Local SEO For Real Estate Agents

Local SEO

Local SEO, also known as local search engine optimization, involves optimizing your website, blog, or social media profiles to enhance visibility in ‘local search’. Real estate agents can effectively utilize Local SEO to boost their services’ exposure to potential buyers and sellers in a specific geographical region by achieving a higher ranking on popular search engines.

Local Search’

Imagine a resident of Boulder, Colorado who wants to sell their house. To find a suitable real estate agent for the transaction, they begin by launching their browser and navigating to Google. They input the search query ‘real estate agents near me’ and instantly receive a comprehensive list of agents and brokerages located in their vicinity.

The process known as “Local Search” allows Google and other search engines to determine a user’s geographical location during their search, enabling them to display pertinent results specific to that user’s location. This is how Google ensures that it displays results for real estate businesses in the Boulder/Denver area rather than businesses in the Chicago area.

Why should you focus on local search engine optimization

In order to effectively market your real estate business and optimize your real estate website, it is crucial to prioritize local SEO. This strategy offers various advantages, which are outlined below:

Local citation building helps build online visibility and creates brand awareness and trust
Optimizing your site for local search allows you to drive more traffic to your real estate website
Building citations is cost-effective and delivers a high ROI

Business citations

1. Google my business profile

You will likely notice the presence of the Google My Business profile (previously known as Google Local) in the top right corner of a desktop search or at the top of a mobile search when looking for your business, as it offers details in various sections of the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) such as the local pack and Google Maps.

Creating your google my business profile

It is simple to create a Google My Business profile. You just need to go to Google My Business, log in to your Google account, and proceed with the instructions to generate a business listing. In case you require assistance, you have the option to hire an SEO company to handle it on your behalf.

Once a postcard is mailed to your business address, Google will request verification of your business. You may use your home office address if applicable. Upon receiving the postcard, log back into your Google My Business account to enter the provided verification code.

Optimizing your google my business profile

After your business has undergone verification, proceed to complete all the required details within your profile. Ensure that the following pieces of information are accurately provided.

Business Name
Address
Phone Number
Email Address
Business Category
- Real Estate Agents
- Real Estate Agency
- Real Estate Surveyor
- Real Estate Appraiser
- Real Estate Consultant
- Real Estate Rental Agency
- Industrial Real Estate Agency
- Commercial Real Estate Inspector

Service Areas
Website URL
Hours of Operation
Business Description
URL to Schedule Appointments
Services Provided
Business Photos
- Cover Photo
- Logo
- Interior
- Exterior
- At Work
- Team

2. Local citations

A local citation, as defined by Moz, refers to any digital reference to the name, address, and phone number of a nearby company.

Why are local citations important for real estate agents

The impact of local citations on a business’s local search engine rankings can be either positive or negative. There are three factors that play a role in determining how citations can affect a business’s rankings.

Quantity of citations
Quality of citations
Accuracy of citations

In order for Google and other search engines to prioritize your website in search engine results pages (SERPs), it is crucial for your business to build authority and trust. By obtaining numerous accurate citations on reputable websites, your real estate business can signal to Google that your website is both dependable and authoritative, leading to higher rankings for local searchers.

If your business has a limited number of citations or a significant number of inaccurate citations, it will become more challenging for Google to trust the authenticity of your business, thereby adversely affecting your website’s ranking prospects.

Focus on consistent NAP

It is crucial to ensure consistency in your business’s Name, Address, and Phone Number (NAP) throughout all your online citations. Moreover, make sure to include your NAP details on every page of your website, preferably in the footer, as well as on the ‘Contact’ page.

How to get citations for your real estate business

The majority of the websites mentioned above allow you to create a profile or listing without any charge, although there are a few that require payment. Begin by making citations on the free websites identified in the list, and afterwards, evaluate if you can afford the options that involve a fee.

When manually creating website listings, it is important to consider that each website has its own verification process. For instance, Facebook and LinkedIn require email verification, whereas Hot Frog and Superpages need phone verification. Conversely, Google and Bing require mail verification.

Citation building tools

If you find that manually building citations will be too time-consuming, you can opt for the use of an online tool called Yext. With Yext, you have the option to select from different packages priced at an annual rate of $199.00 to $999.00 or a weekly rate ranging from $4.00 to $19.00.

Yext offers the convenience of filling out your real estate business’s details, after which they take care of the rest by generating and handling numerous listings on reputable websites. Alternatively, opting for an internet marketing agency might be a preferable choice, enabling you to save time and maximize your investment.

