You’ve added properties to your website and now you need to give them exposure. One of the quickest ways is to list them on property syndication websites. It’s not a secret that while many buyers and renters will start their search on your website, many will opt for property portals and classified websites. After all, it makes sense to browse the aggregated stock from more than one real estate agency.
Not to fear, though! Real estate syndication can work to your advantage by putting your listings in front of a qualified and motivated audience. With a little effort and this guide, you can ensure your listings shine on these websites and help bring you the kind of leads you’re after.
What you will learn:
Simply put, it is the process of adding your listings to property portals and classified websites. This is commonly used by real estate businesses to advertise their listing information and give themselves exposure. These websites leverage their own SEO strategies and advertising to build their presence online and become go-to household brands. The way that real estate is syndicated is similar to motor dealerships adding their vehicle stock to car advertising websites like AutoTrader or Cars.co.za.
Real estate listing syndication can help you gain new leads, reach a new target audience, and grow brand awareness. Through a real estate listing syndication service, you can unlock these benefits with a single click. Once you add your listing to your website, you can have them instantly included on syndication websites within your service provider’s network.
The larger paid portals have an Application Programming Interface (API) which a real estate listing syndication service like Prop Data is given access to to 'push' listings to them. Some free-to-use portals will also use Prop Data’s API to 'pull' listings from a real estate website and display the listings on their portal. This involves large amounts of data being moved from Prop Data’s servers to theirs — 24/7 and 365 days a year.
Other free-to-list portals will make use of a file that contains branch, estate agent, and listing data. Prop Data generates these files and the portal collects the files on a schedule and processes the files, which usually happens once a day.
Prop Data’s Feed Management System provides a window into feeds and allows you to easily monitor and manage outbound feeds to your syndication sites. You can ensure your listing was captured successfully and update your portal listings in real time and in one place.
The property portal and classified websites serve as a central system for listings but also often share real estate news, guides, calculators, area trends and statistics data, and a place to apply for a home loan.
Real estate listing syndication can be done for residential, commercial, industrial, and retail property. Most property types can also be syndicated, such as houses, townhouses, apartments, vacant land, developments, offices, shops, factories, and warehouses. Accuracy and detail are important in creating successful syndicated listings. Once the real estate listings are loaded onto your management system hub, it is distributed with the same quality images, property specifics, descriptions, and special features.
Real estate listing syndication has become a mainstay in real estate marketing. Because of their convenience and presence online, property portals and classified websites are an invaluable source of leads and exposure. However, that’s not to say they don’t come with a few challenges.
Pros of real estate listing syndication:
Bring in more leads: Because these syndicated websites offer a ‘one-stop property shop’ solution to finding a new home, their popularity ensures an excellent place to generate buyer and tenant leads.
Save admin time: The listing process is fully automated. You can simply capture, manage, and syndicate all your property listings from a single online data management system.
Monitor and manage multiple feeds: Through a feeds management system, you can get a real-time overview of your feeds and track the status of every listing on all the major property portals and online classifieds.
Increase brand awareness: By adding your listings to multiple sites, you can expose them to the high volumes of website traffic and page views these sites often receive.
Boost your SEO efforts: Depending on the syndication site, you can include backlinks to the listings on your website, which can help search engines find your listings as well as potentially improve your ranking.
Target specific audiences: Many portals have niches which can help you attract a specific audience that would be most interested in your listing e.g. a luxury property.
Cons of real estate listing syndication:
You can eat into your budget: While there are plenty of free syndication sites on the market, the more popular sites require a fee to syndicate listings. Depending on the quantity of property stock on your website, this can be costly. You may also need to fork out for prime positioning on the site and additional advertising to stand out amongst all your competitors.
Your website can miss out: Another potential drawback of real estate listing syndication is that adding your listings to a syndication website can help these websites compete with (and outdo) your own website in search results. Any spend on advertising on these websites can rather go towards boosting your own website’s SEO performance, brand awareness, or listing advertising on search engines and social media.
You will vie for attention: Your listings will be placed amongst your competitors. Prospective buyers and renters can easily compare and make a choice based on criteria like pricing, features, and the property's appearance based on your photos. While this can be an advantage, it can also put extra pressure on you to keep up with professional photography and market pricing trends. In the case of an open mandate, a single listing can have multiple agencies attached which can make it confusing for a buyer or renter to decide who to message first.
You can risk your brand’s perception: By adding listings to a real estate syndication website, you are unable to control how your listing is presented on the website and how it fits into your audience’s sales journey. For example, your website can be customised to include area-specific profiles and news articles that can help convert them.
Remember, with so much competition, it's crucial to maximise your listing's visibility. Consider the type of portal you choose, as some cater to specific property types or budgets, which can help your listing stand out.
In South Africa and across the globe, the best real estate listing syndication sites are the ones that continually push the boundaries in providing updated information, while meeting the need for a modern interface. Syndicating to South Africa’s leading portals has become an absolute necessity for property agencies. This helps potential clients compare the best options for them from different sites and compound their lists when searching for a new rental property or home to buy.
The best real estate listing syndication websites all have the option for clients to receive email newsletter notifications, SMS updates, or some form of communication. This ensures that the latest listing options clients have selected will get sent directly to them. When clients sign up across multiple platforms, they will receive a compounded list of the best properties on the market. It is essential that your agency provides this opportunity for the best possible outcome in client retention.
