Real estate can be a lucrative business set in a highly competitive industry, but the shift towards a digital landscape has made the competition fiercer than ever. There are fewer cold colds and meetings with unqualified prospects as modern clients now refer to the internet to search for their dream home.
Seeing as consumers rely on online searches in the market, incorporating a comprehensive digital marketing strategy is a must for real estate agencies who want to keep up with the demands and expectations of savvy homebuyers.
What is the Importance of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in Business?
Websites are not something you can just launch and leave once it’s out there. It doesn’t churn traffic on its own, and it needs optimization to ensure your content is relevant and helpful to your target audience.
If it is, then you have higher chances of ranking high and snagging the first-page spot on Google, Bing, or Yahoo, which is a foolproof way of attracting new visitors and increasing your conversion.
Landing the number one result in search engines can generate an average click-through-rate (CTR) of 31.7 percent while improving your ranking to reach at least the top three can increase your CTR by 30.8 percent.
Integrating various SEO tactics can improve your performance further, wherein using well-targeted keywords in your URL can already increase your CTR by 45 percent higher. That’s the power of SEO – it helps push your real estate business to the top. With that in mind, the list below explores different ways to boost your visibility using these five SEO techniques:
Tip #1: Define Basic Keyword Strategy
Realtors, brokers, and real estate agents alike are competing for a relevant set of keyword combinations in the market. Some generic phrases offer higher value as consumers are sure to use it. For instance, “houses for sale” are sure to be a hit with homebuyers, but it is not enough to get you closer to the first page in search engines.
The best way to strengthen your keyword strategy and hit all the right keywords is to segment them according to categories like the following:
- Generic Competitive Terms (Head Keywords) – As the moniker suggests, these are the common terms like “homes for sale,” “1031 exchange,” or “Miami office,” most of which your everyday consumer would likely include in their searches.
- Specific Niche Terms (Longtail Keywords) – These are generally more descriptive keywords, which is a powerful addition that can draw more traffic to your site over time. While it has lesser competition, it is an excellent strategy for generating local traffic and achieving a greater conversion rate. Think of specific words that describe your property or company, like “Boston retail brokers,” or “Houston class A office space for rent.”
- Branded Terms – These are keywords that use your company brand or property name.
Tip #2: Optimize On-Page SEO Elements
Focusing on your on-page SEO is also an essential step in ranking your real estate website as it helps search engines comprehend your site and its content. It is responsible for identifying the relevancy of your page to a searcher’s query, so utilizing these elements will list your site correctly on search results.
- Page Title – This refers to the simple description of your company and where your business operates.
- Meta Description – This describes your company in the ideal world count between 120 to 158 characters. Within the elaborate description, it should contain your geographic location and your specific services. These can include targeted keywords like tenant representation, retail brokerage, multifamily acquisition, and more.
- Optimized Images and Video Content – Adding visual aid to your website is an excellent way of boosting engagement and enhancing the appeal of your site.
However, it’s also important to label every media descriptively using their appropriate file names and ALT tags as it offers a higher CTR than traditional text results.
This means that 63 percent of people are likely to click on an image in search results, which should lead to your host website if it is optimized.
Tip #3: Write High-Quality, Unique Content on Homes You Especially Want to Sell
Keywords and other SEO tactics are just flavorings that garnish your site. The meat and heart of the dish will always be your content, so ensuring its quality will serve as the core driver for your SEO performance.
If you have any prime properties that offer a high commission if it lands a sale, you can attract visitors to your website and promote any particular property from your list by writing helpful content and matching it with images, graphics, and videos to enhance your message.
Other ways to create quality content for a CRE site is to do the following:
- In-depth company review
- Unique property descriptions
- Relevant industry reports and research
- Original news articles
- Company updates and recent transactions
Supporting your website with a responsive design also allows you to tap into different mediums – from desktop users to various forms of mobile devices.
Tip #4: Expand Your Network on Social Media
Social media has multiple platforms that real estate professionals can leverage to build their branding. Channels like Twitter, Google+, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube are excellent portals where you can directly strengthen existing relationships and interact with potential clients.
Not to mention, posting images and videos of your property listing with relevant hashtags like #budgethomes, #luxuryhomes, or even just #realestate can go a long way in improving your online prominence.
In Conclusion: Incorporating SEO to Your Real Estate Marketing Can Boost Your Online Presence and Bottom Line
Considering how 86 percent of homebuyers first look at real estate websites to gather information about their potential purchase, while 44 percent always start their home search on leading engines like Google.
However, establishing a website is only half the battle as the chances of a homebuyer finding your company and properties amid the rest of the rivalry are slim to none.
Landing on the top pages of search engines is one of the effective ways to increase your visibility, which results in more leads and opportunities to sell homes. To that end, succeeding in real estate in the digital era is only possible with real estate SEO.
We’re a digital marketing agency in St. Louis that specializes in SEO. Get in touch with us today to see how we can help!