Now that most IDX providers offer a mobile friendly IDX Solution, the question now becomes, how do I best integrate this new feature on my website. Below are some suggestions and the basic advantages and / or disadvantages. This is by no means a definitive list, but just some ideas to get you thinking.
Option 1
Most Popular – Simply add a graphic or text link that visitors can click on to view your mobile search. Better yet, create a mobile IDX marketing page that explains the benefits of using your solution and how visitors can access it. This will give visitors the option to choose between your normal IDX Search or mobile friendly version. We have provided some graphics below that you are free to use for this very purpose.
Option 2
Add a redirect script to every page on your site that will automatically (as best it can) detect if the visitor is using a mobile device. If a mobile browser is detected, the visitor will be redirected to your Mobile IDX solution. This seems like an ideal solution, but if the visitor wants to view other content / pages on your site, other than the MLS Search, they will not be able to get back to your site. At the time of this writing, this appears to be what Coldwell Banker does (www.coldwellbanker.com).
Option 3
Add a redirect script to your IDX pages only. Visitors will see your normal website when visiting from their mobile device, but when they visit any IDX solution page, they will be redirected to the more mobile friendly version of your search. This allows visitors to still have access to your normal content, but forces them to use the mobile IDX when trying to search for property. A disadvantage to this solution would be that if the visitor wants to access some of the more advanced search features they will not be able to do so since they are redirected to the mobile version.
Option 4
Custom solution. This will require some new designed pages and programming knowledge. It will also be more time consuming / expensive, depending upon what you want. Ideally, when someone visits your site for the first time, they are redirected to a landing page that has very simple options…such as, View Full Website and View Mobile Search. Once they make their selection, your site will remember their preference and take them to the full site or mobile search any time they return. You also incorporate links that allow the visitor to switch between the mobile search and back to the full website.
Mobile Browser Detection Script
A great resource to find open source code that you can use to detect mobile browsers: Detect Mobile Browser.
Need Help?
If you are not comfortable adding code to your site, speak with your web developer for assistance or if we built your site, contact us for suggestions or a quote. IDXCentral.com Support.
Free Mobile IDX Search Images
Below are some images that we have created for our clients to use. Feel free to use these on your site as you see fit. Simply right click the image and select “save picture as…” or “save image as…” > select the location to save the image. Now you can upload the image to your website and link it to your mobile idx solution.
