Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is critical for anyone who wants to improve their online visibility. It’s especially valuable for investors who want to get the most substantial return on investment.
Advertising your business is no longer about sticking a yard sign up or reaching out to your contacts: the internet has become the world’s front page, and you want to be at the top. To do this, you need to create a strong SEO strategy that gets you noticed by sites like Google, Bing, and Yahoo. Everything, from the keywords you use to whether your website functions well on mobile devices, will determine how much attention you receive from algorithms.
This guide offers a comprehensive strategy to improve search engine results through keyword research, on-page optimization, and quality content creation. By the end, you’ll have a bulletproof SEO strategy to get you more organic traffic. However, you can always take your SEO game to the next level by working with professionals experienced in building sustainable, long-lasting growth.
What is Real Estate Investor Search Engine Optimization?
Search engines are critical to buying, renting, or selling property, meaning the savvy real estate investor must understand how to appear at the top of search engine results pages (SERPs). Consumers do not generally look beyond the first few listings for any given search, as they expect to find what they need in only a few clicks. You need to be one of those clicks, and SEO is how you get there.
SEO is about refining every aspect of your online presence to get top rankings on SERPs. It includes technical aspects, such as how fast your site loads, whether it looks good on a cell phone screen, and how easy it is to navigate. Another key aspect is how you advertise yourself through authoritative information on your website and other outlets. Additional aspects of SEO include social media referrals, customer reviews, your Google business profile, and how you utilize multimedia like photos, videos, and infographics.
Comprehensive SEO is designed to drive visibility and lead generation by improving the traffic heading to your page. It will incorporate everything mentioned above and additional considerations such as your sitemap, key performance indicators (KPIs), and schema markups. SEO involves a plethora of elements, all of which must be carefully orchestrated and timed for maximum impact.
1. SEO Overview and Why It Matters
SEO success is about building visibility and adding new leads to your pipeline. Depending on your specific niche, this could include:
- Homeowners looking to offload unwanted homes
- Buyers seeking residential homes
- Consumers finding REITs to invest in
- Tenants searching for apartment listings
- Vacationers seeking short-term rentals
- Businesses hunting for the right office or storefront
- Other investors finding mortgages for their projects
None of these groups will search through numerous page results when they can get what they need from the first few listings. As such, you want to be at the top of search results by using SEO tools to drive organic traffic.
By utilizing relevant keywords, optimizing your website, and creating a solid profile of good backlinks, potential sellers, buyers, or tenants are more likely to see you. If you have robust content and a compelling pitch, you can convert them to potential leads and, thus, develop your cash flow. Visibility and traffic are an essential component of SEO, which is a comprehensive strategy that considers every element of your business and ties it all together.
2. Key Benefits of Real Estate Investors SEO
When you enhance SEO, you drive business growth in a few key ways, including:
- Getting more website traffic
- Reaching your target audience more effectively
- Enhancing visibility
- Improving lead quality
The connection between SEO success and business growth is obvious. More eyes on your page means more potential conversions and more profit opportunities.
How to Choose the Right Domain Name for Real Estate Investor SEO?
Your SEO efforts start with your domain name. A memorable and well-branded domain name that includes a relevant keyword will appear higher on search engines than one that is not realty-related. However, you also must consider whether you want a locally or globally related domain.
1. Domain Name Branding and SEO
Search engines prefer domain names that can be easily categorized, while potential clients want something memorable and easy to input. As such, you need a careful balance of branding, keyword density, and simplicity. Domains like “[City] Sell My House” or “[Brand] Properties” clearly tell Google and users what your company does.
2. Local vs. Global Domain Strategy
When choosing a locally-related domain name or one for a more global audience, you must carefully weigh the pros and cons.
A local domain will help you target keywords related to your specific marketplace, but it can also stifle growth if you intend to scale up your business. If you decide to broaden your service area, you can develop different websites for each area encapsulated under a larger umbrella of affiliated businesses. If you choose this avenue, a local domain helps you separate your service areas to be more precise with your targeting.
On the other hand, global domain names that don’t include local keywords can improve search volume, and they can be very helpful if you are an international investor or have multiple projects spread across a large geographic area. However, it may be difficult to precisely target each service area because there won’t be an obvious connection to that area.
To decide, consider whether your target audience is focused on a particular service area or if you have a large, international business. Domains with local keywords can be more helpful if you work in one specific geographic region and want to appeal to consumers seeking local companies.
Larger companies with multiple service areas may find it more beneficial to set up different domains for each region and then link them back to a primary, global page. If this seems like the best approach, you will likely need a dedicated webmaster who can track all your domains and ensure each one functions properly.
