Read on for a comprehensive overview of how SEO can level up your real estate website.
Think about the last time you were considering buying anything. Your journey probably started in the same place as everyone else’s: a quick search on Google.
Buying a home is no different. The National Association of REALTORS reported that 97% of buyers used the Internet at least once during their search, with about half ending up purchasing a home they found online. Simply having a website is part of the game for real estate agents these days.
If you find yourself in a competitive market, simply having a website may not be enough. For real estate agents looking to maximize results, they need to invest more energy into attracting buyers through search engine optimization (“SEO). Read on for a comprehensive overview of how “SEO” can level up your real estate website.
What is Real Estate SEO?
Search engine optimization is a way to label, organize, and present information on your website pages so search engines can better understand what it’s all about. Because of this, Google becomes more likely to serve up your webpage as a potential answer to the searcher’s question along four key principles known as EEAT (experience, expertise, authoritativeness, trustworthiness).
For real estate website SEO, the same principles apply, but they focus on specific terms that home buyers will be searching for. These are considered “keywords” that you should include on your web pages to show up higher, or “rank” better, in search results.
Improving your SEO strategy involves focusing on more specific local search queries to ensure more targeted results, updating the back-end of your website so the necessary information is available for search engines, and understanding what potential clients are searching for.
Benefits of Real Estate SEO
SEO is not a quick fix or a one-time strategy, but a consistent, ongoing effort. It may take a bit more upfront effort and long-term commitment, but it will be worth it in the end. The benefits of increased visibility can include the following.
Attract More Buyers and Listings
Making your website easier to find increases the odds that buyers and sellers will see it. This translates into more listings, more buyers, and a thriving real estate business.
Increase Brand Awareness
By focusing on the topics your buyers are searching for, you can increase your real estate business’s credibility by showcasing your expertise. This way, even if the user isn’t currently in the market, you’ll have a better chance of being the one they turn to when they are.
Reduce Paid Channels
Another massive benefit of “SEO ” is reducing the amount of money you spend on driving traffic through paid search ads or social media networks. In fact, according to a study by Forrester, investing in SEO can have an ROI of up to 12 times. The more you invest in “SEO, the less you’ll need to pay for paid channels, and the results will increase over time.
SEO is “Always On”
Similarly, by investing in an SEOstrategy, you can always drive traffic to your website, regardless of whether you are also investing in digital ads. This way, your website can always attract your next buyer or seller.
How to Get Started with Real Estate SEO
SEO is a long-term investment in your business. The most important step is to get started. Here are the main things you should address immediately as you refine your SEO.
strategy: 1. Conduct keyword research
Keyword research is the first, but often the most important, step to improving your real estate SEO strategy. Start by understanding how often buyers search for specific terms, how many other businesses compete for those terms, and other factors.
For example, the keyword phrase “homes for sale” is likely extremely competitive, with everyone competing for it in real estate search results.
As you append more specific search terms or target long-tail keywords, such as “homes for sale in Chelmsford, MA,” you may be able to get your website to rank higher if Google believes that your website is the best answer to the searcher’s query.
Pro Tip: consider using an SEO tool, such as Semrush or Ahrefs, when conducting keyword research. These programs provide insights into keyword difficulty and search volume. You can then better target keywords for your website.
2. Optimize your website
While Google’s algorithm continues to get smarter, it still needs help understanding exactly what a page is about. As you update your website, pay close attention to how your pages are organized using header tags, meta descriptions, and other details. Once you have incorporated more of the keywords you identified from step one, consider adding more content to your site.
This could include starting a blog, adding video content, or featuring images and infographics about buying a home in your area. All of these content types provide a clearer picture for the search engine to understand what your website is about.
Pro Tip: new to writing blogs? HubSpot’s Content Assistant leverages the power of AI to simplify writing. You can have the program generate text, create an outline to follow, or rephrase your existing writing.
3. Focus on Technical SEO
SEO is not just about writing more content and incorporating as many keywords as possible. Technical SEO refers to all the behind-the-scenes elements that search engines scan and index.
This can include optimization of your site, page speed, and mobile-friendliness. You’ll want to ensure that your images are optimized and that your pages are structured so that search engines can understand your content.
4. Monitor Progress
According to clearscope.io, it can take anywhere from one to six months and upward of 12 to rank in Google’s top 10 results. Using your analytics platform, you’ll want to track the changes you’ve made and monitor how your ranking changes over time.
As you refine your SEO strategy, you should align your website additions and updates with the goals you are trying to achieve, whether that is increased brand awareness, more homebuyers reaching out to you, or an increase in the number of listings available in your arsenal.
Best Practices for Real Estate SEO
SEO is a broad and ever-evolving discipline. It can also get very technical as you dive in. Fortunately, you can get the most benefit from your real estate SEO strategy by adopting these best practices:.
Start a blog
Most online pages, even those in the top 10 search results, are outdated. Almost 60% of pages ranking in Google’s top 10 results are two years old, if not older. Having a regularly updated blog can help improve your pages’ ranking in the SERPs. All else being equal, search engines will favor more recent content over older posts.
Keep meta descriptions fresh
43% of people click on a given result solely based on the meta description. At the same time, 25% of top-tier websites have left the meta description field blank. While this isn’t an immediate problem, as search engines will auto-generate one for you, you’re losing the opportunity to make the copy more enticing for users to click on your site.
Focus on the right keywords
When using tools like Google Search Console to understand what users are searching for, don’t focus too much on the ones with the highest volume. Often, these will be the most competitive and the hardest to rank for. Instead, lower-volume keywords that are less competitive might be a better option, as you’ll likely have a better chance of earning that coveted number one spot.
Get backlinks to your website
As part of its calculations, search engines look at how many other websites link to yours, which is called a backlink. A backlink strategy is an important part of your real estate website’s SEO, as it helps to send more organic traffic from other websites to yours. These backlinks increase your website’s authority, improving rankings over time. Backlinks are also a valuable source of referral traffic, helping to boost website visitors and ultimately leading to potential buyers or listings.
Conclusion
Investing in a real estate SEO strategy is a great way for real estate agents to increase website visibility and acquire more clients, both on the buyer and listing sides.
Through the research of keywords and optimization of your website’s back end, you can ensure your pages appear at the top of search engine results.
Investing in SEO can lead to increased sales and reduced costs on paid channels, meaning the effort you put in will be worthwhile over time.
From hubspot
Pubblicato in Digital Marketing, SEO
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