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).