Keyword Research for Real Estate Investors
A keyword helps search engines understand your target audience, ensuring you receive the right traffic. You must specify your niche to understand how to find the right keywords. Are you a cash buyer? A house flipper? A landlord? A vacation rental company? While there’s plenty of overlap between these investment strategies, they all have different keywords that will work best to get attention.
You’ll perform keyword research using SEO tools to determine relevant keywords with high traffic. Search volume is how many people are searching for this keyword every month, and it is one of the most important metrics to consider.
Valuable keywords have a high search volume. While these target keywords can provide excellent SEO value, they are also more competitive, making it difficult to rank high on search results. A good SEO strategy includes a mix of relevant keywords that are both general and location-specific so that search engines can match you to the right users.
1. Conducting Effective Keyword Research
Various tools help you conduct keyword research, including Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer, and Semrush’s toolkit of keyword research products like Keyword Overview and Keyword Magic Tool. Here is a quick overview of how each one works.
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Google Keyword Planner
To work with the keyword planner, you will need a Google Ads account first. Log in, then navigate to “discover new keywords.” Enter some words you believe are most relevant to your service, and Google will provide a list of potential keywords. You can then analyze these using the keyword forecast, which will explain what kind of traffic you may receive.
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Ahrefs Keyword Explorer
With the keyword explorer, you will enter one keyword and then click the orange magnifying glass. It will provide data on keyword difficulty, volume, and traffic potential. You can also use the explorer to discover relevant keywords related to your original query.
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SEMrush Keyword Toolkit
SEMrush provides a suite of keyword research tools, but one of the best options is the Keyword Magic Tool. Similar to Keyword Planner, you will input one seed keyword, and it will generate a list of relevant keywords ranked by difficulty, search volume, and keyword trends over the past 12 months.
When performing keyword research, consider user intent. The most valuable keywords indicate immediate transactional intent, meaning that someone wants to buy, sell, or lease property as soon as possible.
2. Long-Tail Keywords for Real Estate Investors
You may find a list of relevant keywords that are longer than a few words during your keyword research. These are long-tail keywords, and while they don’t have high search volume, they can have very high SEO value. Providing precise information or answering the specific question posed by long-tail keywords lets you match search intent and can lead to more conversions.
3. Targeting Local SEO Keywords
Search intent, especially for property purchases, is often location-based. During your keyword research, note what people are searching for in your service area and target relevant keywords that match these searches. This can include building content with valuable insights on the local market, including a geotagged target keyword and a few long-tail keywords about the topic.
Creating High-Quality, Engaging Content
Content with helpful, relevant information that matches search intent will create an engaging user experience that encourages conversions. Create content that is keyword-rich and matches what the target audience expects.
1. Understanding User Intent and Structuring Content for Readability
User intent is why the person searches for a target keyword, whether house shopping or seeking more information about a specific market. In general, four different types of search intent will guide what kind of content you create.
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Navigational Intent
Navigational intent refers to users looking for a specific page but don’t remember the URL. For example, someone typing in “Zillow” wants to go to Zillow’s front page. They don’t necessarily want information about Zillow’s stock performance or news articles about the company.
Capturing navigational intent is challenging because it requires brand recognition first. To improve this aspect of user intent, you will need to work on your other advertising efforts; it even goes back to branding when you have chosen your domain and business name.
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Transactional Intent
Transactional intent is for users who want to complete a transaction immediately, whether they are selling their home or buying property. This user intent requires great SEO so that you can be at the top of results, encouraging them to check out your service before any competitors. Relevant keywords here might be “sell my house” with a town name or “
Relevant keywords for this intent are likely the ones you are primarily targeting, including those related to your local market. Content about transactional intent will explain your purchase process and answer any questions the user may have about your services. You will also want to ensure you have prominent contact information so that they can immediately start the sales process.
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Commercial Intent
Commercial intent targets shoppers thinking about buying, renting, or selling, but they want to compare their options. Relevant keywords might be “best cash buyers near me” or “good apartments.” Here, you must demonstrate why you are the best choice for the buyer, depending on your niche. Highlight positive reviews, share testimonials from previous customers, and describe your value proposition.
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Informational Intent
Informational intent occurs when users simply want more information about a certain topic. In this industry, relevant keywords may be things like “How to sell a house” or “Can I sell a house with water damage” or “How to pick an apartment.” These are called long-tail keywords because they are full phrases.
