Local SEO for realtors is great way to get your name in front of potential home seeking clients. If you are a realtor hoping to grow your online presence, you need to invest in real estate agent SEO.
Why Realtors need to invest in Local SEO
Anyone who has researched digital marketing has heard of search engine optimization. Local SEO is an incredibly valuable resource to getting qualified leads for realtors.
This is for.a few reasons.
1. Old ways just aren’t there anymore.
It used to be that you could grow organically through home listing magazines, a sign in a yard, or by tacking your flyer in the town library.
Unfortunately, not only are sources like this just not as trusted anymore, but people have a higher need to see reviews and testimonials to make a commitment these days.
Local SEO allows to show relevance and trustworthiness quickly with a simple search.
2. Word of mouth is less relevant.
We all know that 2020 meant less face to face time. Obviously, this means less neighborly chit chat and recommendations.
Instead, most people are heading to search engines like Google to answer their questions and give them suggestions about where to spend their money.
3. Free, organic leads.
Finally, while it takes time, effort, and knowledge to create consistent and reliable traffic to your site, local SEO is a free, organic way to promote yourself.
Sure, online ads can be great, but they’re expensive. Same goes for more traditional ads, like billboards – not to mention, they’re difficult to track conversions on.
But utilizing local search engine optimization requires no pay to play in order to get your business in front of customers.
4. Targeted leads who are looking for a real estate agent.
Our personal favorite part about local SEO is that, if done right, you’re targeting people who are at that very moment searching for the exact service you offer.
We help you rank on page one for the correct, converting keywords that serious buyers are searching.
Learn more about why is Local SEO important here.
How to Utilize Local SEO for Realtors
Did I convince you it’s worth your time? Okay, let’s talk about how to use your website to find qualified clients you want to work with.
Find the right keywords for your business and area.
First things first: let’s choose which terms buyers are searching. When we at S2S help find those initial terms, we look at the services you offer, what you competition is doing, and what people are looking for.
Here are some terms that could be a great start.
- Realtor near me
- Real Estate Agent in NJ
- Somerset country realtor
- Belmar realtor for a vacation home
- What to look for in a New Jersey realtor
- pros of living in Middlesex county
- How to sell a home in NJ
We’re looking for terms that frame your service area, who you serve, what you do, and who you are.
Choose terms serious clients are searching.
Okay, you’re got a complete list. Next we need to narrow down the terms to focus on first by which have buying intent. This is the probability that the consumer is willing to make a purchase
These terms are usually easy to identify as they show some form of urgency – “realtors near me” tells us the searcher is looking for a service nearby. This probably means they are in need of.a service in the near future. Alternately, “pros of living in Middlesex county” could be for research.
While focusing on other terms is great for building brand loyalty and search authority, we initially want to focus on terms with great results.
Build your site around buying terms.
Next, let’s work on your content. From your about page to your services pages to your locations pages. we want to make sure the content is reflecting what you offer and what clients are searching.
This builds content on your site, increases crawlability, and makes your site seem more professional.
Check in on your backend and site structure.
Your responsiveness on your site is vital. In fact, few things will harm your ranking more than a slow site, poor structure, and a lack of mobile friendliness.
Once we have the right keywords and killer content, we must go through the meticulous process of speeding your site, fixing your structure, and making sure it’s mobile friendly.
These are not just important to Google – studies show a slow site can cause 76% of users to head to a competitor.
Here at Systems to Skyrocket, we help businesses like yours pinpoint structural and SEO issues with our free basic site audit. Reach out here and ask for yours!
Set up Google My Business and optimize it.
Google My Business is a free platform provided by Google to get your business ranking and display the information customers need to know.
Claim and set up your GMB account, and input the correct information regarding your business.
With Google my Business you can acquire Google reviews and star ratings, which go a long way to gaining credibility.
Ask for reviews from clients. Genuinely.
It’s against terms of service to ask your real estate clients for positive only reviews or to give them something in exchange for a positive review.
In contrast, a quick reminder asking clients to leave you a quick Google review is totally within the bounds. You just need to be sure not to ask for a specific review (positive).
Try asking for a review while being casual. We like saying something like this on closing emails or as a post closing follow up..
“I loved working with you to help you find your dream home! If you have a moment, please leave a Google Review to share your experience – it really helps others find me.” It doesn’t have to be complicated.
Finalize Citations and Backlinks
Citations are important and essentially just a collaborative of all the places a user can find your business information. Think Yellow Pages and Angie’s List. It’s important for your business information to be consistent across all of there sources and to be monitored for accuracy.
Another simple way to build your business is to get quality backlinks from authoritative sources. Reach out to local websites and news outlets for links. Get listed in your towns’ business website or the Chamber of Commerce.
We constantly help and monitor our clients backlink opportunities. We’d love to chat about how S2S can help organically build your business. Reach out to us here!
Be consistent with checking in and tweaking.
Unfortunately, Local SEO for realtors is not a set it and forget it process. While much of the bulk of the work relies on the initial set up, leaving it does nothing to help.
Use free, Google-provided tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console to track your traffic and rankings. Continue to learn about new SEO rules and tactics to help your business grow.
We want to make sure your initial work isn’t for nothing and maintain your site!
You’re passionate about your business – not learning SEO. Here at S2S we help small businesses and beyond rank and succeed. We’d love to offer a free site audit to help you figure out where to start and how to improve.
Content for Realtor Websites
Finally, while it’s important to focus on lead generating search terms, service pages, and
Content, often in the form of blog posts is what helps a site rank, build authority, and grow.
While you might be able to rank and attract customers with the site you have now, the potential is exponential with well crafted content.
This is especially important if you’re working in a competitive market or service area.
So, what kind of content works best for Real Estate SEO?
Content ideas to build Realtor SEO
- What does a realtor do?
- What are some kid friendly neighborhoods in East Brunswick?
- Questions to ask your realtor
- How do I hire a realtor to sell my house?
- What improvements add value to my home?
- Tips for choosing where to move
- Commuter friendly towns in New Jersey
- Reasons why your home isn’t selling
- Tips for getting someone to accept your home offer
- What are the benefits of living in Hoboken?
This is just a small taste of the endless topics that a realtor could write on to attract customers and build authority. Or, check get more info on how Systems to Skyrocket could help create target, SEO’d content for your small business.
Some more ways to think of content ideas for real estate agents include:
If you want to brainstorm some of your own ideas, here are some questions to ask yourself.
- What are the services your offer?
- What are questions customers ask often regarding buying or selling?
- Next, think about objections – What hurdles do you have to go over when trying to sell to a potential new client?
- What are benefits of the area you specialize in? Schools, night life, location and more!
- What buying or selling issues are unique to your area?
Of course, all content you add to your site should be keyworded effectively and structured to rank on Google and other search engines.
Thankfully, here at S2S we help small businesses craft content that is positioned to rank. We’re passionate about helping service businesses create content that will drive buying customers to them. Learn more about how we manage content creation for Local SEO here.
Need some help?
Overwhelmed just thinking about creating a website for your business that’s optimized for local SEO for real estate? We’re here to help.
Reach out to use at info[@]systemstoskyrocket.com or simply fill in the form below. We’d love to chat about how we can make your small business skyrocket.
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