An IDX search is only as good as the leads it generates. We offer ways to add IDX listings to your site with all kinds of bells and whistles, but at the end of the day, it’s the lead generation that matters most to an agent.
We’ve been updating our IDX software over the past few months to improve lead capture, so this month we’re highlighting a client whose website is doing a great job converting their IDX leads with our latest search features. The Austin real estate team at http://www.austincityliving.com get buyers to search listings on their site with great content that integrates IDX data, then convert those IDX visitors into registered leads at a considerable 9.94% conversion rate.
Here are some of the real highlights to take away from the Austin City Living site, including details on how to implement these features on your real estate website to improve your IDX lead generation:
IDX search integrated into site header
Visitors come to your site looking for MLS listings, so make your IDX easy to find, from any page. The ACL team does this with an IDX quick search module built into the header of their site template, giving buyers instant search gratification no matter what page they land on. A bright blue background helps call visitors’ attention to the search, and other modifications give the IDX form a custom look.
This search form is one of the basic IDX modules we include with dsSearchAgent, coupled with some custom styling. They’re using our Quick Search module for the form, arranged the fields side-by-side using our Unlimited columns setting, and added some custom CSS to change the search button and width of each input box. All our IDX search widgets were designed to be versatile, and with just a few tweaks and a nice background image, ACL really makes this quick search their own.
Custom IDX search links sorted by area
Maybe I’m a sucker for our IDX link builder, but I love the number of pre-built searches they’ve integrated on their homepage and throughout their site. Lists of links grouped by community, zip code, and neighborhood in the site footer and sidebars provide buyers one-click access to pre-filtered homes in various areas. Each neighborhood or zip code has its own page with an optimized title and heading, room for additional SEO content, and a pre-filtered IDX search for the area.
These boxes provide easy and effective ways to let both buyers and search engines know what areas you target, and provide instant gratification for anyone looking to just straight into the listings.
Unlimited pre-filtered IDX search links can be setup from the Custom Links builder in your dsSearchAgent admin. Each link you generate can filter using city, community, zip code, price, or just about any other IDX field we get in our data feed, and can be framed on any page of your real estate site or blog.
Oversized IDX map widget on homepage
Located dead center just below the fold, an IDX map module on ACL’s homepage calls attention to their featured listings. Modules (or widgets) are great for promoting specific listings and our map module helps give context to a neighborhood or city page and entices buyers to start using your IDX search. Widgets can be used as subtle additions to your site sidebar, header or footer, but this in-your-face IDX map stretching across the width of the page was clearly built to get buyers’ attention.
IDX map widgets like this are included with our Mapping IDX product, dsSearchAgent Pro. To generate for your real estate site, save a custom filter in the Links area of your IDX admin, then go to your Modules area to create a Featured Map module for your listings. You can generate as many Featured Map modules as you’d like, in any size, for use on any website.
Short intro video
Nestled between custom IDX search links on their homepage, a short promo video offers a friendly and personal message to visitors. A simple YouTube embed provides visitors with a familiar video player interface, including a big play button. The video is short (about a minute) and gives buyers and sellers a quick rundown of what ACL can provide, along with a bunch of friendly faces. With nearly 4,000 views so far, the video is popular with visitors.
With millions of real estate websites each pitching how unique or special they are, video is an incredibly effective medium for getting your business to stand out. The added face and voice (not to mention the enthusiasm of the people involved) really helps lend a human element to help your site stand out in a meaningful way.
I would also recommend videos that provide a quick overview of your site, including tips on finding homes, how to use features of your site, sections of site certain buyers/sellers should check out, and an introduction to your market area. Spend time making your videos short, to the point, and professional without loosing the human element to ensure success.
btw: I would not recommend using videos that automatically play, as those can be intrusive and may annoy your visitors.
Fantastic IDX conversion
With a whopping 9.94% registration rate, ACL clearly knows how to get their IDX users to register. 1 out of 10 of their IDX users fill out a lead gen form and sign up.
You can search homes on their site to see for yourself how their doing it, but I’ve outlined it here to make it easier. Here’s how they get their IDX users to register:
1. Restrict IDX users to only 1 search
dsSearchAgent Pro allows agents to restrict both the number of searches and the number of properties each visitor can view before they must register. ACL lets users perform only one property search before a visitor needs to fill out their contact info and register as an IDX user. Visitors might leave their site because of this restriction (in fact, 9 out of 10 don’t register), but this is still a fantastic rate considering typical conversion averages.
Their site provides buyers so many other ways to view listings that are not restricted – including custom links and IDX modules – that it seems pretty fair to force users who perform additional searches to register to continue filtering through the IDX feed. Basically, any pre-built search result pages and IDX modules are “free” to look at, but a user can only perform one search of their own before they will need to register. It may be strict for some sites, but ACL provides enough custom links and other ways to see IDX listings to make this registration policy work.
