Digital Real Estate: An assessment of the online presence maturity of surveying firms in Ghana

This study assesses the online presence maturity of surveying firms under the Ghana Institution of Surveyors (GhIS). Using a descriptive design and a quantitative method, particularly logistic regression, data were collected from 113 firms over three years (2023–2025), focusing on their activities across websites and major social media platforms, as well as the firm-level characteristics influencing adoption. The findings reveal a generally low level of digital maturity, with fewer than one-third of firms maintaining functional websites and most social media accounts either absent or inactive. Divisional disparities were evident, as Land Surveying firms exhibited stronger adoption of professional platforms such as LinkedIn, while Valuation and Estate Surveying firms leaned more toward Facebook. Website maturity assessments further highlighted limited integration of interactive and trust-building features, reflecting surface-level rather than strategic digital engagement. Additionally, firms incorporated after the popularity of social media in the early 2000s are more likely to maintain a digital presence, suggesting the issue of a grey digital divide situation where older firms have a weak digital presence. The results suggest the need for GhIS and affiliated firms to reframe digital presence as a professional necessity in a rapidly digitizing economy.