Why Is Local SEO Important For Real Estate In 2021?
So you’ve heard people talk about local SEO and ranking in search engines. But why is it important?
This article will help you determine why local SEO is crucial and guide you in the right direction to start dominating the SERPs.
Why Is Local SEO Important For Real Estate?
Here are the main reasons why local SEO is vital for a real estate brand:
- Most searches are mobile
- “Near me” real estate keywords get traffic
- It helps build trust with clients
- It helps you become an authority in local markets
High Mobile Traffic
That’s just one of the statistics that show how much website traffic is coming from mobile phones.
Beyond the statistics, it is common sense as well. Studies have shown that the average person is on their phone for around x hours per day, so it’s no surprise that this is where the traffic is coming from.
Local SEO allows you to rank both your GMB listing and website in search engines and get a piece of the massive mobile cake.
Real Estate “Near Me” Keywords Get Traffic
In most big cities, one of the most searched for keywords in the real estate industry are terms like “real estate near me.”
Here’s an example:
In New York, approximately 1300 searches per month. for “real estate near me.”
As you can imagine, a keyword like this will have massive potential for any real estate brand. And the way you position your website here is through local SEO – which is why it’s crucial for a real estate website.
It helps build trust with clients
Let’s face it: The real estate industry needs more trust than others because the value of transactions is higher.
And your brand appearing in Google builds trust with clients… because the reason they use Google in the first place is they trust it.
By ranking in Google, some of that trust is associated with you, making a good first impression (higher conversions later).
It helps build authority for you in the local market
Whether it’s business partners or your clients – authority is something that you need to associate with your brand to help you reach your goals.
Google only ranks authoritative websites… So when you rank in Google, it shows off your authority to everyone around you.
How To Dominate The Local SERPs
Over on our blog, we have piles of articles that walk you through every step of the GMB setup process.
So, we’re not going to walk you through the GMB setup process here, but what we will do is
Create a Better Result Than There Already Is
One of our biggest tips is to create a better result than there already is. Find out what it exactly is that the user wants, and give it to them.
Okay… So what do we mean by better?
Assume we are talking about a landing page for “sell my house + location.”
You can be better by:
- Having a more appealing title
- Having a page with a smoother user experience
- Having a page with better/more information than your competition
Bear in mind; more is not always more… For example, if your main objective is to beat the word count of your competitors, you probably won’t get far.
The main objective is to create a better result, which ultimately comes down to the search intent.
Find out what the searcher is looking for, and help them get there.
Get Links From Highly Authoritative Sites
Links account for a whopping 16.53% of local rankings signals.
Yes. 16.53%.
So they’re pretty significant. However, if you get the wrong type of links and purchase them from low-quality vendors, they could quickly tank your site.
Here are the top sites that are linking to most local real estate websites:
- Realtrends.com
- Realtybusinessnews.com
- Massrealestatenews.com
You can also consider getting links from general business websites. These may be easier to get and still have decent relevancy while also being powerful.
Start a Blog
Blogging isn’t just something that teenage girls do to let the world know about their life. It’s actually one of the best tools for SEO and communicating value to your customers.
You can show off your knowledge on your blog and make yourself an authority on your cover topics.
Okay… But how does it help SEO?
When you build out your content and link it to your landing pages, you create “topical authority,” which is Google determining how authoritative a site is.
One of the main factors it uses is how comprehensively you have covered a topic.
So, if you’d have 100 posts specifically on mortgage and selling regulations in California, you’d have a pretty decent chance of outranking your competition.
And check this out: If you create geo-specific blog posts around your city, maybe around laws, areas, etc., it will help your local rankings. Google will recognize that.
Get Reviews on All Platforms
Our next tip is to get reviews on all platforms:
- GMB
- Yelp
- Trustpilot
Not only will this improve your SEO, thanks to the heavy review signals we saw earlier… But it will actually help your conversions when your prospects are researching for you.
We recommend you set up an automated process to follow up with clients and ask for reviews. You can do this via your autoresponder or SMS software.
Highly Qualified Leads
One of the biggest reasons local SEO is essential for real estate companies is the quality of leads.
Someone searching for a local real estate company has already determined that they are interested in buying/property.
This means you will have less convincing to do and can proceed with the process… So you’re spending fewer resources on the big results.
Pretty sweet, right?
Final Thoughts
We hope you have enjoyed this article on why local SEO is vital for real estate. As we have seen throughout, it’s crucial for a real estate website as it helps find both highly qualified buyers and sellers.
If you would like to learn more about our services, make sure to check out our services page.