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Do you need the IDX on your Real Estate Website?

—- THIS ARTICLE HAS NEW UPDATES (see below)—-

Hola amigos, this is an older article but it’s still relevant today in 2019 as it was 2 years ago when I first wrote it.

CLICK HERE to check out a new video and podcast covering this topic.

Thanks for reading the article and watching the video… El Guapo

——- VIDEO

I don’t believe you need the IDX on your real estate agent website anymore.

For some real estate agents this may seem crazy, but let me tell you why.

The First Showing is Taking Place Online…

Today, the first showing is taking place online.

Buyers and Sellers have overwhelmingly chosen to use websites like Zillow, Trulia, Redfin, and even Realtor.com because of the better User Experience they get from using them.

Compare the User Experience to any of the options available today from several of the top real estate website and IDX providers like Placester, Real Geeks, Agent Evolution, Point2, and there is simply no comparison.

They may come close.

They may have more accurate data.

But buyers and sellers will not use the IDX searches on your own website.

I know there’s going to be one or two Realtors out there who will say they get their clients to use the IDX on their websites, but these are typically only going to be exceptions to the rule.

You can tell your clients and prospects that you have an accurate and even mobile friendly app to search for properties using your website, but they sill will not use it.

Why?

Simple, it’s about Trust and the User Experience.

Why is User Experience so Important

Think about how you perform your own searches for things other than real estate.

Where do you go to buy airfare, hotels, rent cars, buy groceries, download music, etc….

Most people go to several of the top websites within that category. When it comes to travel, you are likely going to be on a site like Travelocity or Hotels.com instead of Bills Travel Service of Springfield.

The User Experience on a website like Zillow dominates an agents IDX because companies like these place an extreme amount of resources into developing, tweaking, and improving their User Experience on a daily basis.

Simply look at all of the changes Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com, and Redfin have made to their own websites over the past 6 months. They are always tweaking and making improvements to improve the User Experience.

We see this happen on Social Media as well.

For example, Facebook is constantly making changes to it’s website to continuously improve it’s User Experience.

So What Should a Real Estate Agent Website BE?

Listings searches is not the only important thing a Real Estate Agent has to showcase on their own website.

Your website should do the following…

1. Current Listings and Previous Listings Portfolio

Your real estate website should be the central hub for your own Listings. Route traffic from your listing on Zillow, Trulia, and Realtor.com back to the listing page on your website.

Also, your website should serve as a portfolio for all of your previous closings.

Let’s say you had an awesome listing last year and you had professional photos and a virtual tour created for it.

How would any future prospects/clients know you closed this property.

How would they see the awesome visuals you had created for it?

Do you see where I’m getting at here.

2. Buyer and Seller Listing Presentation

Your real estate website should also serve as an online version of your Listing Presentation for Homeowners and a Buyers Presentation for Home Buyers.

One of the best examples of a Buyer Page is from Realtor.com. They created a video series with Elizabeth Banks called “The Home Buying Process in Plain English”. It’s an awesome piece of content they produced.

CLICK HERE to check it out. I’m using this as a model for creating Buyer and Seller pages on new real estate agent websites I create for Realtors.

3. Your About Me Page

Your clients and prospects want to find out more about you.

The About Me page is the very best place for this information. Most real estate agents have some of the most boring About Me pages on the planet.

Your About Me page should be an exciting place where you get to share yourself professionally and also show off a little bit of your personality in it.

For more info about your About Me page I wrote another article about this very subject. CLICK HERE to check it out.

No IDX

You don’t need the IDX. Save your money and apply it towards other marketing projects or to buy more beer and bacon.

So what do you think? I would love to hear your own opinions about this subject in the comment section below.

Thanks for reading…. George

Did you know we have a show?

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Filed Under: Real Estate Websites Tagged With: IDX, real estate agent websites

About George Cuevas

Some call me the biggest, baddest, marketing Mex-E-can north of the Rio Grande. But to my nephews and nieces just call me Tio Jorge. Since there's no job title for what exactly I do, then you should just follow me on social media and check out one of my courses. Buy a Course / Facebook / Instagram

Interview w/Peter Lorimer talking about Video Marketing for Agents

https://youtu.be/A6KgGTOIdsE

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Realtors IDX says

    December 28, 2018 at 10:40 am

    Best explanation about Do you need the IDX on your Real Estate Website?. I really enjoyed while reading it. Good work keep it up.

    Reply
    • George Cuevas says

      December 29, 2018 at 6:48 pm

      Thanks, but did you actually read the article?

      Reply
  2. Zeth Turner says

    December 22, 2018 at 5:56 am

    HI George,
    Thanks for the article. I am currently working with my second brokerage after starting at the beginning of this year. My first office provided leads and took a standard split. In exchange there was a lot of pressure and accountability. No problem with that but the direction of the teams strategy changed every week. There wasn’t the old, “pick one or two methods and give it time to play out, then reevaluate.’ I also have no trouble calling leads from the landing site and working the ‘plan’ calls/emails/texts etc. So of course the real challenge is getting LEADS. At my new office our broker is fantastic, very supportive etc. In order to get my own leads I have been working on my Facebook business page with the intent of focused ads on FB and Instagram. I was planning on having a wordpress site with a GoDaddy obtained site name. I have some questions.

    1) Do I utilized the brand name of my brokerage which carries way more weight than my own? I know I can be a brand but isn’t name recognition important?

    2) When they click on my ad, it takes them to my landing page, I have only worked with buyers and haven’t done a lot of business. What can I offer or do to get their information and actually turn them into a lead, especially without an IDX? My MLS has an IDX plug in available for a one time fee. Is that worth it?

