In the last few years, there's been a revolution, from holding listings close to your chest, to a free for all. Now the question is, who gets the traffic? Zillow, Trulia and others like them used to be anathema. When early adopters of listings distribution sent them listings, some would howl in protest.

Nowadays, even the largest franchisors in America are generally working with Trulia, Zillow and others.

The real issue becomes: who gets the traffic from these freely distributed listings? First, some portals exist for themselves. They take listings and keep whatever traffic they attract.

But other portals take listings and send traffic back to the source. That source can be the franchisor, the broker, or even the agent.

If a franchisor sends out the listings, the traffic is sent back to the franchisor's national (or regional) website.

If the broker sends out the listings (directly or via others, such as Homes.com or ListHub), the traffic flows back to their local website.

If the agent sends out their listings (typically via their website provider), the traffic flows to their personal website.

Since traffic is everything online, and online is where buyers and sellers are, understanding this dynamic is crucial when mapping out your listings distribution strategy. "Who gets the traffic?" should be your first question. And maximizing your own traffic should be your goal.

Published: September 3, 2008

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Lawrence Schoeffler is Vice President of Dominion Homes Web Services and founder of NUMBER1EXPERT. Dominion Homes Web Services includes Advanced Access, Agent Advantage by Homes.com, and Best Image Marketing, and is a division of Dominion Enterprises. Advanced Access is the industry leader in agent websites. More agents invest in an Advanced Access website than any other. Agent Advantage is the official agent website service of Homes.com, one of the most popular real estate portals in America. NUMBER1EXPERT by Best Image offers America's Top Performing Web Sites, with traffic and leads unequalled in the industry, sold exclusively to Top Selling Agents. Email Lawrence at .