Selling homes is your thing. Showing up on the first page of Google? Not so much. Is that a good reason to neglect your organic leads? Not at all. With digital marketing, you can easily put your agency on the map and earn yourself more leads.
The key to getting qualified traffic is to use real estate SEO services as part of an integrated marketing strategy. With search engine optimization (SEO), you can take your website from the 5th page on Google to the first in a matter of months.
Why is this important? Because 44% of home buyers begin their search for a house online. This is why you should invest heavily in optimizing your site and its content for search engines.
Of course, it’ll require some research, commitment, and know how. If you’d like to learn more about how SEO can help your real estate business, then continue reading!
Let’s review some of the ways you can streamline your real estate SEO efforts.
Make Use of Those Local Keywords
Chances are, you’re only selling properties in very specific areas. And while this may seem to limit to your business (especially for non-popular destinations), it’s a goldmine in the world of SEO.
This is because local keywords help drive specific traffic to your site (but only if you optimize for them). For instance, if you’re selling residential properties in Portland, OR, then you should include terms like “Portland OR homes for sale,” in your site.
But don’t just guess as to what search terms your leads are using. Use tools to research which keywords get the most searches every month. You’ll need to find keywords that are relevant to your prospects and don’t have a lot of competition. If too many other businesses are ranking for those words, then it’ll be a lot harder to make it to page 1.
As a rule of thumb, you should use your target keywords throughout your site. For instance, you can create a page called “Why Hire a Portland, OR Real Estate Agent?”
The primary keyword here is “Portland OR real estate agent.” Include the keywords of your choice in the title, first paragraph, a subheading, and in the conclusion.
Keep in mind though: Google is getting smarter and more human every day. Don’t ever stuff your keywords into your page over and over, and make sure to keep everything natural. The example above is great as it sounds fairly natural yet still hits the localized target keyword. More on this later!
Boost Business with Your Blog
In today’s consumer-centric world, it’s all about content. While ads can still be helpful in getting leads, it won’t offer the consistent traffic flow like SEO can. And the best way to streamline your SEO efforts is with a content strategy.
If you don’t already have a blog, it’s time to build one. You can do this easily with WordPress. They offer a variety of templates to choose from. Or you can hire a web designer to implement one on your existing site.
As for the content you put on your blog, you want to write pieces that will attract your audience. What better way to do this than to blog about the properties you have available? You can create an engaging piece with lots of details, photos, and maybe even walk-through videos.
Make sure to include your keywords inside your title and throughout the page. It’s also recommended that you put your target keyword in the meta description, alt tag for photos, title tag, and file name of photos.
Make Use of Images and Videos
There’s nothing more engaging on the web than images and video. In real estate, these two tools are your best friend. As you’d imagine, home buyers are looking for actual footage of the houses they’re interested in.
Besides placing this type of media in your blog posts, you can also feature them on their own section of your website. For example, you can have a page of available properties that prospects can browse through.
In fact, you can use your blog posts to promote the listings on that page to drive traffic and get folks looking around. Of course, you’ll need to optimize these photos and videos using your target keywords.
Just make sure that all of your videos are shot professionally (or at least with a steady hand). If your videos are low quality and have poor production, then you’ll only run prospects away. Capture tours of your properties, as well as testimonials from your past clients.
All of this can help convert more leads.
Everyone loves looking at pictures of well-presented homes. Use this to your advantage in your SEO marketing efforts!
Ensure Your Site is Mobile-Friendly
Google and other search engines are very keen about sites that are mobile-optimized. In other words, if your real estate site isn’t quick-loading and easy to use on a mobile device, then it’s going to lose ranking.
On that note, it’s very important to ensure that your website is responsive to any device visitors are using. The best way to do that is to adopt a responsive web design. You can hire a web designer to build one from scratch or you can buy a template.
The reason this is important for your real estate SEO is because it’ll negatively impact your ranking in Google if you ignore it. It’s also important to point out that most home shoppers are using mobile devices to find property listings.
So it makes sense to make your site easy to find and use by your mobile visitors. Also, when mobile users conduct searches on Google, guess what pops up first: local listings.
By targeting local keywords, it’ll help your website show up first in their search results.
Claim and Create Business Directories
Here’s another great example of the power of search engine optimization. When local search results pop up, business directories are among the top. It makes sense to claim all of your listings in these directories or create them if there are none.
This includes directories like Google My Business, Yelp, Zillow, Trulia, and RedFin. The more directories you’re on, the better. Just make sure all of the information you provide is accurate and identical across all listings.
Your business name, address, and phone number (NAP) should be consistent with what’s on your website as well. If there are discrepancies, it can alert the search engine that your data is out of date and will hurt your organic visibility
Make Sure Your Bio’s Optimized
Home buyers aren’t just looking for homes to buy, they’re looking for an agent that’ll help them find the house of their dreams. That’s you!
While an incredible bio detailing all your achievements and client satisfaction rates is great, it won’t account for much if it’s not found. Optimizing your bio not only brings traffic to your bio page, but to your website.
Every page of your site is a tool in your SEO arsenal. If your name is your brand, then make sure to optimize it with that.
If you don’t already have a name for yourself and your business (meaning popularity), then this next tip may help.
Grow Visibility Using Social Media
Social media platforms are another clever way of driving organic traffic to your business. You can use them to gain a following and grow your visibility as a personal or business brand. It’s also an incredible method for starting and building relationships, both with prospects and influencers.
Your social media pages are the perfect place to advertise your blog posts and home listings. It’ll drive traffic to these locations and tell Google these pages are relevant and good quality (further boosting your SEO ranking).
A social media strategy is important to have and is often included as a recommended strategy alongside real estate SEO services. If you decide to do it on your own, ensure to add photos and videos in your posts to increase engagement and shares.
Get involved in the conversations on your posts to show you’re human and that you care. Answer questions in a timely fashion, especially your direct messages. Facebook showcases your responsiveness, so if your score is good, more people are likely to reach out to you via social media.
Don’t Overstuff Pages with Keywords
Now that you understand the importance of keywords (especially local key phrases), it’s essential to point out density limits. In this case, it’s not “the more, the merrier,” it’s “the more natural, the better.”
Google and other search engines care about the quality and readability of your content. And if you’re stuffing your pages with search terms with the hopes of getting a higher ranking, you’re sadly mistaken.
In fact, this will drop your site to the back of the bus and you may even get penalized. Bouncing back from a Google penalty is no joke so avoid it at all costs.
So what is a good amount of keywords to use? Well, as a rule of thumb, the bare minimum is to have the keyword in your title, intro, subheading, and conclusion. You can sprinkle it throughout the content wherever it fits naturally.
It’s also a good idea to use related secondary keywords so you don’t feel compelled to keep using the same version of the key phrase. For example, you can have Los Angeles realtor as your primary, then your secondaries can be: LA realtor, Los Angeles real estate agent, and LA home seller.
Hiring Real Estate SEO Services
Now that you have a hefty list of real estate SEO tips, it’s time to start putting it to use. But if you’re a busy realtor (which is always good news), you may need a little help.
In this case, it’s a good idea to invest in real estate SEO services. There’s a lot to SEO, which you may not have the time to learn about. By hiring an SEO expert, you can get the traffic you need for your business to excel.
At Midas, we have professional digital marketing experts that can help build you a solid strategy. We offer SEO, copywriting, web design, and other services. Get in touch with us today to learn more!