Long-tail keywords can provide natural inspiration for content, as the search intent is usually quite obvious: the user wants information about a topic. However, your keyword research can ensure that other pages, like landing pages, have relevant keywords matching users’ expectations.
For the best SEO success, create well-structured and engaging content. Use headings and subheadings to organize information and break up long blocks of text into smaller paragraphs for readability. Bullet points can also quickly summarize important points and emphasize specific sections.
This ensures that you match user intent and makes it easier for search engines to categorize your content.
2. Integrating Multimedia and SEO Benefits
Images, videos, and infographics are more engaging than long blocks of text, which keeps your audience on the page longer. This is especially true if your relevant keywords are related to buying or leasing property: users want to see what they may be buying or staying in for a vacation. Video walkthroughs, or instructional videos, can also be helpful for potential users.
Using descriptive file names and alt text that includes target keywords helps search engines understand the content and can improve search visibility. For example, relevant keywords you can use in an alt text may be city names, property sizes, and prices.
Optimizing Title Tags and Meta Descriptions
Title tags and descriptions are the text that search engines show users when they review results pages; they are your first opportunity to capture your target audience and build organic traffic. While they don’t directly affect your SEO, they will help improve your click-through rates and conversions, which will boost your rankings.
To nail tags and descriptions, you need an understanding of user intent and keyword research. If this is a sales page, you need relevant keywords about the properties you have for sale and explain your listings as briefly as possible. If you’re encouraging users to sell their property to you, then you need keywords about how you can buy their home fast.
1. Writing Effective Title Tags
A compelling title tag should be concise and include the target keyword that summarizes the page. Title tags are very short, so avoid keyword stuffing and work to make the title sound natural. A good tag is between 50 and 60 characters long.
A title tag does not need to be a complete sentence; instead, it should place your target keyword first and add a hint of additional context. If your keyword is “buy my house [City],” then you can add your brand name or a call to action like “Free Quotes Fast.”
Stuffing keywords is when you use many relevant keywords to attract more attention. While this used to be good practice, Google now deprioritizes listings with too many keywords, as it assumes these are spammy. One or two very relevant keywords will work better than having several.
2. Optimizing Meta Descriptions for SEO
Your meta description must be under 160 characters. Optimally, it will be between 140 and 150 characters. Use the target keyword once, then focus on action-oriented, time-sensitive wording. Words like “learn,” “contact,” “browse,” “view,” “explore,” “now,” and “today” are all compelling and will encourage readers to click.
Structuring Your Website for Maximum SEO Impact
Your SEO strategy also needs to consider your website’s structure. Search engines crawl pages regularly to index them, but they will deprioritize poorly organized sites. Clear URL paths, internal linking, and easy-to-use navigation don’t just improve search performance but also help encourage users to stay on your page.
For this, you need to consider website architecture. This is the linking system between each page, with hierarchies that group relevant content. For example, you may have a home page at the top, with links to different categories of pages, like selling and buying. Under these, you’ll include links to your service areas with landing pages for each area or region.
These service pages will be a repository for all content related to a given market, including listings, contact details for a regional office, and links to any additional pages you have about that area, like city guides. You’ll also have a contact page and a blog area with relevant content.
A navigation bar makes it easy for search engines and users to find what they need. This should be organized in terms of importance, and you should utilize relevant keywords for the titles of each item on a navigation bar. Don’t include everything on your navigation bar: just the most important pages in your site hierarchy.
Another navigation tool is a search bar, where users can input relevant keywords and find everything related to that keyword. This is not only helpful to readers but can also encourage them to stay longer and view more pages.
1. Descriptive URLs for Better SEO
You can also apply your keyword research to making your URLs. Have a clear URL structure, whether that is separating pages by “buy” and “sell” tags or by different cities. Keep them short, descriptive, and matched to user intent.
Your site hierarchy can influence URLs, as you can have different paths users can take. For example, if you have property listings, a URL with “[sitename]/buy/City” will be clear and consistent. This both helps search engines find your pages and allows users to quickly access the content they want.
On-Page SEO Best Practices
A clearly organized website helps search engines understand the content while using target keywords matching search intent allowing search engines to show your page to the right users. Optimizing your headings, using internal links, and naturally integrating target keywords help search engines and users easily navigate your site.
1. Optimizing Headings (H1, H2, H3) and Internal Links
Headings provide structure to your content and allow readers to find what they want. You should only have one H1 heading, which will be the page title. For blog posts targeting long-tailed keywords, have that as your H1 heading so your target audience knows they have landed on the right page.
