Using Search Filters on your IDX map

Search Filters on your IDX map allow your website visitors to narrow down the listings in a neighborhood by bedrooms, bathrooms, price, square footage, year built, and Attached/Detached/etc.  This is useful for clients who already have an idea of what they need in a home.

Using the Search Filters:

Step 1:  Click the “Filters” button.  Note: This button only appears when a neighborhood has been selected.  Read more about Viewing Listings on your IDX map.

 

Step 2:  Enter your search options.  Fill in only the relevant information, all fields are optional.  Click “Update” to reload the listings with these search options.

 

Step 3:  The homes on the map will refresh, and only the ones matching your options will appear.

New Listings on your IDX map

Visitors to your IDX Blogger website can easily access the newest listings available using the “New Listings” button.  The “New Listings” button is available when you have selected an area, but have not clicked into a neighborhood yet.

 

Viewing the Newest listings on your IDX map:

 

Step 1:  Select an area by clicking on its text label on the map, or in the alphabetical list on the left.

 

Step 2: Click the “New Listings” button on the left hand side to see the homes that were most recently listed.

 

Step 3: The new listings are represented by green home icons.  Click on an icon to load the details for this new listing.

Viewing Listings on your IDX map

The IDX Blogger map was designed to bring listings to your clients in 3 clicks or less.  To see listings on your map (and geocoded blog posts as well) click an area label to load the neighborhoods, then click on a neighborhood.  The green icons represent new listings (listed within the last two days), and the blue listings represent all other active residential listings.

Viewing Listings on your IDX map:

Step 1: Click an area label on your map to view the neighborhoods within it.  You can click the labels in the left side bar, or you may use the labels on the map.

 

Step 2:  Click on a neighborhood label to view the listings and blog posts for that neighborhood.  You can click on the labels either from the left hand side bar, or from the map.

 

Step 3: Click on a listing icon in order to view the details for that home.  (Search Filters are also available from here to restrict the homes that are shown by bedrooms, bathrooms, and more.)

 

Step 4: Click “Back to list” at the top to return to the list, or you can just click on another icon on the map.

 

Going back: Use the “breadcrumb trail” links to go back.  You can go up one area, or back to where you started.  Clicking “Portland” will zoom the map out to show the areas of Portland.

Why Blog?

Here at HomeQuest, we developed the IDX Blogger platform to be the next generation of blogging by tying your blog posts to your IDX Search map.  The public IDX map is a beautiful tool all by itself, but it is greatly enhanced when your geolocated blog posts appear on your map as well.  This allows clients to see your expertise and knowledge of the area through your blog posts at the very same time they are looking at homes.

Blogging is not required on IDX Blogger.  You can “hide” the blog related pages if you would still like a great looking IDX site, but you do not wish to use the blogging functionality.  Click here to see how to hide pages.

What are the advantages of blogging?  I am already busy being a realtor, why should I spend my time being a blogger too?

Search Engine Optimization: One of the first reasons to blog is to increase your ranking with search engines.  A site that remains stagnant for long periods of time without any changes ranks much lower on a Google search than a site that has a lot of content and gets updated on a regular basis.   You will also receive more traffic from Google for non real estate related terms.  For example, if I post a blog on Washington Park, my blog post is eventually indexed by Google and website visitors can then find my site if they were searching for “Washington Park”.  Without that blog post, my site would never have been found by this visitor.

Make your website a resource: Internet visitors to your website are looking for information, not just a home search.  They might be looking for information on public schools for their children, they might be looking for information on a particular neighborhood, or they might even be looking at the local music scene.  If your website is a great resource for community information, you are more likely to get visitors on your IDX search, and therefore more likely to gain a potential client.  Your website is not just about you as an agent, your website is a tool that visitors will use on their home search journey.

Show what you know: Who knows the area neighborhoods better than your friendly local realtor?  Prove what you know about your community and the local schools, restaurants, events, attractions, and everything a potential client would want to know by filling out your website with content, content, and more content.

Connect with your audience: Be personal, be funny, there is nothing wrong with a non work related post on the blog.  Keep a balance though, your blog should be personal yet still completely informative and topic driven.  Remember, appropriateness and professionalism are still important even if you are making non work related commentary about a sports game with a bad ref, or a restaurant you didn’t particularly care for.

Social Networking Profiles

You can add a link or a “badge” to your social networking profiles like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter into your IDX Blogger sidebar widgets.  Click here to see how to use the Simple Image Link widget to add links to your social networking profiles.  The instructions below will help you locate the profile link you need to send visitors to.  (Note: These instructions help you find your profile links to place into the Simple Image Link widget as a “destination link”, make sure to read the Simple Image Link instructions to see where to enter the information you are gathering here.)

 

Finding your Twitter link: 

Your Twitter link is the easiest link to get, its just: www.twitter.com/YOURUSERNAME 

(Example: www.twitter.com/garrons) 

 

Finding your Facebook profile link: 

Once you are logged into Facebook, right click the “Profile” link at the top.  Select “Copy Link Address” from the menu.  Your link is in the clipboard and ready to be pasted.

 

Finding your LinkedIn profile link: