2026 |
Click-through rate, pooled | 4.4% |
Average position, pooled | 12.6 |
Share of clicks Google reported a search for | 60% |
Impressions count how often a page appeared in search. The click-through rate, or CTR, is the share of those appearances that got a click. Average position is where the page sat on the results page, weighted by impressions, so 1 is the top.
What does a typical community page earn?
A typical community page earns very little on its own. Across 236 community pages on two management company websites, the median page earned 2 clicks and 129 impressions in 90 days, and the middle half earned between 1 and 5 clicks. Almost a quarter earned none. These are the pages' own figures and leave out any separate website a community may have.
| Community pages, 90 days | 25th percentile | Median | 75th percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
Clicks | 1 | 2 | 5 |
Impressions | 41 | 129 | 574 |
Click-through rate | 0.2% | 0.9% | 3.8% |
Average position | 7.1 | 8.8 | 11.7 |
Each column is worked out on its own, so a row does not describe one page. 23 percent of the 236 pages earned no clicks in the window.
How much apartment search is branded?
Most of it. 88 percent of clicks with a reported search came from searches naming the community, its management company or someone at the company. On the median website in the sample the share was 90 percent. Name searches also ranked far higher: an average position of 6.5, against 25.7 for searches that named no property.
| Search | Share of clicks | Share of impressions | CTR | Average position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Names the community, its manager or someone there | 88.3% | 71.3% | 4.1% | 6.5 |
Does not name it | 11.6% | 26.8% | 1.5% | 25.7 |
A street address | 0.1% | 1.9% | 0.2% | 34.0 |
A branded search is one that contains the property's own name. The split matters more than any other cut, because it shows whether a site is only catching people who already know it or is reaching new renters. Two sites can post almost the same totals and sit on opposite sides of it.
Which searches reach renters who do not know the name?
Searches for apartments in or near a place reach the most renters who do not know the name, at 4.9 percent of clicks and 13.9 percent of impressions, but on average they sit on page three. Floor plan and unit type searches, such as studios, townhomes and bedroom counts, brought 2.5 percent of clicks, and income-restricted housing searches 1.2 percent.
| Search type | Share of clicks | Share of impressions | CTR | Average position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Names the community or its management company | 88.3% | 71.3% | 4.1% | 6.5 |
Apartments in or near a place | 4.9% | 13.9% | 1.2% | 24.6 |
Floor plans and unit types | 2.5% | 2.0% | 4.2% | 17.7 |
Income-restricted and affordable | 1.2% | 1.1% | 3.5% | 31.6 |
"Near me" searches | 0.9% | 0.5% | 5.6% | 12.1 |
Property management services | 0.7% | 3.2% | 0.7% | 19.7 |
A street address | 0.1% | 1.9% | 0.2% | 34.0 |
Amenities | under 0.1% | 0.1% | under 0.1% | 18.8 |
Pet-friendly | under 0.1% | 0.1% | 2.3% | 17.7 |
Jobs and careers | under 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.9% | 17.4 |
Resident tasks (portal, paying rent) | under 0.1% | under 0.1% | under 0.1% | 24.5 |
Everything else | 1.3% | 5.8% | 0.8% | 34.8 |
Floor plan searches clicked through at 4.2 percent, about the same rate as name searches, from much further down the page. A searcher who finds a site for a unit type is close to a decision, which is the case for a page per floor plan, as our multifamily SEO page sets out.
Which pages earn the clicks?
Home pages and community pages earn most clicks on apartment websites, 85 percent between them across the four sites measured. Home pages turned impressions into clicks best, at an 8.4 percent click-through rate. Neighborhood pages and blog posts drew about 5 percent of impressions together but under half a percent of clicks.
| Page type | Share of clicks | Share of impressions | CTR | Average position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Home page | 40.9% | 16.2% | 8.4% | 19.8 |
Community pages (one per community) | 44.5% | 54.8% | 2.7% | 10.2 |
Company, careers and owner services | 5.8% | 12.3% | 1.6% | 4.4 |
Availability, floor plans and directories | 3.2% | 5.3% | 2.0% | 7.7 |
Resident pages (portal, renewals) | 3.1% | 0.4% | 27.0% | 4.3 |
Contact and tour pages | 1.7% | 4.4% | 1.3% | 5.0 |
Gallery, amenities and program pages | 0.3% | 1.7% | 0.6% | 13.2 |
Neighborhood and area pages | 0.2% | 2.0% | 0.4% | 16.3 |
Blog posts and guides | 0.2% | 2.8% | 0.2% | 11.7 |
Other (legal, accessibility, archives) | under 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 11.7 |
Resident pages are a small share but clicked through at 27 percent: most people who search for them already live there and want the portal.
How much apartment search happens on phones?
Most of them happen on phones. Phones produced 63 percent of clicks and 53 percent of impressions, and phone searchers clicked through at 5.2 percent against 3.4 percent on desktop. Desktop impressions also sat lower on the page, at an average position of 18.1 against 7.9 on phones.
| Device | Share of clicks | Share of impressions | CTR | Average position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mobile | 62.8% | 52.7% | 5.2% | 7.9 |
Desktop | 36.3% | 46.7% | 3.4% | 18.1 |
Tablet | 0.9% | 0.6% | 6.4% | 7.8 |
Do renters search in long questions yet?
