10 Real Estate SEO Tips to Implement on Your Website

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Do you want to expand your reach, boost leads, and grow your real estate agency this year? Consider developing a real estate search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. Understanding SEO for real estate agents can give you the competitive edge you are looking for.

In fact, leads from SEO are 8x more likely to become paying customers than those from ads. Meanwhile, 80% of consumers ignore paid ads completely.

Do not waste your time or money. Instead, keep reading to discover the 10 real estate SEO tips you need for success.

With these tips, you can get ahead of competitors, attract more leads, and generate more business.

Get started with these tips today.

1. Understand the Ranking Factors

Before you can develop a strong search engine optimization strategy, it helps to understand the importance of SEO.

About 75% of people do not look beyond the first page of search results. Meanwhile, results in the top five slots receive 67% of all clicks.

If you are not on the first page, you are not attracting visitors to your real estate website! Your competitors who gained those rankings and grab your leads instead.

With real estate SEO, you can:

Show off your listings
Attract more website traffic
Become a credible resource in your industry
Boost brand awareness, recognition, trust, and loyalty

In order to boost your ranking, you will need to understand how Google ranks websites on its search pages.

Search Intent

What are homebuyers looking for when they run a search through Google? Their search intent is usually either:

Information
Transactional
Commercial
Navigational
Local

For example, maybe they want to learn about a listing. Perhaps they want to read more about your experience as a real estate agent.

Either way, understanding the intent will help you create content with that intent in mind. Then, you can appear for relevant searches and attract more traffic.

Content

Google looks for high-quality, informative content when determining rankings. If people visit your website and leave without clicking around, your bounce rate will increase.

A high bounce rate can cause your ranking to drop. Instead, you need to improve your dwell time and clickthrough rate. As people click around, Google will take notice.

RankBrain

RankBrain allows Google to gather data and learn more about customers. This allows it to determine the user's search intent.

Keep your content organized using tags, categories, and parent topics to help Google understand your content.

2. Know Your Audience

If you want to set your real estate SEO strategy up for success, learn as much as you can about your customers.

Segment your broad audience into personas based on:

Age
Gender
Education
Location
Language
Household income
Marital status
Behaviors
Interests
Careers

For example, do you have more expensive listings you want to sell? Focus on a group with a higher household income. Then, create content with this audience in mind.

3. Choose Your Target Keywords

What words and phrases do your customers use in a search? You will need a list of target keywords before you start creating content. You can find keywords using:

Keyword Planner
Google Trends
Keywords Explore
Google Analytics
Ubersuggest
SEMRush
Google Search Console
Answer the Public
Ahrefs

Focus on long-tail keywords, which are more precise. Using more precise keywords will ensure you target your ideal clients.

4. Craft Wow-Worthy Content

Remember, you need content in order for your real estate website to rank on Google. Creating content with a single target keyword in mind for each post. Try different forms of content, including:

Infographics
eBooks
Polls
Quizzes
Blogs
Videos
Articles
Calculators
Lists

Make sure your brand shines through in your content. Consistent branding can boost awareness and recognition.

Videos are now the number one form of media used in content marketing strategies. They overtake blogs and infographics.

Why?

Namely, videos are easy to digest. Clients can learn about your listings in a manner of seconds instead of reading a lengthy blog. The imagery can also draw them in and spark intrigue.

Use videos to show off your listings. Consider using drone aerial footage for stunning shots from a bird's eye view.

Want to maintain social distancing guidelines? Try creating 3D tours for your listings. You can even use VR/AR technology to stand out from your competitors.

Companies like Hommati offer great resources for drone videos, 3D tours, and VR/AR technology. Their team of professionals take the video and photography footage throughout the house and edit everything to make it presentable to draw in as many potential clients as possible.

5. Improve Your On-and Off-Page SEO

When using SEO for real estate agents, do not neglect your on-and off-page SEO.