    3) THIS IS THE BIG QUESTION. I haven’t seen this asked yet, but if Zillow, Red Fin etc are the Death Star and they get most of the online searches then ( I totally agree BTW), what do I do? What advise can you give me to work with those sites, not against them? I have seen agents pay to be listed at the bottom of Zillow listings. I am assuming it isn’t there listing, that they are paying for the spot. What can I do to hop on with these search engine giants? If everyone is using them to search for homes then how to I get any traction or notice?

    Thanks again for a great article and the information.

    Reply
    • George Cuevas says

      December 23, 2018 at 5:24 pm

      Hola Zeth and thanks for your comment and questions. These are some pretty good questions, and I’m going to write it up in my next blog post. Here’s the link where you can see my response. Again thanks for the questions.
      https://agentredefined.com/does-your-real-estate-website-need-the-idx-in-2019/

      Reply
      • Supreet says

        December 24, 2018 at 2:33 am

        Can’t wait!

        Reply
        • George Cuevas says

          December 31, 2018 at 7:37 pm

          You can see the reply in the article linked here. Thanks
          https://agentredefined.com/does-your-real-estate-website-need-the-idx-in-2019/

          Reply
    • George Cuevas says

      December 31, 2018 at 2:12 am

      Here you go Zeth. https://agentredefined.com/does-your-real-estate-website-need-the-idx-in-2019/

      Reply
  3. Andrew Breslin says

    November 30, 2018 at 3:27 pm

    Great article! — Do you have a suggestion for how to automate or simplify publishing my own listings on a website without an IDX platform? I’m building a new website, so I’m open to any new way of going about it.

    Reply
    • George Cuevas says

      November 30, 2018 at 3:39 pm

      Thanks Andrew, there are a few options. They are not 100% perfect, but they work well.

      OPTION 1: Use the WordPress Plugin from IMPress Listings, it’s created by a company called AgentEvolution. Here’s the link in the WP depository: https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-listings/

      I use this on our Non Branded Virtual Tour Pages for the MLS: http://redefinedagent.com/

      OPTION 2: Use the WordPress Plugin from StudioPress, https://wordpress.org/plugins/agentpress-listings/ it’s not as pretty but works well.

      Are you using WordPress now?

      Reply
      • Andrew Breslin says

        November 30, 2018 at 3:43 pm

        Thank you very much! I’m probably going the way of WordPress. I’ve made a couple in the past for other people and I like the level of control and value.

        Reply
        • George Cuevas says

          November 30, 2018 at 3:47 pm

          It’s a tough choice to make. And there’s even a debate on whether we will need a website 5 years from now. But I feel like you have to have a “home base” or a “store front” for your business online. I use both of my sites to help me close more sales and further develop relationships that I’m trying to build online. And for that it helps tremendously. You can always just go the “template” route and basically just have a placeholder online. It takes some work to have your own WordPress site but it’s easier than it used to be. Good luck and if you have any questions feel free to ask.

          Reply
      • Doug says

        February 12, 2019 at 7:36 pm

        Hi George,
        I’m looking at adding the plugin from IMPress, however right in the description of the plugin it says an IDX Broker subscription is required to import from our MLS. I had thought you were saying there are ways to automate a RE Agents listings to appear on his own site without the need for an IDX? Can you please clear this up for me?

        Reply
        • George Cuevas says

          February 12, 2019 at 8:14 pm

          Hi Doug and thanks for your comment. So if you want to have your listings automatically pulled from the MLS, you would need a connection to something like IDX Broker. The only reason why I would say to NOT do this is because after you sell the listing, what happens then? No one will know what you sold… I think you would have your sold listings on your website, at least some of them, so that you can show off how you marketed the home, show the photos, even consider making a 30 to 60 second video breaking down how you sold it.

          Reply
          • Doug says

            February 12, 2019 at 8:41 pm

            Thanks for the quick reply George. Much appreciated! I understand putting the Sold homes on our site to show how it was marketed and sold. That makes sense. If I do want to display current listings though without using an IDX, I can use one of these plugins you mention, but would have to manually enter all the info for each listing, correct?

  4. Supreet says

    November 26, 2018 at 5:38 am

    Thank you for sharing so much. I read almost all the comments and all your replies to them! I wonder how you manage to do all this. I am in awe. Wanted to specially thank you for such amazing resources! I took the Fascination Advantage quiz and I am looking forward to finding out my archetype. I have so much to learn and so much to do! So overwhelmed…

    Reply
    • George Cuevas says

      November 27, 2018 at 4:35 am

      Thanks for the comment, i really appreciate it. It’s a fun journey to learn how to use these tools to connect with new people and start building new relationships with. That’s really all that it’s about. There is nothing technical about digital marketing. All you have to do is what Zig Ziglar taught “You can have everything in life that you want, if you just help enough other people get what they want”.

      Reply
  5. Brian says

    October 14, 2018 at 11:35 pm

    I strongly disagree. First of all, you don’t have to pay companies like Placester. You can buy a well designed theme for $40-60 from Themeforest, such as the one below and just pay one fee to an IDX broker for the membership fee. I’m a web developer, and I use IDX compatible themes for clients all the time. They aren’t limited to IDX listing, it’s an added benefit. I can modify the theme in ANY way they want. I can make a spectacular About page and a featured listings page with 360 tours etc to give them a great “first tour” experience on the site. For $40 IDX fee monthly, that is worth having listing automatically show up without them spending more of their valuable time. Of course,

    Reply
    • George Cuevas says

      October 15, 2018 at 11:12 am

      Thanks for your comment Brian. I think you might have misunderstood the whole point of the article. Which is that you don’t need the IDX any longer on your website.

      Reply
  6. Mark says

    August 6, 2018 at 3:40 am

    Hello George.
    Great article with awesome questions and responses.

    I am cosniseding my own site vs what is offer by my Broker.

