Realtor SEO – Search Engine Optimization for Realtors in Google, Bing & Co. If someone is looking for you, you should “be there”. When it comes to search engine optimization (SEO for short), that means page 1 in the search results on search engines like Google, Bing and others. Regional SEO in particular pays off as a real estate agent and gives you a strategic advantage (SEO is long term) over your local competition. Everything important about your website as a real estate agent.
Traffic means reach, i.e. visitors who are on your website. SEO Tip from professionals, for professionals! First, let’s start with the definition of search engine optimization.
What does SEO mean? 5 Basics
Search engine optimization (SEO) includes all measures that serve to increase the visibility of one of your website in search engines (such as Google, Bing & Co.). These are:
Page structure and keywords
Page content with structure, keywords, text length and links
Visualizing (photo) and explaining media (infographic, explanatory video, etc.)
Internal links (increases page dwell time)
External links (increases page relevance)
Goals in SEO: High placement in search results
There are two crucial aspects for you:
If someone is looking for you, you should “be there” – just learned already
When someone searches for topics relevant to you, you should “be there”
There will be to the 1) search queries that revolve around you. Typical are
“Sample broker city” – General search
“Sample Broker Reviews”
“Sample Broker Valuation”
“Sample Broker Experience”
“Sample Broker Experience”
“Sample broker reputable”
“Sample broker unserious”
…
Now, if you do not have your own website, you will not have any influence on the search results. If you have too small a web page, for example, only home page, About us and Contact, it also happens that others (competitors) appear before you. Or even portals like Gutefrage.net, where someone has asked this question about your name.
The stronger your page, the more present (visible) you are
There are millions of searches in Germany every day, just for the context “real estate”. Sell, rent, manage, buy, finance, … that’s why you should 2) “be there” when someone searches for topics relevant to you.
You will now learn the basis for this: the structure.
No matter where and when someone searches for you, they have the “sovereignty” on the first page (to be seen right away in example graphic).
SEO Advantages: More visitors, new customers
Here you also achieve the acquisition of new customers via search engines
More visitors on the website
Additional sales channel
Targeted marketing activity (through search terms / active “demand”)
Once set up, you get “free” visitors, every day
SEO Disadvantages: Long-term and initial costs without ROI
Long-term build-up necessary, especially in the real estate sector (high competition)
Build up time: At least 1 year
ROI (return of invest) will be achieved late (comparison: SEA quasi immediately)
Costs for content creation and website
SEO, SEA, what’s the difference?
SEO deals with your website, its content and structure. SEA (search engine advertising) on the other hand, is a “direct” placement in search engines through paid advertisements. These ads are displayed above the organic search results (SEO).
Real Estate SEO for Beginners: How it works
Simply put:
Creating a website for desktop / mobile devices
Plan topics (keywords) in a structured way
Create individual pages (company pages and blog posts)
Each blog post has 300 – 1,000 words, links to other posts
Goal: Good quality and more content than the direct competition
By individual topics / keywords:
House for sale Berlin
Sell house after inheritance Berlin
Sell house after divorce Berlin
…
your “platform” becomes strong. Your subtopics (such as house selling divorce Berlin) thereby link to the parent page (house selling Berlin).
As a result, the visitors you have collected in the search engines will stay longer and longer on your website.
Why SEO! Advantages for real estate agents
Advantages of SEO – When person X learns about you as a realtor, through recommendation, advertising, by chance, person X will in almost all cases search for you as a realtor. Mostly in search engines, mostly on Google. There are 10 places in the search results (away from advertising), the more channels you serve, the more you determine the information that is here.
In short:
85% search for information first on search engines
Page 1 has 10 results (away from advertising > SEA)
No digital media = No influence
SEO offers the ultimate advantage:
Once on page 1, it will be hard to oust you (sustainable)
Users have a need, they already want something
You give users “something” for free, without anything in return (positive image)
Users recommend your good content
SEO works for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
You passively (after work) collect new leads
Disadvantages of SEO: You have to be that honest
SEO is long-term marketing, you will achieve results (visitors) only after weeks and months, depending on how hard you work on it and how high the competition is (C-location easy, A-location hard).
Long-term online marketing
Results by weeks, months
Time intensive (article creation)
For this, your search engine rankings are very sustainable and often stay for years once you have made it. Because, the competition must first become better than you. Compared to advertising in search engines, you do not pay for each click (about 4 – 16 euros / click in the real estate segment).
Checklist! The 3 SEO basics for brokers + example
To be visible (as seen in the example in a moment) you basically need only 3 things:
Google Business Entry
Website
Social media channel, example Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn
… you have already taken a certain part of the first page. Here you can see how effective the mix of these 3 components is, for all those who are looking for you.
Internet site in the first place of the search results
Google Business Entry
Own photos, direct, visual understanding
Map and directions
Address, contact details and opening hours
Social media (Facebook)
Reviews on the web (Facebook)
Almost all roads, lead to the broker (not third parties or even competitors).
How does SEO work, so right?
Let’s get back to your brokerage website and the question: How does SEO work, so right?
Create theme construction: “Keywords” – What do you want?
You build individual blog posts for individual so-called keywords. For example, one keyword could be “renting”, another “renting tips”, yet another “renting process” and yet another “first renting”. Depending on what users are looking for in a search engine, you have the right content for it.
Here again the example of the introduction for our real estate agent in Berlin, with the focus object acquisition:
House for sale Berlin
Sell house after inheritance Berlin
Sell house after divorce Berlin
…
Create SEO texts: 1-2-3 formula – checklist
On the Internet you will find thousands of guidebooks that will tell you a lot about SEO, in principle, means good optimization.
The little 1-2-3 formula:
Create individual pages (company pages and blog posts)
Each blog post has 300 – 1,000 words
Articles link to other posts (Sale > Divorce > Separation year and back).
The most important, most important (!) in SEO – added value
Now the most important thing:
Importantly, these articles should contain added value!
Therefore directly tip 2:
It’s not about creating 1,000 articles, better are 50, 100 focused (topic) and dotted (region)
Added value means that your visitors take something with them, ideally stay on your website for a long time and thus increase the value of your website (domain value). This way you get more and more visitors, thus also new customers.
2 SEO example for object acquisition
Are you looking for existing properties in your region (real estate acquisition)? Help sellers with problems, landlords, heirs. Almost everyone will want to sell sooner or later.
The first SEO text
You now know the process you need to follow to advance your website. SEO is long-term marketing, you will achieve results (visitors) only after weeks and months, depending on how hard you work on it and how high the competition is (C-location easy, A-location hard).
SEO summarized
SEO means quickly explained
Structure – contents and texts
Added value – texts must “give something” to readers
Links – Links provide further information
Goal – Good content ensures high placement in search results
