Most people think that real estate is a type of profession that is best carried out face to face. But in today’s online era, more than 90% of people look on the internet whenever they are looking to buy a new property. This is where real estate SEO steps in.
For almost every blog related to digital marketing out there, one will find Search Engine Optimization to be a key element for any online advertising strategy. We are currently living in a world that is dominated by digital elements. The modern world is dependent on the internet for a question as simple as “Where is the nearest coffee place in my location?”
Search engines have been the backbone for online searching. Looking at the enormous amount of information that is available on the internet today, search engines act as filters where they weed out all the irrelevant information and provide the user with the information related to the keyword they typed in.
Search engine optimization is the single most efficient way to be discovered online. Being a core component of a successful digital marketing plan, a business should make it a point to have a search engine optimized website, irrespective of their size or industry, to be able to rank higher up in the search engines. It helps a business get increased organic traffic on their website, which in turn makes it easier to boost brand awareness by an effective lead generation that increases the sales conversions of a business.
What is Real Estate SEO?
It is pretty clear by now that SEO is essential to have visibility on your website and be seen by potential customers. The same case applies for real estate, the website needs to be seen by potential buyers or tenants, by ranking foremost than all your competitors.
Real estate SEO is nothing but applying the SEO tactics to your real estate website by concentrating more on local SEO as this type of SEO solely depends on the location where one is looking to buy or sell a property online.
SEO marketing for real estate is very crucial for a realtor to stand out in the industry and for people to know more about it by searching online and finding them at a higher rank on the SERPs. The aim is to create brand awareness by being visible online so that more people come across your website which intrigues them to find more about you and contact you by becoming potential leads.
Before we proceed any further, an important question arises, “Is real estate SEO that necessary for my business?”
We have got the answer right here.
Why is Real Estate SEO important for your business?
Here are some of the reasons why every real estate professional needs to start using real estate SEO for their business to flourish:
Lead Generation
SEO is one of the most effective ways to escalate the client base of a real estate company, implying a surge in sales and revenue. Once you start implementing a well-devised SEO strategy, you will notice an increase in the number of leads generated as you will be reaching a higher number of audiences who will visit your website. This is what SEO does, rank you higher in the results pages so that your brand gets an increased exposure, which leads to more traffic and eventually, more sales.
Brand Awareness
SEO not only increases the number of customers, but it also provides you with brand awareness for your business, as more people visit it and then talk about it with their family or peers. If your website ranks higher in search results related to real estate, it institutes your brand as a prominent brand in the industry and is widely recognized.
Cost-Effectiveness
Using strategies that are the most result-driven and are not very expensive is the main objective of a business to increase its profits. SEO is more effective than any other traditional marketing channel and costs less as well.
We hope that by now you have sufficient information to understand how important SEO is for any real estate business. Now we come to the most important part:
How do I optimize my Real Estate Website?
- Conduct keyword research
Keyword research has proven to be one of the most important ranking factors for real estate SEO. Keywords play an important role in deciding the type of content you post on your website. One needs to conduct a study on their target audiences and understand what they are looking for when it comes to searching for real estate online. Ensure that you have relevant pages dedicated to those specific words that users are looking for. Your keywords should be relatable to the needs of the local market in your area and be visible on certain pages of your website like blog posts, landing pages, page titles, etc.
The keywords you select for your website should drive more organic traffic for the real estate-based queries people usually look for so that your real estate website can appear in front of more people and thus, get more engagement.
- Local SEO
For the real estate industry, local SEO is a highly recommended tip to be followed to promote your business for a specific location. Local SEO is necessary as you might be selling or leasing your properties in certain locations. Hence, you can increase your visibility by adapting certain local SEO tactics. In order to rank higher in local SEO you need to ensure of the following:
- The creation of Google My Business Listing is crucial for boosting your visibility online. You need to mention all the important details like address, contact details, working hours, etc.
- You have to ensure that your NAP information (Name, address, phone number) is present on your website so that people can reach out to you to know about your business and your real estate offerings.
- Getting citations in local directories and online reviews from existing customers also plays an important part in ranking higher on search engines.
- Content Creation
Creating content that is unique, informative, and engaging is a great way for a website to rank for real estate-based searches. You need to curate content that is targeted towards your particular location and needs to be updated regularly like new properties, their descriptions, and recent listing. All these topics work towards getting a higher position in search engine results.
- Mobile-friendliness
More and more internet users are shifting towards a new paradigm called mobile searches. Statistics depict that approximately 70% of users looking for real estate properties use their smartphones to conduct online searches. Having a mobile-friendly website is a key factor in determining the search rankings for any website in today’s time. Potential buyers of properties mostly visit real estate websites to find out more information about a property listing, comparing the features ad prices of various properties, contacting brokers, and read reviews about a particular property or a company they are thinking of working with. These uses prove that a mobile responsive website is necessary for real estate SEO.
- Internal linking
Backlinking is another significant component of an SEO strategy. Comprising backlinks in your real estate website allows search engines to find your posts and makes your site visitors stay for a longer duration on your website. It also helps the search engines to determine that your website contains relevant, original information, thus increasing the chances of you ranking higher on the search engines.
Optimizing a website with real estate SEO makes sure that your target audiences can easily find you online. Having a website that contains relevant content, and is optimized for local SEO increases your chances to rank higher in the SERPs, making you a market leader in the real estate industry. Real estate SEO is not something that just comes to you. One needs to have a professional, expert team in the segment that provides them with the best SEO techniques that not only take care of the technical aspect of your website but also guarantee increased sales conversions. Banyanbrain is a digital marketing agency that offers real estate SEO and more, as we have a deep understanding of the industry and work towards providing results.
