Welcome to the very first "Success Interview". These interviews will be spotlighting FBS IDX Solutions clients that are using FBS IDX products to build their brands and capture leads.

Jim Whatley of Uberrealty in Ft. Walton Beach FL. is probably like many of your members. He knew he needed  a good web presence with a great home search solution. He also knew that he wanted to focus on relationships and selling homes, not becoming an IT expert. Then Jim found the combination of IDX Smartframe and his Squarespace website, he was able to take control of his own web efforts without spending endless hours away from what he loves most: selling homes. As he says in his broker tagline :"Real Estate Simplified"

Q: How long have you been using the IDX Smartframe solution in your web presence?

A: For over two years. I first got it and had a web developer use it to plug into pages for me. That was a custom site. Then I got frustrated with the slowness of the process.

Q: Why did you decide on Squarespace to host your site?

A: I had used Squarespace before and like the ease-of-use. I just didn’t know how to embed the SmartFrame. I started banging away at it. I hit some roadblocks but just started asking questions and the support people at FBS IDX Solutions were extremely helpful. The response-rate for help is fantastic. Now [the website] is like butter.

Q: You’re using saved searches in creative ways. What has some of the feedback been from visitors to  your site?

A: I had a client that for some reason was unable to get the pictures from the listing that were sent to their emails. I was getting questions on how to fix it. I was like: how would I know? I came up with the idea to embed their search on a blog post. They then had a individualized search they could bookmark and refer back to.. That was beneficial to both of us. 1. It solved my problem of questions I could not answer.  2. It gave them what they wanted. 3. It helped my traffic and time on site.

Q:Has posting saved searches as blog posts in Squarespace improved the results of your organic SEO (search engine optimization) results?

A: I look at my traffic and it increases every month. So I go back to what I like to do, selling houses. Plus, if I want to change a search I can do it quickly.

Q: How long did it take for you to set up your site and add IDX Smartframe?

A: Once I got it down, I found I can pop in a IDX search in 10-15 min. You can create very narrow or broad searches. There are no real limiting factors in what you want to display. It is like a toaster. You put bread in, you get toast out.

Want to know why Jim’s site is a great example implementaion of FBS’s Live Data IDX? Here are a couple of ways Jim has used IDX Smartframe saved searches to provide his visitors with a unique home search option, something your members can easily implement:

Uberrealty Neighborhood Guide

Saved Searches As Blog Posts

When you encounter a member that is in search of a fast, inexpensive way to include LIVE IDX data in their sites, please feel free to share these links with them.