Most home buyers, around 97%, begin their search online, making Google a prime spot to attract potential clients for your real estate business.
The remaining 3% might find you through word-of-mouth or PPC ads, which are great to use alongside SEO. However, it’s SEO that plays a crucial role in driving your business forward in 2024 and beyond.
SEO might seem like a full-time job, but don’t worry! You don’t have to be an expert to make it work for your real estate business. With the right strategies and tools, you can make SEO a vital part of your success.
All you need is a "why" and a few "how-tos".
Ready to get started? Let’s dive in!
Why Realtors Need SEO?
Speaking to a qualified agent? Not an option for potential buyers before they search everything they can about a listing online.
But why do people resort to online research before getting information straight from the source?
According to Malibu Real Estate Agent Brian Merrick, "The answer is simple – ease of use. You can gather an extensive amount of information before ever speaking to a realtor, or before even seriously considering a move, for that matter. Whether you find yourself opening a property search app out of curiosity or you have a definite idea in mind and routinely investigate listings, online searches provide the ultimate in low commitment and high excitement."
Let's say your ideal buyer is ready to purchase a home in your area – or at least ready to browse a few homes. They go online, type in "homes for sale in (wherever they are)," and start browsing the results.
Granted, a lot of those results will be PPC ads. But, if their SEO is done right, a lot of the first organic results will likely be the ones they'll click – especially if they include structured data.
If your website isn’t optimized for SEO, you risk being invisible, no matter how great your listings are. SEO is crucial because it helps you rank higher in search engines. People are unlikely to scroll too far down to find what they want – so the higher up you are, the better.
Beyond the SERPs, it's important to improve your on-page SEO, which extends to the category and listing pages on your website. A well-optimized website continues to bring in leads long-term.
What Is the ROI for SEO In Real Estate?
The ROI (Return on Investment) for SEO in real estate is incredibly compelling. According to data from Sagapixel, for every dollar spent on SEO, real estate businesses can see an average return of $13.89. In simple terms, investing in SEO can generate massive returns over time.
Not only that, but the same source shows that SEO leads have an average close rate of 14.6%. That's over eight times higher than outbound leads generated through cold calls or emails, which are outbound techniques a lot of realtors still use.
And How Long Does It Take to See That ROI?
Of course, achieving these results takes time and ongoing effort. Typically, you might start seeing results within 6-12 months of launching an SEO strategy, but some people might only see it after 2-3 years of consistent work.
These timelines, however, are not set in stone.
In highly competitive markets (like real estate in big cities), it can take longer to rank for popular keywords because many other sites are also targeting them. In less competitive areas, you might see faster results.
If your website is brand new, it'll definitely take more time to build authority compared to an established site with an existing audience, backlinks, and E-E-A-T-focused content.
A technically sound website – fast loading, mobile-friendly, well-structured, with clean code – can help search engines crawl and index your pages more efficiently, speeding up your SEO efforts.
Don't feel discouraged if you're just starting out. Once that foundation is in place, the benefits keep compounding over time?.
Realtors: Here’s How to Get the Most of SEO
Prioritize Local SEO
When someone searches for "realtor near me," you want to be the first name they see. That's where local SEO comes in. Local SEO helps your business appear in local search results, making you more visible to potential clients in your area.
Make sure you claim and optimize your Google My Business profile. Include up-to-date information like your address, phone number, business hours, and photos. Encourage satisfied clients to leave positive reviews, which can significantly boost your local rankings.
Notice how an updated GMB profile can offer valuable information right away:
Create Location-Specific Pages
For real estate SEO, it’s important to have location-specific pages that cater to different neighborhoods or areas.
Each page should be optimized with local content, keywords, and schema markup specific to that location. We’ll be talking about schema markups in just a moment.
For example, create separate pages for “Homes for Sale in Downtown Miami,” “Homes for Sale in Coral Gables,” etc.