2. Restrict IDX users to only view 2 listings
ACL is also restricting the number of properties users can view with their IDX. Visitors can see thumbnails of each listing in search results, on custom links, or in modules and widgets – but they can only click to view more details on two listings. As soon as they try to view details on a third listing, visitors are hit with a registration form.
3. Withhold fields from IDX users
Finally, their site requires users to register to view specific data fields from the IDX feed. Users can see listing details on two properties, including schools, open house dates, beds, baths, etc – but they can’t view price changes, days on market, year built, or itemized features for any listing prior to registration.
We added an option to withhold IDX fields in late 2011, but only a handful of clients have taken advantage of these new settings. By holding back details like price changes, you can let your visitors see parts of the MLS IDX data while still urging users to register, so we really encourage clients to try out these new options.
If your IDX site is not taking advantage of these lead capture tools, be sure to login to your dsSearchAgent admin and edit your settings. You can set when users must register from the Registration tab of your IDX Options. Simply choose the number of searches before registration, the number of listing views before registration, and finally, choose which MLS fields to withhold prior to registration. This screen will also allow you to customize how your IDX registration form looks and which fields are required for registration.
In summary, Austin City Living gives site visitors a great experience and optimizes their IDX for optimal lead capture. Visitors can find listings through a search form at the top of any page, multiple pre-built search links, or using various IDX modules, and all IDX pages are built for conversion. We encourage you to browse their site and see what other ideas you can find to integrate into your real estate site, including new ways to incorporate IDX data and convert IDX users.
I’d like to hear more about how they created the search using the Quick Search module. As the module outputs a script as opposed to straight HTML, it seems like they would need some sort of source code to make this happen.
I’ve always thought the quick search module needed a better backend in order to customize it.
I agree. I want to make a custom quick search so I can integrate it into my theme. How can this be done?
I can’t say for certain how Austin City Living setup their search, but you can definitely recreate the effect using our regular back end with these steps…
1. use the “unlimited column” option so the fields will appear in a single row
2. add CSS styling for the field labels (class=”ds-quick-search-name”) so they have a font and size to match your site
3. ditto for the the fields (class=”ds-quick-search-value”)
4. add CSS styling for each field ID so set individual widths for each (these IDs are unique for each client and each field, so you’ll need to view the generated code to extract the IDs for your fields)
5. add CSS styling for button (class=”ds-quick-search-button”)
That’s the “safest” way to do it. Just use our un-formatted script, add styling for each class and ID to your site’s existing CSS file, and you’re good.
ALTERNATIVELY, if you want to do more crazy styling or formatting, you can generate a generic quick search, add the script to your site, then view the HTML that the script generates on your live page. You can then “scrape” the generated HTML and re-code it however you want, with your own crazy tags and layout. Some clients will choose this option for really dynamic quick search forms.
The problem with this option is your code is static and won’t update automatically to reflect any changes on our end. You _should_ be OK, but the script option is the “safer” bet.
Rob – Is there a good go-to guide for things like the CSS names? That would make life easier in the future and allow people like me to build guides on how-to for other users.
We only use 2 or 3 CSS classes, so we don’t offer a guide for those. And we assign unique CSS IDs for every field in each module, so you’ll need to view the generated code to get those.
Add a module script to a page of your site, view the live page, then choose “View Page Source” (in Firefox) or “View Source” (in Internet Explorer) to see the module code, including all CSS classes and IDs. Chrome users can just right-click on any field/part of the module and click “Inspect Element” to view the code for that particular item.
I got the styling setup using the float coding over an image like they did. But how do I make it so when someone searches on that module the search goes to a framed version on my site…versus poping out in a new window like it does now?
I just called to try to get help with my question but apparently kenny winters from your company doesn’t want to help and was very unfriendly in assisting. I guess we will explore other idx’s that actual want their paying members to maximize the benefit of your systems.
Sorry to hear you had a bad experience with our customer service.
To get the search module to go to a framed page, you’ll need to…
1. Login to the IDX Dashboard of your Control Panel (http://controlpanel.diversesolutions.com/IDX/Dashboard.aspx) and copy the script located in the “Frame HTML Code” box.
2. Paste the script code onto a (new or existing) page on your site that you want your results framed on, such as: http://mysite.com/search-results.htm
3. Go to your IDX Options page of your Control Panel (http://controlpanel.diversesolutions.com/IDX/Options/) and click the “Domains” tab.
4. Enter the full URL for your ‘results’ page in the “Custom Framed Page” box and click “Save Changes”
…and that should ensure any searches preformed from ANY of your modules will frame search results on the URL provided. If you are not using our script on the results page, this feature won’t work at all… so be sure to test it once you’re done.