Today, around 70% of the 19.95 million American rental properties are owned by individual investors. So whether you're thinking of getting into the industry, or you're already in it, competition is fierce. Being skilled at what you do is only solving half the equation too. To really be successful, you need to increase your online visibility and attract potential leads. And the way to do this is to use SEO for your real estate website (search engine optimization). Read on for eight ways you can utilize SEO for real estate investors so you can close more deals.
SEO relies on the use of smart keywords to boost website rankings on search engine results pages (SERPs). These are terms and phrases that your target audience uses when searching for real estate opportunities.
The good news is, there are many free or low-cost keyword research tools out there to utilize, such as Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, and Ahrefs. These will help you discover relevant keywords for real estate investors with high search volumes and low competition.
You should then incorporate these real estate keywords into your website content, such as on the:
Speaking of your website's content, you'll want to optimize it, as it'll be the meat of your SEO efforts. This content should be informative and engaging, and keyword-rich too.
Consider crafting blog posts, articles, and property listings that offer valuable insights, tips, and advice. It goes without saying that your content should be original and full of errors so you come off as professional and well-informed. And of course, it should be tailored to your target audience to ensure it's relevant.
Include the appropriate keywords you've found from your research, and include internal and external links too.
In addition to your general SEO efforts, you should hone in on the local area, as real estate investing often revolves around specific locations or target markets. This means you need to optimize both your website and content for local SEO to attract potential leads in your target areas.
You can do this by including location-specific keywords in your content, page titles, meta descriptions, and even URLs. Create location-specific landing pages and optimize your Google Business Profile listing. It should include accurate and up-to-date contact information, business hours, and customer reviews.
There's an ever-increasing use of smartphones and tablets for internet searches, especially since they're so handy to have while on the go. So if your site isn't mobile-friendly, you may be losing out on tons of potential business.
To ensure people don't click off your site, create a responsive website. This means it'll adapt to various screens without compromising on important elements.
Not only will this make it more user-friendly, but it'll also help your SERP ranking. Google prioritizes mobile-friendly sites, so you'll get better visibility.
Making your site mobile-friendly is one part of optimizing the user experience. You'll also want to improve the loading speed so users don't have to sit around waiting for things to load. You can compress images, use caching techniques, and use a reliable hosting provider.
Plus, put yourself in the user's shoes. Is it easy to find information on your site, or is it one big confusing mess? If it's the latter, then you'll need to restructure things.
Focus on clear menu structures and logical site architecture. An intuitive design can help too, as users will be able to navigate each page easily.
Link building is the practice of getting high-quality inbound links from other reputable sites. This proves to search engines that your site's relevant, trustworthy, and authoritative, which will then make your site climb the SERP ranks.
To develop a strong backlink profile, you can reach out to industry influencers, bloggers, and other real estate websites for guest posting opportunities. Just remember to focus on quality, not quantity, as there are numerous low-quality sites that allow guest posting for anyone.
Social media is a powerful tool for real estate SEO. You can expand your reach and engage with potential leads through these platforms.
If you haven't already, you should create professional profiles on sites like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Through these profiles, you can regularly share your new content, as well as property listings, market updates, and your own success stories.
Utilize relevant hashtags and geotags so you can increase your visibility. After you've reached a wider audience, engage with your followers to ensure they keep coming back. Respond to all comments and messages promptly, which can help you build relationships with potential clients.
All these efforts will be for nothing if you don't monitor your performance. Use analytic tools to track your keyword rankings and see how your site's individual pages are doing.
Make sure you regularly update and optimize your content, as it's forever an ongoing process. What may work today may not work in a few weeks or months, so it's vital that you keep up with the changing landscape. Otherwise, you'll be left behind.
Practicing good SEO for real estate investors is a must if you want to be an industry leader. These strategies can help boost your site's visibility and attract targeted leads.
In the end, these efforts will pay off when you close more deals. So don't skimp on marketing for real estate, as it can make or break your business.
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