    I see that you do align yourself with WP.

    What are your thoughts about Wix?

    Reply
    • George Cuevas says

      September 18, 2018 at 7:51 pm

      thanks for the comment Mark, sorry for the delay, we are getting ready to move out to California and the last few months have been crazy. To answer your questions.

      1. Broker Websites: They are ok if you just need a placeholder or a basic online business card. I would not expect to develop many leads with one no matter how much a brokerage tells you that it can.

      2. WordPress: I believe owning your own website online is like owning your own house. It’s a piece of real estate that has the possibility of growing in value if you maintain it and put work, improvements into it. A website can be such a powerful tool for any business owner, and as a real estate agent I believe you are a business owner way more than just a salesman.

      3. Wix is cool, easy, and affordable. But it’s just a step above what a brokerage website will be. If you have to choose between a brokerage website and a Wix website, I would choose Wix.

      Hope that helps. Thanks

      Reply
  7. Josh says

    July 29, 2018 at 4:33 pm

    IDX is frustrating and expensive especially when you think about it over a time. I just wish there was decent inexpensive solution to provide:

    1. A decent basic search
    2. Let me to display some listings by subdivision.
    3. Set up a email update for new listing that meet a certain criteria.

    Any ideas?

    Reply
  8. Michael Kelly says

    July 26, 2018 at 4:35 pm

    The link to the story Home Buying in plain english is dead. Thanks for the schooling I am using it to convince my bosses to remove our idx old and outdated seach page from our wp site

    Reply
  9. akash says

    June 28, 2018 at 1:24 am

    Thanks for sharing this important information its help for me

    Reply
    • George Cuevas says

      June 28, 2018 at 11:46 am

      Gracias

      Reply
  10. Carl says

    June 27, 2018 at 7:58 pm

    Thank you for the great insight George. I’m just started to build out my real estate website and have been contemplating how to best integrate IDX/MLS or if I even should as I am just entering the industry. I think I’ll put that on hold for a little while and worry about creating excellent local content for the Parksville and Qualicum area I plan to work in.

    Reply
    • George Cuevas says

      June 28, 2018 at 11:49 am

      Thanks Carl. Focus on creating some great content, for adding your own listings to your website and if you’re using WordPress, try using a plugin like AgentPress. or IMPress Listings. Good Luck…

      Reply
      • toby beavers says

        July 16, 2018 at 12:30 pm

        Hi George…when one goes to IMPress Listings site and their other site http://mustsee.turnkeysites.co/ there is ZERO info on how to add the plugin, where to add the feed or how to download their pages. Can you enlighten moi? 3:30 hours to cocktail hour! Best Toby

        Reply
  11. Byron says

    June 1, 2018 at 9:54 pm

    Great article George. You hit a nerve in the real estate community. I agree with you and have thought IDX was not what it used to be for a while. I use to pay a lot of money for an IDX provider but I wised up and dropped the large monthly cost just to try to compete with the big boys. I still have IDX but at the lowest affordable cost ( I write it off on my taxes for marketing). I am eventually going to wean myself off of using IDX. I usually blog about a property just before I list it. I try to get G to pick it up by using the fetch tool in G webmasters portal before the big companies vacuum it up from our sell-out Real Estate Associations who send them feeds to aggregate into their system.

    Since our local associations did not invest enough in technology it left a void and ZRTR filled the void and now people are not happy with the outcome. Z has already begun listing houses for free in a few markets. Now we all have to adjust to the new normal and get hyper-local in our marketing efforts to survive.

    Great blog and I am sure this particular article will see more comments and perhaps you have changed the thought process for people in the industry. Awaken the Giant George.

    Reply
  12. Ron says

    May 24, 2018 at 9:30 pm

    Great blog!

    So, if I’m creating a Real Estate website in WordPress all I need to add a plugin to get all other listings in the surrounding areas?
    Do I need to obtain a number from MLS broker or agent to show properties on site?

    Reply
    • George Cuevas says

      June 6, 2018 at 8:03 am

      If you want to add other peoples listings to your website then you’ll need to get an IDX feed.

      Reply
  13. Vincent George says

    May 1, 2018 at 2:34 pm

    George, thank you for all of the information in this post. I am building a website for a friend, my first realtor site. My friend wanted her website to look like another that was using IDX, but then she balked at the monthly price. You’ve given me hope with the WordPress theme and plugin.

    Any suggestions on capturing leads without IDX and getting the leads into her Referal Maker CRM by Brian Buffini?

    Reply
    • George Cuevas says

      May 3, 2018 at 8:31 am

      Thanks Vincent. I would keep it simple. Place a simple email form and make sure the phone number is prominent. Buyers and sellers won’t use the IDX on a majority of agent websites that ore out there, mainly because the user experiance will never compare to the what Zillow, Trulia, RedFin, and Realtor.com offers.

      An agents website should be a portfolio of thier current and previous sales.

      Reply
  14. Tony J. says

    February 15, 2018 at 10:55 am

    Hi George. Thanks for the article. Nice read. Is there a WordPress plugin that will let you post real estate listings in available spaces on a conventional (non-real estate focused) blog…for example, in a sidebar or above the footer of a page? Could IMpress do that?

    Reply
    • George Cuevas says

      February 16, 2018 at 4:14 pm

      Hi Tony, yes there is. You can add any plugin to any type of website and use that plugin in the “content areas” like in sidebars of your website.

      Reply
  15. Mai says

    February 5, 2018 at 6:27 pm

    Really enjoyed reading your blog and all the great insight for a newbie realtor! Love your fun bio too!

    Reply
    • George Cuevas says

      February 6, 2018 at 10:20 am

      Gracias Amigo!!!

