We are not your run-of-the-mill tech company.  We actually care about your success, and we often follow up to see how things are going with your business.  Over the years, we’ve gathered a lot of feedback about leads — volume, quality, conversion, etc.

IDX, like your website as a whole, is basically bait.  It’s a tool to lure potential buyers to your site, and hopefully get them to submit their email or phone number so you can follow up with them.  But how many of these leads can you expect to convert into actual clients?  Here are some pointers.

1. It’s a numbers game. The more people you get to visit your site, the greater pool of potential buyers you have at your disposal.  Statistically, we have found that roughly 10-15% of the leads you get are “good” leads — meaning they give you a good email address, and maybe even a phone number.  They are actually looking to buy, and are receptive to a Realtor contacting them.  But this means about 85-90% of people who fill out the “lead capture” form either submit bogus information, or they submit real information, but aren’t serious.

   So, the name of the game is getting as many people as possible to your website! If you get 1,000 lookers, and, say, 250 of them fill out the contact form, that means you probably will have 25-30 decent leads.

2. Early bird gets the worm. Let’s say you’re doing a great job of promoting your site, and you’re getting some good leads.  The single most important thing you can do to convert those leads is to respond as quickly as you can.  That means within 1 hour, if at all possible.  We can’t tell you how often we’ve heard brokers complain of leads being wasted because it took an agent 3 days to respond.  Buyers want to feel like their business is important to you, and if you do not respond quickly, they will look elsewhere.
3. As Bruce Lee once said :  Absorb what is useful. Discard what is not. Often, new clients quickly become frustrated.  “I’m getting a bunch of bogus email addresses!”  You should expect that.  If someone puts a fake email, it means they’re either not serious, or they don’t want to be contacted.  There is no way to force someone to provide good information, and you have to expect you will get some “dud” leads.  That’s part of the business.

   Don’t stress over bad leads. Delete it from your database, and work to get more potential buyers to your site. Remember, statistically, most of your leads will be duds! When in doubt, remember #1, above : It’s a numbers game.

4. Work the search engines. There are many Search Engine Optimization (SEO) experts out there who can help you make your website Google-friendly.  Our most successful clients spend a lot of time beefing up their website, to drive more traffic to their IDX.  Just having a website with IDX isn’t enough.  There’s lots of competition out there, and the only way to get traffic to your site is by optimization (or paying for clicks via advertising).

Our specialty is IDX, but we’ve been in the website business for a long time.  If you need help driving traffic, we can point you in the right direction.  It’s important to remember that driving traffic takes time and effort.

The good news is that by choosing the best IDX in the business, you’re halfway there, because it means when you do start getting traffic, that traffic will be “sticky” (meaning, they will stay on the site for a while, and come back later).  If you can get people to the site, and respond quickly to those who fill out the contact form, you will be well on your way!