How many citations do you need for your real estate website

Although the quantity of citations differs across industries, certain figures can assist in determining the ideal number of citations to target for your real estate enterprise.

The number of citations on average that a business requires to rank in positions #1-#3 on Google is provided below.

Local Businesses: 83 citations to rank #1-#3
Real Estate Businesses: 85 citations to rank #1-#3

Steps for real estate local SEO

It is time to tackle the challenging task ahead. We will guide you through the process of optimizing your website, Google Business Profile page, and online presence, focusing specifically on local real estate searches.

1. Optimize your website

When considering these recommendations, it is crucial to consider the user’s search intent. This entails comprehending the reasons behind their use of specific Google searches. Adjust your website’s experience accordingly to provide maximum assistance. Enhancing user satisfaction will contribute to achieving a higher ranking on Google and generating a greater number of leads.

Website recommendations

Ensure that you provide relevant keywords and an attention-grabbing title when completing the meta data for your main pages. This information is what users will come across in Google search results, making it highly significant. It can determine whether or not a user clicks through to your website.

When optimizing individual pages, one must ensure that the title, meta description, heading tags, image alt tags, URLs, and other elements contain the main keywords and geotags (e.g., city name or zip code). This is crucial in order to effectively convey the desired information.

To comprehend the significance of keywords on a web page, Google will utilize these elements. If you have a WordPress website, employ the Yoast plugin to receive assistance in optimizing your content.

Mobile optimization is crucial for the real estate industry due to the significance of mobile traffic. Make sure to assess and enhance the user experience specifically for mobile devices to avoid losing out on half of the online market.

Google has made it clear that obtaining an SSL certificate for your website enhances its security and contributes to its ranking. Nowadays, many hosts offer a complimentary certificate from Let’s Encrypt, so there are no valid reasons to operate an insecure website.

Page speed optimization is crucial for the user experience as nobody appreciates a slow website, including Google. To gauge areas of improvement, it is advisable to utilize tools such as GTMetrix or PageSpeed Insights for conducting speed tests on your website. It is worth noting that Google assesses desktop and mobile sites separately in terms of page speed score.

To ensure that Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster can easily locate the content on your website, include an XML sitemap and submit it. This functions as a blueprint, guiding Google and Bing to the relevant information. If you’re utilizing a widely-used CMS such as WordPress, chances are your website already has a sitemap. In this case, you simply need to locate the appropriate URL.

Continuously provide fresh content to your website in order to enhance its value. The quantity of content is not as important as its quality; however, every piece of content functions as a potential result for Google searches. Generating a larger volume of content enables you to reach a wider audience and obtain more valuable insights through Google Search Console.

You can diversify your content by including various types, such as FAQs, useful tips, neighborhood landing pages, real estate market snapshots, etc, rather than just focusing on long blog posts. It is advisable to write about local subjects and if you find it challenging to come up with ideas, keyword mapping can assist you in generating topics strategically.

Video content at the local level can be an excellent addition to the previously recommended content. Incorporating videos into the content can result in a significant increase of 157% in organic search traffic. To maximize its potential, it is crucial to emphasize local video SEO, which is often overlooked and undervalued.

Advanced website SEO techniques

Schema:
Schema is a type of SEO code officially approved by the major search engines. It is very rigid in terms of how you can use it, including a Local Business schema. This code is typically added to your homepage and helps Google verify key pieces of information about your business. Try using the Structured Data Markup Helper if you’re not a developer or Schema Pro if you’re using WordPress.

Accessibility: accessibility in this context refers to the usability of a website for anyone with perception disabilities (e.g. color blindness, dyslexia, etc.). About 1/5 of online users require accessibility features so it is a big group to ignore.

Plus, Google and other search engines use a lot of the accessibility code to understand a website. Need extra motivation? A lot of real-estate businesses are the target of ADA lawsuits for not having ADA-compliant
websites. Try using the

WAVE tool
to test your website.

2. Setup and optimize google business profile

To enhance local SEO, it is crucial to claim your ownership and verify your listing on GBP (Google Business Profile), previously known as Google My Business. It serves as the primary determinant for ranking. Make sure to do so at business.google.com.

Make sure to fill out all the essential information on your profile, including the description field with your crucial keywords and local geotags.

Picking the category for your GMB listing is crucial and should be carefully considered. Google provides a range of categories to choose from, so it is advisable to avoid selecting unnecessary ones. Selecting too many categories can dilute the importance of keywords relevant to your business. It is recommended to choose only the top 1-3 categories that hold the highest value for you.