Real Estate SEO in 2024: Tips, Tricks & Hacks for Total Domination
You're a real estate agent trying really hard to get more organic leads. But with everyone and their mother trying to rank #1 on Google, how will you stand out in 2024? Don't worry, we've got your back. We talked to the top SEO gurus and real estate marketers to give you the inside scoop. From technical website tweaks to content strategy, we'll reveal all the tips, tricks, and hacks you need to dominate real estate SEO next year. Think your website's already optimized? Think again. The SEO game changes fast and you need to stay ahead of the curve. Ready to unlock the secrets and become a real estate SEO machine? Then let's get started!
The Importance of Real Estate SEO in 2024
Search Is Evolving Fast
Search engine algorithms are getting smarter and more nuanced with each update. By 2024, search engines will understand natural language queries and context better than ever before. For real estate websites to rank well, you’ll need optimized content that taps into how people search for properties in the future.
Competition Is Heating Up
As real estate SEO heats up, you’ll be competing with major players that invest heavily in digital marketing. To beat the competition, start building authority and optimizing your website now. Publish helpful content, earn backlinks, and build a social media following.
Voice Search Is on the Rise
With the proliferation of voice assistants, more people will search for real estate hands-free. Optimize for voice search by using natural language in your content. Focus on long-form content that reads like an engaging conversation. Include keywords throughout headings, pages, and meta descriptions.
Mobile-First Is Essential
Most searches will happen on mobile devices, so if your real estate website isn’t optimized for mobile, you’ll miss out on business. A fast-loading, mobile-friendly website with thumb-friendly CTA buttons and minimal navigation is key.
Personalization Is the Future
In the future, search engines will deliver personalized results based on a user’s preferences, location, and behavior. To tap into personalization, incorporate localized content, interactive features, and custom landing pages into your real estate SEO strategy. Provide tailored experiences for potential clients at different stages of the buyer's journey.
With search trends moving fast, real estate SEO in 2024 will be a whole new ballgame. Start gearing up your digital marketing now to dominate the competition and connect with more motivated sellers and buyers. The early bird gets the worm!
Interested in a free SEO Evaluation?
We help real estate agents all over the US, Canada, & Mexico skyrocket their real estate websites in the search rankings to attract the best leads. Let us evaluate your current site and SEO strategy and see what we can do to get you organic leads for years to come.
Optimizing Your Real Estate Website for SEO in 2024
To dominate the real estate SEO game in 2024, you need an optimized website.
Focus on High-Quality, Original Content
Fill your site with blog posts, videos, images, and other media about popular real estate topics. Strive for an 8th-12th grade reading level and a conversational tone. Include location names and keywords in your page titles, URLs, image alt text, and content.
Real Estate Website Design & Experience
Optimize page speed and mobile-friendliness. Over 50% of searches will be on mobile in 2024, so your site needs to load fast and display well on all devices. Compress images, minify code, and choose a minimal design.
Build high-quality backlinks. Comment on industry blogs, get featured in roundups, start a podcast, and build relationships with other real estate sites. High-authority backlinks from trusted sources will boost your rankings.
Enhance your local SEO presence. Claim and optimize your business profiles on sites like Zillow, Realtor.com, Facebook, and Nextdoor. Build reviews and ratings, include your service area, and make it easy for prospects to contact you.
Stay up-to-date with search engine changes. Google's algorithms are constantly evolving. Follow resources like Moz, Search Engine Land, and Search Engine Journal to keep your SEO strategy cutting-edge. With hard work and persistence, you'll dominate the SERPs for your target keywords in 2024 and beyond.
The keys to real estate SEO success in 2024 are simple: create an amazing user experience, build a reputation as an authority, and stay on the leading edge of search changes. Now get out there and start optimizing! Your spot at the top of the rankings awaits.
Keyword Research - Finding the Best Real Estate Keywords
Choosing the right keywords is key to dominating real estate SEO in 2024. As a real estate agent, you know that certain property-related terms will always be popular, like “homes for sale” or “[city name] real estate.” But to get ahead of the competition, you need to find keywords with high search volume that your competitors haven’t fully optimized for yet.