H2 headings will provide an overview of a particular section, while H3 headings get more specific about one concept. Use relevant keywords as your headings. This helps search engines identify the topic and allows readers to scan the page for what they need.
Internal linking creates a concept map of your website that search engines can use for indexing and helps users find related content. While many think of anchor text in content pages when considering internal linking, your navigational bars are also internal links.
Including a comprehensive but uncluttered navigational bar allows users to navigate back to the main page, find your contact information, request a quote, or look at your blog to learn more about your properties.
Every page should have the same navigation bar so users know what to look for. You don’t need to include every page on your website in the navigation bar, as this will be too overwhelming. Instead, focus on the most critical pages, like the landing page, service pages, and contact form.
Of course, you also want internal linking within the content that connects to pages with relevant keywords. Apply keyword research again here to use the right target keyword when using internal linking. You also must consider user intent when applying internal linking. For example, if you have long-tail keywords for a service area, don’t link to a service page in a completely different state.
2. Image Optimization and Alt Text
Images break up long chunks of text and are more appealing to users. However, search engines need alt text to understand what the image is. This also improves accessibility for low-vision readers and mobile users.
Apply your keyword research to create relevant, keyword-rich alt text that thoroughly describes the photograph. For example, the alt text of a house listing might give the address and city name.
Compress file sizes so pages load faster, as page loading speed is another element of SEO success. You can use online programs or tools like Microsoft Photos to compress an image. In general, no photo should be larger than 2400 by 1600 pixels.
Building a Backlink Strategy for Real Estate SEO
Backlinks are links on other websites that refer to your domain with relevant keywords. Any time someone directly links to your page, that is considered a backlink. The more backlinks you have from high-quality sites, the better your rank.
Backlinks enhance SEO by demonstrating the components of Google’s EEAT metrics: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. Valuable backlinks also improve visibility and drive referral traffic.
While you may believe that having good content will get people to link to you, it’s not true. As with other elements of SEO, you must be strategic and actively seek out backlink opportunities from reputable organizations. Researching potential link partners, matching your content to user intent, and developing a list of good, relevant keywords will do much more than simply generating articles and hoping for the best.
1. Importance of High-Quality Backlinks
High-quality backlinks are from authoritative sites with high domain authority (DA), high search volume, and high rankings. When you have a do-follow backlink from a website with high DA, it also improves your own domain authority and rankings.
With link building, you create content with relevant keywords hosted on another website. You can acquire these backlinks through guest posts, editorial links, social media posts, and content outreach, where you promote your page to influential sites.
To get these links, you must contact the site owner and explain why they should work with you. Demonstrate exactly what you’re looking for, whether that’s a link insert in a pre-existing page or a guest post. Show metrics about your site and describe your value proposition.
Your content should match the site’s target audience and offer valuable insights. It should naturally include relevant keywords and demonstrate your expertise through well-researched, authoritative content, ideally with links to trustworthy sources. In many cases, these posts will also have internal links to other pages on the host site that are relevant to your content.
2. Avoiding Toxic Backlinks and Link-Building Strategies
Not all backlinks have equal SEO value; some can cause search engines to demote you. Backlinks from spammy sites make search engines believe your page is untrustworthy, dropping your rankings.
Sometimes, the site is trustworthy, but it doesn’t match your target audience. Link-building efforts with this site will seem deceptive to search engines, and you will be demoted accordingly.
When building links, you must thoroughly investigate any site with a backlink and review its content to see if it matches your niche. Sites with many broken links, poorly worded content, or deceptively placed links will harm your rankings, even if you create content that matches user intent and includes appropriate target keywords. You will also want to examine the site’s domain authority, search engine rankings, and reputation.
To find quality backlinks, perform keyword research and see what ranks highest on search engines for a relevant keyword, then use tools like Google Search Console to investigate the site’s metrics. If you feel the site will offer SEO value, you can reach out with your value proposition and content samples.
Link-building can be time-consuming; it can take hours to find potential partners, investigate their rankings, and then explain your proposition to them. This doesn’t even consider the time and effort spent writing authoritative content to host on the site.
Because of this, many investors will partner with an SEO agency that can manage keyword research, content creation, and outreach on your behalf.
Optimizing Google My Business (GMB) for Real Estate Investors
Google My Business helps improve your visibility in local searches as it demonstrates your service area. Having an optimized business profile lets you reach your target audience by appearing in map listings when users search-relevant keywords, and it also provides a brief overview of your offerings.
1. Setting Up and Optimizing GMB Profiles
To set up your GMB profile, you must claim your listing through Google Maps. Enter the address or business name, then claim the business. Google will guide you through the verification process.
