Mike, what I like is that I can offer my visitors a choice, no registration required for a basic search and registration for advanced features. Some of the no registration required (because you can register also on the no registration portal) do ultimately register so I think it offers the real estate consumer the best of both worlds, after all, there are many sites to get the information and I'd rather have them on mine than someone elses. Nice to get back to some real estate for a breath of fresh air.

Mike, if you don't ask for registration, they won't tell you who they are. If you ask, they can go elsewhere. I believe there was a wonderful book by Joseph Heller called Catch 22. Sums it up for me.

I am too testing. I am also not sure the IDX link to search MLS is paying off for me at all. I had more leads before. I have recently changed to registeration for MLS or like Howard, they can view a lot of listings of mine and handshake without registration. I agree with you that you must give it ample time, just like any form of advertising because it can be seasonal. One of the main reasons I decided to purchase the MLS link was to satisfy my current clients, I did not want them to wonder off to another agents site (and some were) to view MLS listings. And Realtor.com, people hate, not friendly I guess.

For the last 6 months I have received no additonal prospects by purchasing the MLS link for my page. I also have a concern that giving the public too much information and too many to choose from can be detrimental. I try to keep a good variety on my web page from handshake. That may be enough. I look forward to hearing from others on the subject. Thanks Mike.

Mike, on one web site I ask for nothing and get nothing. On another I require registration for saving searches, etc., but they can still look for free. I get only a few leads that way and I send them drip mail. Now, the company pays for a link (banner) on a special site and I get all kinds of leads. I think it goes back to salesmanship 101, ask and ye shall receive. (sorry about the bibical phasing).

I have been testing for a while now and find that requiring a sign up works well for allowing the public access to MLS.  I believe, in most areas, the IDX info available to the public lacks the full description (including address of subject home).  This prompts a call to the website that is providing the information, at least, that is the idea.

I have found that you don't get anyones information if you do not ask for it.  I require only a first and last name, and do not require any additional info.  However, I find that 60% of people provide all of the information, which I found unusual.  I am not complaining!  I call a prospect "hot" if they provide a phone number only.  I do get a lot of "John Doe's" with a phone number of 555-555-5555.  I guess he is quite an investor!  

What I have been doing recently is calling people when they register, right when they register and I receive the email notification of a new prospect.  It is amazing how responsive people are to have someone help right when they are looking, rather than after-the-fact.  I believe they find it helpful and responsive.  I have not had one person act irritated, which is nice.

I will be interested to learn what you find in your investigation of "to require, or to not require."  

Mike, I've been experimenting with the registration in the last few months as well ... and to my surprise, just like you, the sooner I required registration, the more leads I was able to capture. I don't get why??? ... glad to hear you have similar results.

Mike, I have it done the same way as you. I wish these leads could go directly into P2 instead of me having to do it manually.

I think most people WANT to register. Those are the serious ones who really WANT our help.

The ones who give bogus info get what they put in. Nothing.

I had no registration on my sites for a while, but my conversion rate sucked even though my uniques were and are there. After requiring it, conversion rate improved dramatically.

Kim, thanks for sharing. That is great info.

And yes, if you work web leads you must respond quick.

Mike, how dare you take a dinner break?

I don't know how many people have set it up, but I LOVE the text message when they leave a phone number.  I have mine set up and have surprised several prospects when I called them within moments of receiving the text.

Darcy

Mike, did you get any sense of the quality of the leads captured without registration required vs with? Are they more motivated to buy? Personally, I have tried both ways and also think required registration is better.  

C team. I need that, the text message.

Karen - to set up text messaging, go to Online Office, then from the Prospects menu select "Text Messaging", then "Configure Text Messaging".

I have been advertising that access to the MLS requires no registration at my site. Usually, when I tell people that, they get excited for some reason.

It would be difficult for me to implement an experiment that requires registration, so thanks for your input.

Thanks Rod!

My IDX has always had the registration for the email listings or they can do search only.  Gives the choice.  Looks a bit like yours Mike.  I haven't used the P2 registration.

Jana

Mike I have used registration from the beginning. I hear people say no but to be honest if someone seeks a site that doesn't require it, how good are they as a client. Those that will give me their name and number are either serious or nuts. They expect a call. I had 5 today and one that also emailed me. It has never been a tough cal for me but I am sure others don't share that opinion. I think not to register is a mistake.

This sounds bad but I have to ask.  Where do I go to sign up/turn on/contact for IDX?  

When we did not require registration we got very few leads.  Since requiring it we get more than we can handle.

Norman,  there are quite a few different IDX providers.  We use IDXPro and are very satisfied with their product.

Do you use this option? Validate the Prospect's Email Address by sending them a Password. Or do you just let them enter their info real or not and alllow them to start searching?

Mark,

We use the 'validation' feature.  I've got a 'thing' about honesty and have even dropped a customer before because he lied to me.  Dishonesty is a time-waster and time is valuable.

I think the method that works the best is to give them some "samples" of homes in the area your listings and handshake listings then on IDX/MLS require at least a valid e-mail to do a "Custom Search and e-mail notification".

Because it's hard to track who's been looking on your site for month's at your samples then registering when their ready for their custon search ...you'll go nuts trying to figure that out!

http://realtybydan.com

good luck.

That's an interesting test Mike, thanks for sharing your data with us. I've always let prospects search with no registration. My site isn't "old' enough to have data to validate whether no registration is better than registration, so I'd be curious to see how it all turns out for you.

I also agree that requiring your visitors to register is the way to go.  I did a little test myself where I turned the registration off for 1 month.  I've gotten 1 email and 1 phone call in that period of time.  On April 16th, I turned the registration on and since then, I have gotten 235 leads.

I use IDXPro and validate their email by sending them the password.  If the email is fake, they don't receive anything and I'm done with them.  I also setup custom questions in IDXPro, like when is the best time to contact them and when are they planning to move.  When I do call them, I have a pretty good idea of their plans and the type of property they're looking for.  Makes it easier to communicate with them.

IDXPro is great, I just wish they would come up with a newer version, because this one has been out for years.  It's stable, but needs to be modernized a bit.

I also enter my prospects manually and then manually assign them to a drip and place them in a specific prospects group.  It is very time consuming.  I wish there was a way to automate this process.

Good luck.

Validation is required because the password is emailed to whatever email address is provided, if it's phony, no search is possible.

Great post. Thanks!