SEO for Realtors
A simple (but effective) step-by-step guide to build a targeted SEO realtor marketing strategy.
What is SEO for realtors?
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of optimizing a website or web page to improve its visibility on search engines like Google and Bing.
SEO is essential for any realtor or real estate business owner looking to attract more clients, as the higher your website ranks in search results, the greater the likelihood that potential buyers or sellers will visit your site.
Think of SEO like property maintenance for your website.
Just as maintaining a property ensures it is appealing and in good condition, SEO ensures your website is ‘healthy’—making it easier for search engines to find, rank, and direct more traffic to your site.
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 a realtor on Google may use a search query like “real estate agent near me” or “best realtor in [city name]”.
They may search for specific services such as “first-time homebuyer realtor” or “luxury real estate agent”. Or they may even include their specific needs in the search query, such as “realtor who specializes in investment properties in [city name]” or “Spanish-speaking real estate agent near me”.
In order to benefit from SEO, you want your website to rank for these kinds of searches.
Why is real estate SEO important?
Here are some of the key benefits of using SEO for your real estate business:
- Increased visibility: SEO boosts your website’s visibility on search engines, making it more likely that potential buyers or sellers will find you when searching for real estate services.
- Cost-effective: Compared to traditional advertising methods like print or TV ads, SEO is a more cost-effective strategy to reach new clients and build your real estate brand.
- Targeted audience: SEO allows you to target specific keywords relevant to your properties, services, and market. This ensures you’re reaching the right audience interested in your listings.
- Local SEO: Local SEO improves your website’s visibility for users searching for real estate services within a specific geographic area. This is especially crucial for realtors, as it allows you to connect with clients looking for properties in your local market.
- Building trust: SEO can help establish trust and authority by optimizing your website with high-quality, relevant content. This increases your chances of attracting new clients and helps you build a reputable presence within your community.
Don’t forget!
Realtor businesses must comply with regulations such as the Fair Housing Act and state-specific real estate laws. SEO strategies and marketing tactics should align with these regulations to ensure compliance while effectively reaching potential clients.
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 realtor 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.
Keyword research is like a diagnostic test for your real estate website. It helps you understand what potential buyers or sellers are searching for online when looking for real estate services.
For example, if people are frequently searching for “homes for sale in [city name]” or “top real estate agents in [area],” targeting these keywords in your website content can help it appear higher in search results, attracting more leads who are interested in the services you offer.
Why is keyword research important?
Keyword research is important for realtors 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
- Homes for sale
- Property listings
- Buy house
- Real estate agent
Whereas long tail keywords are more specific and longer phrases that are made up of multiple words:
- Homes for sale in [city name]
- Best real estate agents near me
- Luxury properties in [neighborhood name]
- First-time home-buyer tips in [area]
- Affordable homes for sale in [zip code]
How to do keyword research for your realtor business
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:
- Home Buying Tips
- Real Estate Market Trends
- Luxury Real Estate
- First-Time Homebuyers
- Home Staging Tips
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 “buying a home in [city name]” or “best neighborhoods in [city name]”, 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 “First-Time Homebuyer Checklist”, but your page doesn’t actually include a checklist, you are not meeting a searcher’s intent and may struggle to rank for it.
Find profitable real estate 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 realtors because it helps ensure that their website is easily found and understood by search engines, which can increase visibility and attract more potential clients.
For example, if a realtor specializes in a certain neighborhood or property type, and those keywords are not mentioned on the website or not prominently featured, it will be less likely for the site to appear in search results when someone searches for those terms. However, if the realtor has optimized their website with relevant keywords, such as “homes for sale in [neighborhood name]” or “luxury real estate in [city],” the website is more likely to appear in search results, attracting clients interested in those services.
Additionally, on-page optimization can improve the overall user experience of a website, leading to higher engagement and conversion rates. For instance, having a well-organized, easy-to-navigate website with clear calls to action like “Contact an Agent” or “View Listings” will be more likely to convert visitors into clients.
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 realtor business 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 realtors 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 business.
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 realtor business as a reputable and trustworthy provider of real estate services, which can be a key factor in attracting new clients. High-quality links from reputable websites in the real estate industry can signal to potential clients that a realtor is well-respected and established in the field.
Link building can also help increase referral traffic to a 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 website.
In summary, link building is important for realtors because it helps increase visibility, build reputation and trust, and drive more referral traffic to your website, ultimately leading to more clients.
Get high quality backlinks
Realtor 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 Realtor SEO Tips
Here are some things your business can do to begin the process of developing a good realtor 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, such as homes in a particular neighborhood or properties with certain features. Long-tail searches typically have fewer searches but can attract highly targeted traffic that’s ready to convert into clients.
For example, instead of just focusing on optimizing your website for “real estate” or “homes for sale,” you could target keywords like “homes for sale in [your city]” or “luxury homes in [neighborhood]” or “first-time home buyer agents in [your area]” to better attract the right audience.
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 realtor 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 create a blog with helpful tips on topics like “how to buy your first home” or “how to sell a house quickly,” you’ll attract interested readers and potential clients. As your traffic grows, so will your search rankings, and people searching for real estate services in your area will turn to you as a trusted and knowledgeable source.
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 business look like a leader in the field.
Backlinks are a very important part of SEO for realtors. 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 realtor SEO work?
SEO for realtors 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 do realtors need marketing?
It helps you stand out in a competitive market.
Your clients are your customers. A marketing plan not only helps you find your target audience but also helps potential clients understand why they should choose you as their real estate agent.
A good real estate marketing strategy should attract new clients, retain existing ones, and increase awareness of your services. The main goal is to get potential buyers or sellers to contact you or schedule a consultation.
How long does real estate SEO take?
Typically, realtor SEO takes at least six months to deliver results.
In some cases, businesses 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 realtors cost?
Prices for real estate website SEO depend on multiple factors, but the average cost for realtor 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.
Too busy running your realtor business to do SEO?
Grow your business with a monthly SEO package focused on building quality backlinks to your highest priority pages.