Dig into Your Local Market
Do some research on recent real estate trends in your city or neighborhood. Are fixer-uppers becoming popular? Is there an influx of millennial homebuyers? Look for rising search terms related to these trends, e.g. “craftsman homes” or “starter homes.” These niche keywords, combined with your location, could drive a lot of targeted traffic to your site.
Leverage Tools for Volume and Competition
Use free keyword research tools to analyze the search volume and difficulty of ranking for different terms. Aim for keywords with at least 1,000 searches per month that show “low” to “medium” competition. For example, a term like “Austin modern homes” may have good volume but high competition, while a long-tail version like “mid-century modern homes central Austin” could be an SEO win.
Include Synonyms and Related Terms
In your content, include synonyms and semantically related terms for your main keywords to improve rankings. For “homes for sale,” you could use “houses for sale,” “properties for sale,” “real estate listings,” etc. But don’t overdo it, or your content may sound unnatural. Work these terms in where they flow well to create an optimal page for both search engines and human readers.
Track and Refine Over Time
Keep monitoring the performance of your keywords and make changes as needed. If certain terms are driving lots of traffic but few conversions, they may not be closely matched to what your potential clients want. Shift your focus to keywords that engage high-intent users who are more likely to become real estate leads. Continually improving your keyword strategy is key to long-term SEO success.
Creating SEO-Friendly Real Estate Content
Write for Humans First
Keep your audience top of mind with every piece of content you create. Write conversationally, in a friendly and helpful tone. Share relatable stories and examples. Explain ideas clearly without too much technical jargon. This type of content will resonate most with readers and keep them engaged.
Optimize for Search Engines
While you want to write for people, you can’t ignore search engines. Use keywords in your page titles, URLs, image filenames, alt text, and content. But don’t overdo it, as that can seem spammy. Aim for a keyword density of 1-3% of your total word count. Use synonyms and related terms too, not just the exact keyword.
Blog Frequently
To rank well in search and stay relevant to your readers, publish new content regularly. Aim for 2-4 blog posts per week. Some of these can be short updates, but also include long-form, in-depth content. Recycling and updating older evergreen content is also a good strategy.
Promote Your Content
Just publishing new content isn’t enough. You need to actively promote your pieces to increase visibility and traffic. Share your content on social media, especially platforms popular with homebuyers and sellers like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Pitch your content to industry publications and influencers for coverage and backlinks. Run ads to promote your most valuable content.
Analyze and Improve
Track how your content is performing using analytics tools. See what’s resonating with your audience and driving the most traffic and engagement. Then create more of that type of content. Look for opportunities to improve content that isn’t performing well. Update it, promote it differently, or create new related content. Continuously optimizing your content strategy will help you dominate real estate SEO.
Staying on the cutting edge of content best practices and maintaining a consistent publishing schedule are keys to success. While technology and algorithms may change, focusing on serving the needs of your human readers will keep your real estate SEO strategy thriving for years to come.
SEO Success Story From Our Client
Discover how Reed Melton, a seasoned real estate agent in Bend, Oregon, transformed his online presence with Real Geeks SEO. By focusing on user experience, strategic content, and local SEO, Reed now generates 40+ organic leads per month, ranks high for neighborhood searches, and even closed a $7,000,000 sale from an organic lead.
Local SEO Tactics for Real Estate Agents
To dominate the local real estate market, focus on optimizing your online presence for the specific areas you serve. Build a stellar reputation by providing value to your community and engaging with residents.
Optimized Business Listings
Claim and optimize profiles on sites like Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com, and your local MLS. Fill out all details, upload professional photos, and encourage reviews. These listings rank highly in local search and build trust.
Valuable Content
Create neighborhood guides, market reports, and blog posts about hot topics in your area. Share your local expertise by answering common questions from potential clients. This helpful content will drive traffic to your site and position you as the go-to expert in your community.
