SEO for Real Estate Investors
A simple (but effective) step-by-step guide to build a targeted SEO real estate marketing strategy.
What is SEO for real estate investors?
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of optimizing a website or web page to increase its visibility in search engines like Google and Bing.
SEO is a crucial tool for any real estate investor looking to attract more leads or clients. The higher a website ranks in search results, the greater the chance that potential buyers, sellers, or tenants will find and engage with your business.
Think of it like property maintenance for your website.
Just as regular maintenance keeps a property in top shape, SEO ensures your website is “healthy” in the eyes of search engines. This helps your website get more visibility, which in turn leads to more traffic and potential investment opportunities.
Did you know?
- 99% of people use the internet to search for local businesses. (Source: BrightLocal)
- Consumer use of Google to evaluate local businesses has leapt from 63% in 2020 to 81% in 2021. (Source: BrightLocal)
- Mobile devices are used for over 50% of all online searches. (Source: Statista)
A person searching for real estate investment opportunities on Google may use a search query like “investment properties near me” or “best real estate investments in [city name]”.
They may search for specific types of investments such as “buy-to-let properties”, “fix and flip homes”, or “multi-family rental properties”. Or they may even include financial details in the search query such as “high ROI rental properties in [city name]” or “foreclosed homes for sale”.
In order to benefit from SEO, you want your website to rank for these kinds of searches.
Why is real estate investor SEO important?
Here are some of the benefits of using SEO for your real estate agency:
- Increased visibility: SEO helps increase the visibility of your real estate website on search engines, making it more likely that potential buyers, sellers, or tenants will find you when searching for real estate services or properties.
- Cost-effective: Compared to traditional advertising methods like print, billboards, or TV ads, SEO can be a more cost-effective way to reach your target audience. It focuses on bringing organic traffic to your site without recurring advertising costs.
- Targeted audience: SEO allows real estate investors to target specific keywords related to the types of properties they invest in, whether residential, commercial, or rental. This ensures that your website attracts the right kind of potential clients or sellers.
- Local SEO: Local SEO helps increase your website’s visibility for people searching for properties or investment opportunities within a specific geographic location. This is especially beneficial for real estate investors, as it allows you to target people in the areas where you operate.
- Building trust: SEO can help your real estate website establish trust and authority with both search engines and potential clients by providing high-quality, relevant content. This can enhance your reputation as a knowledgeable and reliable investor, attracting more business and long-term relationships in the community.
Don’t forget!
Real estate investors must comply with various regulations, such as Fair Housing Act (FHA), Truth in Advertising laws, and local zoning laws. Therefore, it’s crucial that the SEO strategies and tactics used by real estate investors align with these compliance requirements while effectively reaching their target audiences. This ensures that marketing efforts remain ethical, transparent, and legally sound while attracting potential clients or investment opportunities.
How do search engines work?
Search engines work by crawling billions of webpages with their own web crawlers, known as search engine bots or spiders. These are then stored and saved in an index.
Google Search Essentials (formerly Webmaster Guidelines)
The Google Search Essentials define the actions that webmasters can take to make their websites better indexable or crawlable.
Read them here: Official Google Guidelines
The guidelines are based on three central aspects:
- Crawling – webmasters should support Google in finding websites.
- Indexing – webmasters should help Google to classify and “recognize” the content.
- Usability and user experience – webmasters should support the users of the websites in their use (usability and user experience).
Essentially, according to these Google guidelines, a website should support the search engine in crawling and indexing and ensure a good user experience.
Before you get started with SEO, there are a few prerequisites you want to check off first:
SEO Basics
At a bare minimum, you want to make sure you cover these basic standards before embarking on doing SEO:
- Website Speed – Have a fast loading site so potential customers don’t get tired of waiting for things to load.
- Mobile Friendliness – Make sure your site works on mobile as over 50% of users browse on mobile devices
- Analytics – Setup Google Analytics, Google Search Console & so you can understand what is and isn’t working.
- XML Sitemap – search engines use this to get your site’s URLs
- Robots.txt – tells search engine crawlers where they can (and where they can’t go) on your site.
Technical SEO
Technical SEO is the process of making website and server optimizations to help search engines to crawl and index your site more effectively (and therefore help to improve organic rankings).
