You’re about to launch your IDX website. The MLS feed is connected. The design looks good. You’re ready to flip the switch and start generating leads.
Hold on. Most agents launch their IDX site with critical elements missing, and those gaps silently cost them leads for weeks or months before they realize something’s wrong. Use this checklist before going live to make sure every component is working and optimized from day one.
Pre-Launch Checklist
1. MLS feed is active and current. Verify that listings are displaying and that the data is current (check the “last updated” timestamp). Search for a listing you know is active and confirm it appears on your site with correct photos, price, and details. Also verify that sold or expired listings are NOT showing, displaying stale data destroys buyer trust immediately.
2. Registration gate is configured. Set the registration trigger to three to five listing views. Test it yourself by browsing your site in an incognito window and confirming the registration form appears after the set number of views. Make sure the form captures name, email, and phone number at minimum.
3. Registration flows to your CRM. Register as a test lead and verify the contact appears in your CRM with the correct information. Check that search activity is being tracked, view a few listings as your test lead and confirm the activity shows up in the CRM contact record.
4. Automated follow-up is active. After registering as a test lead, verify that the automated welcome email or AI follow-up message is sent within minutes. Read the message. Does it make sense? Is it personalized to the search behavior? If you’re using AI follow-up, search for specific listings and confirm the follow-up references those properties or neighborhoods.
5. Saved search alerts work. As your test lead, save a search. Wait for the next MLS data update cycle and confirm that a listing alert email arrives with relevant properties. Click through the alert to verify it links back to your website (not to the MLS or a broken page).
6. Mobile experience is flawless. Open your site on your phone. Search for homes. Apply filters. Click on a listing. Scroll through photos. Save a listing. Register as a new lead. Every single step should work smoothly on a mobile device with no layout issues, tiny buttons, or broken elements. Over 70 percent of your traffic will be mobile.
7. Site speed passes muster. Run your site through Google PageSpeed Insights. Your mobile score should be 70+ (ideally 80+). If your IDX search pages load slowly, address it before launching, every second of delay costs you leads.
8. Five or more neighborhood pages are live. Don’t launch with just a homepage and a generic search page. Create at least five pre-filtered search pages for your primary target neighborhoods. These pages will drive organic traffic and give visitors a reason to engage immediately.
9. SEO basics are set. Every page should have a unique meta title and meta description. Your homepage should target your primary keyword (like “homes for sale in [city]”). Neighborhood pages should target “[neighborhood] homes for sale.” If your platform supports it, add structured data markup. Submit your XML sitemap to Google Search Console.
10. Google Analytics and Facebook Pixel are installed. You need tracking in place from day one to measure traffic, understand visitor behavior, and build retargeting audiences. Install Google Analytics 4 and a Facebook pixel before launch, not after.
11. Contact information is visible. Your phone number, email address, and a way to reach you should be visible on every page of your site. Make it easy for motivated visitors to contact you directly rather than requiring them to register first.
12. At least three blog posts are published. Launch with content, not just listings. Three blog posts, a neighborhood guide, a market update, and a buyer tips article, give your site substance and start building SEO authority from day one. Each post should link to relevant IDX search pages.
13. Social profiles are linked. Your website should link to your active social media profiles, and your social profiles should link back to your website. This two-way linking supports both SEO and brand consistency.
14. Listing agent attribution is correct. IDX compliance requires displaying the listing broker’s name on each listing. Verify this is showing correctly. Non-compliance can result in MLS penalties or loss of IDX access.
15. You have a traffic plan ready. Your website is launching tomorrow. What are you doing on launch day to drive traffic? Social media posts announcing the site? An email to your database? A Facebook ad campaign? A Google Business Profile update? Don’t launch and wait for traffic to magically appear. Have a plan ready to execute on day one.
The 48-Hour Post-Launch Check
After launch, monitor these items for the first 48 hours:
Are leads actually registering? Check your CRM for new contacts. If you’re driving traffic but getting zero registrations, something is broken, either the registration gate isn’t triggering, the form isn’t submitting, or the CRM connection is failing.
Is the automated follow-up sending? Verify that every registered lead received their automated welcome message. Check your email delivery logs if your platform provides them.
Are listing alerts going out? If anyone saved a search, confirm that alerts were delivered on schedule.
Are there any 404 errors? Check Google Search Console for any crawl errors. Click through your site from a visitor’s perspective and make sure all links work.
The Launch Is Just the Beginning
Getting your IDX site live is step one. The lead generation comes from what you do after launch, driving traffic through content and advertising, optimizing your registration gate based on data, improving your follow-up based on what converts, and continuously expanding your neighborhood coverage.
But a well-executed launch sets you up to capture every possible lead from day one. Skip this checklist and you’ll spend weeks unknowingly leaking leads through gaps you didn’t know existed. Run through every item, fix what’s broken, and launch with confidence that your system is ready to perform.
Your IDX website is the foundation of your online lead generation. Make sure that foundation is solid before you start building on it.
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