SEO for Realtors

If you’re a realtor, you might be interested in learning more about SEO for Realtors. I am sure you know that ranking well in Google is the best way to generate real estate leads from your website. But, you may have no idea what SEO really is or how to do it. I have put together a quick guide to help you better understand SEO for realtors.

I am an Albuquerque SEO consultant, but I have helped Realtors across the country to rank better in Google. If you are interested in generating real estate leads from your website, check out my FREE guide to generating leads from Google. It will teach you how to optimize your Google My Business account, how to rank better in Google Maps, and how to get leads from your website from Google.

If you want to rank better in Google, the first question you should ask yourself is, Is my real estate optimized for Google?

Is your real estate website optimized for Google?

If you’re not sure, it probably isn’t. Even if you have hired a professional, even if you use a professional real estate website company, your website might not rank well in Google. Read the fine print on your agreement. Most realtor websites generate leads through PPC advertising. The company you work with might have optimized your website for search engines, but that doesn’t mean they’re actively working on an SEO campaign for your website. On-page optimization is a small part of what an SEO professional does to get your site ranked well in Google.

How do you optimize a realtor website for Google?

Learning how to do on-page optimization takes a lot of time that you may not have as a realtor.  While you can absolutely do this yourself, for most realtors your time is better spent selling real estate. On top of that, real estate is a unique industry.  Unlike other businesses, you aren’t competing with local realtors in Google. You are competing with Zillow and Realtor.com. If you do a Google search for “homes for sale in (insert your area)”, go see who pops up. It’s not your local real estate agent. I don’t care how great your SEO company is, you aren’t going to outrank giants like Zillow and Realtor.

When it comes to optimizing a realtor website, your best strategy is to go after less competitive, local niche keywords.  Each page of your website should be optimized for a separate area or keyword. How you optimize a website involves proper placement of <H2>, <H2>, and <H3> tags, using the right keyword density, and writing a meta description. This is just the basics of SEO for realtors though. For a properly optimized site, I recommend hiring a professional to handle the technical and back-end SEO.

I have put together a few SEO tips for realtors that should help you, whether you do it yourself or hire an SEO company.

8 SEO tips for Realtors

#1 SEO optimize your realtor website

Although on-page optimization is not the only factor when it comes to ranking well in Google, it is the most important one. If your website isn’t optimized for your keywords, nobody is going to find it in Google.  Make sure each page of your website has a unique title, headings, and keywords.  You should have content on every page.  Don’t just write a few sentences. Your page needs text on it in order for Google to understand what your website is about.

A properly optimized real estate website includes schema markup code. Schema markup is structured data that tells Google more about your location. I recommend hiring an SEO professional to do the on-page optimization for your real estate website, but you can do this yourself.

#2 Make sure your website has an SSL certificate

This used to be optional for websites, but now it is a must-have, especially for real estate websites. Website security is one of Google’s ranking factors. In fact, in 2021 Google released a major update. Website security is one of Google’s top ranking factors. If you have a website that’s financial in nature, an SSL certificate is even more important. More than likely you already have an SSL certificate, but if you do not, make sure to add one.

#3 Create an XML sitemap for your website

Many website platforms come with an XML site map built in. But, if you don’t have an XML site map, Google has to crawl through all the pages on your website to index them. Having a site map allows Google a place to easily find all your links. In addition, you can add your XML to Google Search Console. This way Google can easily index your website.

#4 Complete every section of your Google My Business profile

You probably already know you need a Google My Business account to be found in Google Maps. But, you might not realize that every detail is important. Go through the info section of your profile and make sure you have completed every section.  Your profile should include a description of your real estate agency.  Each Google My Business account comes with the option to create a free website. If you already have a website, you might think you don’t need to create a website. The free website that comes with your account displays all your Google updates. You should set up a free website even if you have your own real estate website.

#5 Start a real estate blog on your website

I am sure you have heard conflicting information on blogging.  I want you to go do something. Do a Google search for the top realtor in your area. Take a look at their website. Do they have a blog?  That’s right.  They do. Almost every top real estate website has a blog. Blogging is one of the best ways to get Google to visit your website and keep coming back. If you don’t have a blog, you should add one. It’s my number one recommended strategy for ranking better in Google.  If you hate blogging or don’t have time for it, get in touch with me. I am an SEO content writer and can write your blog for you.

#6 Set up Google Analytics and Search Console

How are you going to know if your SEO campaign is working if you don’t have any data?  Google Analytics is a free program from Google. With it you can see how many people visit your website, which pages they visit, and how they found you. It also provides you with other useful information. Setting up is easy.

Google Search Console is another tool created by Google. In 2020, they updated it so you can no longer link your Analytics account to Search Console. You should create both a Google Analytics and Search Console account. Search Console provides you with all kinds of data on which search queries visitors used to find your website.

#7 Add your real estate business to business directories

One of the ways Google determines where you rank in Google Maps is by how many citations your business has. A citation is any mention of your real estate business’ name, address, and phone number on a website.  They crawl through millions of websites to collect this data and use it to rank businesses in Google Maps.  Make sure your business is listed in all the trusted directories like Yelp, Manta, and Angie’s List.

#8 Get Google Reviews and Respond to them

Ask every single client you do business with to leave you a Google Review. Google reviews are great for SEO and for your real estate business. If you look at the top results in Google Maps, you can easily see how much Google reviews impact your placement in Google Maps.  Consider adding a link in your email campaigns for your clients to leave a Google Review.

Would you like your real estate website to rank better than it does?

The real estate industry is a competitive market.  If you truly want to compete, you will most likely need an SEO company working on your campaign. Although I have seen some realtors that are great at SEO, most don’t have the time to work on it. I do SEO full-time. An SEO campaign will take up hours and hours of your time, even if you know what you’re doing.  If you truly want to rank well in Google, find a real estate SEO professional to manage your website and SEO campaign.