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In 2023, the United States real estate market was worth a total of $113.58 trillion. With an expected growth rate of 4.51% over the next few years, that number is only going to keep climbing. Millions of investors nationwide now take advantage of this economic opportunity to generate wealth.
However, becoming a successful real estate investor is no easy task. As a rental property owner, keeping vacancy rates low is a top priority. To keep rental income flowing, marketing your properties effectively is crucial.
Optimizing your online presence for search engines like Google can lead to more potential clients finding your website and learning about the properties you can offer. Let’s dive into how search engine optimization (SEO) can help you keep your vacancy rates low.
What is SEO for real estate investors?
The purpose of investing in SEO is to earn more organic traffic to your website. The stronger a website’s SEO is, the higher it will rank on search result pages. The data show that the top results for any search query receive the vast majority of the traffic.
As a real estate investor with vacancies to fill, you want to make it as easy as possible for tenants to find your units online. If you are not one of the first websites to pop up on Google, Bing, or other search engines, then accessing a larger customer base will be challenging, whether your clients buy houses or want apartment units to rent.
Does search engine optimization work for real estate?
SEO for real estate investors is an extremely powerful marketing strategy. The key is to have a strong plan and be patient for results.
SEO does not guarantee results within a week or two of making changes. It is a long-term success strategy that can put your business name and properties in front of more sets of eyes, generating more leads. When you drive more traffic to the site with better SEO principles, you have the chance to convert those website visitors into paying tenants.
SEO tips for real estate investors
Learning to drive traffic to your site with SEO is an ever-changing landscape. Google and other engines frequently update how their algorithms assess pages across the Internet, so you need to implement the right tactics to improve SEO and rank higher in search results.
On-page optimization
Before you start thinking about creating content for your website, you must focus on the technical aspects of the page. This is often referred to as on-page SEO. These details can form the foundation for better SEO efforts that will pay dividends with your target audience. A few key elements to edit or add to the website’s on-page structure include:
- Page title tag based on a keyword
- Meta description
- A simple and memorable domain name
- Keyword placement
- A privacy policy and terms page
- A sitemap
- Use headers
Find perfect keywords
Pun intended, keywords are the key to greater SEO success. When people look up “apartments in Chicago,” your Chicago-based real estate business must have the right SEO keywords in the right places to show up early in Google search results.
An effective approach to keyword research will yield the best results. First, you must choose specific keywords based on what is important about your business. Then, you can research the best keywords using online tools that can measure traffic and other pertinent information about those terms. A wise strategy is to choose one target keyword or phrase for each webpage on your site.
Create well-researched rich content
The quality of content on your site will impact how search engines rate each page. The more helpful your website’s content is to the audience, the more likely it is to rank higher in the results.
Quality content is a mixture of authoritative information, user-friendly text, smart header usage, embedded images or videos with alternative text tags to support the body, and strong writing. Landing pages and blog content should incorporate specific keywords strategically. For example, if you invest in commercial property, then you should be writing content that speaks to business owners who could become tenants in your building.
Make real estate investor websites fast loading and mobile-friendly
A website that is mobile-friendly will give your business a massive leg up on your competition if they cannot boast of similar traits. The shopping experience for many starts online, and often that first step begins with pulling out their smartphone.
If your website is clunky or tough to read, then it could get knocked down in organic searches. Beating your competition online requires a positive user experience, which means a fast-loading website that is optimized for mobile devices.
Incorporate local SEO
Local SEO is crucial for a real estate website. Properties are location-based, so your assets are much more important to local clients than a national audience. If your real estate investing involves properties in Chicago, then you want local searches in that city to be prioritized for SEO. A few tips that can strengthen your presence in the local market include:
- Get listed in local directories
- Conduct research into local keywords
- Build backlink profile with local businesses
- Create content that is localized
- Take advantage of online reviews
Google My Business setup
Real estate investors who care about location-specific SEO must set up a Google My Business profile. As the top search engine, showing up in location-specific searches on Google is crucial to driving more traffic to your site and converting traffic into new tenants. Complete the Google My Business setup phase, add your business address and service hours, and create a compelling business description to take full advantage of this SEO tactic.
Link building
Authority is one of the metrics used by a search engine to determine where a page deserves to be in the search rankings. One of the ways the engine will measure authority is through a site’s backlink profile. A site that has more links to and from other authoritative sites is considered more trustworthy and useful to potential visitors, so the search engine will rate that site higher. White hat link building is a popular SEO strategy that will significantly increase the authority of your real estate investor website.
Increase social media presence
Social media can also impact SEO, especially in terms of link building. You can share links to a specific blog post, landing page, or article connected to your site on various social channels like X (Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Pinterest. This creates a larger backlink profile and can lead more potential buyers or tenants to your real estate website. You can also make good use of paid ads, as social media advertising is very successful.
If you want your business website to compete with other sites, then investing in these unique SEO strategies is a necessity. Page one power can elevate your business to the next level, bringing more attention to your properties so you can sell a house fast or fill a recent vacancy right away.
Who should consider doing SEO themselves?
SEO for real estate investors can lead to long-term success. But does it make more sense to do the work yourself or to hire an expert? If you are just starting with your investing journey and you only have one or two properties, SEO services may not be within your budget. You can still implement many of these tactics on your own to improve your position on the first page of search results.
If your real estate brand is a little more established, then it makes sense to hire an agency and prioritize SEO for real estate investors. It would also be wise to take this step if your current website is not helping you find motivated sellers or interested tenants. A rework of the website is also a good time to hire an SEO firm.
How long does it take to see results?
Prioritizing SEO is an investment of your time and resources. Typically, results will not happen overnight or even in the first few months. However, this is a long-term strategy that can pay serious dividends for your business.
With the right plan in place, SEO for real estate investors could push your business toward the top of the Google search rankings in six months to a year. Then, the work of maintaining your position to continue generating more organic leads begins.
Flourish on search engines with real estate SEO
SEO for real estate investors is not easy. There are so many factors that will impact your site’s ranking for various search terms, and the results that do come often take longer than you might hope. This guide can serve as a starting block for your race toward the top of the rankings. To rank above your competitors’ websites on Google or other search consoles, you need to create an optimization strategy today.
Whether you focus on implementing keywords on your home page, writing solid meta descriptions for each page, creating helpful content, or building a backlink profile, better SEO can increase the chances that a search engine visitor lands on your page first.
