With over 1 million visitors daily, Rightmove is on top of the pile in the property industry. However, with the right SEO practices, your estate agency can appeal to a vast audience of landlords, developers, and individuals looking to sell their properties.
This guide is designed to supercharge SEO for estate agencies, from keyword optimisation to social media, content creation, and more. Covering everything from what SEO is, what the different elements look like, and how to implement them, we’ll help you attract more people looking to sell their homes online.
Let’s kick things off with a definition.
Skip to:
- What is SEO for estate agents?
- Keyword research and optimisation
- The importance of expert advice
- Content creation for estate agents
- H1 tags and title tags
- Local SEO for estate agents
- Three website tips
- Final thoughts
What is SEO for estate agents?
SEO, (search engine optimisation) is the process of having your website rank highly on search engines. Strong SEO leads to targeted, high-intent traffic to your website, and having website pages rank highly on Google can make a world of difference to your estate agency.
A long-term strategy is the best way to go with SEO and if you stick with it, you’ll be able to build your brand, reach more clients, and compete in your local area.
Keyword research and optimisation
Keyword research is the cornerstone of SEO for estate agencies. By understanding the specific terms local people are searching for, you can understand how to target them effectively.
If your website has been underperforming, keyword research will probably show you that you’ve been targeting the wrong keywords. Tools like SEMrush can help you learn what property buyers and renters are searching for, and you can get a free trial before committing to one of the paid plans.
Using the SEMrush keyword overview tool, you can search for terms you’d expect to rank highly and see how well they actually perform. You’ll also find alternative terms with higher traffic that you can use in your website content.
Keyword search volume and keyword difficulty
SEMrush has lots of data to get your teeth into, but search volume and keyword difficulty should form the basis of any initial keyword research. For those who don’t know, keyword volume is how often the keyword or phrase is searched for and keyword difficulty is how hard it is to compete for them.
If a keyword has high search volume and low competition, you’ve hit the jackpot.
As you might expect, these terms can be hard to come by, especially in a competitive industry like the property market. So, as an estate agent, you should also consider lower search volume terms that may still pay dividends, particularly if they relate to a niche you specialise in.
The importance of expert advice
Keyword implementation isn’t simply a case of bunging loads of random terms into your content. Instead, it’s a more nuanced, professional, and specialist task. This is because Google prioritises useful content, so if yours reads poorly but has lots of keywords added, it won’t rank well.
So, while you can make a start yourself and pepper some relevant keywords and phrases into your content, having an SEO expert who understands the topic is highly advised for moving forward.
Content creation for estate agents
For those going it alone, content creation is a great place to start, and it’s an example of on-site SEO that proves your website is useful to your audience and worthy of higher rankings.
So, with your keywords at the ready, it’s time to implement them naturally into your website content, but where do you start?
Listings pages
Google will take more notice of estate agency web pages with more content than just property listings. So, while you can benefit from attractive visuals for advertising properties, consider additional text based on keywords from your research.
Blogs
On top of well-written, unique content on your listings pages, try your hand at a regular SEO-focused article or blog, too.
To generate blog ideas, use the keywords you found in your research as a base, as you know customers are searching for them. You can also advertise new homes or property developments in a blog or article, and by adding links to other pages, you can boost traffic across the board.
The importance of CTAs
When writing any article, blog, or other long-form piece, include at least one call to action (CTA) to encourage emails and phone calls. This will usually be at the end of the page with its own dedicated section, but adding a CTA to the body of your content is also advised.
Not only does a mid-page CTA break up walls of text and simplify the customer journey, but it encourages people to seek your help if required.
If you aren’t sure how to add a CTA to the body of your content, get in touch with our SEO experts. (See what we did there?)
H1 tags and title tags
Another important aspect of on-site SEO is the H1 tag, the first bit of visible text on a page. Keep your H1 succinct and enticing and include the most relevant, high-performing keyword for the page, which will be your primary keyword.
Next comes the title tag, which again, should include your primary keyword. Title tags can be found in the backend of your website and might be referred to as a meta title or page title. Keep yours simple and within 60 characters (with spaces) for ultimate effectiveness.
Title tags don’t appear in your home page content but will be visible in search results on Google. An example of a title tag for an estate agent’s homepage would be:
“Estate Agent (your town/city) | Your Business Name”.
It’s good practice to keep H1s and meta titles similar on your website. This prevents inaccurate titles from popping up in search engine results pages which could confuse readers and negatively affect engagement.
The importance of local SEO for estate agencies
Local SEO for estate agents helps you establish yourself as a key figure in your area. As we’ve touched on above, targeting your town, city, or region in your content is a great way to engage with local clients and climb the rankings.
Here are some more ways to boost your local SEO efforts.
- Include up-to-date business information on local directories like Yelp and Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business). As well as your address and phone number, add a link to your website to improve authority.
- Optimise your on-site content and metadata with locally targeted keywords relating to estate agents and houses for sale.
- Make sure your business is listed on Google Maps.
- Encourage Google Reviews from happy customers so when people find your business, they know you can be trusted.
- Earn backlinks with local websites, city guides, and newspapers. You can also add your business to local listings that relate to estate agencies.
Three tips for an estate agent’s website and how to implement them
Almost every business needs a website and estate agents can benefit hugely from a strong online presence.
Here are three of the best ways to optimise your website for SEO purposes and boost your reputation with potential clients.
1. Carry out a website audit
A website and SEO audit will help you establish areas for improvement as an estate agent, from off-page to on-page SEO, technical SEO, and the tools required to improve your digital situation.
2. Build links from quality, relevant sites
Link building is the practice of having other websites link to yours to show Google that you’re authoritative and trustworthy.
Start local with newspapers and city guides, for example, ensuring that they’re well-respected organisations. Guest blogs and articles are another great way to be featured on high-authority, relevant websites.
3. Focus on being useful
Keywords without purpose are pointless in the eyes of Google, so make sure your content is useful for your customers. This means listening to their concerns, researching what home buyers and renters search for, and creating content that helps them.
More and more consumers are searching for local estate agents so making yourself visible helps you connect with customers in your area and build your brand effectively.
Set yourself apart online
SEO for estate agencies is crucial, but not for the faint-hearted. Without regular monitoring and improvements, your efforts could fall by the wayside and your competition could capitalise. That’s why it’s advised to speak to an SEO specialist if for anything more than some cursory keyword research.
To learn more from the SEO experts at beefound.agency, give us a ‘buzz’ at 01904 373 069 or email us at hello@beefound.agency.