      Reply
  16. Chris Maguire says

    January 30, 2018 at 10:56 am

    Gracias por un gran artículo que estimula el nuevo pensamiento. I am a marketing and brand strategist turned real estate agent, four years with KW, and making a good living in Louisville, KY. It’s funny that I have not heeded the advice that I have given to clients over the years. The old adage “politics are local” is so applicable to real estate. I don’t like Zillow but Zillow can’t deliver what I can, human contact, connection and a personal relationship. I’ve quit spending on digital leads, about to jettison one of my websites, and get much more granular in my marketing. I believe narrowing my focus will broaden my opportunities. Can you recommend a webmaster to help me combine several websites into an easy to manage word press site that will likely be hosted by Go Daddy/

    Reply
    • George Cuevas says

      January 30, 2018 at 6:24 pm

      Hi Chris, and thanks for your comment I really appreciate it. So here’s what I have.

      1. The Zillow Thing: Basically it doesnt matter what any agent thinks, they are not only the number 1 website in traffic, but they far surpass everyone else. It’s like they are Uber, and everyone else is Lyft. So competing with them directly for real estate search, or buying leads from them is a WIN-LOSE situation for an agent, and the agent loses big.

      You are correct in leading first relationship and the human factor, that is all that works. It’s your ability to build a network and strong relationships within it that counts.

      Listen to this interview with Jorge Guerra, it’s all laid out there: https://agentredefined.com/podcast/margaritas-and-marketing-podcast/real-estate-marketing-social-media-video-jorge-l-guerra-jr-resf/

      2. One website is all you should need. Is sounds like you have a background in marketing and branding, so that’s awesome. You probably know more than your competition does in marketing. Use that!

      One website, and start building your own brand with it. GoDaddy hosting works well and it’s very affordable, WIN-WIN.

      3. Webmasters: I run all of my own websites and never used a Webmaster. All of my websites run on WordPress and I don’t believe you need a Webmaster to run a basic WordPress website.

      Hope that helps and good luck.

      Reply
      • Chris Maguire says

        January 31, 2018 at 2:26 pm

        George,
        Thank you so much for taking your valuable time to help me and other agents. I’m in Kentucky, feel free to call on me if there is ever anything I can do to help you.
        Chris-

        Reply
        • George Cuevas says

          January 31, 2018 at 5:37 pm

          No problem brother, we’ve been out here trying help agents with these questions and glad you got some good info. Thanks for your offer also, I really appreciate that.

          Reply
  17. Luis says

    January 29, 2018 at 9:41 am

    Thanks, Jorge !!! you are the man!!!! wishing blessings as the stars in the sky for you, your family and your business!!

    Salud!!!!

    Reply
    • George Cuevas says

      January 29, 2018 at 6:33 pm

      No Problemo Luis!

      Reply
  18. Luis says

    January 27, 2018 at 2:21 pm

    Salud con una buena chela helada!! like in your picture!! jejejej I really like your article & style, you just open my eyes.. I spent a little fortune on websites, domains, Real estate platform, hostings, virtual webmasters, elance, guru… ufff you name it, always trying to find the holly pill… and don’t exist.. I have 5 years in the business and all that internet, social media mumbo jumbo is good only for the zillows of the word… I just spent $3.000 in 6 months in Zillow campaigns… what a waste of money… I wasn’t able to close not even 1 deal… I’m working know with a webmaster and he will do a WordPress webpage using one of the templates, but I will follow your print advice!!!
    any page you can share to see how looks the one you describe ?? gracias mano !!!

    Reply
    • Luis says

      January 27, 2018 at 2:24 pm

      http://luisarmando.valuedagent.com

      Reply
    • George Cuevas says

      January 28, 2018 at 8:30 am

      Gracias Amigo.

      Check these sites out.

      1. http://www.northgroup.com

      This is Amy Youngren’s company. they do some great stuff with video. Always clean and professional.

      2. http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com

      This is Jay Thompson’s old website. They do a great job blogging and get a ton of traffic from it.

      3. http://www.jkrealtyaz.com

      Check out what they are doing, it’s very cool, and in a Gary Vee style.

      4. http://www.resf.com

      This is a great job of what a large brokerage can do with thier website.

      5. http://www.yourboulder.com

      This is an example of a Hyper Local website that Brian Clark is involved with. Read this article to understand the strategy behind it: http://entreproducer.com/hyperlocal-websites/

      Reply
  19. Said Mohamed says

    January 26, 2018 at 3:56 pm

    Hi George thanks for all your very valuable insights. Being new to real estate in California, I have some questions ? Why would a listing agent be hesitant to give me his property to market ? I am very strong when it comes to facebook and google paid advertising. I work in selling real estate primarily in Dubai and the middle east. 98% of my sales come from facebook paid ads. I recently moved to CA but I find it difficult to get a property to market when I pitch that to other real estate agents. I checked your website, are these all your own listings or are you using IDX to get them from MLS ?

    Reply
    • George Cuevas says

      January 28, 2018 at 8:34 am

      Hi Said, you might want to start by partnering with a local agent first, learn the market and get a feel for it. You might have been able to do it in Dubai successfully, but that market and the CA market are not the same. Your strategy and tactics have to reflect what will work here in the states and in CA. CA is a competitive landscape, it has the most amount of agents than any other state in the US.

      Reply
      • Said says

        February 8, 2018 at 4:44 pm

        Your Absolutely right George. Apologies for replying so late I just saw that you replied on the 28th. But I truly want to thank you for the time your taking to reply back to everyone.

