1. Create a separate page for your own listings and keep it automatically updated using Interactive IDX.
2. Optimize your listings page for Search Engines with auto-populate custom Meta tags, SEO-friendly URL, breadcrumb navigation and more using SmartLeads IDX.
3. Attach RSS feed to announce new property listings and to attract more subscribers.

The Result:
faster search engine indexing -> more online exposures -> more traffic to your listing pages.

Bonus Tip:
Want even more traffic? Use this technique for your Open Houses.

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Let one of our Online Marketing Experts evaluate your website for its marketing strengths and weaknesses. Ask for FREE Consultation.

Search Engines like unique content that is also quality content. There can be a difference between unique content and quality content. Make sure your content is both. SmartLeads IDX with Automated SEO toolkit helps real estate agents to keep their website content updated daily and ready for search engine indexing.

Any consumer who sits down at a search engine and types in “homes for sale in X” has an immediate need for information and help. If you serve community “X,” you want these consumers on your website.

Whether your strategy is to focus on organic search engine ranking, search engine advertising, or both, a solid strategy for meeting your visiting consumers’ expectations is critical for converting these visitors to prospective clients, and from prospective clients to closed transactions.

• Your first step to converting search engine visitors to active clients is to recognize that these consumers have an expectation. They sat down at that search engine with an objective in mind.
• The second step is to understand what this expectation is likely to be. What did he or she ask for that brought him or her to you?
• And finally, the third step is to land these consumers on a page on your website that is highly likely to meet their expectations.

Search engines reward websites that attract and retain visitors – conferring higher organic rankings upon these websites because consumers find them “relevant.”

To be effective, these landing pages almost always need to be listings-rich. And listings aren’t all you need. To make these landing pages extra attractive to the search engines, they also need keyword rich static content.

IDXnetwork is known throughout the industry for custom IDX filters which allow Realtors to automatically feature properties in their farm area or certain property types to give website visitors one-click access to exactly the properties agents want their visitors to see.

You specify the parameters in easy-to-use interface and the system will auto-populate and auto-update these pages with exactly the listings you need to brand yourself as the local expert.

Using Interactive IDX Filters you can create pages by city, subdivision/developers tract, condo buildings, zip codes, price range, bank owned, foreclosure, short sale or excluding short sale, waterfront properties, equestrian, adult communities or even hand picked selection by MLS numbers.

Visit our DemoIDX to see live samples:

By Condo Buildings

Bank Owned & Foreclosure

By City + Price Range

Each filter has an area for a custom description and a photo. The combination of your custom description with automatically updated listings makes filter pages attractive for your website visitors.

Search engines love these pages because they update daily with new, highly relevant content for your website.

For more information about improving your website experience for users,
call us at 1·800·966·4431 or click here to request a free consultation.

SAN DIEGO – Nov. 17, 2009 – A policy change approved  by the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) board of directors changes the way IDX listings may be programmed. While Realtors may still only post IDX listings on their personal websites, they are no longer required to program the postings in a way that discourages some third party vendors, such as Google and other search engines, from indexing the listings. 

The issue 

In the past, NAR interpreted any use of listings beyond a Realtor’s personal website as “scraping,” defined as a third party taking data from another website. It’s considered scraping, for example, if a software program goes to a website, automatically copies all listed email addresses to create an email database. In the case of listings, NAR considered it scraping if Google or other search engines lifted the information and put it into the search engine’s database. Google commonly does that with many websites because it helps their proprietary search technology return results faster when a consumer enters search criteria.  

It was unclear, however, whether a search engine’s use of listing information could correctly be interpreted as “scraping.” Opponents of NAR’s policy claimed that indexing information about listings merely helped a search engine do its job; consequently, it did not fit the traditional definition of “scraping.”  

The technology 

Real Estate Website developers can program a website, and home listings, in a way that deters search engines from automatically finding the info and storing it in their servers. Conversely, websites and home listings can be coded in a way that makes indexing easier. Realtors who made it easy for search engines to index their listings had an advantage over Realtors who did not, since their websites appeared higher in search engine rankings. That most likely led to more visitors and possibly more sales.  

Prior to the recent board decision, IDX listings had to be programmed in a way that made indexing difficult, following NAR guidelines that called for Realtors to use “reasonable efforts” to protect MLS listings from being “scraped.”

The decision 

NAR’s board reaffirmed that Realtors may “not use IDX-provided listings for purposes other than display on their websites,” but it deleted the rule demanding a reasonable effort to keep “recognized search engines” from collecting the data.  

The new policy does not require websites to code listings in a way that allows search engines to index them; instead, it no longer prohibits the practice.

 Need Search Engine Optimized Real Estate Website?

Click here learn about SmartLeads IDX, a turnkey product that combines lead generation, lead capture and lead management tools in one easy-to-use cost effective solution.

