WolfNet’s Tip of the Week blog posts every Thursday, and the majority of the content is written by our in-house staff. But we know the best tips come from our customers: agents and brokers who actually leverage the WolfNet IDX solution to provide additional search options to clients and prospects, and generate more business.

We want to hear from you! If you have a special strategy or action that helps your business that uses involves IDX and search capabilities, let us know. Maybe it’s special links or custom searches you set up on your web site. Or perhaps it’s something you look for regularly in the Back Office or Customer Behavior data that indicates a hot lead or triggers further action. Tell us what you do and how you do it, and we’ll feature you and your web site on our blog!

Email blog@wolfnet.com or call toll free 866-WOLFNET (965-3638) and share your strategy with us. We look forward to hearing from you, and greatly appreciate your business.

The Tip of the Week blog posts every Thursday. Each Post is labeled “Easy,” “Intermediate,” or “Expert” based on the concept being discussed.

Earlier in this series, we introduced you to Customer Behavior, a new and free feature for WolfNet IDX subscribers that provides tremendous insight into what has motivated a web site visitor to complete one of several online lead forms. If you haven’t enabled Customer Behavior yet, you’ll want to reference the link above for instructions, and enable it today.

Once enabled, when you receive a lead notification email you can now reference the customer behavior that comes with it. Today we will discuss a few key pieces of information that may help you better qualify your leads immediately. Consider the following:

Type of lead – Is it a listing inquiry/showing request, or is it a user registration? The former will reference a specific listing, which may carry greater significance given the additional data in the Customer Behavior report. The latter will enable you to see additional data on that visitor in the Back Office and also make her subject to your Authentication Rates. However, if you are forcing a more restrictive Lead Capture Setting, the registration itself may not indicate a hot lead. This is when the additional Customer Behavior data becomes more revealing.

Behavior Summary – This is the meat of Customer Behavior, where the rubber meets the road, if you will. Here is where you will get the best insight into how serious or motivated this particular visitor may be. For example, consider the following data:

1. Total Visits – an inquiry on the first visit might be whimsical, whereas a history of multiple visits, especially when coupled with a relatively recent First Access Date and Time may indicate someone with a sense of urgency, or who is doing their due diligence. Reference their Total Searches and Total Listings Viewed; an inquiry after extensive research could mean a very motivated candidate to buy or sell.

2. Average Price – Is this all over the map, or narrowed within a reasonable range? Someone looking at homes in the $2 – $10 million range may be doing just that – looking. Kind of like watching Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous on your web site. But a range like $275,000 – $325,000 may indicate someone who knows exactly what she can afford, perhaps someone who has prequalified for a mortgage. It may also indicate someone looking to put a property on the market.

3. Average Bedrooms/Baths – By themselves, these criteria may only indicate the needs of the specific visitor, such as family size. But taken with other data like cities and price range, you can tell if the homework has been done about whether the search criteria is realistic or not.

4. Registered on: – A listing inquiry from an already registered user may indicate a listing match in that day’s SearchSaver email. Reference the Saved Searches and Favorites in the Back Office to detect a match. You may also want to look at the login history; someone who is getting regular email updates on saved search criteria may be a pretty loyal web site visitor, and an inquiry after sustained visits to your search may indicate a readiness to take action.

Top Listings Viewed – If the lead notification has indicated a listing inquiry, this is a key section to review:

1. First confirm the listing that is the subject of the inquiry is one of the top five.

2. Look at the other top listings and determine if there is a pattern: same community, same price range, similar features, etc.

3. When you respond to the inquiry, knowing what other listings the customer has viewed and why will lend to your ability to showcase your expertise. Reference the listing that is the subject of the inquiry, and consider referring the client to other listings on the list that are similar properties. Likely a productive, intelligent dialogue will ensue.

Top Cities Searched – The relevance here seems pretty obvious – real estate is all about location. A visitor searching a specific city may indicate she knows where she wants to live. But there are more subtle nuances to this information that may reveal even more about a her motivation, and her understanding of the current local real estate market. Here are a couple of things to consider:

1. Are other search criteria in her Customer Behavior summary consistent with these cities? Look at the behavior summary data for price range, bedrooms, and bathrooms. Is it realistic to find a preponderance of listings in these communities that meet these criteria? If yes, you may have a very focused and motivated buyer or seller. If not, she may be dreaming, but that still gives you a potential opportunity to show your own expertise and advise on more appropriate neighborhoods that match her criteria.

