May 3rd, 2010 | Written by S. Thompson | Posted in Web Design |

Adding MLS to a Website

Would you like to have MLS listings right on your own real estate website? You can. This article will explain the benefits of having MLS listings on your website and how to get it done.

What is the MLS?

The MLS is the Multiple Listing Service (also called IDX), which has all the real estate listings for each state. It’s essentially a large database that Realtors use to find out information about properties for sale. They have special access to it and you can also find these listings at places like MLS.com and similar places.

What Are the Benefits to Having MLS Listings on My Website?

There are plenty. To sum them up, your website will grow very large in size and if it’s set up properly (with SEO – search engine optimization) in mind, then you’ll get lots of traffic. This is because your website will look like an authority on real estate for your area because of all the content your website now has. Sure, it’s the same content that’s on other websites but you can customize how you show it, what fields you want, for what area you want and then your site becomes unique in its own way.

How Do You Get MLS Listings Added to Your Website?

There are some ways. First, you can look for MLS database software that plugs into website. It’s out there. In doing this, there are some important things to know.

First, are the listings just framed in your site or are they actually a part of your website? This is often tough to figure out. There are ways to “frame” or “iframe” (inline frame) these listings so that they appear to be on your website but they actually are not. Your website does not get the SEO benefits from this and it’s not the best solution – no way.

Second, make sure that you can choose which fields you want to display. There are a lot of fields, as you probably already know. You may not want them all to show that data. That can be a lot for people to read and you also may not want some things to show up. Make sure this is an option.

Third, how will the real estate listings display? You want control over that. It should look nice and neat, not cluttered and professional – like your real estate company is. With some off-the-shelf type software, you do not get this flexibility. With that, your website then also looks like everyone else’s and you don’t stand out. To Google and other search engines, it looks like the same content shown in the same way – no uniqueness at all. You don’t get the full benefits this way.

What’s the Best Solution?

Go custom!

What? Isn’t custom work expensive?

Not really.

Find a website developer that has done the work of setting up websites with MLS listings on them and then have them do that work for you as well. Do not go with a company that has not done the work before because then you are paying for their initial development, which can be substantial. If they’ve done it for other real estate firms, then they can do it for you with less up-front costs. This is the best case scenario because you get to pick which fields you want, how they get displayed and the listings match your website’s design with no framing. You get all the SEO benefits and a reasonable price.

Find out more about adding MLS listings to your website today.

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