Technical errors can hurt a website’s ability to rank. There are potentially a lot of errors, but here are some of the most common that will have the biggest impact when fixed:
- 404 errors
- Broken backlinks
- Poor URL structure
- Duplicate/thin content
- Poor internal linking
- Poor website architecture
- Missing metadata (page titles & meta descriptions)
- Missing H1 tags
Reach more clients with real estate SEO services
What is keyword research?
Keyword research is the process of identifying the words and phrases that people use when searching for specific products or services:
Once you understand the keywords your target audience is using, you can optimize your website to appear for these in search results.
Think of keyword research like a diagnostic tool for your real estate business. Keyword research helps you understand what potential buyers, sellers, or renters are searching for when looking for real estate services.
For example, if people are frequently searching for “investment properties in [city name]” or “best rental properties near [location],” this insight allows you to optimize your website content to target those specific terms. By doing so, your website can appear higher in search results when potential clients use those keywords, helping you attract more business and investment opportunities.
Why is keyword research important?
Keyword research is important for real estate investors because it helps to:
- understand what people are searching for when they are looking for real estate services, and to optimize their website accordingly.
- identify the specific needs and pain points of their target audience, which can inform the content they create and services they offer, ultimately leading to more conversion and better client experience.
- identify the competition in the local area and understand what they are doing, so they can create a more effective SEO strategy.
What keywords are best to target?
Understand that there’s no “best” keywords, just those that are highly searched by your audience. With this in mind, it’s up to you to craft a strategy that will help you rank pages and drive traffic.
The best keywords for your SEO strategy will take into account relevance, authority, and volume. You want to find highly searched keywords that you can reasonably compete for based on:
- The level of competition you’re up against.
- Your ability to produce content that exceeds in quality what’s currently ranking.
Short tail keywords are broad, general keywords that are made up of one or two words:
- Real estate
- Investment properties
- Homes for sale
- Rental properties
- Commercial real estate
Whereas long tail keywords are more specific and longer phrases that are made up of multiple words:
- Best investment properties in [city name]
- Affordable rental homes near [location]
- Commercial real estate for sale in [city name]
- Properties for sale in [neighborhood name] for investors
- How to buy investment properties with little money down
How to do keyword research for your real estate agency
To start keyword research: put yourself in your customers shoes.
What words, phrases and terms might they use in order to find solutions to these problems? These are the keywords you want to find and target.
Here is a simple process to follow:
Step 1) Make a list of broad topics
Create a list of general topics related to your business. These might correspond to product categories, services or anything you believe your target audience would be interested in.
For example, broad topics like:
- Real Estate Investment Strategies
- Property Flipping Tips
- Rental Property Management
- Commercial Real Estate Investment
- How to Finance Real Estate Investments
Step 2) Expand topics into a list of phrases
Now you want to take those topics and expand them into a list of related phrases to target.
Imagine yourself as a buyer looking for your product or service and ask yourself: what would I type into Google?
Whilst keyword research tools are useful here, you can do this for free by Googling your keyword.
For example, Google “real estate investing strategies” and you’ll get a list of related questions people ask (which you can answer with blog content).
As well as related searches which may uncover other keywords to target:
Step 3) Analyze your keywords
Once you have a list of potential keywords, you need to gauge which terms are worth targeting.
You’ll need to use a keyword research tool here to pay attention to the following keyword metrics:
- Search volume
- Trends
- Search value over time
- Difficulty
- CPC
- SERP features
But most importantly, you want to consider relevancy and search intent:
Relevant keywords:
For relevancy, you want to ask yourself:
- Are these keywords relevant to my business?
- Do I have a chance of ranking for these terms based on the competition?
- Is ranking for these keywords going to have a positive ROI?
If you can answer YES to the above questions, chances are you have picked a relevant keyword
Search intent:
Search intent is the goal and purpose of a search query in Google. When someone searches for something, they are typically looking for more information before performing an action.
Search intent falls in four buckets:
- Informational – Searchers looking for information, they’ll use words like: how, what, why, when etc.
- Navigational – Searchers trying to find a specific site, they’ll use words relating to the service/product/brand
- Transactional – Searchers looking to purchase, they’ll use words like: buy, cost, pricing, cheap etc.