        Reply
        • George Cuevas says

          February 8, 2018 at 4:58 pm

          no problemo. glad you got some good info out of the post…

          Reply
  20. Louise Smith says

    January 19, 2018 at 6:34 pm

    George – thanks so much for your article. I created a website for a small/growing/1 office agency of 23 realtors and we’ve used 2 different IDX providers in the last 4 years. We’ve had several issues. This agency doesn’t use it for lead-generation, they like it for featuring solds by agency and by agent and touting featured listings. I’m tempted to link their solds and active listings to their Zillow profile page and do away with IDX. And then I’d need to come up with a manual solution for featured listings which is doable… curious to hear your thoughts on this work-around.
    Any insight much appreciated.

    Reply
    • George Cuevas says

      January 23, 2018 at 7:03 am

      Hola and THANK YOU! Now for your answers…

      1. IDX just sucks, it never will work the way you want it to. That’s always been my experiance with it. Unless you’re going to work with the MLS API and write up code and scripts the 3rd party IDX products will just always be not good.

      2. I use WordPress and there are two pluggins that are good for that. But they only work on WordPress sites. IMPress Listings and AgentPress Listings. You can see them being used here: http://www.RedefinedAgent.com

      Reply
  21. Mary Dettmer says

    January 18, 2018 at 6:41 pm

    Hi George. The IDX emperor has no clothes!

    Thanks for the great post.

    Reply
    • George Cuevas says

      January 19, 2018 at 3:20 pm

      No problemo Mary, thanks for reading…

      Reply
  22. Richard Bowen says

    January 14, 2018 at 11:52 pm

    I’d like to buy a WP theme, develop it, rank it locally & sell (or lease) it to individual Realtors.

    My “challenge” is that I retired some years ago, so I no longer have access to IDX . So the question is, how can I demonstrate the site to a prospective buyer, a Realtor in the local town where I get my site to rank – without having access to IDX?

    Thanks,
    Richard

    Reply
    • George Cuevas says

      January 15, 2018 at 7:00 pm

      Hi Richard and thanks for your comment. If you want to rank your website I highly suggest you first begin by learning what the search engines are looking for when they rank websites. Understanding this is crucial for taking the next step. There are many different opinions on this and I’m not going to tell you that I’m right, but not many people will argue against content as a strategy to get your site ranked. To get started with a fresh approach towards understanding Google, SEO, and ranking. Check out this article from Brian Clark at CopyBlogger, https://www.copyblogger.com/forget-seo/

      Reply
  23. Tony G. says

    January 1, 2018 at 2:39 pm

    What about new agents that want to promote themselves? You mentioned posting your current listings and previous closings on your website however, what in the case of those agents that are ready to promote their brand but have just started and have limited or no inventory at all? Do they simply augment the level of service they intend to provide?

    Reply
    • George Cuevas says

      January 1, 2018 at 6:02 pm

      Thanks Tony for your comment.

      Watch the Q&A at the end of the video. And if you have the time watch the whole keynote: https://youtu.be/7zEhRRtF8fw

      You can watch all the Gary Vee videos on real estate here also: https://agentredefined.com/podcast/margaritas-and-marketing-podcast/023-gary-vaynerchuk-show-well-kind/

      Reply
  24. Eddie says

    December 31, 2017 at 3:03 pm

    I read all the comments and as a brand new agent of 3 months, do you think the IDX search on a facebook page is unnecessary as well? I don’t have a branded website yet, but a community FB page. I’m slowly building likes and interest on the page and for $8 per month, I thought the IDX search option was a good deal. Thanks for your input and Happy New Year!

    Reply
    • George Cuevas says

      January 1, 2018 at 7:26 am

      Thanks Eddie for your comment. First before you get into Facebook marketing – Buy your own domain name. Something that will last you for your career as an agent. Then Go to Google for Business and get a customized email using your new domain name. For example like mine is george@agentredefined.com

      It’s a small thing, but you’ll thank me when your Yahoo email account gets hacked and you loose emails and everyone on our email gets spammed.

      Next on the IDX. The answer is NO. You don’t need IDX on your Facebook Page. What you need there is content, good – engaging – entertaining and informative content. So whether it’s through images, videos, audio, you want to spend time creating content that will help you connect with people locally in the area that you serve.

      Take that $8 a month and deploy that towards Facebook Targeted Ads. Watch Gary Vee, Jon Loomer, and Rick Mulready to learn for free how to get started with all of that. Happy new year…

      Reply
      • Eddie says

        January 4, 2018 at 12:21 pm

        Thanks for the feedback George.

        Reply
        • George Cuevas says

          January 5, 2018 at 4:27 pm

          No Problemo

          Reply
  25. Susie Huxford says

    December 29, 2017 at 9:15 am

    I thought no a better option rather than give the monopoly to ZRT, would be for the MLS to stop the auto feeds to them. This would force people back to our websites to search. Summit county Colorado has done this. It also prevents brokers trying to work an area they are not familiar with, therefore giving buyers poor service.

    Reply
    • Susie Huxford says

      December 29, 2017 at 9:17 am

      Darn auto correct! supposed to say, “I think a better option would be…”

      Reply
      • George Cuevas says

        December 29, 2017 at 12:53 pm

        LOL

        Reply
    • George Cuevas says

      December 29, 2017 at 12:53 pm

      Thanks Susie for the comment and info. I will definitely be checking out what what you guys are doing in Summit County, CO.

      Anyway to connect homes and agents directly with the end consumers and eliminate “middle men” is a good thing.

      Reply
    • Cherie Preston says

      March 28, 2018 at 5:19 pm

      YES!!!

      Reply
  26. Manoj Philip says

    December 29, 2017 at 7:11 am

    This is a great article, George! I knew that IDX wasn’t relevant anymore because buyers and sellers are searching on those major platforms you’ve mentioned above.

    I’m glad I came across your article because it affirmed what I was thinking. And you’re absolutely right: Consumers don’t necessarily care about data accuracy – they care about user experience and trust. The major platforms are easy to use and because they are household names, there’s a lot of trust built around them.