Once you’ve verified the business profile, you’ll optimize the business information. Check that the business name is correct and add contact details, including the address, phone number, website, and business hours. If you have special business hours during holidays, update this accordingly.
Ensure that you have been added to the proper category. You can add secondary categories, too, but make sure that these are actually relevant to your services. For example, if you buy houses but aren’t a realtor, don’t misrepresent yourself.
Next, you’ll want to add content. In the “from the business” section, include pictures and a short description of your services with relevant keywords. Google will auto-generate a description based on information about your services online, so a well-optimized website will ensure this is attractive.
You can generate questions and answers about your services, set up your profile to allow for direct queries, enable messaging, and post like you would on a social media site about updates to your services.
2. Managing Reviews to Boost Credibility
Reviews are vital for driving traffic to your website. 95% of consumers read reviews before using a service, and if they are using the Google search engine, they will check the Google reviews first.
Your Google reviews should be genuine and solicited from real customers; fake reviews can harm your rankings more than anything else. To get more reviews, ask clients through several avenues.
Firstly, ask your clients directly to leave a review, preferably during a face-to-face meeting. Educate them about the importance of reviews for helping small businesses, as consumers might not know how critical they are. You can also follow up through email, reminding them of the importance of reviews and providing a direct link to your profile.
After you’ve gotten a review, respond in a prompt and professional manner. A positive review can receive a simple thank-you, but negative reviews can be more difficult. Never attack the consumer, though you can clarify if they have misrepresented an interaction.
If a user has had a poor experience, apologize for the inconvenience and ask them to contact you directly to discuss it further rather than attempting to hash out the problem publicly. This demonstrates your responsiveness and professionalism, both for search engines and potential clients.
Developing a Content Strategy for Real Estate Investors
When you create content that includes target keywords, you drive traffic and improve your rankings. Blogs centering around long-tail keywords, guides to investing, and local content will both help your target audience and build out your website so that Google recommends it to users.
1. Creating a Content Plan to Drive Traffic
As with almost everything SEO-related, keyword research is crucial to creating a content plan. When forming your content strategy, consider your audience and overall SEO goals. Think carefully about what services you provide, such as buying distressed homes directly from consumers. This will determine how to optimize your content and who you are targeting.
First, work on creating an eye-catching landing page and service pages for your market. These help target transactional and commercial search intent: people who want to buy or sell property. Well-written copy, clear calls to action, and easy navigation provide a sense of authority.
While you should add contact information on every page, you should also have a dedicated contact page with a Google map, a contact form, and all your contact details.
Once you’ve built out these basics, it’s time to develop a content creation plan. While you should have some informational content on your page, link-building boosts referral traffic and improves your authority according to Google’s algorithms. The most common way to do this is through guest posting, where you create a post hosted on another site.
Guest posts should not sound like infomercials; they should provide helpful, relevant content tailored to the site’s audience. It should not be obvious to the average consumer that you are promoting your business, and the keyword you use should sound natural in the sentence rather than inserted randomly.
To start guest posting, you must find reputable link partners based on their traffic, domain authority, and relevancy. For example, business journals, blogs about investing, and home sales sites can all be good partners for investors. You’ll then build an article around a relevant keyword, such as “sell my house fast” or “house flipping.” Make sure that it fits in with the host’s overall theme, and you can imagine one of their regular readers being interested in this topic.
Build authority by using reputable sources and linking to expert sites. This can include market research sites, trade journals, and news articles from well-known news sources. While these won’t lead back to your site, they will demonstrate that you’re familiar with your industry and are seeking to educate consumers.
Most sites will also want you to include links to their other pages in your guest post, as this helps their own SEO. It also demonstrates that your content fits naturally with their overall focus and will make your post seem less like an advertisement.
It’s essential to be consistent with your content creation. Rather than submitting everything immediately, update your site regularly with new articles and more specific content. Plan to review older pages periodically and update them with new information to create fresh, relevant content without starting from scratch.
If this sounds like a lot of work, it is. That’s why many companies outsource content planning and creation to SEO agencies, with dedicated specialists who can take care of this on your behalf. This way, you can focus on your primary business objectives without writing dozens of weekly articles about your market. These professionals fully understand SEO for real estate investors and will ensure that you don’t miss out on any crucial opportunities for optimization.
2. Importance of Location-Based Content
As an investor, you’ll likely focus on a particular market, so local SEO will be a critical element of your content strategy. Not only does this better match you to local searches, but it demonstrates your authority.