On-page SEO includes your:

Internal linking
Page speed
Title tags
Image alt text
Headings
Page structure
URL structure
Localized content

You can update these from your website. A web design or development expert can help you get started.

Off-page SEO involves items beyond your website. For example, you can generate backlinks by sharing your content on directories or social media. Guest blogging can help, too.

As you gain more backlinks, Google will take notice and boost your ranking.

6. Go Local

Local SEO allows you to focus on people in your general area.

First, update your Google My Business (GMB) listing. This listing shows homebuyers your:

Real estate agency's name
Phone number
Address
Directions to your storefront
Hours
Customer reviews
Website

Gathering customer reviews is essential. As social proof, reviews can help you boost your brand reputation and SEO ranking.

Create location-based content with your customers in mind as part of your local SEO strategy.

7. Improve Your Website

Without a strong website, your real estate SEO strategy could flatline.

Consider using user experience (UX) design trends when updating your website. You will need to make sure:

Your pages load quickly
There is negative space between your content
You use short paragraphs and sentences
Your content is organized in headings and subheadings
You are mobile-optimized
The navigation is easy to use
Your website is secure with an SSL certificate

You can work with a web design and development agency to start making these changes.

Mobile-Optimization

About 65% of customers want the most relevant information when they are completing a search from their phones. Another 70% are more likely to buy from a company that makes it easy to find answers on mobile.

In fact, 90% of smartphone users check their phones to accomplish their goals while they are out and about.

If your website is not mobile-optimized, however, you could lose these customers. Consumers are relying more on their phones. You need a mobile strategy to ensure it is easy for them to find what they need.

If customers struggle to use your mobile website, however, it could hurt your reputation.

In fact, consumers are 62% less likely to make a future purchase after having a bad experience on your website. Even a 1-second delay in page load times can hurt mobile conversions by 20%.

If you want to set your real estate website up for success, get mobile-optimized. Use Google's Mobile-Friendly Test to see if you are already good to go.

8. Promote Your Content

Now that you have started creating wow-worthy content for your real estate SEO strategy, it is time to start promoting it!

You can use email marketing to keep subscribers up-to-date about your latest posts. Make sure to add a strong call-to-action (CTA) at the end of your emails. Then, link readers to your website to find out more.

Are you trying a new form of content in light of COVID, like a virtual open house? Let people know!

You can also share your posts on social media. Though social media is not a direct ranking factor, it can help you boost traffic to your website. As you generate more traffic, Google will take notice.

Google will improve your ranking, helping you reach even more clients in the future.

Do not forget about guest blogging. Guest blogging allows you to write content on another website. Then, you can link back to your website, helping you generate more traffic.

Influencer Marketing

You can also work with an influencer in your industry to boost your traffic and real estate SEO success.

An influencer can talk about their experience working with your real estate agency. Then, they can share a link to your website in your post. Their existing audience will visit your website, helping you reach more prospects.

9. Appear for Featured Snippets

Google now displays information at the top of search pages as featured snippets. These snippets include:

Lists
Recipes
Steps
Questions/answers
Videos

You can format your content with specific featured snippets in mind.

For example, make sure to add a transcript to your YouTube videos. Add your target keyword in the transcript.

You can create lists like "The Top 10 Best Places to Live in the US" to appear for the list snippet.

Use schema markups to improve your chances of reaching this top-of-page slot.

10. Schedule Regular Audits

As you use these tips, remember: search engine optimization is never "one and done." You will need to run regular SEO audits to recognize any issues with your strategy.

For example, heavy image and video files could slow down your website. Remember, a one-second delay could impact conversions.

Regular audits will help you catch these issues before they impact your SEO rankings.

Set for Success: 10 Must-Have Real Estate SEO Strategies for 2021

Want to set your real estate agency up for success this year? Keep these 10 must-have real estate SEO tips handy. With these tips, you can boost your ranking and reach more clients!

Looking for more ways to sell more homes? Check out our innovative technology, including 3D tours and aerial videos.

Discover our free enrollment opportunities today.