Does Your IDX Website Give Consumers What They Want?

Last month, we talked about how having a mobile app isn't enough to make your business mobile friendly. Having a website that's viewable on all mobile devices ("responsive" web design) is necessary to capture the full range of consumers that search for homes online. It's just the first step, however. To encourage repeat visits (and conversions!), your website needs to be "sticky" and offer consumers tools and features that they can't get elsewhere.

First things first, though. Your website may be responsive, but is your IDX property search? Fortunately for most companies that offer responsive websites with IDX built-in, the answer is yes. But if you've built your own website, you may be using a separate IDX solution that "plugs in" to your site. In order to make your site fully responsive--crucial to raking well in Google--your IDX solution needs to be responsive, as well. After all, consumers spend most of their time on real estate websites searching for property. If your IDX doesn't offer property search options that work well on all devices, consumers will move on to a site that does.

What Makes a Site Valuable to Consumers?

So what makes home buyers return to your site again and again? To find out, let's look at the most successful property search sites available today--portals like Zillow, Trulia, and Realtor.com. Consumers love them because they're designed with the user experience in mind. Home searchers can save properties that they're interested in for future reference, view recently sold homes, learn about individual agents, and more (all in a mobile-friendly framework, of course).

To compete with portals, your IDX solution should offer at a minimum:

• Ability to display high-definition photos
• Search criteria including price range, bedrooms, baths, garage, square footage (where allowed), city, zip code, address, MLS number, county, etc.
• Ability for consumers to save searches, favorite properties, and set up listing alerts
• Prominent lead capture options, like a "Request more info" or "Schedule a showing" button
• Multiple search result display options, especially on maps
• Lead routing capabilities or integration with your lead routing solution
• Ability to customize the header and footer to match the rest of your site
• Natural language URLs that are friendly to both humans and search engines
• Analytics or site usage statistics
• Robust customer support and training options
• Frequently updated MLS data (every 15 minutes to an hour)

One company that's ahead of the curve on making IDX sites "sticky" is WolfNet. Their recently released Responsive IDX solution includes all of the above features, plus extras like "You May Also Like" which suggests properties similar to the one a visitor is currently looking at, encouraging them to stay longer on your site. Neighborhood maps with points of interest, driving directions, and a "street view" option also keep consumers engaged.

Perhaps the biggest competitive edge that WolfNet offers, however, is the option to include VOW data. Visitors to WolfNet powered sites can register to unlock a property's price history, days on market, sold data, and more. Research from the WAV Group indicates that VOW data can increase lead capture by 30 percent. Currently, WolfNet is the only company to offer VOW data within an IDX solution.