The Flat Zone application is a web-based aggregator of prices of apartments in new buildings (or development projects). The application also offers other sections such as a search engine, news tool and a data insight blog that focuses on all topics related to the real estate market across the Czech Republic. Flat Zone, as the only one in the Czech Republic, provides a searchable database of new apartments and houses. The app offers a variety of filters that allows for quick and easy searches in the location that visitors require. At the same time, the website provides the Studio application, which provides a complete analysis of the Czech residential market, especially for the needs of developers intending to invest in a new project.
Our company, Archetix, has been taking care of Flat Zone and their web data since February 2020. The cooperation began when the startup team already had a functional form of the flatzone.cz platform and needed help with understanding user behaviour and entering the world of web analytics.
“We enjoy projects that we have the opportunity to initiate, develop and manage from scratch (in other words, from nothing), and we enjoy working with organisations of a similar nature to Flat Zone.”
says Marek Čech, Head of Web Analytics at Archetix.
Client needs
After the pilot launch of the app, we found out together with Flat Zone that we needed to understand the behaviour of visitors and their interaction with the app as much as possible. It was necessary to find out how they search for apartments in new buildings and what is important to them. We offered the client a perfect setup and documentation of measurement and a future-oriented implementation, where Google Tag Manager and the data layer are fully utilized. Thanks to our technical expertise, we also facilitated interaction with the development team and explained the pitfalls of measuring web projects built on modern JavaScript frameworks.
The main challenge we faced was that it was impossible to measure the website as a regular eshop, as no purchases are made on it. We tackled this and adapted commonly used practices from the world of ecommerce projects to search engine practices. Thanks to this, the client was able to use pre-made reports in Google Analytics just for ecommerce.
Another key area that needed to be focused on was the registered users in the system. Here, without the deployment of a data layer, the web and database data could not be linked. The data layer had not yet been used in the project and so our recommendation was clear.
Solution
If you are starting from scratch, the first thing you create is a technical brief for developers to implement the data layer and Google Tag Manager. The technical proposal was also preceded by several meetings with the client where we finalised the areas to be addressed. The solution involved creating a data layer that would respect the specific elements of flatzone.cz, but at the same time allow us to use best practices from the ecommerce industry. The whole solution was built by creating a complete brief and developing it together with the development team. Subsequently, data objects were added to the site that are reusable for all MarTech tools and are documented. The advantage of this approach is that if the client decides to use other tools in the future, the documentation makes deployment much faster and completely independent of the development team. In fact, if we were to go the now obsolete route of hard-coding directly into the page code, the flexibility that the client would have without a development team would not be great. Therefore, even if we switch from GA3 to GA4, the developers do not have to recode the entire site, but “only” need to adjust the settings in Google Tag Manager.
After the initial implementation of the data layer, it was already possible to start collecting and analysing important data. Measurement (i.e. data collection) was implemented using tools we have long used and proven, primarily GTM, Google Analytics and Smartlook.
Our collaboration with the client continued to grow and we began to take on additional projects. Measurements are regularly refined at quarterly intervals. There were other projects, Slovakian expansion or a data self-service platform where customers can model their own reports.
Recently, in cooperation with the developers, we have mostly dealt with the correct implementation of cookie management, cookie bars and the gradual transition to GA4.
Several development teams, including teams from NUX and Rascasone, worked with us on all of these activities under the leadership of project manager Vit Soural, who is behind the entire project.
“What we appreciate most about working with Archetix is that they are always able to understand our business need, which they then translate into a technical brief and take care of the complete implementation or coordination with other parties.”
he adds.
Vít Soural evaluates the cooperation.
“If we don’t know what to do with web analytics, we go to Archetix.”
Results
The data layer made it possible to send data to advertising, marketing and data systems. The measurement included the use of Smartlook, a tool that can reveal why users do certain interactions that are not as apparent from the data. Also thanks to Smartlook, the main goal of the whole project was achieved, which was to understand the behaviour of web users and to form further strategic actions based on that.
The biggest development and client shift has been in the area of visualizations in Google Data Studio (nowadays Looker Studio). Creating several reports allowed the client to look at their data from a slightly different perspective and make appropriate and optimal business decisions.
The main output of the whole cooperation so far was the introduction of complete analytics into the flatzone.cz platform. We provided an expert view on the issues related to the functioning of the website and based on the data obtained, we provided information on whether the website was (and still is) functioning according to its optimal design solution.
The biggest benefit for us was gaining the client’s trust, which we highly value in all our clients with whom we build long-term relationships. We especially like long-term projects because they open up many opportunities to develop and deploy more advanced techniques from our overall service offering. In fact, our long-term goal is to develop the data maturity of our clients who, thanks to the solid foundation of our initial implementation, quickly grow to be able to afford more advanced data analytics techniques.
Advanced follow-up projects
It was through a good relationship with the client that we were given access to many valuable discussions related to their long-term business visions. In these situations, we mainly act as a professional consultant and advise on what role data obtained from company or web data can play in these visions.We provide expert opinions, ideas and solutions on what the flatzone.cz platform should be able to do next (e.g. real estate price estimates, mortgage negotiation). We also participated in the development and measurement of the Slovak version of flatzone.sk. Within the limits of our possibilities, we will continue to solve two levels of problems, namely the commercial success of the platform’s functions and usability for users. In the combination of GA4 and Smartlook tools, we still regularly make recommendations to the client for project development and adjustments. We look forward to the future development of Flat Zone and the upcoming projects that are yet to come.
