Top 10 SEO Ranking Factors: How to Increase Google RankingHaving your website is a kind of success indicator for any real estate agent. Such a website reflects your company style and helps you engage new clients and valuable business partners. We can say that the site directly helps you earn money. Now, realizing this, it is really a good deal to create a website that will give you more profit than you can imagine.
And, of course, it shouldn’t just be another site with an attractive design, a well-thought-out brand, and some form of IDX search because that’s not enough. It should be a project that will take the breath of potential property buyers away. Today, we will explain to you how to create it. We will also tell you how to do it through real estate MLS software development services. Let’s start!
Table of Contents
Real Estate Database
Listing is probably the most important website element for your visitors. And if the site database contains not enough info, users will become frustrated and decide to never again apply it to search for properties.
For this reason, do pay attention to how you build your database:
- Through its client base;
- By using a site aggregator;
- By connecting to MLS.
Connecting to MLS databases
MLS is a real estate database compiled by local associations. The list should be made in a traditional form so that multi-listing can be used with varied interfaces. If you run a real estate agency, you may be already linked to such a service, as it’s very helpful. It allows an easy look at your buyers’ offers or listing a seller’s property in one of the MLS.
Real estate websites use one of the IDX (Internet Data Exchange) ways to display data from MLS databases. There are multiple approaches to implementing IDX on your website:
- iFrame
Use a link to another MLS site by copying an HTML code snippet that opens an MLS search box on your real estate website.
- FTP
FTP is a classic data exchange among MLS and similar technologies. This helps to match the MLS database and get fixed updates several times a day. The problem with this approach is the deficit of a single format, as each MLS uses a unique way of integrating.
- RETS
The standard for data exchange between MLS and other systems was introduced in 1999 in the United States and Canada. It is handier, more stable, and more secure than FTP. Plus, it allows you to update data once an hour. In the past, it was the transition to RETS. It helped Zillow to discard the extraneous list provider in demand of a direct channel for accepting data.
- RESO (RESO Data Dictionary and RESO Web API)
The latest standard for data exchange with MLS and an attempt to definitively standardize this process.
When building a real estate website with an MLS connection, it is recommended to choose between iFrame and RESO as the former is easy and free (mostly), and the latter is the latest standard to get up-to-date data most easily. The other two methods are simply outdated. Additionally, if you search for reliable real estate MLS software development services, you better get a consultation from Inoxoft.
Search Results
You can have the most enormous and precise real estate database. However, it will be useless if there are some internal or external search bugs on your website. Where the external real estate search is the search for individual listing pages through Internet search engines, and the internal one is the search in the listing through the filters built into your site.
Most buyers start their dream home search with Google. And to put your site in the first position in the search results, it must be SEO-optimized. This will greatly increase the primacy of your website’s search results on Google.
In particular, SEO optimization is facilitated by:
- Unique, relevant content that will be interesting and useful to your website visitors (realtors, buyers, and sellers).
- Visual content marketing that promotes viral content.
- Powerful search engine optimization from SEO gurus and MLS list optimization.
- Social media presence and fast-loading pages.
Listing Implementation
Everything is not as difficult as it may seem. Property purchasers already have certain expectations of what sections and elements should be on a listing page. First of all, they want to understand how the house is designed, what is inside its rooms, and so on. This information can be conveyed through visualization and detailed descriptions.
All the same, people who live far from a possible object of purchase pay more attention to its visualization. This is explained by the fact that they do not have the chance to check the house themselves, as it may require plenty of time and money.
Visualization of Real Estate Objects
The simplest and, at the same time, an indispensable element of the visualization of real estate objects. Photos must be in HD resolution, clear, and show the main elements of the exterior and interior. As well, do not forget about the video tour and live broadcast.
Property Information
In this step, try to think as real estate customers do. Most buyers want to know general things, like, a house/apartment address, its price, comforts, etc. The buyer may also require details about the seller, area, and city. All this can be formed in catchy and user-friendly listing forms.
Mobile Real Estate Applications
The part of mobile search in the real estate business:
- 45% of all web searches are performed on mobile devices;
- 35% of these potential buyers usually search for real estate through TV;
- 40% of these potential purchasers use their smartphones to search for more information about the property they like;
- 15% of these people also need mobile-adapted videos about a property they are interested in.
Conclusion
To make your website successful and visited, it is also worth considering modern trends in web design when creating it. Consult with specialists like Inoxoft, or discover and implement trends yourself.
Plus, the data on your website must always be up-to-date. If the property is rented or sold, immediately remove the ad from the site. Be sure to update the database and the news feed of the site in time. The real estate market always remains active, so creating a website of this kind is a very profitable business and the right investment.