In addition to landing pages for different cities in your service area, consider creating neighborhood guides, research pages about local markets, and advice to those considering moving to a given city.
The more specific and informative you are, the better you will rank. Demonstrating deep familiarity with your service area reassures visitors that they will be in good hands if they work with you. While this is important for any local business, it can be especially important for investors who purchase houses from homeowners, who may be nervous about selling their home to someone who doesn’t have a connection to the area.
Reference specific landmarks, neighborhoods, and regions throughout your content. This not only shows you understand the area, but it can also help you pick up additional keywords from those searching for more granular information about a given market.
Technical SEO Essentials for Real Estate Websites
Search engines prioritize sites that are well-organized and easy to crawl, so technical SEO is critical for improving your rankings. By performing a technical site audit and structuring your site for easy access, you’ll get more visibility in Google and other search engines.
1. Performing Technical Audits
A technical SEO audit considers issues such as broken links, crawl errors, and your site’s overall architecture. It will also examine how fast your pages load and whether they are easily viewed on mobile devices. By reviewing each of these factors, you can make an agile website that is attractive to both a search engine and a potential seller.
Several tools will help you identify and fix any issues with your page. Screaming Frog’s SEO Spider is a website crawler that will search for problems like duplicate content, broken links, redirects, and missing metadata.
With SEO Spider, you can also download an XML sitemap for submission to Google and visualize your site architecture to see if there are any missed opportunities for internal linking. If you use the paid version, you can schedule regular site audits so you can stay on top of any emerging issues.
Google Search Console is a free, multifunctional tool that helps you identify your search performance and find potential problems with your site. You can view performance reports, identify what pages link to your site, analyze query traffic data, and review your site’s index coverage to see what’s missing. Here, you can also submit sitemaps for faster indexing and request that Google re-index pages if there are any problems.
Ahrefs also provides a free technical SEO audit tool for 170 issues, including localization, metadata, URLs, internal linking, poorly structured HTML or CSS, and page speed. The tool will give you specific, actionable advice on how to fix problems so that you have an action plan for success.
2. Optimizing for Mobile and Page Speed
As tablets and phones have become many people’s primary way to connect to the internet, search engines like Google have started to prioritize mobile pages. Google will also examine your Core Web Vitals to determine how to rank your page. These three vital signs are as follows:
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Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)
This is how long it takes for the main content of your page to load after a user clicks on the page. A good metric is less than or equal to 2.5 seconds, while a poor LCP is 4 seconds or more.
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Interaction to Next Paint (INP)
In March 2024, Google replaced its old core web vital, First Input Delay (FID), with Interaction to Next Paint (INP). INP reviews how long it takes the user to receive input after performing an action on your page, like clicking on a drop-down menu or adding an item to their shopping cart. A good INP score is 200 milliseconds or less, while a poor INP score is above 500 milliseconds.
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Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)
This measures how frequently your page’s layout unexpectedly shifts, which can cause users to lose their progress when clicking on things. For example, if you have popup banners that suddenly shift the layout, users might misclick on a button. A good CLS score is less than or equal to 0.1, while a poor CLS score is 0.25 or more.
These Core Web Vitals track how fast your page loads and how functional it is for users, all impacting how search engines rank you. Thankfully, there are several ways to speed up your pages. One of the easiest is compressing images to load faster without looking grainy.
You can also improve server response times by working with a reputable host and enabling caching, which lets the server spend less time retrieving the site from its files. Reduce redirects and HTTP requests through your site architecture so the server does less work.
Consider working with a Content Delivery Network (CDN) for even faster loading. This is a network of servers that will retain a copy of your website on each server. When a user clicks on your page, the closest server in the system will respond and load your site for them, which saves time.
3. Creating and Submitting XML Sitemaps
XML sitemaps list all of a website’s essential pages so that search engines know what to look for when indexing your website. This helps Google find and crawl all the pages, which improves your rankings.
Regularly updating your XML sitemaps will ensure that new pages are indexed quickly. Then, when a user searches for that keyword, the search engine can present them with your page. Otherwise, Google or other search engines don’t know how to recommend your content; your page is essentially invisible.
Tools like Screaming Frog will create an XML sitemap that you can submit to Google Search Console. The Search Console API can also create and submit a sitemap for you.
To submit your sitemap, log into your Google Search Console account, then navigate to the “sitemaps” section. Click “add a new sitemap” and submit your XML file. When you add more pages, you can either upload a new sitemap or manually add the URLs to your existing sitemap.
Note that if you submit your sitemap to Google but users use other search engines, like Bing or Yahoo, you must submit it to these engines.
