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As a real estate agent, you depend on IDX listings on your website to have clients look at your most recent listings.
It’s just a fact that when people start searching for homes online, they’ll start with an online search. About 44% of home buyers start the homebuying process online. It’s more important to have your site and your listings appear in those search results.
You’ll be able to get more people interested in your listings when they’re ready to buy. That means you’ll have happier clients because their homes sold faster.
How can you get your IDX listings to appear in search engines? Keep reading to find out.
What is IDX?
Let’s start at the very beginning. What is IDX? It stands for Internet Data Exchange. It’s a platform that allows you to show the latest MLS listings in an area. IDX allows for the exchange of data between your website and your local MLS.
If you don’t have IDX listings on your site, there are a few ways you can make that happen. For example, if your site is based on WordPress, you can install plugins that allow you to connect your site with the MLS.
You do have certain responsibilities when you do use IDX on your website. The National Association of Realtors outlines their expectations here.
You also need to be aware of the policies of your local MLS. These will vary from one MLS to another. For example, you can’t update or make adjustments to any MLS listings that belong to other brokers. You also aren’t allowed to show listings that specifically state that they are not to be displayed.
Advantages of IDX
IDX can give you an advantage in your business in many ways. You already know that buyers start with online searches. What about people who got your name as a recommendation from one of your previous clients?
Those people are very likely to go to your website to learn more about you. They probably have the names of a few other real estate agents in your area. When they visit your site, they will come across the listings in the area.
They’ll be more likely to contact you, especially if they see a home that they want to take a look at. If you don’t have IDX on your site, you’re going to miss out on that opportunity to someone who does.
IDX and SEO
How do IDX and search engines play together? It depends on a number of factors. Google uses over 200 of them to determine search results. Here are some of the most important ones to know and how they relate to getting more traffic to your site.
Relevancy Is Key
The goal of search engines is to provide the most relevant information to users. People who look for homes in Bethlehem, PA and get mortgage brokers in Bethlehem, PA aren’t getting the most relevant information.
It’s related, but not relevant.
When you look at SEO, you want to make sure that your pages are targeting the most relevant searches that your customers will use.
You can optimize IDX to make sure that your IDX listing has local information attached to them.
Site Performance
One of the other critical factors that are used in SEO is site speed. You can do all of the other tips and tricks to improve search results, but a slow-performing site will be a killer.
Google knows that faster is better for its users. It will prioritize faster sites because the company understands that what you click on is part of the user experience.
Make Sure Your IDX Listings Get Indexed
As a website owner, you are responsible for making sure that your website can be found in search engines. You can do that by creating an XML sitemap. This is a file that contains all of the URLs on your site, including your listing pages.
When you submit your XML sitemap to Google, you’re letting the search engine know which pages on your site should appear in search results. Since MLS listings can be updated frequently, you may have to submit your XML sitemap often.
Use Relevant Titles and Descriptions for Each Page
Your listing pages have a lot of potential to be found in search engines. These areas consist of HTML code that search engines call to determine what the context of the page is. That allows the search engine to index the page and show it in relevant searches.
You might try to get lazy and use the same description for each listing. Take the time to customize the listing. Add a couple of points that would cause someone to click on it. For instance, your description can read “Click on this link to discover the wonderful treasures this mid-century modern home in Tampa, Florida has.”
You can be creative with this part, but it has to be brief. You have about 156 characters before it gets cut off.
Create a Subdomain
One other thing that can help your search results is to create a subdomain for your site. You want to make sure that it makes sense for the user experience, though.
What is a subdomain? It’s a separate part of your website. For example, when you go to a company’s support page, you might go to http://support.companyname.com.
In your case, you can create a subdomain because listings are a different part of your site’s user experience. Your subdomain can be something like http://listings.bestagentever.com.
IDX is a Must for Your Website
If you want to get more people to your site, and you want to get clients from it, you need to have IDX. IDX is a great way to connect your regional MLS listings with your website.
You can leverage your IDX listings to improve your chances to get found on search engines. You can do that by making sure your listings are complete and are relevant.
Are you ready for more ways to grow your business? Check out the marketing section of this site for more great articles.