by Shannon Peel Storyteller, Digital Publisher, Content Creator
You buy your domain
You hire someone to create a website or
You buy a generic real estate website template service
You sit back waiting for your phone to ring and it doesn't...
Putting Out a Shingle (Website) is Not Enough
In today's highly competitive digital world certain professions, like real estate agents, any old website will NOT do. You need to be strategic, understand how search engines, like Google work, and get creative.
Google is the biggest search engine with over 90% of searches occurring on the Google platform, which is why I'm focusing on Google information in this article. However, if you find that most of your website traffic comes from Bing, Safari, Firefox, Duck Duck Go, Yahoo, or MSN then you may want to consider finding search data from those sites to focus your efforts.
There is a way for your site to be seen by potential clients in organic searches.
Keywords, Keywords, Keywords
In Real Estate the mantra is Location, Location, Location when it comes to the value of a property. When it comes to Search Engine Real Estate, the mantra is Keywords, Keywords, Keywords.
Organic search engine results for keywords real estate is tight. There are all of three spots that matter on the first screen. Google has moved its paid searches over on top of organic to increase the amount of money they make, however people still prefer to click on organic search results instead of paid ones. Especially if they are searching for information instead trying to make a transaction.
Knowing that keywords are important and the real estate is very tight in an industry with thousands of Realtors vying for those top spots, how can you generate leads for your Real Estate business using your website?
Where’s the best place to hide a body? On page 2 of Google
Websites in highly competitive industries like Real Estate, can be seen on the first page of Google. You just have to get creative, think outside the box, and come at the problem from the back door.
BrandAPeel Episode 1: SEO Keyword Research
In this episode, I go over how to find the keyword to write about on a website to garner traffic.
Ranking for the Keywords - REAL ESTATE
Everyone wants to rank for that money keyword to get the short term transaction, which is really hard and takes a lot of effort. Just look at the amount of searches that occur in Canada using the keywords "Real Estate."
As you can see from the data ranking in Canada for the keywords "REAL ESTATE" is nearly impossible as the difficulty is at 82%. It would take a whole lot of content, back links, and time to rank in the top spot for those key words. I wouldn't recommend trying if you want your website to garner leads for you within the next 12 months.
If we do the same search in the US for the keywords, "REAL ESTATE" it is impossible to rank as the difficulty raises up to 100%
Though lots of people search using the words "REAL ESTATE," you will be banging your head against the wall if you put your efforts into ranking for these keywords. You won't get a piece of the pie because search doesn't share the top spot, it keeps showing the same handful of sites with high Domain Authority for the Keywords, "REAL ESTATE"
With the top real estate questions in both Canada and the US being about how to become a Realtor® I don't see the competition in your industry declining anytime soon.
I'm repeating myself because I want you to get organic traffic to your website that WILL result in quality leads for you over time.
If you think ranking for "REAL ESTATE" in Canada or the US is hard, check out Australia where the search volume is 2.7M, that is 5 times more than in the US. Whichever sites have cornered the market for "REAL ESTATE" searches in Australia, they have a large amount of monthly traffic and need to be constantly creating content on everything to do with Real Estate in order to maintain their advantage. These sites have teams of people doing the work to make sure they don't lose their edge.
So what can you do To get in front of potential clients when they type in a Google search?
First You need to take a Local Approach
Set up your Google my Business page so people searching for a Realtor in the area can see your dot on the map. Fill in all the fields and go back to post content on the Google My Business profile one a regular basis.
Next register your name address and phone number on all the local directories you can find. Then register on the Real Estate ones that cover a broader area.
This will ensure you are covered for local searches for realtors “near me“.
It doesn’t guarantee you’ll be seen but you’ll have a better chance than if you aren’t there.
Next comes the hard part ... getting local potential clients to your website.
"The process of getting visitors to your website is not always an easy task.
Most businesses will have to deal with SEOs, content, social media, and other marketing strategies to get the right visitors on their site. But this can be overwhelming for both new and established businesses.
First, you need to do your research on how your competitors are doing in terms of traffic. You should try to figure out the keywords they are using to get visitors through search engines.
The next step is creating content based on what you found out about your competitors' strategy for SEOs and write content that is relevant to the target audience.
The last step would be finding influencers that can help spread your message that you've just created through content marketing or social media marketing campaigns."
BrandAPeel Members have access to Challenges, which guide you step by step through the Keyword Research and SEO process. Discover what membership can do for your real estate business.
How to Rank for Organic Real Estate Leads?
The first thing you need to do is take a much longer approach to lead generation. To rank for a keyword can take anywhere from 3-6 months and to get to the top. For some words, it can take a year or more depending on the amount of competition going after the same keywords.
It's like a horse race.