Advanced SEO Techniques for Real Estate Investors
To get even more SEO value, move beyond simple components like internal linking and consider advanced techniques, including scheme markups and optimizing your videos for SEO. Not only does this make it easier for search engines to find you, but visual content appeals to users, improving organic traffic and helping you reach your target audience.
1. Using Schema Markup for Better Search Visibility
A good schema markup helps search engines understand what a page includes, ensuring the website is referred to the right audience. Schema markup is included in your page’s HTML and is written in unique code that search engines can read.
Schematic markup is helpful for numerous reasons, such as generating rich text snippets that will be included in the search engine’s results. For example, if you have open houses coming up and a user searches for “open houses near me,” your list of events will appear under the search result.
Schema markup also improves relevance by better parsing your text for search engines. This will improve clickthrough rates, which will boost your rankings. Because your listings will present more information to users, they will believe you are trustworthy and will be more willing to click on your link.
To get started with schema markup, you can check Schema.org, a collaborative site that lists all the markup commands you can use. Use the documentation information to learn more about implementing schema markups and see examples of how it works on a page.
2. Leveraging Video SEO and Transcriptions
Videos are appealing to many users, especially those viewing on mobile devices. In addition to creating quality videos with high production values, you can optimize them for SEO by adding transcripts and metadata. Transcripts and closed captioning are especially important, as they add accessibility and allow users to follow along even with the sound off.
Transcripts are alt text for your video, similar to alt text for an image on your site. These captions describe the soundtrack and, sometimes, the music in the background or the images being shown on screen.
Google Drive, YouTube, SharePoint, and Adobe Premiere Pro all allow you to submit a transcript and generate captions. Look for a section entitled “Captions” or “Transcript,” then upload the transcript file. You can also paste the transcript into YouTube. Not only does this ensure more accurate captions, but it provides text that search engines can crawl to understand what the video discusses so they can recommend it to those seeking videos about the topic.
Videos can also include metadata; you can leverage keywords here to rank higher. A title, description, and video tags both explain what the video includes and make the video more likely to be included in search results for that keyword.
Tracking and Measuring SEO Performance
Successful SEO must be constantly reassessed and adjusted for best results. For example, you may realize that a particular post does not quite match the search intent that’s bringing users to the page, meaning you must revisit the post and change it to better meet user intent.
As such, you need to understand the key performance indicators (KPIs) to review and how to track your SEO performance so that you know what to change. You may find that it’s helpful to work with an experienced SEO agency that will be able to translate these metrics into an action plan and, therefore, better success with search engines.
1. Key SEO Metrics (KPIs) to Monitor
There are dozens of different SEO metrics that you can review, but only a few are key performance indicators (KPIs). By focusing on these, especially at first, you can identify what’s not working and how to improve your rankings. The three main KPIs to look at include the following.
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Organic Traffic
This is how many users find your page through organic searches rather than paid ads. The more free traffic you have, the better your SEO works and the more money you save. For a small business, a few thousand visits a month is good. You should strive for 10% month-over-month growth if you have a very aggressive SEO strategy.
To get more traffic, you need to consider what users see when they review results on search engines, namely, your title and description. If you have relevant keywords but no one clicks on your page, you need to refine your titles and descriptions. Schema markup can also be helpful here, as it will provide more information to users when they review your listing.
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Bounce Rates
Bounce rates refer to how often a user clicks on one page and then doesn’t look at anything else. You should strive for a bounce rate of less than 40%. You might experience high bounce rates for multiple reasons, which can be related to your site’s layout, content, or internal linking.
Firstly, a cluttered layout with no navigational tools can frustrate users, especially if they are on mobile devices and you have not optimized for mobile. Streamline your pages to be clean but comprehensive, and ensure the navigational bar is prominent.
Lastly, you may not have compelling content with prominent and relevant keywords. In this case, hone in on user intent again and keep it in mind when writing.
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Conversions
This is how many people take a designed action on your page, whether that is calling for a consultation or requesting more information about a listing. A reasonable conversion rate is between 2% and 5%, which can vary significantly based on your market.
Ensure that your call-to-action elements are clearly labeled and prominent to improve conversion rates. Bright colors, especially on an otherwise neutral page, will draw users’ eyes, while precise wording, like “contact us” or “get a free quote,” tells the user what to expect.
Sign-up forms placed on service pages are also helpful, as users will not have to click through to get more details. You can place this in a sidebar or at the bottom of the page.