- Commercial investigation – Searchers researching prior to making a purchase, they’ll use words like: best, review, comparison etc
Not only is it important to select good keywords, but also to pick keywords you have a chance of ranking for.
For example, if you want to rank for the keyword “Best Strategies for Real Estate Investing” but your page doesn’t include actionable investment strategies, you’re not fully meeting the searcher’s intent and may struggle to rank for it.
Find profitable real estate investor keywords
What is on-page SEO?
On-page SEO describes specific elements of the pages on your website that you control, such as:
- Title tags
- Meta descriptions
- Header tags
- Internal linking
- Images
- Content
Why is on-page SEO important?
On-page SEO is important for real estate investors because it ensures that their website is easily found and understood by search engines, which can increase visibility and drive more traffic to the site. This ultimately leads to more leads, buyers, or renters.
For example, if a real estate investor focuses on a specific type of property, like “luxury homes in [city name]” but that term is not mentioned on the website or is poorly optimized, the website will be less likely to appear in search results when someone searches for that term. However, if the investor has optimized their website with “luxury homes in [city name]” as a target keyword, the site will be more likely to appear in search results, attracting individuals looking for those properties.
Additionally, on-page optimization can improve the overall user experience, which leads to higher engagement and conversion rates. A well-organized and easy-to-navigate website with clear calls to action, such as “Schedule a Showing” or “Contact for Investment Opportunities,” will be more likely to convert visitors into clients or investors.
On-Page SEO Checklist
- Use short & descriptive URLs – this helps people searching to understand what your page is about in Google.
- Write a good title tag & meta description – these show up in Google and help searchers understand what your page is about.
- Linking to relevant resources – this helps users to navigate your website.
- Optimize your images – give them a descriptive filename and alt text.
- Add schema markup – this helps search engines to understand your content
- Add internal links – these help Google understand what your page is about and to navigate your website.
Get actionable insights into your real estate investor SEO
What is off-page SEO?
Off-page SEO refers to specific actions done outside of your website, such as getting backlinks from other websites or social media.
What is link building?
Link building is the practice of building one-way hyperlinks (also known as “backlinks”) to a website with the goal of improving SEO. Common link building strategies include content marketing, building useful tools, email outreach, broken link building and guest posts.
Why is link building important?
Link building is important for real estate investors because it helps to increase the visibility of a website on search engines. Google, for example, use links to a website as a way to determine the authority and trustworthiness of a website.
The more high-quality links that point to a website, the more likely it is to be considered an authority in its field and be given higher rankings in the SERPs (search engine results page).
This increased visibility can drive more traffic to a website, which can lead to more clients for the real estate agency.
Link Building Tactics:
- Guest posts (either DIY it or use a done-for-you guest post service)
- Buying backlinks (like authority links)
- Content marketing (like linkable assets or editorial links)
- Tried and tested SEO methods (like blogger outreach, broken link building
- Using what you’ve got (link reclamation and brand mentions)
Additionally, link building can help establish a real estate investment business as a reputable and trustworthy provider, which is crucial for attracting new clients, buyers, or investors. High-quality links from reputable websites in the real estate industry can signal to potential clients that your business is well-respected and knowledgeable.
Link building can also drive referral traffic to your website, where visitors are directed to your site through a link on another website. This can help increase brand awareness and expand your reach to new audiences who may not have otherwise found your real estate business.
In summary, link building is important for real estate investors because it boosts visibility, enhances reputation and trust, and drives more referral traffic to your website, ultimately leading to more business and investment opportunities.
Get high quality backlinks
Real Estate Investor SEO Best Practices (+ 4 Tips)
- Use HTTPs (SSL certificates)
- Make sure your web site pages load fast
- Target a relevant topic that has traffic potential
- Meet search intent
- Target a topic you can compete for
- Use your target keyword in your page title, H1 tag and URL
- Use a short (but descriptive) URL
- Write a good title tag and meta description
- Optimize your images
- Write good content
- Add internal links
- Get more quality backlinks
4 Actionable Real Estate Investor SEO Tips
Here are some things you can do to begin the process of developing a good real estate investor marketing strategy.