Rarely so far. Searches of eight words or more, about the length of a question typed to an AI assistant, were 0.5 percent of impressions and 0.1 percent of clicks. Three and four word searches did most of the work, with 72 percent of clicks.
| Search length | Share of clicks | Share of impressions | CTR | Average position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 to 2 words | 21.0% | 29.8% | 2.4% | 11.5 |
3 to 4 words | 71.7% | 60.0% | 4.0% | 11.3 |
5 to 7 words | 7.3% | 9.6% | 2.5% | 19.6 |
8 words or more | 0.1% | 0.5% | 0.5% | 15.1 |
The long searches that did appear read like prompts: which neighborhoods suit a renter, which communities answer maintenance requests quickly. They are a small share today, but they are the questions an answer engine picks a source for, so a page that answers them plainly is worth having before the share grows.
How do you compare your own community against this?
Pull the same numbers from your own Search Console, over the same 90 days, and read them against each other rather than one at a time.
Set the window
In Search Console, open Performance, choose the last 3 months, and turn on clicks, impressions, average CTR and average position.
Split out name searches
Add a query filter for queries not containing your community's name, then again for your management company's name. What is left is your non-branded search.
Compare the split
Here, name searches were 88 percent of clicks. A much higher share means the site mostly catches people who already know it.
Check your pages
On the Pages tab, see whether floor plan and community pages earn impressions, or whether the home page carries everything.
Check the device split
On the Devices tab, compare your phone share of clicks with the 63 percent here, and test the pages that earn them on a phone.
Then read the pattern:
High CTR on a low impression count
You are most likely measuring name demand, meaning people who already knew the place. That demand is valuable, but it does not show growth.
Lower CTR on impressions in the tens of thousands
You rank beyond your own name, in searches where you are one of ten options. That is a harder position with more room to grow.
Low impressions and low CTR
The site probably does not rank reliably for its own name. Fix that before anything else.
Average position worse while clicks rose
Check whether you now appear for more searches. New searches far down page two drag the average down while total clicks climb.
Why do apartment websites resist comparison?
Apartment websites resist comparison because they differ in four ways: template or rebuilt site, unit count and market, page type, and audience. Pooled figures hide those differences, so weigh any apartment search benchmark against them, including the October 2026 one.
Kendall Pretzer, CEO of Grace Hill, made the general point in an NMHC report announcement: "National data paints an overall picture for the industry, but it is vital for operators to keep a finger on the pulse of each individual market in their portfolios. Trends vary by region, by state and by municipality, and may stray significantly from national averages."
Template sites against rebuilt ones
A platform's template site keeps listings in one place. A rebuild can give every community and floor plan its own page. The two are different sites for search, even at the same unit count.
Unit count and market
Unit count and market change what a site can earn: a 40-unit building in a small town and a 300-unit property in a large city are not a fair match, however neatly the numbers line up.
Page type
Page type changes click-through rate: a floor plan page and a contact page earn very different rates, so one average for a whole site hides what an operator wants to know.
Audience
A management company's site speaks to owners, residents and job seekers as well as renters. A single community's site mostly speaks to renters.
How should you cite this benchmark?
Cite the line below and link to this page, so a reader can check the window and the method.
Kihan Marketing, Apartment Website Search Benchmark, October 2026, kihanmarketing.com/multifamily-marketing/multifamily-search-benchmark/
Questions about this benchmark
How does the benchmark define a branded search?
A search counts as branded when it names the community, its management company or someone at the company. Each search is matched against the site's own name, its community page names and close misspellings. A misspelling the match misses counts as non-branded, so the branded share is a floor. Street addresses are their own group.
Why does Google report only part of the clicks with a search?
Google withholds rare searches. In this benchmark, 60 percent of clicks came with a search Google reported. The search type and search length tables cover only those clicks, while the pooled rates, pages and devices cover every click.
How can a property manager compare a community against these figures?
Pull the same numbers from your own Search Console over the same 90 days. Split out the searches that name your community or management company, then compare that share with the 88 percent of clicks here. Also compare your phone share of clicks with the 63 percent here, and check whether floor plan and community pages earn impressions. The full steps are in the section on comparing your own community above.
Method and limits
Sample
The sample is four apartment websites Kihan Marketing works on: two single-community sites and two management company sites that give each community its own page. The community figures cover the 236 community pages on those two management company sites.
Source and window
Google Search Console, Search Analytics, web search only, final data, for the 90 days from July 17 to October 14, 2026. The window ends two days before the data was pulled, so no partial day is counted.
Pooled
Shares and rates are pooled across the four sites, so a larger site weighs more. Medians and quartiles describe community pages, not websites.
Branded searches
A search counts as branded when it names the community, its management company or someone at the company, matched against each site's own name, its community page names and close misspellings. A misspelling the match misses counts as non-branded, so the branded share is a floor. Street addresses are their own group.
Reported searches
Reported searches are the 60 percent of clicks that came with a search Google reported, because Google withholds rare searches. The search type and search length tables cover only those. The pooled rates, pages and devices cover every click.
Left out
Pages unrelated to renting, 0.5 percent of impressions, are excluded.
Anonymized
No site, community, company or place is named, and no figure is one site's alone: the page publishes shares, pooled rates, medians and quartiles, with no totals, minimums, maximums or single-site values.
Rounding
Shares and rates are rounded to one decimal place, and the medians and quartiles of clicks and impressions to whole numbers.
Refreshed
The benchmark is refreshed every quarter, with the same script and the same rules.
To have your own Search Console read against these figures, request a marketing audit. For how search works across a portfolio and for a single building, see property management SEO, and for the leasing side, lease-up and search intent in the glossary.
Sources
NMHC and Grace Hill 2022 Renter Preferences Survey Report Reveals Renters' Current and Future Wants and Needs, National Multifamily Housing Council
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Apartment community
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Apartment community
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