Adding IDX to Your WordPress Real Estate Site
Friday, November 27, 2009
It’s well known that a vast majority of consumers begin their home search online. Another interesting fact is that these same consumers can spend as much as 6 to 18 months researching homes and neighborhoods before they get in touch with a Realtor. Many times, and especially if it’s their first purchase, that consumer will choose the first agent they find when they’re ready to make a buying decision. Because of the steps these buyers are taking, it’s very important to be their initial contact and provide them with the information they’re looking for when they begin their search. These consumers expect a quick, professional response when they make an inquiry about an available property, or chances are, they’ll move on.
One of the best ways to make your website attractive to the buying consumer and capture them as a lead is to incorporate IDX into your website. IDX stands for Internet Data Exchange, and in real estate, it’s essentially a feed that’s provided by the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) that includes all the data for available properties in a given geographic region. IDX allows users to search homes for sale by a large number of variables and provides very detailed property information. Having IDX on your website makes your site valuable to a consumer by providing exactly what they’re looking for – data, pictures, and interactive maps. It encourages a user to explore more of your website, increasing the chances that visitor will result in captured lead or potential client. Advantages of a robust IDX system include:
- Built-in lead capture technology for user personal data and preferences
- Niche-based searches with variables such as location, price, REO, etc.
- Automatic user notification of new properties in their search criteria
- Interactive map searches for real-time, compelling search results
To implement IDX on your website, you’ll need to contact your local Realtor Association or MLS to request their IDX solution. You can also purchase IDX from 3rd party vendors that can provide the data once they have received authorization from the local MLS. Remember that not all IDX solutions are created equal – some systems offered by 3rd party vendors include complete management systems that can deliver benefits like marketing campaigns and client management, as well as improved user interfaces and data delivery.
Integrating IDX into WordPress Websites
Once you’ve been provided an IDX solution through your MLS or 3rd party vendor, you’ll want to get it implemented on your WordPress website. The most common way to do this is through an iFrame, which is the process of framing the IDX solution into your site through simple html instructions. This will allow all the functionality of the IDX to be accessed within your site, keeping your visitors interested and increasing the potential for lead capture. With additional coding, it sometimes can be possible to integrate the IDX search functionality into search processes within your WordPress site, although this typically requires software, plugins, or coding solutions beyond typical WordPress customization.
Implementing IDX on your site not only gives users a reason to visit, it also gives them a reason to stay. With consumers spending a significant amount of time on online property research prior to a buying decision, IDX can make the difference between having a real estate site and converting traffic into clients.
About Kris Themstrup
I found some things that perhaps you saw too:
- You’re never really going to get nationwide MLS. For one thing, the MLS is actually 800 separate boards, each requiring membership and membership fees. It’s so expensive that only a few companies can afford it. Instead, you’ll want to focus on 2-3 MLSes, and get your realtor firm to be members of those if they aren’t already.
- Few MLS providers will let you pilfer their database onsey-twosey with like a RESTful web service, even through a broker. If you’re hoping to get direct access to the data, good luck trying to find that. From what I found, the IDX brokers only give you canned widget snippets that you have to paste into your code and then style with CSS. This takes experimentation too because you can’t spec it in a doc first without trying it and seeing what options are available to you. Also, sometimes the widgets are in IFRAMEs with some providers. Sometimes they are paste-able code that you can style that interacts with AJAX to a backend server. Sometimes they are entire pages hosted on some broker’s site and you have to use an IFRAME to make it appear like it’s on your site.
- A neat company with affordable fees I found was idxbroker.com. But again, canned widgets.
- I saw fees on average of about anywhere from $35/mo to $100/mo for just one MLS database connection through an IDX broker, and then a $200 to $500 setup fee. These prices are USD 2009 prices — your mileage may vary.
- Some MLS systems charge an additional fee per access on top of the IDX charges and the MLS membership fee — so watch out.
- I didn’t see a sandbox like you might have with PayPal. You just have to get your client to bite the bullet and pay the monthly charges while you work on the website.
- Of all the IDX brokerages I contacted, not a single one will let you write data into the MLS of various places. All of them I called will only let you read data out of an MLS. Therefore, your website might have non-MLS listings in a separate section on it, and then MLS listings. Because you’ll be most likely using widgets to access the MLS listings, you’ll want to style the non-MLS version of your site similarly in order to be consistent and not confuse the customer on interface.