That’s because each neighborhood or area has its unique characteristics, amenities, and market trends. Location-specific pages allow you to optimize for keywords that potential clients are searching for. For example, someone looking for homes in “Downtown Miami” will use different search terms than someone looking in “Coral Gables,” a city in Miami-Dade County.
By focusing on these specific keywords and creating separate pages for each location, you increase the chances of ranking higher in search engine results for those terms. Plus, your content will address specific interests of potential buyers in those areas.
How to Optimize Your Category and Listing Pages
When optimizing different categories and listing pages for realtors, there are different specific SEO strategies you can focus on. These strategies aim to improve visibility on search engines, attract targeted traffic, and improve user experience – which ultimately leads to more leads and sales.
Here's a quick breakdown of what to do, and which key areas to optimize:
Use Your Target Keywords!
Each category or listing page should be optimized with relevant local keywords wherever possible. For example, if you're targeting "condos for sale in Miami Beach," make sure to naturally incorporate variations like "Miami Beach condos," "luxury condos Miami Beach," or "beachfront condos in Miami."
Use these keywords in headers (H1, H2, H3), body content, alt text for images, and meta descriptions.
Optimize URLs for Clarity and Relevance
Make sure URLs for category and listings pages are clean, descriptive, and keyword-rich. For example, instead of a generic URL like website.com/pageXYZ, use something like website.com/homes-for-sale/miami-beach.
This clearer, more descriptive URL makes it easier for both search engines and users to understand the content of the page. Not to mention, their user-friendliness can improve click-through rates from search results, as users can quickly grasp the content of the page from the URL.
Take a look at how the following descriptive URLs improve the search result by making it clear where you're going:
Use Unique Titles and Meta Descriptions
Each category and listing page should have a unique title tag and description that incorporates the main keywords for that page. If they aren't unique, search engines might see your pages as duplicate content, which can lower your rankings.
Now, let’s talk a bit about how to optimize both your titles and meta descriptions.
The title should clearly indicate what the page is about, like "Homes for Sale in Miami Beach - Oceanfront Properties" or "Luxury Condos in Downtown Miami." It should capture the essence of the page, and be somewhere between 15 and 70 characters.
The meta description should give a brief, enticing summary that encourages users to click through. Ideally, it should be between 120 and 170 characters.
Something like…
“Explore luxury oceanfront homes for sale in Miami Beach, featuring modern amenities, beautiful views, and prime locations.”
Take a look at the term "homes for sale in South Carolina under $150,000."
Depending on how many pages and listings your website has (and which of them are not unique), keeping up with meta titles and descriptions can be borderline impossible. But if you’re using SiteGuru, that isn’t a problem for you.
To optimize your page titles and meta descriptions with SiteGuru, go to the Content tab and select either Page Titles or Meta Descriptions, depending on what you want to improve.
You'll instantly see how many pages on your site have titles or descriptions that are too long, too short, or just right, saving you from having to manually check each page – especially if you have 200+ pages like the example above. Since it would be overwhelming to find all the pages with missing tags manually, SiteGuru simplifies this by highlighting them for you.
Plus, it suggests titles and meta descriptions based on SEO best practices, so you don't need to be an SEO writer or copywriter to get it right every time.
Use High-Quality, Compressed Images with Descriptive Alt Text
Real estate listings are highly visual, so using high-quality images is crucial. However, make sure these images are optimized for the web by compressing them to reduce load times. You'll be adding lots of them, after all.
You can do this by using online tools like TinyPNG or image editing software with a "save for web" option to decrease file size without losing quality.
Don’t forget to use descriptive alt text that includes keywords to help search engines understand the image content, such as "oceanfront luxury home in Miami Beach." ALT text is also important for improving accessibility for visually impaired users.
To check which images have alt text and which are missing it, open SiteGuru, go to the Content tab and click on Image Alt Texts.