2. Not all searches include cities as criteria. MapTracks^SM users may not select a specific city, but rather use the map to draw their search area. In such a case, reference the latitude and longitude data in the Most Recent Searches section. For WolfNet clients with the new MapTracks^SM version 3.0, searches may include more city data, as the map automatically locates and scales the view based on cities selected from a menu.

Most Recent Searches – Many agents requested this feature long ago; the idea is understanding exactly what the visitor thinking right before she decided to submit an inquiry. This may provide some insight into her motivation, as well as enable you to target future leads by creating custom searches based on the search data from past leads.

Ultimately, the purpose of the Customer Behavior data summary is to enable you to better qualify your leads, and facilitate a more educated dialogue with your prospects. This will hopefully better enable you to turn more of these prospects into clients.

The Tip of the Week blog posts every Thursday. Each Post is labeled “Easy,” “Intermediate,” or “Expert” based on the concept being discussed.

Earlier this year, WolfNet launched Lead Notes for all IDX customers as a free enhancement. Lead Notes is a simple application that lets you input notes on individual registered users in the BackOffice section of WolfNet’s IDX administration area. Included are a subject field for up to 110 characters and a note body of up to 1000 characters. If you are in the habit of reviewing registered user login behavior, saved search criteria or favorite listings, Lead Notes provides an easy way to include additional relevant information about your leads. It’s perfect for noting remarks from phone conversations, login patterns, email exchanges or other pertinent notes in a handy location.

To access Lead Notes, do the following:

1. Log in to your BackOffice at www.mlsfinder.com/admin and navigate to the Reports section.
2. Run a report, such as a search for an individual lead, or a lead group you define.
3. Select the lead you want to review.
4. Below the login history calendar, you will see User Notes (“User Notes” is consistent with the current BackOffice vernacular; the change to “Lead Notes” will come with additional enhancements to the BackOffice). To see an example screen shot, visit http://wolfnet.com/examples/user_notes.html.

Lead Notes are part of a more comprehensive suite of enhancements designed to help WolfNet IDX customers better manage leads.  More enhancements will be released throughout the remainder of 2011.

The Tip of the Week blog posts every Thursday. Each Post is labeled “Easy,” “Intermediate,” or “Expert” based on the concept being discussed.

In simplest terms, long-tail Search Engine Optimization (SEO) involves targeting keyword search terms that are more obscure and less frequently searched. For example, a generic search term might be “Real Estate,” whereas a long-tail search term might be “green homes for sale in Cornelius NC.”

According to online marketing specialist Alan Mitchell, targeting long-tail keywords on your web site can provide the following benefits:

1. While individual terms may be somewhat insignificant, en masse long-tail keywords can generate significant search volume (high impressions).

2. Long-tail keywords have less competition than generic keywords, providing a potentially higher Click-Thru Rate (CTR) and lower cost per click (CPC) for paid campaigns.

3. Long-tail keywords are more specific than generic keywords, so paid campaigns can be better tailored to match individual searchers’ needs.  This results in higher CTRs and fewer wasted click-thru’s from irrelevant searches.

4. People conducting long-tail searches are usually further along in the buying or selling process than those conducting generic searches. This results in higher capture and conversion rates.

5. The combination of higher CTRs, lower CPCs and higher capture and conversion rates leads to higher profits via a much lower cost per acquisition (CPA).

With these benefits in mind, consider creating highly specialized content areas on your web site. These may include community pages, but it goes far beyond that. Think of featuring highly targeted listings within individual communities. For example, Jonathan Osman in Charlotte, NC not only has community pages that feature content about various neighborhoods around Charlotte, he also features pages on green homes, luxury homes, golf communities and forclosure/bank-owned homes. Creating dozens of highly targeted pages like these is excellent SEO for a large number of long-tail search terms relevant to Jonathan’s market area. A Google search for a variety of long-tail terms related to these pages usually finds Jonathan’s site on the first page of results, often with multiple entries.

