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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Need help with your real estate website?
Let one of our Online Marketing Experts evaluate your website for its marketing strengths and weaknesses. Ask for FREE Consultation.

Google recently announced changes to it’s indexing system named Caffeine, which boasts “50 percent fresher results for web searches” when compared to the previous Google index.

According to the Official Google Blog:

Our old index had several layers, some of which were refreshed at a faster rate than others; the main layer would update every couple of weeks. To refresh a layer of the old index, we would analyze the entire web, which meant there was a significant delay between when we found a page and made it available to you.

With Caffeine, we analyze the web in small portions and update our search index on a continuous basis, globally. As we find new pages, or new information on existing pages, we can add these straight to the index. That means you can find fresher information than ever before—no matter when or where it was published.

Caffeine lets us index web pages on an enormous scale. In fact, every second Caffeine processes hundreds of thousands of pages in parallel. If this were a pile of paper it would grow three miles taller every second. Caffeine takes up nearly 100 million gigabytes of storage in one database and adds new information at a rate of hundreds of thousands of gigabytes per day. You would need 625,000 of the largest iPods to store that much information; if these were stacked end-to-end they would go for more than 40 miles.

We’ve built Caffeine with the future in mind. Not only is it fresher, it’s a robust foundation that makes it possible for us to build an even faster and comprehensive search engine that scales with the growth of information online, and delivers even more relevant search results to you. So stay tuned, and look for more improvements in the months to come.

Google is constantly updating processes to performance, and so should every Real Estate website owner.  Here is a video update of the major improvements.

What are you doing to capitalize on faster indexing?

Not sure how search engines work? Here is a video from Google which simply explains the process in just over 3 minutes.

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.

Google just introduced several new interesting features that integrate DoubleClick Ad Planner data with other solutions.

 One of the most noteworthy features is the Ad Planner 1000 list, a list of the largest 1000 sites worldwide, based on Unique Visitors (users), as measured by Ad Planner.  This list is updated monthly as new Ad Planner datasets are released. The information is available online as a reference and as a downloadable file.

The new feature added to Google’s Ad Planner is the new Export to AdWords feature. You can export the sites and placements identified within the Google Content Network by media planners and they will be set up as a new campaign or ad group within your AdWords account.

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.

Google announced a display URL policy adjustment for AdWords campaigns.

The display URL (the URL that appears within the ad itself) shows potential visitors to a site where they’ll land when they click on an ad. For sites that sit on shared or hosted domains (such as wordpress.com) all ads will be required to display URL “that accurately reflect their destinations.”

Going forward, ads that do not include this additional information in their display URLs will be disapproved. A suggested display URL will be provided in the disapproval email notification, but we encourage you to proactively adjust any ads that you think might be affected by this change.

If you’d like to learn about this policy in greater detail, please visit the AdWords Help Center.

Need help with Google AdWords optimization? 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

This is where the process gets really exciting. Utilizing the full potential of RSS (Really Simple Syndication), agents can automatically populate their sites with the most current listing—or even “push” content in standardized format directly to customers, so they don’t need to return to the new site to check on new listings every day. Agents can even personalize feeds to subscribers to automatically deliver new home listings that perfectly match their search criteria.

Experience the benefits of RSS, starting today.
In addition to the obvious sales and marketing benefits, RSS offers real estate agents:

» Instant access. IDX-driven RSS feeds allow instant access to the latest listing data.
» Search-engine friendliness. Search engines love pages with feeds (and rank them well),
because they represent continually updated content.
» More subscriber options. Customers can choose their own criteria for searches,
making sure they receive only the most relevant listings.
» Personalized feeds. Agents can also personalize feeds based on each client’s preferences.
» External flexibility. RSS feeds can easily be used outside the original website,
expanding visibility through backlinks and beyond.

To learn more about putting the power of IDX-based tools and RSS to work for you, call 1.877.439.4967 or click here for FREE consultation.

Today’s smart consumers are turning to the Internet to start their real estate transactions and the first place they go is straight to the search engines. The term “Googling” a topic didn’t get added to our everyday lingo by some clever PR person. Oh no. “Googling” is a phenomenon that is taking this country by storm and real estate is no exception.
So, how DO you get your website to show up at or near the top of the results when a consumer types in “real estate” for your geographic area? And aren’t all your competitors trying to do exactly the same thing?
Search engine optimization and ranking can be a tricky thing. The rules are always changing. That’s why it’s important to hire just the right consultant to help you – one who understands the engines and more importantly, one who understands your exact business and how your consumers are going to behave when they sit down at a search engine to do their research.