What are IDX and MLS and How is IDX different from MLS?

IDX stands is an acronym Internet Data Exchange, a search facility where Realtors and home buyers can search for approved MLS (Multiple Listing Service) properties in a local area. Whereas the MLS system is made up of associations of brokers and realtors who operate in a particular area like middlesex, NJ and who update a common property database with new listings. The MLS database is then made available to all the associations forming part of that particular MLS group. These associations make the database accessible to the brokers and realtors who enter the local association.

The main difference between IDX and MLS is in how the data is presented. MLS offers searchers a standardized database output with names, telephones and contact details of whoever registered a given property into the database. Some of this information is not in the realtor’s best interest to show to clients searching the MLS. So they need a way to customize the display of this data to incorporate the realtor’s contact info and which fields they want to display.

Hence the advent of the IDX. IDX allows for direct access to the MLS database, which allows the data to be customized however they want. IDX add or delete certain fields, add maps, photos of the realtor and custom the look and feel of the listings.

For instance, with our IDX fields we can set up custom email alerts, add the real estate agents contact info and pull in virtual tours to the property display.

Here is what our IDX solutions allow us to do for real estate websites:

The biggest reason buyers go to real estate websites is to search listings for the local real estate market. By integrating real estate listings with site from your local MLS, you will make your site much more valuable to your prospective clients. Our IDX search tools will allow you to present the properties for sale in your area as professionally as possible. Our IDX feed tools allow you to present local listings in an efficient and easy to use manner.

MLS and IDX Integration

We can tailor your IDX search to the way you want it to be presented. We can customize the fields, colors, layouts and more to match your real estate website

Support for Multiple MLS Search

We can integrate more than one MLS search into your website if you have the rights to more than one MLS

MLS/IDX Property Search

Give your customers what they are looking for. They want to see as many listings as possible, and they are more likely to work with you if you have access to the listings.

Featured Listings

Decide what listings you want presented as “featured Listings”.

Email Listing Notifications

Email your clients the listings that they want to see with our automated email tools.

Lead Capture

IDX Features:

• Custom IDX Integration
• Lead Capture Tools
• Appointment Scheduling
• Property Images
• Virtual Tours
• Email Alerts

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Getting in the local business results for Google Search is an important part of SEO. Getting in the top 10 listings for real estate agents in a city can bring in significant traffic to your website as well as your physical business or broker location. It ensures that you show up on the first page of Google results and that you are a legitimate business. here are the steps to getting in the local business results.

1. Sign up with Google – Go to the Google Local Business Center and register your business with Google. You will be required to verify your information by phone.

2. You need a physical address, so if you don’t have one, you won’t be able to get in.

3.Submit your Business to trusted local directories – These include the yellow pages, mapquest, Yahoo local and any other local business directories that are trusted. Google doesn’t reveal all the sources they use to verify your information, but you can be sure they are going to the major aggregators and providers of local business data.

4. Make sure your business address is on your website.

5. Contact Real Estate SEO Pros for more information or help with getting included

Here are Google’s Business Listing quality guidelines:

It’s official. Our real estate lead capture systems are live!

What are real estate lead capture systems and why do you need one? Our real estate lead capture systems are essentially simple websites that are optimized for a very specific offer. For instance, an example of a lead capture system would be an optimized landing page that offers a free list of foreclosed homes in a specific city. Another example would be an offer for a free home appraisal. The lead generation form is displayed prominently on the home page. Why are lead capture systems different than websites? Real estate websites generally have alot more going on. You have your featured listings, relocation packages, content on your area, a blog, and generally alot more clutter going on. Often times, the whole purpose of a real estate website gets lost in the shuffle. The purpose of a good real estate website is to capture a lead so that you can turn them into a client. Many real estate web designers lose sight of this fact and put too much information and busyness on the site.

Our lead capture system has one purpose in life. It aims to capture leads at a very high conversion rate. By targeting a small niche such as “foreclosed homes in Dallas” or “free home appraisals in Dallas”, it has a better chance of ranking for a specific keyword, and a better chance of converting traffic into leads. In fact, it is common to have conversion rates as high as 20% on these sites. The visitor is not distracted by unnecessary content, links or features. They have one prominent form to fill out, in exchange for a free service or free information. Once they fill out the form, an email with the leads details are emailed to you immediately. This will allow you to cultivate the lead into a client while it is hot.

Lead capture forms are a great place to drive paid traffic or PPC to. Sending paid traffic to your real estate website can be a huge waste if not done correctly on an optimized landing page. We find that our lead capture system converts traffic at a much higher rate because the focus of the site is much narrower and the landing page is already optimized for conversions. Our lead capture system also comes with an attached blog so that you have an even better chance of having it rank competitively for more keywords.

We offer our lead capture system customized for your area and the offer you want to market. You can get our lead capture system for only $47 per month and it comes fully customized and optimized. We even include the keyword research and on-site optimization for you. If you want to include a SEO and internet marketing package to drive traffic to your landing page, we can give you the lead capture system for free. You can even get our system with our silver SEO package for $97 per month. You can get better deals by signing up for 1 or 2 years and paying upfront. By doing this, we can get your monthly price down even lower.

Below are some of the offers that we have found work really well for our lead capture systems:

To target Sellers:

Free Home Appraisals

Free Comparible Market Analysis

To target buyers:

Free List of Foreclosures

Free List of Just Listed Homes

Free List of Fixer-Uppers

Free List of REO’s

Free Customized List of Homes for Sale

Free Relocation Package

You are responsible for providing the information you are offering, but it is a small price to pay to win a client!

You can get more information on our lead capture system by visiting:

https://www.realestateseopros.com/lead_capture_system.php

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Google continues to tread into the real estate listings market with its real estate placement pages here. There has also been speculation and rumors of Google buying up some competitors such as Trulia. These rumors supposedly were started at the Inman real estate connect conference, when a Google rep said they were looking to acquire one to two real estate companies a month. This rumor was later dispelled somewhat when it was clarified that these may be general acquisitions and not just real estate related. However, Google is obviously taking its foray into real estate very seriously, and it would not surprise me at all to see them go after some major real estate listing sites.

What would this mean for SEO and real estate internet marketing? Well the short answer is that we do not yet know the full ramifications of these possible acquisitions. But it would mean more data for Google to use in determining how to rank websites for certain terms. It would also open up more listings to be indexed by Googles spiders. This would make it even more important to have a properly optimized real estate websites, and to have inbound links coming in from other relevant real estate industry sites.

It will also make it more important than ever to expand your online presence. There are more and more places that you will be required to have a presence on in order to have a verifiable network of links and profiles. With the advent of Google’s Trustrank on other major ranking algorithms, Google is looking to see if you have a comprehensive presence in all of the places it would expect a top agent to be. This means you need to have your social profiles on Activrain.com, Zillow.com, Linkedin.com and Realtor.com among others. It also means you need to be blogging and have a number of links pointing back to your well optimized website.

I’ll do my best to keep you apprised of the latest rumors and drama in the ever changing world of real estate SEO and internet marketing, so stay tuned.

Aaron Evans

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