Evidence-based, factual and ethical enlightenment can lead to more prudent behavior, savvier planning, and successful action. With that in mind, we routinely try to weave together on this platform various facts and evidence that may not initially seem to be interrelated. Just as the case can be made that a more informed consumer can be a better and happier customer when they are properly and fairly dealt with, so too the more informed manufactured housing employees, management, owners, investors, researchers, advocates, and public officials are, the better each could – at least in principle – do their respective jobs.
Right or wrong – and for a variety of reasons – we the management of the parent company to Manufactured Home Pro News (MHProNews.com) and Mobile and Manufactured Home Living News (MHLivingNews.com) don’t look at statistics every day, or sometimes for weeks on end. When we do check the data on traffic and engagement by readers like you here on MHProNews, we can be surprised by some of what we find.
For example. Yesterday afternoon when the site statistics were checked in preparation for this article, so far month-to-date in November, we have had the highest number of average daily pageviews in all of 2023. As the month is only 1/3rd complete, that could obviously shift before the month is out, higher or lower. But last month’s (October 2023) engagement by readers of MHProNews also had some year-to-date 2023 highs.
So, one takeaway is that the content being provided here for you is clearly interesting to our readership. This we ‘know’ from data that tells us that pageviews per visit dwarfs that of much larger and better funded news sites, such as CNN or Fox. Our articles are routinely much longer than theirs or our rivals in industry trade media tend to be. Yet traffic is strong and pageviews per visitor is strong too.
For instance, per SimilarWeb on 11.12.2023 CNN.com has 2.37 pageviews per visitor in August of 2023. Fox News that same month had 4.17 pageviews per visitor. In October 2023 MHProNews experienced per actual server metrics 5.33 pageviews per visitor. Month-to-date in November 2023 we had 7.51 pageviews per visit. Traffic and pageviews are both up substantially. Based on known data, we still dominate our rivals. It seems that the more we document the issues hobbling the once far greater manufactured housing industry, the more readers like you find that information to be relevant.
We thank our sources, sponsors, team, readers like yourself, and the God of Truth above that these data points are so.
What was it that readers found so interesting in October 2023, where the reader-engagement data set is complete?
Per information generated by Webalizer Version 2.23, embedded on our servers so it should be as accurate as possible, here are the rankings from the largest known and most-read trade media site of its kind in all of manufactured housing.
Note that in the top listings that follow, there are items not shown for proprietary and technical reasons. For instance, among the top links were items on our older, original site: MHMarketingSalesManagement.com, since rebranded as MHProNews (ManufacturedHomeProNews.com).
The ones shown below are all from our main server, but there are over a dozen others serving this website. Since October has 31 days, we decided to show the top 31 most-read reports during that month.
Notice that while numbers of the most-read articles were published in October 2023, several are from prior months – or even prior years. It seems that research-based articles packed with facts, evidence, and expert analysis matter to people like yourself.
Let’s note, as we have disclosed previously, that in the instance of the “Rollohome” report, some industry producers have called into question some of the data in that report. MHProNews is agnostic on the question, as we cited the mainstream source of the information provided. If the original source was incorrect, part of that data would be too. Nevertheless, the article stands on its own merits in this respect. It is an example of how producers of manufactured housing have apparently demonstrated an ability to go from zero to robust sales in a very short timeframe.
As people are probing for the solutions to the affordable housing crisis, it is perhaps no surprise that the Rollohome legacy remains a hot topic year after year.
For November 2023, of course the reports for the week in review are among those most read. Perhaps more on those soon.
For those in the audience who may be newcomers seeking to better understand what is hurting or ‘holding back’ manufactured housing, a few added thoughts.
2022 wrapped up as the best year on record since 2006. As ‘heady’ as it was to some that manufactured housing had once more nudged beyond 100,000 new units produced, that was still just a fraction of what the industry built in 1998. But the financial/news site Bloomberg‘s editors and the Washington Post expressed the view that manufactured housing could be larger in the future as 2023 loomed. Instead of growing, the manufactured housing market’s production tanked. What?
Odd, but true. Perhaps that is why equities analyst Greg Palm could have been mulling when he asked William “Bill” Boor in the spring of 2023, why is manufactured housing industry production so weak?
Because MHProNews sifts through the data, research, and known evidence – and perhaps because we are, as Bing AI said, an actual expert in manufactured housing with far more experience than the bulk of our rivals – we routinely use our KNOWLEDGE of the business as a kind of BS detector. What MHI leaders won’t answer we already see the facts and evidence that provides the needed insights.
Those latest facts and evidence are unpacked in the reports for the week in review.
Among the headlines in review is the promised follow up on MHLivingNews on Yes! Communities. In that, we unpack Yes! MHCs resident complaints, employee concerns, legal, and other controversies. How those Yes! controversies relate to the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) is also spelled out.