Furthermore, Jonathan has linked to relevant IDX search results  from these pages using the URL Search Builder and related documentation. So if a web site visitor lands on the Green Homes for sale page, links to individual communities pull up matching homes with a single click (such as “Eco-Friendly Homes in Cornelius”). In other words, the specialized pages generate the long-tail search traffic, while matching IDX searches capture the leads. This combination of long-tail keyword targeting using specialized content areas, coupled with specific matching dynamic IDX searches fuels a lead capture rate for Jonathan that is far and away among the best of agents nationwide.

Of course, while it’s not rocket science, it’s not turn-key either. There is no secret sauce here; Jonathan has achieved these results through a lot of hard work, perseverance and creative use of available tools. But the results are well worth the effort.

The Tip of the Week blog posts every Thursday. Each Post is labeled “Easy,” “Intermediate,” or “Expert” based on the concept being discussed

The vast majority of page views on a real estate web site are on the property search. Among WolfNet’s complete web site clients, over 97% of web site page views are contained within the IDX search pages. Therefore, not only is it important to review and modify your lead capture settings as needed, it’s also critical to provide intuitive calls to action on your home page to get your web site visitors to the IDX search in as few clicks as possible.

One effective way to direct your visitors to the property search is to present a Quick Search on your home page. WolfNet makes this easy with our Quick Search Builder utility in the IDX administration area. It’s easy to use; just do the following:

1. Log in to your BackOffice at www.mlsfinder.com/admin and navigate to the Quick Search Builder on the left side.

2. Select the Search Options you want to feature on your home page. Options include fields such as MLS Number, Min/Max Price, Beds, Baths, Zip Code, City, Address and Property Type.

3. Click Generate Quick Search Code. The HTML code you need to feature a Quick Search on your web site will appear, as well as a functioning preview of the widget showcasing your selected search fields.

4. Copy this code and forward to your webmaster for inclusion into your home page. Some of the basic look and feel elements can also be modified, provided the JavaScript and form field names are not edited or changed.

For a visual demonstration of the Quick Search Builder, reference this video.

If you use iFrames to feature the search, you may need to modify your display settings for proper IDX branding, or add some additional code to call the frameset for the search results. We will feature how to accomplish this in a later post; please contact us if you would like help with this right away.

The Tip of the Week blog posts every Thursday morning. Each Post is labeled “Easy,” “Intermediate,” or “Expert” based on the concept being discussed.

Last month we talked about account activation, and the importance of engaging your registered users who have yet to authenticate their account via email. Today’s post will discuss how you might engage activated users who appear inactive on your web site and IDX solution.

Doylestown, PA agent Tom McFarland has targeted inactive users in his IDX BackOffice for years with a simple strategy. “I basically send a monthly email to anyone who hasn’t logged in to search listings in more than 30 days. I tell them I’m cleaning out my database, and noticed they haven’t been to the web site in a while. Then I ask if they are still in the market, or if I should remove them from my database.”

This tactic results in dialogue with potential customers. Recipients of Tom’s message often respond to request not to be removed, and a dialogue about where they are in the home buying or selling process ensues. “I’ve won business from these emails,” McFarland declares. “Once you’ve got them engaged, I can discuss their specific needs, and present the value I can bring them as their agent. Most do not expect any communication; by letting them know I am following up and paying attention, I am representing the type of service I can provide.”

Tom runs a simple report to isolate inactive users by doing the following:

1.       Log in to your BackOffice at www.mlsfinder.com/admin and navigate to the Reports section

2.       Select Only users that are: Authenticated (users who are not authenticated cannot receive system emails; Read this blog post for more on how to contact users who have not authenticated)

3.       For Only users who have not logged in within the last X days, type in the number “30.” Click Find Users.

4.       Select Email These Users, and complete the email form. Now you simply wait for the response.

Some emails are rejected because the address is invalid or no longer used. Others request to be removed from Tom’s mailing list. “That’s ok, too,” Tom says. “It saves me time knowing certain users are not potential clients, and lets me focus on the ones I can help.”

The Tip of the Week blog posts every Thursday. Each Post is labeled “Easy,” “Intermediate,” or “Expert” based on the concept being discussed.

IDX can provide your web site visitors with something far beyond a search interface. Specifically targeted properties can be featured on blogs and neighborhood pages to enhance page content, and showcase your special areas of expertise. Whether it’s a specific community, property type, price range or amenity, you can feature matching listings using WolfNet’s URL Search Builder.