Create Clear, User-Friendly Navigation
Breadcrumb navigation gives users a clear path back to previously visited pages, making it easier for them to understand where they are on your site and how they got there. It also helps search engines understand the structure of your site, improves crawlability and indexation, and can improve your SEO by making your site’s hierarchy clearer.
For example, a breadcrumb might look like: Home > Miami Beach > Oceanfront Homes for Sale.
Include Engaging and Useful Content to Your Listings
Add plenty of informative content to each category or listing page to provide value and keep visitors engaged.
This could include neighborhood guides, market trends, local amenities, and tips for buyers and sellers. Not only does this help with SEO by including more relevant keywords, but it also establishes your site as a helpful resource, which can increase time spent on the page and reduce bounce rates.
Take a look at the following property listing by the Miami Real Estate Guy, and notice how much valuable information it includes:
Use Schema Markup for Real Estate Listings
Schema markup is a form of structured data that helps search engines understand the content on your page better. As a refresher, structured data is a standardized format for providing information about a page and its content.
For realtors, this means implementing the RealEstateListing schema, which can include information like property type, price, number of bedrooms, location, and more. To set this up, use Google's Structured Data Markup Helper to add the schema code to your site's HTML or integrate it via your content management system’s structured data plugins.
Proper schema markup can improve your search listings with rich snippets, like star ratings, pricing details, and availability, making your listings stand out in search results.
You should apply this schema to your property detail and listing pages that need a boost in their visibility. Note that, on real estate websites with many listings, managing this can be challenging due to the number of pages and the need for regular updates.
In SiteGuru, you can see which of your pages contain structured data by going to the Technical tab and then clicking on Structured Data. You can filter each piece of data by type or by page, like in the following screenshot:
Make Your Pages Mobile Friendly. And Make Them Fast.
Google uses mobile-first indexing, meaning it first considers the mobile version of your site when determining rankings. On top of that, according to the Real Estate in a Digital Age 2019 Report, 76% of all buyers surveyed say they found their home on a mobile device. So having a mobile-friendly website is a must.
Whether on mobile or desktop, your potential buyers may browse multiple listings, images, and pages. That means a slow, clunky website will certainly make for a bad experience.
With that in mind, use responsive design to ensure your category and listing pages display well on all devices. Also, optimize images and reduce server response times for fast page load speeds, as both mobile usability and speed are key ranking factors.
Your Name on Platforms Like Yelp, Zillow, and Realtor.com Matters
You'll notice that for a lot of search terms, platforms like Zillow and Realtor.com show up before any real estate agent website. You might as well make yourself known there if you haven't already.
Showing up on these reputable platforms is a clear indicator of your seriousness – and as you know, your online reputation is a huge part of SEO. Here's why:
Search engines consider factors like customer reviews and ratings when determining rankings. Positive reviews and high ratings can improve a site's credibility and trustworthiness, which can boost local SEO rankings. Reviews also provide fresh, relevant content and keywords that build trust with potential clients in the long term.
Keep Monitoring Your Rankings and Adjust as Needed
There are many reasons your rankings might drop, and they’re not always about competition.
Sometimes, search algorithms change, or other factors come into play that are out of your control. What you can control is staying on top of when your rankings shift and adjusting your strategy accordingly. After all, SEO works best when you stay flexible and adapt to changes in search algorithms, user behavior, and market trends.
With SiteGuru, you can easily monitor your SEO and never miss an update. SiteGuru keeps a close watch on your site, tracking changes and highlighting new SEO opportunities and keyword shifts. Every update is documented on a timeline like the one below, so you're always in the know.
Turn Browsers Into Buyers with Better SEO
The more consistently you optimize your site based on what both your audience and Google need, the quicker you'll see results.
With SiteGuru, you get a prioritized to-do list that highlights what truly matters, keeping your SEO efforts clear, actionable, and completely clutter-free for growth-focused realtors. Get your 14-day free trial today.