South Africa’s leading property portals for syndicated listings include Property24, Private Property, and Gumtree. However, there are plenty of other options on the market that can help you reach your goals, especially if you have a limited budget.
Property24
Property24 has been around for over 10 years and is one of South Africa's largest property search portals. This portal’s partner network includes News24, Mail & Guardian, Mweb, Yahoo! South Africa, and the Home Channel. With its commitment to developing leading technology and coverage of real estate news, Property24 has become a trusted source of reliable information.
Private Property
Founded in 1998, Private Property prides itself on offering the largest property listings from private sellers including estate agents, banks, developers, and landlords.
Gumtree
Gumtree has become one of South Africa’s largest online classified marketplaces since its inception in 2005. The brand is entirely South African-owned and has a keen understanding of the local market’s challenges and opportunities.
ImmoAfrica
ImmoAfrica was founded in 2014 with a passion for simplifying the home-buying/renting/selling or moving experience. As one of the country’s fastest-growing property portals, it generates over 16,000 leads per month and attracts over 800,000 page views per month.
Zoopla
This UK-based property portal boasts industry-leading data and powerful software to help buy, sell, let, or rent property, and find estate agents in the area.
My Property
This independent property portal showcases private property for sale in popular towns and cities across South Africa. They take safety seriously and only allow registered practitioners to list properties on the website.
Bayut
As one of the United Arab Emirates’s (UAE's) most popular real estate portals, Bayut connects buyers, investors, landlords, sellers, tenants, and brokers. It is known for launching the first Arabic real estate blog and also offers curated courses for estate agents.
Property Finder
This UAE-based online classifieds website started in 2005 as a printed property magazine. Its mission is to motivate and inspire people to live the life they deserve.
IOL Property (Property360)
IOL delivers exceptional exposure by reaching over 300,000 house hunters every month. Real estate agents and agencies, as well as public relations companies, can subscribe to its press office and upload articles each month.
TPN Rent Bay
This is a free property portal that’s sponsored by TPN Credit Bureau. As it has no affiliation to any estate agents, banks, or mortgage originators, search results are ordered by the best match against the potential tenants' search criteria and not who paid the most for their advert.
dubizzle
Since its launch in 2005, dubizzle has become a leading UAE-based online classifieds platform. Its listings provide historical data sourced from the Dubai Land Department (DLD), videos, and 360 virtual reality tours of properties to provide an exceptional experience for buyers and renters.
Rightmove
With over one million properties listed, this UK property website offers an excellent advertising space for estate agents, letting agents, and new home developers — from the UK and overseas.
PropertyCentral
This advanced property platform is known for offering an affordable listing service and prides itself on providing great service.
JamesEdition
JamesEdition is the world's luxury marketplace, offering a curated catalogue of assets that attracts a premium target demographic. It receives one million global high-net-worth individual visits monthly.
Having the ability to provide this service at a professional level is a major bonus for property agencies and real estate listing syndication companies. As your client base and your reach grow, you will gain even more credibility and trust within the industry and across platforms. The goal is to become a household name and real estate listing syndication can get you there.
If real estate listing syndication services are on your radar, your company has realised this is an essential tool in the property business. Apart from maximising your company’s listings, you must consider the right ways to capitalise on this decision. Here are some top tips that will allow you to use real estate listing syndication providers to help you grow your business:
Choose the correct syndication site:
This will ensure that the process of syndication doesn't strip away your company’s mission, values, and core identity. You are looking for reputable portals and classified sites that have good designs, advanced functionality, and helpful tools. And they should have the ability to help you effectively target your key demographics.
Evaluate what they bring to the table:
Take into account the reach of the property portal’s network, the way their website is presented, the thoroughness of their information systems, and so forth. As technology is constantly being upgraded, it would be best to pick and syndicate to portals and classified websites that stay ahead of the curve.
Note reviews and social media comments:
A portal or classified website may present itself as the number one choice but scrutinise them before syndicating your listings. If they’re getting a lot of negative feedback online, it might be a warning sign their product offering or support services are not up to par.
Make sure you syndicate quality listings:
Property portals give additional weight to what they consider quality listings and much like a search engine might, rank these listings favourably. While each portal has its own requirements and limitations, generally they will favour a captivating headline, well-written and helpful property description, and high-resolution images that show off the property’s best features.
Practise good housekeeping:
Whether you’re paying for syndication or not, you should still make sure all listings reflected on the site are valid. Remove listings that are no longer on the market and update listings with new information or pricing as circumstances change.
Know each syndication website’s policies:
It’s important to familiarise yourself with this and keep track of any future updates. As this could impact your listings, being in the know can keep leads coming in smoothly and maintain your brand’s reputation.
Invest in a syndication service:
Being able to publish to multiple property portals with the click of a button can save your team time and effort. Look for services that provide you with an overview of your syndication feeds and provide support when dealing with portal and classified websites. If you find your listing isn’t published, it’s comforting to have someone to turn to who can help.
By following these syndication steps, you'll maximise your exposure, attract qualified leads, and see your listings convert into sales. Remember, a strategic approach to property portal syndication is a powerful tool to elevate your real estate business.
With Prop Data’s Exchange service, you can remove the heavy lifting of publishing your property listings across property portals and classified websites. This syndicates them using data-transfer technology that is fast, reliable, and secure.
