Leading Plano real estate team adds SpatialMatch to their site

Broker Tom Branch knows data. As a former computer programmer back in the 70s, Tom can appreciate what’s involved when you are crunching huge amounts of information.

That’s one reason why he decided to embed the SpatialMatch IDX and lifestyle search engine on his site for The Branch Team with RE/MAX Dallas Suburbs covering the north Dallas suburbs.

“It’s amazing what you can overlay,” Tom observed. “(With SpatialMatch) you have the ability to combine all this data so the home buyer doesn’t have to go to several different web sites to find information.”

What’s he referring to is SpatialMatch’s IDX database that is combined with an enormous lifestyle search database.

So when home buyers search for a home, they can find the specific property they want ALONG with the lifestyle amenities they prefer, eg golf courses, parks, restaurants, etc.

All of this information is displayed together on a map. Everything a consumer needs is in one place – home photos, descriptions, business addresses, distances, etc.

“I fell in love with the interface,” Tom said. “It’s much more intuitive.”

Tom also knows the value that data can bring in terms of search engine optimization. He’s an avid blogger and knows that when he blogs about schools, for example, it will be great to have a link to a SpatialMatch page showing the location of the schools in his marketplace, combined with radius circles showing the distance.

Providing all this information has a tremendous benefit in terms of time spent on a web site – what is known as “stickiness.”

It’s this “stickiness” and frequent blogging with target keywords that gets the attention of Google.

Tom and his wife, Gina, are the authors of two books on real estate, “Achieving Rock Star Status” and “Avoiding Foreclosure – Field Guide to Short Sales.”

He serves on the board for the local Collin County Association of Realtors and was appointed by the chairman of the Texas Real Estate Commission to serve on the 2009 and 2010 state committees for Broker Responsibility.

With almost 30 years of combined experience in the business, Tom and Gina believe that adding any feature is all about lead generation.

SpatialMatch offers a lead generation feature that can be set by the broker for any stage in a search on a real estate web site.

But he knows, today’s web surfers are reluctant to give up their information. That’s why it’s important to have a valuable resource on your site that provides an incentive to them.

“You must offer something of value for a consumer to give you their contact information,” he said. “This is a cool product.”

To visit Tom’s web site (shown below) and see how he uses SpatialMatch, visit http://www.thebranchteam.com.

Tom uses WordPress and appreciates the app provided by Home Junction Inc. that integrates SpatialMatch into the site. For more information on SpatialMatch, click here.