    No one will admit that they don’t care about data accuracy. Of course, people will say that they want accurate information. But when presented with data that shows that many major platforms aren’t providing accurate information, most consumers don’t change their behavior. They keep using the platforms. Why? Because of authority, trust, user experience, etc. It’s “accurate enough”.

    Happy New Year!

    Reply
    • George Cuevas says

      December 29, 2017 at 12:51 pm

      Thanks Manoj for your comment… The public does want accurate information, but they also want full control in thier search.

      It’s the same for just about everything else out there that we search for online.

      When we search we want all of the important info like pricing, availability, reviews, etc… This helps consumers by giving them all the info they need to make a purchase decision.

      Now here’s the real question every agent should be asking: Why are we giving listing data away to 3rd party portals? And why are our MLS’s closed off to the rest of the world? Why not just open them up to the public?

      Reply
  27. Greg Pownall says

    December 6, 2017 at 5:09 pm

    Hi George: I’m a Realtor but developing apps as well. We’re all so conditioned to believe IDX is a part of any Agent’s website. I tend to agree with you as it’s not necessary.
    First question: don’t you think the public will question an Agent’s credibility if there isn’t a search function on their main page ??
    Second: I want to keep pursuing producing a great app product dedicated to RE Agents, what are the 6 homepage tabs (or more) that are necessary to drown out the missing IDX search function and shows that Agent is the best ?
    Thanks so much…

    Reply
    • George Cuevas says

      December 8, 2017 at 9:18 am

      Thanks Greg for the comment.

      You should still put your own listings on your website. 99.9% of the website visitors, leads, clients, and other new prospects don’t equate listings on an agents website to “Authority – Relevancy – or Credibility”. NAR and the MLS’s have created the current environment where the general public equates listings data to 3rd party portals more so than actual agents.

      Also, remember that most of the views are occurring on a a mobile device today. When consumers want to search listings, they will go to the portal websites.

      I would scrap the app. Most people have too many apps as it is, and when they are in the home search they will be using Zillow, Trulia, Redfin, and/or Realtor.com. The UI (user experience) is high on all of thier apps. Which is what consumers want.

      An agent website should have
      1. Home Page
      2. About Page
      3. Blog
      4. Local Content
      5. How to Buy a Home
      6. How to Sell a Home

      Reply
  28. Holly Harmon says

    November 30, 2017 at 12:07 pm

    Hi there, thanks for this article! I agree with the concept, but have a novice question. If a realtor does not have an IDX service, how do their listings appear on places like Zillow and Homes?

    In the above comments you recommend possibly having your listings on your site, just not through the IDX. Do you recommend manually entering these through a sort of gallery feature on the realtors personal site?

    Thanks !

    Reply
    • George Cuevas says

      November 30, 2017 at 2:04 pm

      Hi Holly and thanks for your comment.

      To answer your first question: If you’re using WordPress there are two plugins you can use.

      a. IMPress Listings from Agent Evolution is awesome. Here’s link to it on WordPress.org: https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-listings/

      b. AgentPress Listings from StudioPress. It’s not as good as IMPress Listings but sometimes it seems to work better than IMPress. It really depends on which WordPress Theme you’re using and how either one of these plugins works with the theme.

      2. I do recommend manually inputting your listings data into the site. Many agents don’t like this idea, but I believe after the listing closes you want a digital record of the homes that you have sold which are visible to the public to view on your site.

      Reply
  29. Phillip Sanchez says

    November 28, 2017 at 10:45 am

    Hello George,

    I’ve had a few websites before but, stopped their service a couple of years ago. I’m on Zillow, Facebook and Linkedin but, I would like to try my own website again – one without the IDX capability. Can you please recommend a reasonably priced provider?

    Thank you

    Reply
    • George Cuevas says

      November 28, 2017 at 2:01 pm

      Hola Phil, and thanks for your comment.

      I would start here…

      First, identify what you believe you need and want the website to do?

      Do you need the website to produce leads? Do you need it to be a basic online business card?

      It’s critical to identify the need first, so that you can spend your money on the thing that best meets your needs.

      Reply
  30. Andrew Field says

    November 17, 2017 at 4:35 pm

    Thanks for sharing valuable information
    It is good blog

    Reply
    • George Cuevas says

      November 18, 2017 at 1:57 pm

      Thanks Andrew…

      Reply
  31. Bill says

    October 23, 2017 at 11:21 am

    Well said. But…the bigger question is why aren’t our MLS’ demanding superior systems, or at least equal to, the Refins, etc…

    It’s sad that I have to use Redfin for my research instead of using Paragon’s circa 2000 user interface.

    Reply
    • George Cuevas says

      October 24, 2017 at 9:10 am

      That is the $55,000 question Bill.

      And you are spot on for asking it.

      Every single agent, brokerage, and event NAR should be asking this same question today.

      If as an industry we don’t finally take the MLS public and build out a very user friendly interface with it for the public, then we can expect the further “uberization” of the real estate industry to progress forward.

      If we allow this to happen, then the job of the real estate agent will become commadatized and that 2.5 percent on average that an agent earns on one side of the transaction will become a thing of the past.

      Reply
  32. Andrew Mooers says

    September 17, 2017 at 5:15 pm

    The buyers and sellers are looking for a real person, an insider in their corner on the local level. And both buyers and sellers are busy busy over booked with little extra time to waste. So everything in that one stop website is key. Not just current listings and more images, video, plat maps and floor plans, blog posts to save time and money so you end up doing a better job than the other little red hen’s in the real estate audience. Great points in your post.