2. Using Google Analytics to Measure Success
Google Analytics is a comprehensive tool that can provide insights about your website performance, including overall traffic, referral links, and page value. It will also include the KPIs we discussed, like bounce rates and conversions.
You can also set goals for pages, such as a certain amount of traffic, and see what pages are performing well so that you can identify what users want. Additionally, you can connect Google Analytics to the Search Console to perform keyword research, identify backlink opportunities, and more.
To use Google Analytics, add a tracking code to each page you want to assess. This analytics code will be provided on your Google Analytics account and placed in your page’s <head> tag. Google Tag Manager is a free tool that will keep your analytics tags organized by site or campaign. This is useful for investors who have multiple sites for different service areas.
Some of the most helpful tools in Google Analytics include the following options, though there are many more you may wish to consider, too.
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Page Views
Page views provide details on how often your page was viewed. This is useful for tracking changes on a given page. For example, you’ve optimized your SEO if you updated your search engine tags and the views increased. The more views on a page, the better that content performs, and the more you should attempt to replicate this success.
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Page Views by Source
Page views by source help you see where the traffic is coming from, which can help you see how your marketing campaigns are working. If you get almost no page views from an ad campaign, it’s not worth your time. On the other hand, if most of your views come from ads but you have almost no other traffic, then you need to improve your on-page SEO and catch users’ attention.
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Page Views by Title
Page views by title are helpful for content creation as they help you see what people click on the most. If long-tail keyword pages get the best traffic, you know you should pivot to providing these in-depth guides, as it suggests your competitors aren’t considering these keywords. Again, those keywords have lower search volume but can offer greater conversion power.
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Referral Visits
Referral visits tell you how your link-building campaigns are helping your SEO. If you acquired a link from a highly reputable website but got almost no traffic, this suggests that while the site itself is good, it does not match your industry well enough.
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Social Referrals
Social referrals demonstrate whether social media outreach is working for you. Social media can be tricky for investors, but given how much time people spend on sites like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok, you need to develop a solid strategy for these sites, too. Having a social media manager can be helpful to get more social referrals.
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Goals
Goals let you measure conversions, clicks, bounce rates, and overall traffic. You can find these in the “Goals” section of the interface, selecting what you’d like to track. Good options are tracking how many pages users visit on your site, how long they stay on per page, and what they click on while on your site.
How Stellar SEO Empowers Real Estate Investors with Proven SEO Strategies?
If you’re seeking an SEO agency, you must ensure they are familiar with the investment industry and understand what works in this niche. What works well for an e-commerce company is not going to do well for those buying and selling property for a simple reason: users want different things when searching for winter coats versus when they want to sell their home for cash. A one-size-fits-all approach to SEO will waste your time and money – not to mention annoy users and drop your ranking.
Thankfully, Stellar SEO has you covered: this field is one of our specialties. We’ve worked with numerous developers, mortgage professionals, and investors to create custom-tailored strategies with proven results.
Our goal is long-term, sustainable results based on the best SEO practices, ensuring you won’t be penalized for links to spammy websites or deceptive on-page content. While these can often get overnight results, they ultimately lead to worse performance over time as search engines catch onto these deceiving tactics.
Instead, we will focus on ensuring your website is as optimized for search, including technical audits and high-performing, mobile-responsive pages. Next, we’ll use our established relationships with reputable websites for content outreach, getting you great links that boost your rankings.
We have a team of both technical SEO specialists and content creators to manage every aspect of SEO, from dazzling websites to link building. With our approach, you’ll rank high for relevant keywords and have content that matches user intent, ensuring both you and users are satisfied.
Conclusion: Achieving SEO Success for Real Estate Investors
In today’s world, online is everything, so a strong focus on SEO will have a greater return on investment than cold calling or yard signs. Investors need to perform well on search engines for their specific keywords, create attractive websites that draw in users, and develop informative content that offers value to readers rather than sounding like advertising copy.
Everything is combined in Google’s algorithm to decide whether your site is relevant to users searching for specific information. This includes your page loading speed, your keyword density, and your backlink profile. Advanced techniques like schema markup and uploading XML sitemaps also help you stand out in a crowded marketplace.
Such a comprehensive approach can be overwhelming, especially for those focused on growing their business and attracting new clients. While it’s helpful to understand the nuts and bolts of SEO, you don’t need to go it alone: an SEO agency can guide you through every step of the process and ensure you’re using the best practices for sustainable growth.
Contact Stellar SEO today to schedule a free demo with our SEO experts. We’re happy to answer any questions about best practices and what results you can expect within the first year of your SEO journey.