Also, among the headlines this week is a deep dive into Veterans Day and U.S. military history in a way that few or no others likely did this past week. Whatever your views might be that report (largely, but not unrelated to manufactured housing) is likely to be eye-opening for many. While our crystal ball is imperfect, it would not be a surprise if that becomes a report that gets and stays well-read for months to come.
Pivoting to highly specific to manufactured housing is the odd culling of MHI’s history on MHI’s own website. See the Friday report to learn more, and keep in mind that per SimilarWeb on this date, MHI’s traffic is a puny 2.0 pageviews per visit. That’s actually an increase for them, perhaps due to the attention we’ve been giving and also perhaps due to the recent ‘refresh’ of their MHI website.
As usual, don’t miss today’s postscript.
So, with no further adieu, here are the headlines for the week that was from 11.5 to 11.12.2023.
What’s New on MHLivingNews
What’s News from Washington, D.C. from MHARR
What’s the Latest from the Masthead
What’s New on the Daily Business News on MHProNews
Saturday 11.11.2023
Friday 11.10.2023
Thursday 11.9.2023
Wednesday 11.8.2023
Tuesday 11.7.2023
Monday 11.6.2023
Sunday 11.5.2023
Postscript
Last Sunday we asked Bing AI once more, why is the manufactured housing underperforming? Since May 21, 2023 we have been doing periodic tests of various AI search systems. Bing AI, per Productivity School, is the #1 ranked free or paid search engine among. After some 6 months of testing Bing AI, what are our research results? It can be useful. But there is evidence of some bias. AI use in search does have a way to go, but of those we tested so far, Bing AI does seem to be superior to others.
We asked Bing AI on 11.12.2023 at 2:24 AM ET the following.
> “Which trade media involved in manufactured housing have explored the question, why is manufactured housing underperforming during an affordable housing crisis?”
Another report by EIN Presswire sheds light on the finance, DOE energy rule related, and zoning/placement barrier challenges that have been identified as factors keeping manufactured housing underperforming during an affordable housing crisis 2.
I hope this information helps.
The setting for Bing AI in the above and below were the ‘balanced’ or ‘blue’ setting.
> “Which trade media involved in manufactured housing have transparently used Bing AI?”
I hope this helps.
It seems that MHI-linked rivals of ours are not nearly as keen to explore the reasons why the manufactured housing industry is underperforming during an affordable housing crisis. Why not? Why are they busy promoting the next meeting to ‘learn’ from a trade group that is performing substantially lower than when Chris Stinebert was at the helm at MHI?
So, if those articles for the week in review linked above are the third-party documented hottest in the manufactured home industry, then what is ‘not hot?’
By implication, whatever is published by our wannabe rivals in the industry’s trade media. Some of what they publish is apparently self-serving and/or designed to advance the narrative of the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI).
MHI in turn has been documented to serve the aims of their corporate masters.
Several of the linked reports – which include further cross-links and downloads with additional information – illustrate those points.
As we have invited our rivals to respond, and they decline, it is fair to say that at least for now, they will not publicly dispute the claims.
For an update on the national class action lawsuit launched against several prominent MHI members, check out what Sun Communities said in the context of their quarterly reporting (linked here and above).
It is earnings season, and MHProNews plans to plumb the depths of more quarterly reports by publicly traded firms, along with other manufactured housing “Industry News, Tips, and Views Pros Can Use” © here at your home for “Intelligence for Your MHLife” © where “We Provide, You Decide.” © ###
PSS: while Bing AI is useful, it has admitted that it is not an expert at manufactured housing. For those following our tests of Bing AI results, it should be obvious that it does make mistakes, which it has several times admitted. To its credit, it is often willing to admit its error when it is specifically pointed out. But spotting errors requires expertise in the first place, doesn’t it?
Again, our thanks to free email subscribers and all readers like you, as well as our tipsters/sources, sponsors and God for making and keeping us the runaway number one source for authentic “News through the lens of manufactured homes and factory-built housing” © where “We Provide, You Decide.” © ## (Affordable housing, manufactured homes, reports, fact-checks, analysis, and commentary. Third-party images or content are provided under fair use guidelines for media.) See Related Reports, further below. Text/image boxes often are hot-linked to other reports that can be access by clicking on them.)
By L.A. “Tony” Kovach – for MHProNews.com.
Tony earned a journalism scholarship and earned numerous awards in history and in manufactured housing.
For example, he earned the prestigious Lottinville Award in history from the University of Oklahoma, where he studied history and business management. He’s a managing member and co-founder of LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC, the parent company to MHProNews, and MHLivingNews.com.
This article reflects the LLC’s and/or the writer’s position and may or may not reflect the views of sponsors or supporters.
Connect on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/latonykovach
Related References:
The text/image boxes below are linked to other reports, which can be accessed by clicking on them.’
