The IDX is a well-known option to map data from MLS listings. For fetching the detailed information of the property and on a smaller level, IDX was truly innovative, enabling a world-class search tool as attractive and intuitive as any custom option available at the time.

Many WordPress IDX plugins are available to integrate IDX. The trend was well adopted till the real Estate Business was in hands of proprietary website companies. They could afford the high cost of implementing IDX. With the use of WordPress plugins, Improvements and innovations were implemented at a rapid pace. This pace eventually slowed, as the demand for fast applications grew and as the product matured.

Matrix Marketers is developing real estate websites using IDX and RETS for accessing MLS data. In this post, we are discussing the sudden decline of IDX. Some of the main issues are:

• As the customer started demanding handy solutions, the downfall started. With RETS implementation which was following the market trends, it became difficult to be in competition. And unfortunately, instead of acceleration, there was stagnation. Loyal customers tried to be patient, but after a couple of years, customers began to complain.

• The major issue of reliability came when some of the property listings were old and still showing in search results. Such repeated actions became the major reason of decline.

• By the end of 2015, most of the IDX enabled websites were not found to cope with the high demands of search engine rankings. The poor SEO results brought the ranking of websites down and web sites faced a loss in business.

• Many IDX websites display information in iframes. An iframe is an embedded structure on a web page that displays content from another page. Search engines tend to ignore content found in iframes.

• Another downfall of some IDX services is that the pages are non-customizable. You must use the format and page appearance that the IDX provider offers. You cannot change the way the website works.

IDX and Listings

Let’s see the detailed procedure of listing in IDX.

Sellers are Buyers – The average seller needs to buy a new home locally. The benefit to IDX enabled website is, you get to not only represent them on the sale of a property but also on the purchase of a new property.

Sellers Use Google – The Sellers use information from Google and the detailed information from IDX are not required at an initial stage.

IDX for real estate Sellers Want a Marketer – The reality of a real estate business is that you need to be a real estate marketer. That means the website should be in top search engine listing.

Sellers Want a Realtor that’s Connected – Your website is one of the major tools.Use this tool to impress the users to do more business activities with good design.

Sellers Want to be VIPS – When you have your own website, you can provide buyers with the information they need but you can also prominently feature your listings and give sellers the better Treatment.

Sellers Want Proof – Sellers want to see the proof of your abilities. Websites can have analytics built into them so you can show the sellers how many people are visiting your website.

Sellers Want the Brand – Real Estate is a highly competitive field. Get branded with your own domain name and persona.

Sellers Want to Sell – The fastest way to do that is by generating a ton of buyer leads. The most cost-effective way is with your own website. The more sellers you Satisfy, the better your brand becomes.

Effective IDX Websites are required

An IDX website is a must for lead generation, but to get those leads you will need features that will make your IDX website into a business generator. Make sure your IDX website has:

Easy Navigation/Search – Make sure that website visitors are able to find the listings they want. Your IDX website should have simple search filters to help users get to the listings that meet their criteria.

Lead Capture – The goal of the IDX website is generating leads, so you better make sure your IDX website has an optimized lead capture system. Some best practices for lead capture include:

• Prompt the visitor to register. Don’t just wait and let them surf the entire website

• Make the registration page as simple as possible. The more information you ask for and the harder you make it for a visitor to fill out the form, the lower the conversion rate and fewer leads you have to work with.

• Include a meaningful call to action. Don’t just tell them to give you their contact information; make sure they get something out of it and let them know the advantages of registering, such as complete access to listings, ability to save favorites, etc.

Automated Listing Alerts – Automated listings alert from your IDX website that is relevant to the listings visitors have been looking at are a great way to make sure they come back to your site, helping convert visitors from leads to clients.

An Integrated CRM – Having an integrated CRM (Customer Relationship Management) allows you to keep track of what your leads are doing on your website as well as your communications with them.

Conclusion

In this post, we have elaborated that how you can still gear up and develop a better website using IDX because if you have already implemented IDX then the transition will not be easy. In future, you can slowly make the updations. This is must for sustaining in online real estate business.