« What’s Happening In The Real Estate Business? | Home | Ideas On How To Find The Best Plumbing Company »
The best real estate agents have great IDX websites
By Vic Hurlstorm | May 6, 2010
A high-powered professionally built IDX website is the most important tool a real estate agent has to get good rankings, ample traffic, and plenty of motivated buyers. Why? Because an IDX web site gives home buyers exactly what they are looking for.
Why IDX is important
Integrating IDX gives real estate websites the ability to let home buyers search for property using the data from their local MLS. Technically, multiple listing services are migrating away from IDX to a technology called RETS, but the end result is the same; a REALTOR’s website with either one can attract buyers with active real estate listings. What a lot of agents don’t understand is that buyers are not looking on the search engines for an agent, they are searching for property. The worst thing agents can do is focus their site too much on themselves rather than on what the general public is actually looking for, which is real estate listings. Give them what they want and they will visit your site often.
The bad way to provide MLS search
When IDX websites are done correctly (meaning with an eye toward search engine optimization), they are major lead producers. When not done correctly, they are a complete waste of time.
Here’s how NOT to do an IDX website:
- Flash-based IDX (Flash looks great but is not search engine friendly)
- Framed IDX (where search results are displayed in a frame
- Third party subdomain-hosted IDX (username.idxcompany.com)
I’ve built sites from agents who spent $8,000 on a custom website that never produced leads, followed by over $5K on another one that also didn’t perform. If you are going to invest in a custom website, you’ve got to hire someone who knows how to built it right.
The bottom line: If your website consultant wants to use Flash or frames for your IDX integration, run as fast as you can from them. They obviously don’t know a thing about real estate SEO, and chances are good your site will be a waste of time, pixels, and money.
Topics: Uncategorized | Comments Off
Comments are closed.