What is a Custom Domain?

What we call custom domain or subdomain is often called a CNAME. A CNAME Record, or Canonical Name Record, is a log in a DNS (Domain Name Server) database used to re-direct a URL, such as www.bestreelteem.com to a web subdomain such as homes.reelestate.com.

By default your IDX Pages are hosted on a subdomain of idxbroker.com. For example, if your website address is:  http://greatpropertyforsale.com, your standard IDX links would have an address starting with: http://greatpropertyforsale.idxbroker.com/ (ie: http://subdomain.primarydomain.com/)

We can point the IDX pages to your domain instead of idxbroker.com. Instead of using the standard idxbroker.com subdomain, you can implement a custom domain of your choosing. This changes your links to this: http://yourchoice.greatpropertyforsale.com/

A custom domain accomplishes the following:
 

1. Ensures that pages, which are indexed by Google and other search engines, are associated with your primary website (instead of ours). The domain control tool allows your main domain name to represent your business, appear in search engine results, and be used for analytics and marketing. 
2. Provides portability. If you choose to ever switch IDX providers, you can retain ownership of the subdomain that originally hosted those IDX pages.
3. Eliminates the -IDX Broker appendage to your page titles on Google.

 

Your CNAME can be anything you would like, such as search.yourdomain.com, realestate.yourdomain.com, atlanta-homes.yourdomain.com, or something similar. 


NOTE: When choosing a CNAME record, a short name is typically better and please do NOT use MLS (ie: http://mls.primarydomain.com/) unless you have permission from your MLS board(s).

To learn how to setup a CNAME record in your IDX Broker account, read this article .