From real estate websites design to content to responsiveness and everything in between, there are different ways to ensure your platform optimized for search engines.
A National Association of Realtors study revealed that 50% of homebuyers found their dream homes online, while 28% found them through realtors in 2018. Another strategy survey report by Placester Real Estate Marketing showed that 84.6% of real estate agents and brokers use Facebook for their social media marketing efforts.
National Association of Realtors survey also revealed the following steps taken during the home buying process:
- 44% searched online for properties for sale, while 17% got in touch with a real estate agent
- 6% drove-by neighborhoods and houses
- 13% combed online for information about the home buying process, while 6% talked with a relative or friend about the process
- 7% called a mortgage lender or bank
Generation data
- 53% of younger boomers searched the net for property for sale
- 18% of millennials searched the net for information, while 11% talked to a relative or friend
- 30% of the silent generation spoke to a realtor
These numbers indicate the value of having a digital presence – and explains why 90% of real estate companies have a website with property listings. With that in mind, the question now becomes, how do you stand out in the face of such steep competition?
Competing against well-established companies in the real estate website is undoubtedly one of the hardest things to do. These companies have been around for years and have curved a following for themselves. On top of that, they have the resources to help them maintain their positions in the top spots of search engines. Outranking them is virtually impossible.
Luckily, there are ways to go around this and attract more eyeballs to your platform than you would imagine. In this article, we will tell you what you need to do to stand out amidst your peers.
How to SEO your real estate website
Start with enhancing your Website Design
With so much noise in the industry, you need to come up with a unique offering to capture the attention of the “ill-focused” audience. What we mean by this is that you shouldn’t create just another cookie-cutter real estate website. Instead, you should focus on delivering unique user experience. Your real estate websites design is a great place to start. You need to ensure that your website is appealing to the eye, easy to navigate, highly responsive, and loads super-fast. Doing this will help you attract and keep prospects in your platform long enough.
Focus on the quality of your content
As mentioned earlier, more people are turning to the internet to buy a property or learn all they can about a property before making the buying decision. So, you should focus on delivering high-end content, including high-res images of the properties as well as clear cut information about the neighborhood, schools, hospitals, malls, roads, and so on. Providing well-researched and highly informative content about the home buying process and everything a buyer needs to know will also, go a long way in attracting the right audience to your platform.
Focus on your local area
Rather than trying rank on the top position in the country search, you should focus on the local area where the property you’re trying to sell is located. Although ranking number one in the country is a great deal in terms of exposure and sales, it is a lot more challenging to compete against full-grown companies. Targeting keywords like “affordable homes for sale in Nevada” or “three-bedroomed homes in New York” can help you stand out in local searches. Local business listing can help you in this case.
Use videos and social media platforms
Videos are easy to consume – in fact, studies show that 6 out of 10 people prefer watching online video than TV. According to Cisco, videos will account for over 82% of all consumer internet traffic. So, if you haven’t started making videos already, this is the best time to start. Social sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and so on are also great sources of traffic. By tapping into these sites, you get to take advantage of a ready audience.
Optimize your site
Before you can optimize your website, you’ll first need to identify and fix the problem areas. This could be issued with site or page structure or even content. A well-optimized site will help you rank higher on search. To achieve that, you have to address all SEO essentials, including SEO-friendly URLs, keyword research and analysis, image optimization, Meta descriptions, and tags optimization, broken links, redirects, proper link placements, content optimization and so on.
Conclusion
In this day and age where people are turning to the internet for information and solution, owning a real estate website to display your solutions is not an option, but a necessity. Homebuyers no longer drive around towns or cities to identify their dream home. All they do is grab their smartphone or computer and search for whatever it is they are looking for. If you are not displaying your listings online, you are bound to miss out on a lot.
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