    Reply
    • George Cuevas says

      October 24, 2017 at 9:01 am

      Thanks Andrew, I totally agree…

      Reply
  33. Rachel Geller says

    September 10, 2017 at 8:52 pm

    Nice post. Thanks for sharing this post. It is very helpful and I enjoyed it reading.

    Reply
    • George Cuevas says

      September 14, 2017 at 6:37 am

      Thanks Rachel

      Reply
  34. Todd J Garrigus says

    August 13, 2017 at 10:47 am

    Ive been contemplating this topic for awhile. I havent been very happy with our idx as of late and was considering either a change or pull the idx altogether. Funny, but I agree with the sentiment that an agents website may be ok without it, but I cant bring myself to not have one on our site. If for nothing else but perception from potential clients.

    Reply
    • George Cuevas says

      August 13, 2017 at 11:37 am

      I would ask yourself this. When it comes to digital marketing the only thing we should worry about is what people are actually using and not using. Many times we can make decisions about our marketing that make sense to us because it benefits us by making us feel good, but then in reality is not helping us at all. It always should be about what actually works and what is most beneficial to our clients and prospects. In my opinion when a buyer/seller gets to an agents website they are not searching for properties and want to learn more about the agent and other things real estate. When it comes to searches they have already made their choice. It’s zillow, redfin, etc…

      Until you have something better than that go with what buyers and sellers actually want and will use.

      Reply
  35. John Watts says

    July 24, 2017 at 1:19 pm

    Thank you for sharing such useful post. Very interesting Post!

    Reply
    • George Cuevas says

      July 26, 2017 at 8:52 am

      Thanks John

      Reply
  36. Christopher Pendleton says

    May 25, 2017 at 2:33 pm

    Hi George –

    What do you recommend to showcase listings on a non word press site??

    Reply
    • George Cuevas says

      May 30, 2017 at 7:24 pm

      Sorry Chris, if it’s a non wordpress site I don’t have any solutions.

      Reply
  37. Al says

    December 6, 2016 at 4:15 pm

    Great article, working to create my new website as an agent and I was struggling with the idea of subscribing to an IDX plan since money IS an object always and my general sentiment was the same regarding where prospects go first to look for homes.

    As far as featuring listings on your own site, what would you recommend is the best way to go about that aside from manually re-creating and punching in all data. Is there a way to move information over from any MLS over to the site without IDX? I would imagine it would be laborious to continue to create listings information as you list, and as you sell.

    Your thoughts are appreciated, and thanks again for this great post.

    Reply
    • George Cuevas says

      December 6, 2016 at 8:21 pm

      Thanks Al for your comment and question. The first question I would have is what platform are you building your new website on? If it’s on WordPress, there are two listing template plugins that I use. They are called AgentPress from StudioPress and IMPress Listings from Agent Evolution.

      Reply
      • Ryan says

        June 12, 2017 at 7:36 pm

        I checked out AgentPress and IMPress, but they both require monthly fees, or to buy their template.

        I just want to pull in current listings from MLS… is there a way to do this without paying one of these 3rd parties monthly or.. not so much?

        good article though, thanks.

        Reply
        • George Cuevas says

          June 14, 2017 at 6:27 am

          Ryan. AgentPress is a WordPress theme. So it’s a one time purchase for the theme. The IMPress Listings is a WordPress plugin which is also free. When you start running your own website the monthly costs you will have for certain is Web Hosting.

          You’ll need to host your website somewhere. I suggest using GoDaddy WordPress hosting to begin with. It’s very easy to set up and very affordable (something like $9 to $10 a month).

          Reply
    • Kent Simpson says

      March 27, 2017 at 9:15 am

      I find it curious that a company touting how cutting-edge their IDX is would post a broken link & have information on their site that is 5+ years old, regarding MLS Coverage – Tucson MLS hasn’t used Rapattoni for over half a decade.

      Not very compelling when one can’t see the discussion, then when taking a look at what the product is…the info is so old.

      Reply
      • George Cuevas says

        March 27, 2017 at 4:38 pm

        Thanks for the input Kent. I actually thought I deleted that outbound link when I approved that comment. But yes it is kind of odd.

        Reply
  38. Jeffrey says

    November 9, 2016 at 10:46 am

    George,
    I hope you do not mind, but I found it easiest to respond on our site (which is a blog site).
    I gave credit to this post as a link. I think this a great discussion.
    Here is a link to the post:
    http://leadidx.com/post/2016/11/09/our-open-discussion-with-george-at-http-agentredefined-com.aspx

    You will also find that if you view one of our customer sites and look at whatever the most recent MLS listing is and then google that MLS # or Address you will find that our system ranks quickly and at the top of the results. Sure, yes once the national and other local sites catch up it becomes more competitive. But with any marketing it is about cost vs. ROI. Will our system rank top of the first page for every term? Of course not, but to use Boxing terminology we get our licks in and we knock them down frequently and often. Our system cost $200 a month, the real question is does the site generate that and more in revenue? OF course it does. I have been in Web Marketing for 20 years and I have worked at some big big companies. The key is to be diverse and TRACK EVERYTHING so you know what works and does not work.
    My favorite metric is CPA (Cost per Acquisition).
    During a three year tenure with a global moving company owned by a global relocation company we tried everything and we tracked everything.
    An interstate booked move on average made the company $450. We decided that our max CPA was $250. So we tried everything and if the numbers worked we did more and more of it while continuing to track the results.
    SEO is much the same. The number of indexed pages is important and the diversity of the ranked pages. To live or die by ONE term leaves a site vulnerable. Our sites succeed based on thousands of terms and that is why the math works and will always work.
    I welcome your feedback. If you would like to see any other metrics just LMK.

