Right now im a fairly new agent, but I know having a website is very important.
I own a domain, but its just collecting dust. I would like to get a website up and running for fairly cheap because I have limited funds. I see that seo is very expensive so I can always pay to have someone do that later down the road, or try learning how to do it.

Whats the best/cheapest way to get a website built (templates are fine) with idx.
How much would I be looking at per month?
I currently pay for mls in NY, if this makes a difference.
(i have no idea if I have to pay extra for idx?)
thanks in advance all

At SEO try to learn at least the basic so when you hire someone to do that job you know what,where and how the project's going.

I believe you can get a Point2 website for free. Depending on your local real estate board, you can often get an IDX link (which you can then frame or run in an iframe) for a nominal fee - sometimes free. Check with your board and see what they have before you look to third party IDX providers.

hey we do them for 700 plus GST...and we do SEO.

There are a lot of free templates you can get, I believe that Doug had the best advice for you. As far as SEO is concerned, you should try to learn the basics first. This will get you familiar with the process and if/when you hire a SEO you know what he is or is not doing. Good luck with everything and if you have any additional questions feel free to contact me. I am familiar with SEO and website development.

Hey theguyny,

Honestly, the suggestions for free templates and just getting your site up online does just that. It gets you a site online. A lot of companies have different opinions of how to market with SEO and if you have no idea what's going on, which you really shouldn't have to worry about knowing in the first place, then you can be spending a lot of money to Web companies for what you'd get for free anyways. A site online.

You do need Search Engine Optimization with content, blogs, videos, and as much original content that you can get your hands on. Using split page testing and other marketing strategies to narrow down what is actually working and bringing in traffic that actually generates into a buyer. Brand Awareness (meaning branding everything consistently from your Website, signs, colors etc.) and properly listing the MLS is a good thing too. A Canadian based Web development company, and good friends of mine, www.easykiss123.com has been researching the affects of Real Estate Web sites. They have formulated a Real Estate Package that will continuously adjust to help your site bring in new buyers essentially generating you money. The content section (your pictures, new listings, edited listings, testimonials, and other informative write-ups) can be updated regularly as easy as sorting your email. This constantly adds to your SEO and has features that are actually pretty neat. You drag and drop your listings and features to priority locations, as well as uploading pictures which place into your site automatically etc. This quickens your time on the back end of your site and you can immediately get to meeting with prospects and selling real estate.

Anyways theguyny. What I'm saying is all you should worry about when it comes to your Website is adding the new updates and replying to your prospects.

I hope that leads you in the right direction and your domain name becomes too dynamic to collect any more dust.

Good Luck out there,

Roland M

In the absence of a website you can always start a Wordpress blog for free which will get you in the game.

An alternative is a templated site. I must disclose I am an approved vendor for a website company called Ubertor so there is a conflict of interest with this recommendation. They provide templated websites starting at $ 10.00 per month with no active listings, but the ability to add real estate related information.

If you have 5 active listings the monthly fee is $37.00 with no contract. I am not sure if this is within your budget.

You can find more information at www.ubertor.com or my website www.mikeblaney.com.

Whatever you decide to use, make sure you can edit your website whenever you want to change the content. You don't want to be held hostage by a webmaster to add content for you. Having a built in blog is also a good addition even if you don't think you'll be using it right now.