How to Rank Higher in Search Engines as a Real Estate Agent

In 2020, the internet continued to be the main resource for all consumers, in every facet. The first few results that appear in search engines gives agents the biggest advantage when homebuyers are searching for real estate agents, towns to live, and homes for sale. 

It is said that 75% of users searching never scroll past the first page of search engines – so we’re guessing you are here to learn how to rank higher in search engines and improve your SEO as a real estate agent in 2020.

The first challenge to overcome in search results is the dominance of third-party real estate websites.

Sites like Zillow.com, Trulia.com, and Realtor.com have such high domain authorities which makes it difficult to compete with. Here are some example of types of content that will help boost your SEO and increase your brand awareness:

• Build a large Social Media Presence with premium video, photos, graphics & more
• Town-specific pages targeting local searches (include population, schools, neighborhoods, a map, etc.)
• Town-specific videos showcasing the local area
• Start a Podcast
• Write an authentic blog
• Include videos on your town specific pages

Let’s start with the basics..

1.) Branding Yourself As A Trusted Agent

First things first, you need to build your brand. Whether it be a personal brand or real estate agency, you must make yourself easily marketable. It all starts with having your logo designed strategically, creating consistent social profiles and developing a well-designed website thats packed with information.

If you become known as the go-to agent in your area, then numerous people through word of mouth and social media will praise you. This will then lead to an increase in searches for your name, thus improving your SEO. If Google recognizes that your name + real estate agent is being searched frequently, you will be rewarded with higher SEO rankings.

Below are some ways to conduct a reality check on your online presence and help bring your site to the top of search results pages. 

2.) Do A Full SEO Audit Of Your Website & Social Profiles

Conducting an SEO audit of your website and social profiles as a real estate agent is crucial. When homebuyers or sellers are researching potential real estate agents, you don’t want them finding an outdated and slow website or social media page that hasn’t been active since April of 2017. Here are 6 ESSENTIAL things to look for when conducting and SEO audit for your website.

1. Is your website mobile friendly & optimized for page speed? User experience is essential for improving your search engine optimization.
2. Do you have Analytics & Conversion tracking installed on your site to track results? What’s the point of not tracking the users who visit your website?
3. Does your website have a consistent URL structure and internal/external linking? Your website must be easily indexable by search engines as well as providing smooth transitions to other pages for your users.
4. Does your website have an XML Sitemap, proper redirects, and no broken links? Having your site optimized from a technical standpoint will prove your site worth in Google’s eyes.
5. Is your website claimed in Google Search Console & Bing Webmaster Tools?
6. Are your pages optimized correctly keywords consistent throughout the Meta Title, Meta Description, H1 (and H2s & H3s), Alt Tags and within the body content?

These are some of the basic yet overlooked aspects of optimizing a website for search engines. Next up is ensuring your local business citations are accurate and up to date (think Google My Business, Yelp, Bing, etc.)

3.) Claim Your Business In Search Engines

Start by claiming your business in Google. Claiming your business means you’re giving Google your business hours, address, photos, contact information, and much more.

This allows your business to be easily recognizable by Google, Bing, and other search engines. Your business profile will appear next to your name as a search result, along with your contact information and a map from Google Maps. In addition, try tapping into writing Google Posts to help make your listing stand out with offers, blogs and news.

Don’t forget claim your business with Yelp and other directories as well!

4.) Update Content & Social Media Accounts Regularly

Content is king nowadays so every blog post and helpful page for your potential clients is essential in optimizing your website for search engines.

By updating your blog regularly, consistently posting useful content on your social media profiles, and updating content on your website, Google and other search engines will recognize this and reward your real estate website. Not only that, you can attract potential buyers and sellers when they are in their research stage.

Be mindful of what could benefit these potential clients rather than posting salesy content like “Why now is the time to buy a home” and things of that nature – convince them in other ways because lets be real, the market fluctuates constantly.

For instance, a blog topic such as “5 things to consider before buying your first home” will attract buyers in the research stage and if they find your content useful, you’re already in!

Finally, be sure to mention any other pages you work with such as builders, architects, home stagers and more so that they will share your post or even make their own post and mention you in it. Believe it or not, page mentions are a major indicator to search engines. You can even gain backlinks that provide significant SEO value.

5.) Improve & Enhance Internal & External Linking

We touched base with this earlier on in this post but it is very important. Proper linking is required to have optimal SEO on your site and will help search engines crawl your site quickly and more efficiently. When you utilize internal an external linking, it not only makes your site more cohesive, but it’s a great way to get your website ranking higher in search engines because crawlers will recognize that your site is well organized and provides an outstanding user experience. 

Internal linking is when you link to other web pages of your own, like linking to your “Meet the Team” page when you’re discussing what you do on your “About Us” page. External linking is when you link to other websites that are not yours, and highlight other resources or articles.

Backlinks are incoming links from other websites – hopefully trustworthy ones. If you have your business listed on a variety of relevant directories, such as Realtor.com, Trulia.com and other well-known websites, these provide strong links back to your website which helps search engines crawl your site more often. Here is a great article that can help give you some ideas to build a better backlink portfolio for your website.

Some of the most common ways to get some great backlinks is requesting companies, non-profits, and other businesses that you have strong relationships with in the community to add a link to your website somewhere on theirs.

The more the merrier!

6.) Be Specific With Local Searches

When you’re updating your web pages, be sure to include copy regarding the town and city in which you’re writing about. For example, Homes for sale in Beverly, MA is a city-centric title that explains your service or what your webpage is about, specific to an area. Whenever you mention a service or a project, mention the location in which it takes place.

You may keep separate pages of your website for the locations, towns, and cities, or you may include them throughout the copy of your website.

If you constantly have a few listings in a specific town, make a separate listing page that talks about the amenities in the area and include long-tail keywords such as “Beverly, MA Real Estate & Homes For Sale” in your meta titles, description, H1 and body copy at the bottom of the page. 

7.) Understand The Power Of Keyword Optimization

You’ll want to identify some keywords in which you will try to rank for. Consider what your homebuyers will be searching for: “homes for sale in Boston, MA” would be a common search. You want to ensure your keywords are used throughout your website copy.

To determine your keywords, there are some keyword research tools to help you identify the best ones in your area such as Ubbersuggest or Keyword Tool.

For other brainstorming ideas, type in your search on google, and go to the bottom of the page. You will find related searches, and these can help with your keyword research.

The proper use of keywords is one of the best ways you can have your real estate agency appear higher in search engines. By combining the power of blog writing and city pages about the locations you serve, you will create a solid foundation to build from to get higher in search engine rankings.

How To Get Started On Optimizing Your Site

The most essential part is TAKE YOUR TIME and do your research. If you’re using a CMS (content management system) for your site, some plug-ins may be available for you to make implementing these marketing efforts easier.

If you are using WordPress, Yoast SEO is the superior plugin. Additionally, there are plenty of free tools you can learn that will help you even more such as SEMrush or Moz.

Does this all seem a bit intimidating?

Don’t be overwhelmed, The internet is full of information-seeking consumers. Take your online marketing in few, small steps to begin with. When you have your website fully optimized, you’ll be happy to see the great results and high appearances in search engines as a real estate agent or agency. Your real estate company will immensely benefit when you channel users properly to your website through SEO & Social Media funnels.

If you would like to have more consulting on SEO, PPC Ads or Facebook Advertising from Luxe Life Productions, contact our marketing expert Ray at ray@luxelifeproductions.com.