Over 90% of people visit websites when searching for homes. If your real estate listings don’t appear for relevant searches, there’s a chance buyers aren’t finding you online. Real estate search engine optimization (SEO) can help your organic rankings rise to the top of the page.
Not sure how to start using real estate SEO? Here are 10 essential tips that can help boost your rankings.
With a strong real estate SEO strategy, your business will grow. Get started with these tips today.
1. Research Your Readers
Google looks for content that matches the user’s search intent. Recognizing their intent can help you determine what the reader needs. Then, you can create content that aligns with their intent to appear for relevant searches.
If you create content without gathering research first, visitors might leave your site without exploring additional pages. As people leave, your bounce rate will increase. As a result, your organic rankings might drop.
Instead, define your target audience based on demographic and psychographic details like:
- Age
- Gender
- Location
- Marital status
- Income
- Career
- Buying behaviors
- Online behaviors
- Interests
- Hobbies
- Pain points
If you’re targeting different consumer groups, create buyer personas. Then, gather keyword research for each group. Your list of real estate SEO keywords will inform your content marketing strategy.
Look for long-tail keywords. These search terms feature four or more words within a phrase. While these keywords are niche, they’re less competitive, which can help you boost your rankings.
You’ll also have an easier time understanding the user’s intent.
Consider completing a competitor analysis as well. Determine what keywords competing real estate companies are ranking for. Look at the type of content they’re publishing and how they structure their pages, too.
A competitor analysis will help you learn from their successes and failures.
2. Update Your Website
Before using the rest of these tips, complete a full real estate SEO audit. Auditing your website can help you recognize issues that are affecting your rankings.
First, determine:
- If your site is ranking locally
- Where you’re generating organic traffic from
- Which blog posts generate the most traffic
- If you’re converting visitors into leads
- Where people most often convert
Next, take a look at your site structure, including your XML sitemap, robots.txt, and redirects. If you have any broken links, make sure they redirect visitors to the proper page. Otherwise, link errors can hurt the user experience (UX).
A negative UX will cause visitors to leave, leading to a higher bounce rate.
Use the Mobile-Friendly Test and PageSpeed Insights tool to make sure your site is mobile-optimized and fast. Google will review these metrics before determining your rankings.
3. Optimize Your Listing
Claim and optimize your Google Business listing to appear in front of more local homebuyers. Your listing should display your:
- Business name
- Category/subcategory
- Hours
- Website
- Phone number
- Address/directions
- Customer reviews
- Recent posts
- Photos and videos
- FAQs
Make sure the information that appears on your listing matches what appears on your website (including abbreviations).
Ask your clients to post their reviews on your listing to boost your brand’s reputation. Try posting updates and photos throughout the year, too. Keep your listing full of fresh content to strengthen your local SEO strategy.
4. Create Compelling Content
Use your real estate SEO keywords to create helpful, engaging content for your readers.
Diversify the content you create! Try articles, eBooks, polls, quizzes, and video content. End each blog post with a call to action to generate more conversions.
Make sure to choose a keyword before you start writing. Don’t stuff the keyword into the post after it’s already written. The target keyword should appear in the:
- URL
- Page title
- Opening and closing paragraphs
- Body text
- SEO title and meta description
- Image file name and alt text
- A header
Add secondary keywords throughout the content to avoid keyword stuffing.
Use internal links to send readers to other pages on your website (like your listings). Use external links to reference studies, data, or other resources.
5. Add EAT
When writing your SEO blog content, focus on EAT: expertise, authority, and trustworthiness.
Infusing your content with EAT can help boost your brand’s credibility. People might feel more inclined to trust your real estate business.
6. Appeal to Trends
Google’s search engine algorithm updates 500 to 600 times a year. Keep up with the latest SEO trends to remain relevant. For example:
- Voice search
- Image search
- Video content
- Featured snippets
- Artificial intelligence
If you’re struggling to keep up, work with an SEO marketing agency. They can keep your real estate SEO strategy relevant, ensuring your rankings rise.
7. Promote Your Posts
Once you begin creating blog content, share it!
Add a lead magnet to your website to generate email subscribers. Then, send a weekly newsletter featuring your latest blog posts. Create a content calendar to make sure you’re posting content throughout the year.
Share your posts on social media, too. As people begin commenting, respond to boost engagement. Social media marketing can boost your exposure, brand authority, and website traffic.
8. Use Structured Data Markup
Structured data markup (schema) can help Google better understand your website content. It can also help you appear for featured snippets, which appear at the top of search engine result pages.
Try using:
- RealEstateAgent
- WebPage
- SearchResultsPage
- Residence
- PostalAddress
- RentAction
- Place
- Product
- Offer
You can work with an SEO agency to ensure the proper schema is added to your website.
9. Analyze and Adjust
Once you begin using these tips, use Google Analytics to review the data from your efforts.
Determine which topics generate the most traffic. Consider the content format you used, too. Otherwise, determine where you’re generating backlinks from.
Backlinks can boost your domain authority and organic rankings.
Then, make adjustments to your real estate SEO strategy over time.
10. Hire an Agency
You don’t have to apply these SEO tips alone. Instead, consider working with an SEO marketing agency this year.
With help, you can improve your rankings while focusing on what matters most: your clients!
Boost Your Real Estate SEO Rankings Today
A strong real estate SEO marketing strategy can boost your rankings, allowing you to reach new clients. Use these 10 easy tips to get started. Otherwise, consider partnering with an agency.
With help, you can improve your rankings without stress!
Eager to get started? We can’t wait to help.
Contact us today to learn more.
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