Indexable IDX solutions are the latest in a long line of hot innovations for real estate websites.  Though they’ve been around for a while, their appeal is really starting to catch on, and they’re getting blogged about left and right these days.

Also known as spiderable IDX, an indexable IDX solution builds out pages on your site that correspond to listings in the MLS.  (Sounds kind of like Realzi, doesn’t it?)  The resulting benefit is that you have a massive, easily indexable and searchable site that Google can crawl repeatedly.  This translates to results for more keyphrases, which means more traffic.

Prior to the advent of indexable IDX, a typical approach to the display of MLS data involved a framed solution that was hosted elsewhere.  An organization would buy access rights to RETS data feeds, build out a frame displaying that data, and offer it to real estate agents to put up on their personal websites for a fee.  The frame usually featured a searchable list of properties taken from the relevant MLS.  A map search was often included as well.  Prospective buyers could retreive MLS data for residences that interested them, which left them more well-suited to the difficult task of home searching.

The good old days might seem just fine at first glance, but if you noticed, there’s a little sentence we slipped in there that drives home the relative uselessness of framed, non-indexable IDX solutions: “This sort of solution worked well for users who stumbled across such sites.”  The fact of the matter is, many of these old sites, despite displaying an easy-to-use, searchable, framed IDX solution, were buried in Google search results for short-tail keyphrases and were completely absent for many longer-tail keyphrases.  That’s because the MLS data—those reams of fresh, up-to-date, relevant data that Googlebot craves—is actually nowhere to be found on the site displaying the frame, so the resulting SEO benefit of displaying it is virtually nil.  This can’t be underestimated, either, because the attractiveness/ease of use/utility of your site is worthless if nobody can ever find it.  You could plan what would be the best party in the world, but if you don’t supply directions, you’ll end up eating cheese and crackers alone when the big day comes.  And that’s just not very fun.

Contrast this rather somber picture with the benefits of an indexable IDX.  Think about it: with the frequently updated, extremely relevant, keyword-rich data that an indexable IDX brings, you’ll have a fantastic competitive edge over other real estate websites.

Why Improving Your Real Estate Website Isn’t Optional

Real estate websites are not once-and-you’re-done kinds of projects. Just like your business, your real estate website should be constantly evolving and improving, reflecting your growth and the way your real estate business is adapting to market conditions.

Your real estate website is the public face of your business. As more and more home buyers and sellers turn to the internet for real estate information – leaving classified ads and other media behind – you should be aware of the potential of your website to catalyze and attract new clients.

Our friend, an Austin realtor, was satisfied with using his real estate website solely as a fancy brochure. “My clients know how to find my real estate office,” he told us. “And my website is the first listing I see when I Google my name!”

We had a few real estate website questions for him, though:

• Do you want to attract clients who haven’t heard of you?
• Do you know that your competitors are at the top of the Google listings for things like MLS numbers, house addresses and “buy an Austin home”?
• Did you know that 87% of home buyers use the internet to search for a home – more than use a real estate agent?*
• Did you know that Google positions are affected by seniority – that, once a real estate website ranks well for something, it will continue to rank better than an identical but newer real estate website?
• Are you happy with relying solely on word of mouth for the growth of your real estate business?
• Are you happy with your real estate website being a sunk cost instead of a revenue generator?
• Did you know that local metropolitan MLS websites – also called IDX websites – are used by 60% of internet home buyers, easily beating Realtor.com (48%)?

* Source: 2008 National Association of Realtors® Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers.

Why Improving Your Real Estate Website Isn’t Hopeless

We thought he’d be happy to get some straight talk about his website, but our realtor friend’s first reaction was despair.

“This is horrible!” he said. “I can’t compete with those other guys. They already have a head start.

“And I can’t spend that much on my real estate website! Building an IDX or RETS website will cost a fortune!”

We calmed him down as best we could. We told him a few soothing real estate website facts:

• We already have a fully-functioning IDX solution called Realzi. There’s no need to hire a battalion of programmers and web producers. Our real estate website clients just sign up and bang, their clients suddenly can search up-to-date MLS listings right from the website.
• Since our real estate website technology is already functioning, you don’t have to risk thousands of dollars on programming a new IDX system. Realzi is affordable.
• Realzi is a real estate website designed for real estate SEO. That means that it beats most of the competition for search engine optimization right out of the box. Realzi real estate websites are built specifically to rocket to the top of the search listings in Google, Yahoo and MSN.
• We can match your existing design perfectly, using your current logo and look.
• And if you don’t already have a real estate website, it’s no problem.

Evolve Your Real Estate Website

Wondering how a Realzi MLS website might help your business?

Get in touch with us and talk to our real estate website experts. No charge, no hard sell. We’ve been building websites for years.

Based on our experience building SEO websites for major clients like HealthCheckUSA, CORT Furniture and ApartmentSearch.com, we’ve developed best practices and proprietary technology that help us beat the pants off competing websites. Other real estate websites aren’t designed to show up in search engines. Realzi real estate sites are!