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.

Realzi is proud to announce the rollout of its new 1.5 release. Bigger and better than before, this release allows Realzi real estate websites to rank highly for MLS numbers, giving them even more of an edge over competing real estate websites.

What’s so important about ranking highly for MLS numbers? Simple: With more and more people using Smart phones like Blackberrys and iPhones — phones that can connect to the Internet — this means that should a prospective home buyer with a Smart phone drive by a home for sale, they could use their phone to quickly search Google for the MLS number.

While high search engine rankings are essential when it comes to staying competitive in the real estate market, it’s even more important for people search the Internet on their phones, as they are likely not going to continue looking at more than the first page of search results.

This is yet another powerful aspect of Realzi, your secret weapon in building a consistent stream of new business. Other things that make Realzi so impressive are the user-friendly Map Search, Quick Search and the ability to search by keyword. Home buyers can actually type in a keyword like “elevator,” “oak trees” or “dock” and will see relevant listings.

If you’re a broker or agent who is interested in getting a well-constructed, search engine optimized MLS website, contact Realzi.