SEO for Real Estate

This is a real life example of a realtor’s brand new website using our real estate SEO services to help them grow their business. Using social media and a few Google ads to launch the website, the website’s organic traffic continues to grow (without paid ads) and even remain steady even when external factors such as interest rates or unemployment rates can negatively impact end-user behaviour.

By using search engine optimization, this real estate website generates anywhere from 10-20 leads per month and trending higher. These generated leads have high intent and are focused on the realtor’s local real estate market. The leads fall into 3 categories:

• Purchase or sale
• Rental
• General inquiry

Regardless of what category the lead belongs to, the realtor now has the added benefit growing their email list.

Email marketing is another important tool in the real estate’s toolbox. Leads used in email marketing are excellent not only for nurturing but also conversion. According to Mailerlite, their email marketing benchmarks show that real estate has one of the highest open rates at just over 40.1%. 

Real Tip: Use your email list to promote another listing or property

Source: Mailerlite 2024 Email Marketing Industry Benchmarks

1. Be Local – Location, Location, Location

Establish a strong presence in your local market by emphasizing city-specific keywords and demonstrating your knowledge of neighborhood trends and businesses to engage potential buyers and sellers. Successful real estate SEO demands a targeted approach

2. Research Your Competition

Uncover the SEO strategies and services of your competitors to gain a competitive advantage in local searches and establish yourself as the leading real estate company in your area. Understanding your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses on their website is crucial for this endeavor.

3. Understand Your Audience

Craft content tailored to your ideal buyer persona to resonate with their needs and convert them into loyal customers. This builds trust and rapport before they even contact you.

4. Keyword Research is Must

Understand what your local audience searches for to optimize your website and attract qualified leads ready to buy or sell. More than this, understanding which keywords are attainable based on search volume and competition can help you rank faster by using specific SEO tools.

5. Long-tail Keywords – Beyond the basics

Go beyond basic keyword data! Long-tail keywords like “first-time homebuyer checklist in [City, State]” help you target specific buyer needs and rank higher in local searches. While more niche, they are typically less competitive.

6. Create Compelling Content

Craft informative and engaging content by blogging about your local market to attract potential clients searching for real estate expertise. Be the expert in your local market.

7. Optimize Titles & Meta Descriptions

For every page, include relevant keywords and location details in your titles and descriptions to improve local search ranking and click-through rates.

8. Useful Headings & Subheadings

Structure your content with clear headings (including your target keywords) for better readability in SEO results and to signal relevance to search engines.

10. Optimize Your Media

Use high-quality images and videos relevant to your local area, and incorporate local keywords in the alt text descriptions to help with SEO.

11. Realtime Property Listings

Utilize live property listings with IDX or DDF technologies to maintain engagement with your local audience through the latest listings, property features, and position yourself as a reliable source in their home purchasing process.

12. Internal Linking

Link to other relevant pages on your website that target local keywords to improve user experience and search engine ranking.

13. Mobile-Friendly Design

According to 2024 Statcounter GlobalStats, 44.62% in the US and 41.78% in Canada use mobile devices to browse and search the internet. Ensure your website supports responsive design and provides a seamless experience on mobile devices to not only capture traffic but improve brand awareness.

14. Fast Loading Speed

According to Google, faster websites create happy users when compare to slow site speeds. Prioritize website speed with efficient coding and image optimization to keep visitors engaged and improve local SEO.

15. Website Audit – Mind the Gaps

Identify technical issues and optimize your website’s structure for local search engines is critical to make sure that you have all your bases covered for your website.

16. Optimize Schema – Structure Data Markup

Help search engines understand your website with richer information about your local real estate listings and business to enhance visibility using real estate SEO schema.

17. XML Sitemaps – Website Guide

Provide a roadmap for search engines to help them easily crawl and index all your website pages, improving local SEO reach. Get your website into Google’s index faster.

18. Mobile Indexing

Google places a strong emphasis on the mobile experience. Ensure your website prioritizes mobile devices for optimal local search results.

19. Secure Your Site – Build Trust Online

You already know that 99% of homebuyers use the internet to find homes online. Build trust with potential clients and improve local SEO ranking with a secure website (HTTPS) before meeting them. 

20. Blog Consistently

Establish yourself as a local expert by consistently publishing informative blog posts relevant to your market such as local events, attractions and neighbourhood guides. Set yourself apart from your competition online.

21. Be Interesting

Offer a variety of content formats like blog posts, local videos, and infographics to engage your local audience.

22. Integrate Social Media

Support your local content and expertise on social media platforms such as Instagram, Tiktok and Facebook for wider reach.

23. Get Engaged Locally

Participate in online forums and discussions as well as in-person events related to your local area to showcase expertise and attract leads to your real estate listings.

24. Build Backlinks

With a firmly established local presence and brand, earn links from reputable local websites to boost your authority and local SEO ranking.

25. Integrate Analytics

Understand your marketing efforts by tracking data such as website traffic, keyword performance, and user behavior with analytics tools to optimize your local SEO strategy.

26. Understand User Behavior

Analyzing user behavior by using heatmaps on your real estate website is vital for improvements. By tracking interactions, you can enhance user experience and boost organic SEO rankings. Understanding user behavior allows targeted optimizations for a more engaging site.

27. Track Conversions

Measure leads generated, contact form submissions, or phone calls from your website to gauge the success of your local SEO efforts.

28. Internal Search Engine

Ensure your website has a well-functioning internal search engine helps users find what they need on your website, boosting conversions and offering valuable insights into what content to prioritize.

29. ADA Compliance – Reach More People

According to Statista, 59.6% of the US population with disabilities live in a household with internet access. Support Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by including accessibility features that set you apart from other realtors, improve on SEO visibility from Google image searches, and featured snippets.