- Add relevant keywords
- Optimize for local searches
- Start blogging
- Earn links
1. Add relevant keywords to your website
People looking for real estate services often search for specific needs or properties, and long-tail keywords typically have fewer searches but attract highly targeted traffic that is more likely to convert into clients or investors.
For example, instead of just optimizing your website for broad terms like “real estate” or “property investment,” you could focus on more specific keywords like “investment properties in [your city],” “luxury homes for sale in [neighborhood],” or “commercial real estate in [state].” These long-tail keywords help attract individuals actively searching for the exact type of properties or services you offer, making them more likely to engage with your business.
2. Optimize your site for local searches
If your SEO plan doesn’t use local SEO to target specific areas, you’ll likely miss out on some great leads. Adding the name of your town and nearby towns to your website copy is the easiest way to get better results.
But don’t forget about things on your site besides writing copy. You should also add places to the titles and URLs of your pages.
Also, make sure that your business is listed on Google Maps and local directory sites. This will help your business show up more in local searches.
3. Start writing useful content
The main goal of real estate SEO is to get more clients by making your website more visible in Google.
One way to do this is by writing a blog. If you write a blog with tips on real estate investment, property management, or market trends, you’ll start attracting interested readers and potential clients. As your traffic grows, so will your search rankings, and people looking for real estate investment opportunities in your area will begin to see you as a reliable and knowledgeable source. By consistently providing valuable content, you can establish yourself as an authority in the real estate market, leading to more business and opportunities.
4. Earn quality links
How high your site ranks in search results for keywords and phrases related to your business depends on how many and how good the links are to it. This means that you need to get good links if you want to keep your rankings.
You can do this by making good content and reaching out to bloggers and leaders in your field to ask them to share it. This will not only help you move up in search results, but it will also make your real estate investor agency look like a leader in the field.
Backlinks are a very important part of SEO for real estate investors. They are like a vote of confidence for the content you put out. Because of this, links are one of the most important ways that search engines like Google decide how to rank pages.
- Not doing enough keyword research
- Not matching user/search intent
- Targeting keywords that are far too difficult
- Not building enough quality backlinks
- Breaking Google’s Terms of Service when building backlinks
- Missing out on internal link opportunities
- Not allowing Google crawl your content
- Not allowing Google index your content
- Having a very slow site
- Treating SEO as a one-time thing
How does real estate SEO work?
SEO for real estate investors means making sure that your website is optimized for both search engines and users. This makes your website more visible in relevant and organic search results.
Optimizations include:
- on-page SEO
- link building
- technical SEO review
- content audit
- local citation audit
Why does real estate need marketing?
It helps you set your business apart.
Your clients—whether they are buyers, sellers, or investors—are your customers. A well-crafted marketing plan not only helps you identify your target market but also helps potential clients understand why they should choose your real estate services.
A good real estate marketing strategy should attract new clients, retain existing ones, and increase awareness of your offerings. The main goal is to get prospective buyers or sellers to reach out, schedule a consultation, or inquire about investment opportunities. Effective marketing can help you build a strong reputation, attract more leads, and close more deals.
How long does real estate SEO take?
Typically, real estate investor SEO takes at least six months to deliver results.
In some cases, real estate investors may start to see results like increased traffic, phone calls, and appointments, in faster time frame than this.
Although typically 6 months is a good benchmark as SEO is a long-term strategy vs. a short-term strategy like PPC.
How much does SEO for real estate investors cost?
Prices for real estate investor website SEO depend on multiple factors, but the average cost for real estate SEO is $1500 – $5000 per month.
If you’re looking to partner with a consultant or real estate SEO expert, the average rate is $100 – $300 per hour.
What’s Next?
Guest Posts
We do guest posts better than anyone else with complete transparency. You get to approve all placements before they’re made and even the exact anchor text that’s going to be used. Site owners themselves will produce your content to guarantee its a perfect match.
Content
Crafting the right message isn’t just a matter of choosing the right words. We develop site content and blogs using the latest tools to determine the right keywords and balance of terms to build high-performing content.
Managed SEO
Sometimes, it takes more than just one service to make a difference. Multiple services working in concert can amplify the effect and create the growth that’s evaded you in the past. Talk to us about managed SEO campaigns built around any of your goals.
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