I would like to take this opportunity to let you know how satisfied I am with IDX Network.  As you know, I had a very customized need for an IDX solution.  You were able to integrate your IDX solution with my existing web site and met all of my specifications.

Throughout the process you provided suggestions to enhance my requirements.  The result is that I ended up with a low cost solution beyond my expectations, and I have VERY high expectations!!!

Since my IDX solution has been up and running I have received fabulous feedback from those who use my site, and have immediately generated business I would not have otherwise.  Additionally, your customer service department has been prompt in responding to any questions that I have had.

Thank you for your professionalism! I look forward to working with IDX Network for years to come!

Jeffrey J. Katz
55-Plus-Communities.com

By now most agents and brokers understand and agree that there is little point to having a website if they don’t have IDX listings on it. Consumers seek out real estate websites for listings and the easiest source of listings for websites is IDX.
But is your MLS’s free or low-cost IDX solution enough?  I submit at least six reasons that free IDX solutions do not serve your ultimate marketing goal – meeting and developing new client relationships. Look at my reasoning below and give me your thoughts.
1. Most free solutions offer no lead capturing at all. Free or cheap IDX solutions offer a one-way stream of listings data, but nothing except your phone number and maybe an email link for contact information. Recognizing that this is an incredible waste of good content, most website vendors suggest that agents put a guestbook over the solution! That is just plain nuts. When was the last time you greeted potential clients at your office’s front door with a guestbook? Real estate is a service business. Show your prospective clients you have something to offer before demanding their contact information. Even if you get consumers to register in one of these cover guestbooks (most won’t, would you?), you’re starting the relationship off on a negative note, especially if you have a weak IDX solution on the other side of that registration form.
2. Free solutions that do offer an invitation to register are clunky and counter-intuitive. The first thing to remember is that online consumers have a short attention span and most definitely do not want to be “captured.” To increase your odds of getting contact information with which to start a relationship, you need to make a compelling offer and you need to make the information exchange easy and effortless. Ask for registration in exchange for a property address or in exchange for daily new listing updates. Once the consumer agrees to give up some contact information, make the registration process simple. Make your required fields minimal. Add optional fields for additional information. If a prospect is inclined to give up extra information about him- or herself, you’ve provided the opportunity, but you haven’t forced the point.
3. Free solutions liberally brand the listing office. Of course this is going to happen. Listing brokers are members of the MLS, too. Display rules for most MLS’s don’t require this high level of branding for the listing office, but neither does the MLS have any incentive to play down the listing office. Yes, most MLS’s require that the listing office name appear on the listing detail page, but even this information can be downplayed and still be compliant with display rules. An example of this is the free solution provided in Florida through the state association. That solution provides the listing office and often their logo on the thumbnail page (the page that comes back first after a query is submitted with the brief descriptions of the matching listings). Most of the MLS’s don’t require this listing office branding on the thumbnail page. A private vendor is your advocate and doesn’t have to please the listing office for constituency reasons. Private packages are designed with the purchaser in mind.
4. Listings results are presented lowest price first with free solutions. Do you specialize in low end properties? This strategy might work for you. Yes, visitors can usually specify a price range, but the lowest price in the range still comes first and how many of the listings will the consumer have attention span to review? (hint: not many!) Effective IDX solutions return your listings first and then make it really easy to re-sort the listings the way the visitor wants to see them, such as highest price first, lowest price first or newly listed. Feature windows can further highlight your listings.
5. Free solutions don’t give your visitors any reason to come back to your site. Unless your solution invites visitors to save specific listings of interest to a private watchlist or register to get daily new listing updates by email, you’re out of luck if the visitor leaves your site without contacting you or registering. Why would they come back? Because your site has lots of great content? That content had better be pretty darned compelling, and nothing is as compelling as offering your visitor a place to “park” his or her homework or to get new listings “hot off the presses” by email.
6. Free solutions don’t allow you to build automated pages of farm listings. Specialize in luxury listings in a particular neighborhood? I haven’t met a free solution yet that let you create these pages. And even if you can, what lead capturing tools do you have? Nothing says neighborhood expert like a page of listings on your site for your farm area. Manually creating and updating these pages is tedious, mind-numbing and not a great use of your time. An IDX solution that automatically creates these pages and provides effective lead capturing is worth its weight in gold.
It is indisputable that consumers come to real estate websites to see listings. If you’re spending any budget or energy to bring these visitors to your website, you owe it to yourself to have a strong listings-based lead capturing system on your site to protect your investment. At $40/month (the going rate for a solid, interactive, effective lead capturing tool), why wouldn’t you?

Not sure if your IDX solution measures up? Drop me a note with your web address and I’ll send you some brief comments back.
Absolutely certain that your sub-$40 solution does measure up? Drop me the same note and I guarantee you that I can find at least three ways that a $40 IDX solution can improve your bottom line.