"Blue nose is in the lead, and here comes Second Chance along side, they are neck and neck. Last Chance is coming on strong as they make the last turn to the finish line. Second Chance is first. No, Blue Nose has taken the lead. Oh here's Last chance pulling ahead. What! Sneaky Site has slipped in and it's Sneaky Site in number one spot."
You get the idea.
As you create content for your site, others are creating content for their sites and you are always in a race for that top spot.
You need to figure out what people in your area search for on a regular basis, which you can rank for by creating content for those keywords.
I live in Vancouver, BC Canada, so I did some research to determine what a Realtor in Vancouver could create content around to rank high enough to drive local traffic to their website.
There are lots of Keyword research tools online to help you determine which keywords you need to consider for future content creation projects.
For the Keywords "Vancouver Dogs" I discovered:
Instead of writing about Real Estate in Vancouver, a Realtor could create content around the keyword search, "Dog Parks Vancouver" where there are 1600 monthly searches and the keyword difficulty score is 35%. With enough content, backlinks, and time a Realtor® can rank in the top 3 organic search results for "Dog Parks Vancouver"
But Shannon, I don't sell Dog Parks, I sell Real Estate.
I know and I know that the most important thing in real estate is Location. Location. Location. So, if you create enough content about dog parks in Vancouver with an opt in form to get information about owning a dog in Vancouver, you will be able to get in front of a whole lot of dog owners in the Vancouver area, some of whom will be looking for a Realtor® at some point to help buy or sell their Vancouver home.
Not a fan of dogs? Find creating content around dogs boring? OK What about hiking. Vancouverites are huge fans of hiking and finding information about hiking in the area.
Create a site around hiking with opt-in forms for more information and you'll find yourself in front of a lot of people who have the same interest as you do.
The reason why it's important to create content around something that interests you is two fold: One, you'll enjoy creating the content. Two, we trust people we share things with. By staying within your own interest pool, you'll create a brand story people will trust, making you the real estate professional to choose.
ebook with worksheets to learn about SEO and how to get your site to start moving up the rankings. I'll give you a few pages for free to get you started. Just fill in the opt-in form to get the free pages sent to your email address. If you think it’s helpful - The book is available for 4.99 on my site at BookAPeel.
I’m all about value so here are some more articles to help you stand out as a real estate professional in your area.
More Articles for Real Estate Professionals
The APeeled blog is full of ideas and inspirational stories to help professionals like you create a brand story that will connect with your audiences and drive traffic to your website. Most articles are written by Shannon Peel, MarketAPeel's Creative Entrepreneurial Owner, content creator, and all a round get er done gal. Other articles are written by people like you, who want to share what they know and inspire others with their stories.
Here are some articles you may be interested in:
Brand Storytelling Ideas for Real Estate Professionals
Choose 5 core values and let your audience know what you stand for by showing how you exemplify them.
Choose 5 descriptive words and tell stories about how they apply to you to define your image to others.
People enjoy spending one on one time with others who share their interests, beliefs, and experiences. Show others what you do when you aren’t working.
Share stories about your community, the people within it, and the charities you care about. Become the go to person for others to find out what is going on in their world.
Your brand is your reputation, and your reputation is your brand. It’s the story you tell plus the story others tell about you. If you don’t know what you want to be known for, the marketplace won’t know why they should choose you.
As a real estate professional, crafting a strategic personal brand starts by ... Discover more click the button.
Learning about SEO
To know what to write about, you need to know which words people are typing into the search engines and that takes research. I started studying SEO back in 2005 by taking the Moz courses and following Rand Fishkin. Over the years, I'd dip a toe back into the SEO waters to learn how Google changed the rules to improve searchers experiences and to penalise those who tried to game the system. With every major update two things consistently remained of top importance – Keywords and Backlinks.
Sitting here in my bubble overlooking downtown Vancouver, I couldn’t even start to guess which words people were typing to find people who created content to tell brand stories, let alone if anyone was searching. Which words would bring me the traffic I needed to obtain clients who wanted their own digital magazines and readers for those magazines?
The Answer is Keyword Research.
Back in 2005, Moz.com was the only game in town when it came to understanding SEO and which keywords mattered to people. Now there are lots of different sites providing limited research results for zero dollars and in-depth results for a monthly SaaS fee. Each system has its own strengths, ranking systems, and features.
Here are some of my favourite SEO & Keyword research sites with free tools. ... Discover them for yourself, click the button.
The Power of Reviews for Real Estate Agents
Positive ratings and reviews are extremely valuable in the real estate industry. Home buyers are online looking for available properties and guess how they begin their research? Reviews.
A home is the largest financial decision a person makes in their lifetime and reviews are the perfect way to build that trust and credibility that aspiring home buyers are looking for.
Reviews are a powerful force when it comes to driving new business. Do you have processes in place to collect reviews on a regular basis within your real estate business?
If you haven’t already, ensure you are asking all your happy clients to leave you a review in places such as ...
