Does Your Website Need IDX Listings?

This is a question we get asked more than any other question related to websites. So if think you want IDX listings on your website, this is a must read! 

An IDX, or Internet Data Exchange, is software that gets installed on your website to let buyers search for MLS properties on your website. 

3rd-party companies provide this software for a monthly fee (usually around $59/month). These companies must be approved as a service provider by your local real estate board. There is usually a one-time set-up fee as well.

Most of these companies also rent websites that include IDX listings. However in those situations, you do not own your website which is why it isn't recommended.

Instead, you can use a WordPress plugin that they provide to integrate the MLS listings on your website.

Why do agents want MLS listings (same thing as IDX) on their website?

Usually there's two reasons:

1. They think they will help generate leads.
2. They don't have many of their own listings, so they want visitors to be able to search for listings directly from their site.

Let's start with the first reason.

Reason 1: IDX/MLS listings will generate leads

In short, no they won't usually. Unless your website pages already rank extremely high in the search results organically, your IDX listings will never rank high enough that they will get found. That is because you are competing with huge companies like Realtor.com, Zillow, etc. who spend millions on search engine optimization. 

Most IDX providers are outdated and use iFrames and subdomains to build their websites, which make it almost impossible to rank on search engines. The listings are not integrated into your website. They sit on top of your website and the search engines don't even see them when they crawl your site.
Even if you use a modern IDX provider, you'll still face the competition issue and they are very resource-heavy which will slow down your website dramatically.

Either way, unless you are paying for ads that promote a specific property or a property search, IDX listings will not generate leads for you.

Moving along to the second reason...

Reason 2: I need listings on my website for visitors to see

Yes & no.

For starters, your priority needs to be to add your own personal properties (not IDX) as well as written and video content to your website first. Without unique content, your site will never get found in the first place.

When people do find your website, you actually want them consuming your unique content (not listings), so that you can build connection and establish yourself as an authority figure in real estate.

Listings are like commodities. They do nothing to differentiate you from other Realtors. Your website needs to act as a 24/7 sales force persuading people with high converting copy first. 

As soon as a visitor starts searching for properties, you've likely lost them because most IDX providers are not very user-friendly and most visitors will abandon your website in search of one designed exclusively for searching (like Realtor.com/.ca).

Lastly, and this is an important point! As soon as you add IDX listings to your website, you must also agree to add all of your personal listings to the IDX exchange, which means that they will no longer be a great source of organic traffic for you. Whereas if you keep your listings off the IDX, when someone searches for that address they likely will find your website first.

What Are Your IDX Options?