In simplest terms, the URL Search Builder automatically creates a custom search link from a simple search criteria form. To access the utility, do the following:

1. Login to your IDX Admin at www.mlsfinder.com/admin or at www.wolfnet.com (Client login at the top of the page).
2. Select URL Search Builder from the menu on the left side.
3. Select specific search criteria for your featured results.
4. Copy the dynamic URL at the top and paste it into the specific web page where these listings will be featured.

Look for future blog posts on different ways to leverage the URL Search Builder, more examples, and some additional search criteria you can access outside of the utility. Meanwhile, you can view a demonstration video that shows how to access and use the URL Search Builder, and examples of how it can be leveraged to enhance your web site content.

The Tip of the Week blog posts every Thursday. Each Post is labeled “Easy,” “Intermediate,” or “Expert” based on the concept being discussed.

Last week we talked about IDX account activation (also called authentication), and how lead capture settings can impact activation rates among your web site visitors. We concluded that no matter what your settings, many visitors will not take that extra step to activate their account. Therefore, it is important to regularly follow up with visitors who are “Not Authenticated.”

It’s important to remember that visitors who have not activated their account cannot receive emails from WolfNet IDX systems, including SearchSaver listing notifications. Thus, you will need to identify these users and contact them separately, either by phone if they have provided a number, or via email through a separate email client. We recommend regularly running a report to identify all “Not Authenticated” visitors by doing the following:

1.       Log in to your BackOffice at www.mlsfinder.com/admin and navigate to the Reports section.

2.       Select “Only users that are: Not Authenticated,” and click Find Users. You will see all results have a red envelope, citing they have yet to authenticate.

3.       Select “Export These Users,” and choose either an Excel worksheet or a .txt file if you prefer.

4.       Sort by the “user_phone” column; this will bring to the top all visitors who provided a phone number, though be aware that some numbers may not be accurate, as they are dependent on the visitor providing valid contact information..

5.       Sort again by “user_email_address.” Every registered visitor will have an email address, as it is a required field. Some may be invalid, especially if you have strict registration requirements.

If you decide to telephone the visitors who have provided a legitimate number, highlight the benefits of activating their account. In particular, they can receive email updates when new or updated listings match their search criteria. You should also be prepared to explain how to activate their account, as follows:

1.       Have the visitor visit your WolfNet IDX solution on your web site and log in with their login credentials created during the registration process.

2.       Next, have the visitor navigate to SearchSaver; at the top of the page will appear the message header “Please Activate Your Account.” The message below will indicate the date of the original authentication email sent when the visitor first registered, the “from” address of the original email (which the visitor should white list if using a junk mail or SPAM filter), and a link to request the activation message be resent. Thus the visitor may elect to locate the original email, or have a new one sent.

3.       Make sure the visitor clicks on the link in the activation email; the visitor will then be automatically activated.

For the remaining visitors, summarize these instructions in an email, and offer to assist them or answer any questions they may have.

We recommend going through this process on a regular basis, such as weekly or monthly depending on your traffic. And any time you follow up with a new lead by phone or email, remind them of the benefits of an activated account, and to check their email for the welcome message sent upon registration. The more proactive you are about prompt follow-up and guiding your registered visitors through this process, the more business you can generate from your IDX solution.

The Tip of the Week blog posts every Thursday. Each Post is labeled “Easy,” “Intermediate,” or “Expert” based on the concept being discussed.

WolfNet’s IDX property search offers web site visitors the ability to register to save Favorite listings and to receive email notifications when new listings match saved search criteria. Part of the registration process requires visitors to activate (authenticate) their email address by clicking on a link in a welcome email sent upon registration. This double opt-in step was implemented several years ago to conform to the CAN-SPAM act, and to ensure WolfNet IDX subscribers would get leads via email, and registered visitors would get their requested updates.

Unfortunately, not every visitor activates their account right away, which means they cannot receive SearchSaver email updates, or any message sent manually through the WolfNet BackOffice. Earlier in this series, we discussed IDX Lead Capture Settings, and indicated that forcing registration can result in more leads, but often at the expense of lead quality. More restrictive lead capture settings also have an impact on account activation rates, as well.