If you think you have other comments on this that counter my points — please click my website link on my name and do let me know because I’m always looking for a better way to do something regarding real estate listings.
I’ve found that the majority of agents I work with have IDX access included with their office somehow. Some opt for a 3rd party vendor, which of course requires authorization, but most are provided a canned solution for use on their personal sites. You’re right in that compatibility is spotty at best, but I think we’re nearing a point where eventually we’ll have DB integration as WP grows and IDX solutions catch up.
Hi, I have used IDXBroker dot com with my WP site in the past (used to use the old “News” theme) and it worked great without any iFrame needed.
You drop your content code on their site and your WP site will “wrap” around the IDX. That way it looks more integrated into your WP site.
Fred, I’ve heard of IDX Broker before and that’s great they are able to provide the embedding code. Do they also provide hot sheets for region-specific searches, or is it all done through one UI?
Yes I think you can set up custom searches and display them. It’s been a year since I used them, but they were the most advanced service I found for the money (that covered CT).
Does anyone have any experience with implementing a RETS solution as opposed to an IDX solution on a WP site? I want to avoid using i-frames and to get the SEO benefit that RETS provides. Willing to pay well.
I’ve read some interesting things about Real Estate Transaction Standards and how it might be able to translate to SQL, but I’m pretty new to it beyond that.
These guys have built a plugin that does just that. http://wprealty.org/ I have not used it yet, but am planning out a site that will.
I generally don’t leave comments with a blatant product plug, but since you guys are asking for it…
We at HomeQuest have built a Wordpress – map based IDX property search platform. You can search by standard filters (sales price, # of beds, baths, etc.) or you can search using the map and things like neighborhood boundaries, zip codes, school boundaries, etc. The backend is a complete client management system, including all the standard junk you’d expect.
Some examples:
http://www.mportlandrealestate.com – completely map based landing page. This team does 30 transactions per year using this site as their only source of lead generation.
http://www.repdx.com – basic agent blog site with property search.
One of the coolest features is the ability to add blog posts into the property search map. Cool coffee shop in your area? Blog about it and geocode it into your map. This is a great way to showcase that you’re familiar with your neighborhood. A true “neighborhood expert”?
In the next week or so, we’re releasing a Wordpress plugin, so that you can build our system into a pre-existing blog. Not iframed, fully indexed pages.
We’re currently in 6 markets, and with the release of the plugin, we’re ramping up the # of MLS’s we offer. I do believe we have another 20 or so in the works, adding more weekly.
The price: $80 a month. A little cheaper if you do 6 months at a time.
More info:
http://www.homequestgroup.com
Play around with it. I’d love some feedback on what you like/dislike. Email me at jeff@pdxhomequest.com.
Thanks guys,
Jeff
Hey Jeff, Nice map search implementation. Can the system force registration after a certain number of page views?
Hey Sam,
Sorry it took so long to respond…
Yes, you can set forced registration to whatever you’d like. We have some agents that force registration right from the beginning and some that never require registration. I know there are some people that swear they get better results one way, and another group argues the other.
We have seen best results forcing registration on the 5th viewing of a listing (doesn’t count hover overs). This on a site that gets 300ish uniques a day and after roughly a year of testing.
If you have any other questions, feel free to email me – or @jbern on twitter.
Thanks,
Jeff
I am thinking of switching the site I use to a word press site and embedding the IDX as apposed the i-frame.
I’ll be taking a look at the sites mentioned in the previous posts. Sounds very interesting.
Thx
Gary
Hey Kris,
I am a friend of Brian’s and we have actually created an IDX search that is easy to use and converts very well. It has a basic results page plus an interactive map search as well. It has lead capture functions plus a kick ass back-end lead management system. We have some agents already using our search widgets on Wordpress sites and also other ones too. Here are a couple examples: http://www.larryhotz.com & http://www.hawaii-relocation.com . We have them on sub domains and not in frames. We are very flexible and are moving into new markets as we have customers in them.
You or Brian can contact me anytime.
Looks great Jeff. I’ve worked with a couple of custom IDX providers and integrated custom searches into WP through their products before. Looks like you’ve got a great solution. What kind of markets are in?
Thanks Kris! We are in about 6 markets now and have about 6 or 8 that we are going into within the next month. As I mentioned we going into new markets where we have clients.
I’d talked with Brian in the past before we were ready to offer the solution to the public when we were developing the system.
feel free to contact me anytime. 808-261-3994.