IDX – Official Steering Committee Decision
After a very long and strongly debated case over who should be the official IDX recommendation of the Geek Build Steering Committee, we have decided on Real Geeks.
Remember, the focus of Geek Build is to build websites with the following goals in mind:
- Maximize lead generation (signups, blog or IDX)
- Maximize lead conversion (phone calls, requests for showings, specific property requests, track closings from site long-term)
- Maximize time on site, page views/visit
- Minimize bounce rate
Conversion is the most important aspect of an IDX, particularly given the goals we were are focusing on at Geek Build. Real Geeks is a very easy to use system that converts at a high level and will be perfect for the Geek Build participants. Here is a review of Real Geeks by Paul Coffman, a technologist with 20 years of experience.
Diverse Solutions has a lot going for it. Particularly, their mobile product, dsIDXpress being a couple years ahead of its competitors, and lots of strong advocates. Displet’s primary strength is its customization options. However, most agent don’t have the knowledge to truly be able to take advantage of that flexibility and build something unique and effective. For brokers and agents with a tech budget/know how – it’s a different story and something very much worth considering.
Choosing the right IDX company can make or break your site. That is why we felt it was best to go with a proven company that has a number of dominant sites across many markets. There is a reason that large players like Virtual Results are integrating Real Geeks into their client’s sites. It works.
I know that when I recently redid my real estate site it came down to both Real Geeks and Displet if I was going to stick with a WordPress site. Both are great companies. One has a long track record and very few customization options. The other is a young company but extremely flexible and innovative.
At the end, we went with Real Geeks and it’s $100 per month plan as our official recommendation.
Next up? Finalizing the wireframes and turning them into real designs.
Note from the Editor: Not sure what Geek Build 2012 is? It’s building a few real estate websites from scratch publicly with the help of the Geek Estate Community and overseen by an experienced steering committee. Read more about Geek Build 2012 here, or view all posts related to Geek Build 2012 here.
**Geek Build logo designed by Dominic Morrocco at M Squared Real Estate.
Alex
Posted at 01:02h, 03 AprilIt was my understanding the VR uses DS in most of there sites, thats what they have on ours
Drew Meyers
Posted at 01:07h, 03 AprilHey Alex-
You are correct. It’s my understanding VR still uses DS on most of their Agent Plus sites. Daniel was referring to custom sites like gellens.com and johnstanaland.com. Real Geeks does not quite have the flexibility and ease of setup as Diverse Solutions, making it harder to work with on a large network of sites like VR has — and it’s more expensive (there is no cheaper option like dsidxpress).
Daniel Beer
Posted at 19:42h, 03 AprilCorrect. They have been going to RG on most of their newer high end sites. It is also worth mentioning that I believe they have also successfully implemented Displet on one of their recent custom sites but I can’t remember which one it was.
Drew Meyers
Posted at 03:21h, 06 AprilHere it is – mccannteam.com
Jeff Manson
Posted at 18:47h, 03 AprilThanks for the recommendation guys!! Our goal at Real Geeks is to help agents and brokers convert more business online…
Tony Gilbert
Posted at 10:08h, 08 AprilApparently, I’m going to have to take a look into Real Geeks for our other sites!
Roshall
Posted at 06:39h, 18 AprilVery interesting information you got
here..
Ken
Posted at 09:32h, 11 JanuaryAnyone know how to get a hold of someone at Real Geeks? Can’t seem to get a response back from them inquiring about there websites… THX
Drew Meyers
Posted at 09:34h, 11 January@Jeff_Manson:disqus can help
Ken
Posted at 09:16h, 12 JanuaryHi Drew, I have emailed Bob twice and Jeff once over this past week and
no response. I have seen a couple other blog comments this week where a
couple others are having the same issue. Doesn’t make sense??? Maybe
I’ll hear from them this weekend?? ~ Thanks
Ken
Posted at 11:53h, 12 JanuaryJust heard from Jeff Manson and had a good conversation with him. Apparently my emails were going to spam folder :-/. (live.com email)
Jeff Manson
Posted at 12:12h, 12 JanuaryYea the one to me also went into spam.. I use Gmail..
Jeff Manson
Posted at 12:11h, 12 JanuaryNice talking with Ken!!! Bob actually responded to you within minutes on Saturday as you mentioned 🙂 and were impressed at us responding so quickly on a weekend. Unfortunately your second email you responded to went into his spam folder in Gmail… You might want to use a different email in the future 😉
Geek Build 2012 revisited. - GeekEstate Blog
Posted at 14:14h, 12 August[…] The not so good news is that in the current condition the theme is quite technical to set up and work with, though we do have installation documentation. We also never got to the point of actually integrating the theme with Real Geeks IDX, as was the original plan. […]
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Posted at 18:15h, 08 November[…] IDX – Official Steering Committee Decision […]