Forcing registration lowers account activation rates, while a more voluntary registration setting results in a higher activation rate. For example, if your require registration before visitors can search for listings, then you are only putting up a firewall. Visitors are not actively requesting any kind of email notification and monitoring their inbox for it;  they are simply completing the form to get to the search page. On the other hand, if visitors register voluntarily, they are taking action that inherently brings email into the process, and thus activation is more likely to follow.

Activation rates for IDX searches requiring registration to start searching listings can be as low as 10%, while the default voluntary registration setting can result in activation rates of up to 40%. And with WolfNet’s IDX/VOW combo solution, which prompts registration to access additional  VOW data like Days on Market or Original List Price, activation rates can exceed 80%! We will feature this unique property search option more prominently as it becomes available in more MLS markets.

Ultimately, no matter what your settings, some visitors will fail to activate. Therefore, it is important to manually follow up with all registered visitors about the benefits of activating their account. We will cover some strategies on how to best achieve this next week.

The Tip of the Week blog posts every Thursday morning. Each Post is labeled “Easy,” “Intermediate,” or “Expert” based on the concept being discussed.

Sometimes the easiest means to integrate a WolfNet IDX solution into a 3rd party web site is through the use of an iFrame. When done properly, the user experience remains relatively seamless while navigating from your web site to the search and back again. Here are some of the basics to make sure your integration is optimal for your customers:

1. Page Width – Minimum width for the property search is about 780 pixels. If your frameset is narrower than that, you will create a side-to-side scroll within the search that many users will find inconvenient. This severely compromises their experience on your site, and could lead to lost traffic.

2. Page Height – Make sure you are setting the height of your frameset to accommodate the longest pages within the search. This will avoid the dreaded double-scroll bar on the right side, which creates a less than desirable user experience. Typically in most MLS markets, the listing detail page is tallest, sometimes exceeding 3,000 pixels. Find a property with a large number of photos and detailed room data, and set the page height in your frameset to exceed that buy at least 500 pixels.

3. Auto-Scroll setup – A consequence of completing the page height requirement as outlined in #2 above is that navigating through the search will maintain the same position on the page vertically as the preceding page. Often users will find themselves navigating directly into the middle of a new page if they were previously in the middle of another page. To avoid this, you will need to add some JavaScript code to your frameset to automatically scroll the user to the top of any new page, which makes for a much more consistent and optimal user experience.

To enable the autoscroll feature, copy the following JavaScript and paste into your iFrame:

<script type=”text/javascript”>

var intCount = 0;

function scrolltop()

{if(parseInt(intCount) >=1)

{window.location.hash=”wolfnet_search”;}

intCount = parseInt(intCount) + 1;

}

</script>

<a name=”wolfnet_search” id=”wolfnet_search”></a><iframe src=”http://www.mlsfinder.com/ST_MLS/DIRECTORY/index.cfm” name=”main” id=”main” width=”910″ height=”3000″ frameborder=”0″ onLoad=”scrolltop()”></iframe>

Note the following:

a. “ST_MLS” and “DIRECTORY” are variables in the basic search URL. You have your own unique state abbreviation, MLS abbreviation and site directory. For example, http://www.mlsfinder.com/fl_mfrmls/reikirealty/index.cfm uses the correct state and MLS abbreviations and site directory for the search at www.thumbsuporlando.com.

b. Create an anchor – in this example, you would need to create an anchor named “wolfnet_search“

c. Use the onLoad event in the iFrame tag.

d. Configure the remaining settings as appropriate; this includes height, width, and the URL in the iFrame tag, which can be the search home page, or a custom search string created using the URL Search Builder (A topic for later posts).

4. Logo/Slogan and Return Link Settings - Make sure you are using the correct Logo/Slogan and Return Link settings in your IDX BackOffice. For most iFrame integrations, select “When someone arrives on the site from an email” for both. Many visitors arrive at your search from system emails such as SearchSaver updates, and will not view the search in the iframe. This setting will ensure your search has correct branding and a link to your web site home page. We will go into greater depth on these setting in a later post.

For complete instructions and recommendations on all 3rd party site integration options, please contact WolfNet Technologies directly.

The Tip of the Week blog posts every Thursday morning. Each Post is labeled “Easy,” “Intermediate,” or “Expert” based on the concept being discussed.