    Reply
  39. Jeffrey says

    November 4, 2016 at 5:37 pm

    George,
    To whereas I see a lot of great information on this post I have to be the lone dissident.
    In 2008 my partners and I developed an IDX solution. Never wanting to have the highest number of customers, but instead we focus on exclusivity in every market we are in and on a great user experience and most importantly great SEO.
    In 8 years in the IDX realm, and in the 20 years I have all worked in Web Marketing I have learned many things. One of those core “things” is that users do not trust Trulia, Zillow, or Realtor.com as you say. Users trust Google. And if users find a good experience users are lazy, in a good way, and will not look else where. Everyday we see thousands of people come into our customer sites for home specific terms. They look at the property, the look at other properties, they like the experience, and the come back. They come back at a rate of 50% on average. I think users prefer a local site, local knowledge, and local search.
    I can say for a fact that local sites get indexed for new properties much faster than the national sites do and therefore they generate traffic for those addresses and MLS numbers faster.

    Reply
    • George Cuevas says

      November 5, 2016 at 7:13 am

      Thanks for your comment and your insights on this Jeffery.

      I would just have to say that we will probably have to agree to disagree. Even though I don’t sell real estate any longer, I do still market 1000 properties per year on behalf of agents, and in each one of these properties I’m meeting with the homeowners and collecting data from them about how the home selling and buying process is going for them. In my experience, buyers and sellers are primarily searching through either Zillow, Trulia, Redfin, or Realtor.com for listings.

      Even though the info on most of these sites is not accurate that has not deterred the far majority of buyers and sellers from using these sites.

      I would actually prefer that buyers/sellers would go to an agent’s website first rather than landing at one of these portals for listings searches. However, I would also like to be a country music mega star and that most likely won’t happen either.

      I agree with your that the indexing of a website with listings data can help tremendously with SEO. But when you are competing with Zillow on the search terms “Homes for Sale in ________” or “Houses for Sale in ___________” is going to be extremely difficult to get on page 1 of a Google/Bing search.

      I have tried to compete with Zillow/Trulia on this before with my own brokerages website when I still owned one and in a middle to large sized market it’s going to be tough to compete with them on that level.

      If you have results to share on successes we would love to hear about them.

      Reply
  40. Kate says

    September 29, 2016 at 11:33 am

    I agree that an IDX is a waste of time and money. I currently don’t have an active website, but preparing to build one or two. And I will NOT use an IDX, I will use landing pages driven by compelling social media and blog content. My experience with the IDX on my previous website was that I did have users, they had to sign up and provide their email address to use it and they could use it whenever they liked. But that is ALL they wanted, they rejected any contact and a few even threatened me for emailing them. SO NO MAS!

    Reply
    • George Cuevas says

      September 30, 2016 at 5:33 am

      Hi Kate, thanks for your comment and input. I’m glad you were able to figure out the “IDX” thing. You’re are absolutely correct and consumers don’t want it or need it on an agents website. Keep me posted how you do with your next website and how the social media/blog content performs. I would love to see it work for you. Ask any questions if you have them. Gracias….

      Reply
      • Eleazar Gonzalez says

        October 28, 2016 at 2:32 am

        Hi Goerge,

        This piece you wrote is on the cutting edge. While other agents are asleep at the wheel you brought to light the elephant in the room Zillow, Trulia, Homes, Realtor. All of these gorillas are eating up all of the window shopping potential home buyers. I honestly don’t mind as I target after prospects that are more down the purchase cycle by focusing on Fresno Real Estate Agent VS Fresno Homes For Sale.

        I find that my phone rings with someone looking for a real
        estate agent not a house because they either have a house they want to sell or they are in front of a house they want to buy. It’s sweet taking orders from clients instead of chasing prospects that are not quite sure what they want or if they can buy what they want.

        Well that’s my take on it, what do you think about my comparison?

        Reply
        • George Cuevas says

          October 29, 2016 at 5:08 am

          Thanks Eleazar, I really appreciate your comment. I agree with you. My take is that the real estate industry needs to ask itself what it stands for…. Meaning what is a REALTOR in today’s market? Because the information is all on the web, so the Realtor no longer is the gatekeeper of real estate data and info. Is a Realtor just an order taker and because they are licensed and can get paid a commission, or is a Realtor someone that the public can look at as being a trusted professional.

          There’s a big difference.

          Reply
    • Cherie Preston says

      March 28, 2018 at 5:13 pm

      EXACTLY, so how are you sending them listings to view though? I guess I’m missing something 😉

      Reply
      • George Cuevas says

        March 30, 2018 at 3:15 am

        Thanks for the comment Cherie, If you’re using a WordPress website you can use a plugin to input your listings in to your site. In the industry there is a false belief that the only way to get your listings on your website is through an IDX feed. Although an IDX feed can make it easy in the short term, the bigger picture is being missed by not having a list of your previously closed properties. That list is your track record and can be very valuable to be able to show that to potential new clients.

        Reply
  41. Clint Hale says

    September 21, 2016 at 12:57 pm

    Undercrown!

    Reply
  42. Luke Amoresano says

    June 25, 2016 at 5:04 pm

    Mr. Cuevas,

    I agree with you 100%. In fact, your agent site only has the value that your marketing can drive to it. Your article comes at a crucial time for me, developing the recruiting model for my broker. Offering an agent IDX website as a value to new agents is really only a perceived value – the real value is training to drive leads into their CRM from Zillow, Homes.com, etc. Thank you for your article because it helps put my thoughts on this to rest. Hopefully, agents will follow your great and modern advice!

    Reply
    • George Cuevas says

      June 25, 2016 at 8:21 pm

      Thanks Luke. I appreciate your comment and feedback. I believe these are important issues which need to be talked about more in our industry. Every agent should have their own website and an overall goal of what they want/need it to do for them. Not having one is not an option today.

      Reply

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