The Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) strategies used for the real estate web sites are essentially the same employed in other industries.
There is a marked difference, however, with regard to the profit potential that can be realized with the right online marketing strategy for a real estate business.
The bottom line can be greater.
This is why it is important for real estate agents and brokerage offices to pay close attention to how their web sites are being marketed.
The following five SEO and SEM tips should be strongly considered by those individuals who keep web sites dedicated to the real estate industry:
1 – Stay Informed on SEO
Even if you have a professional looking after the SEO of your web sites, you should stay up-to-date on important matters that affect both the real estate and online marketing industries. Search trends come and go, and major players like Google can launch significant changes to their algorithms with little notice. Stay current by doing research, particularly on trends surrounding search engine usage patterns and keyword trends.
2 – Use Keywords and Key Phrases Wisely
Once you have decided on the appropriate keywords, concentrate on developing engaging content that includes your selected terms and key phrases. These should naturally appear no more than a couple of times per page, and they should be included in the titles and headers. Content should also be developed with these keywords in mind. For example, if you settle on a key phrase such as “homes for sale in Ann Arbor”, be sure to write text that alludes to the allure of single-family residences in the area and include photos that are geographically tagged to Ann Arbor.
3 – Cultivate your Content
If you would like repeat visits to your site, make sure you offer your prospects and clients a reason to come back. Quality content is crucial to the web user experience; something that newspapers have been practicing for centuries. Although newspapers and magazines have been migrating from the print medium to the online world over the last few years, editors know that the relevance and quality of their content are the factors that keep readers coming back.
Think about the online newspapers or magazines you visit most frequently and pay attention to their content. More than likely you keep going back to those sites because they constantly publish fresh content that is relevant to you and that you enjoy viewing. Think about cultivating the content on your site along those lines.
4 – Internal Links and Sitemaps
A site that is well-organized by internal links and Google-compliant sitemaps can be enjoyed by both visitors and search engine crawlers. Internal linking, also known as deep-linking, is a solid SEO technique that is easy to accomplish. For example, a web site that features real estate in Ann Arbor may focus on the different neighborhoods contained in separate pages. That site may also include blog posts about what is happening in the neighborhoods of Ann Arbor, thus providing an excellent opportunity for internal linking. Google and the other major search engines will thank you for doing this.
5 – Relevant Backlinks
This is one of the most challenging aspects of SEO, but it can be one of the most rewarding. A high authority backlink means that it is listed on a site that is respected by the online community at large. Think about what could happen to your site if its featured on CNN, or on the leading newspaper of the real estate market in which you operate. These high authority backlinks are often the crown jewel of any SEO and SEM strategy, and they are worth every effort employed to obtain them.
Ben Sawyer is in Internet marketing for over half of a decade. He helped many companies to establish their online presence, implementing his SEO strategies. Curently he is working as a Search Engine Marketing analyst for ArverneByTheSea.com – a reputable real estate company from New York City.