Engage on Social Media
Be active in local Facebook groups and on neighborhood-focused Nextdoor. Share your content and engage with discussions. Sponsor local events or teams to increase your visibility. Make real connections on these platforms to build goodwill and gain new clients through word-of-mouth.
Get Reviews
Ask happy clients to leave reviews on your business listings and social media. Their recommendations and high ratings boost your local credibility and search ranking. You can also ask for video testimonials to feature on your website. Provide value, deliver amazing service, and the reviews will come pouring in.
Sponsor Local Events
Get involved with community organizations and sponsor local events, fundraisers, school programs, and sports teams. Put your name and brand in front of residents in a meaningful way. Donate items for silent auctions and raffles and consider offering discounts or services as prizes. Your support and engagement will not go unnoticed.
Focusing on these local SEO and community engagement strategies will set you apart in 2024. Build your reputation, provide value, get involved, and optimize your online presence to rank well in local search and dominate your market. The real estate agents who thrive will be those who go all-in on local. How will you rise to the top?
Link Building Strategies for Real Estate Websites
Guest Blogging
Guest blogging on industry websites and blogs is a great way to build high-quality backlinks to your real estate website. Reach out to popular real estate bloggers and offer to write an informative blog post for their site. Be sure to include a bio with a link back to your website. Ask if they’d be willing to allow you to republish the post on your own blog as well. This provides value for readers and builds links from authoritative sites.
Online Directories
Real estate directories like Realtor.com, Zillow, Trulia and HotPads are important for visibility and traffic. Claim and optimize your business listing on these sites, and be sure to include links back to your website. Some directories charge fees, so focus on the most popular and relevant sites for your local market.
Social Media
Build an active social media following on networks like Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. Post useful real estate tips, share listings, engage with followers and join relevant real estate groups. Drop links back to your website periodically where appropriate. An engaged social following also builds brand awareness and trust.
Local Link Building
Don't forget local link building opportunities. Sponsor a Little League team, donate to charities or put an ad in the local newspaper. Ask if they offer a link back to your website as part of the sponsorship. Get involved in your Chamber of Commerce and neighborhood organizations. Submit event listings and press releases to local media and community calendars, always including a link to your website. Local links carry a lot of weight, so make the most of them.
Link building, when done properly, can dramatically improve your real estate website's authority and search rankings. Start with the strategies above, track your link growth over time, and make adjustments as needed to keep building high-quality links month after month. With work and consistency, you'll achieve total domination of real estate SEO.
Tracking and Improving Your Real Estate SEO Performance
To dominate real estate SEO in 2024, you need to closely monitor how your website and listings are ranking in search engines like Google. The only way to improve is to first understand your current performance.
Check your search ranking and traffic for key terms related to your business, like “homes for sale in [city name]” or “[neighborhood name] real estate agent.” See which listings and pages rank the highest and lowest. Look for opportunities to improve page content, internal linking, and backlinks to give higher-ranking pages a boost.
Review your website analytics to see which pages and listings get the most traffic and leads. Double down on optimizing these pages since they’re already resonating with visitors. Consider promoting them more prominently on your site. For underperforming pages, analyze why they’re not gaining traction and make changes to content, page speed, mobile-friendliness, etc.
Track how many people click from search engines to your website and actually contact you. Improve your click-through rate by using compelling listing titles, descriptions, and photos. Provide value to visitors once they land on your site. If contact forms or lead capture methods underperform, evaluate ways to increase conversion rates.
Monitor how your rankings and traffic change over time based on the updates you make. It can take weeks or months to see significant improvements, so look for long-term trends. Continue optimizing and make changes to your strategy based on what’s working.
I recommend using Ubersuggest to track your SEO performance. Ubersuggest is a powerful tool that provides valuable insights into your website's search engine optimization efforts. By utilizing Ubersuggest, you can monitor key metrics, identify areas for improvement, and enhance your overall SEO strategy.
Stay on top of search engine algorithm updates and real estate SEO best practices. What works in 2024 may be very different from today. Adapt to major updates quickly to avoid losing search ranking and traffic. With constant monitoring and optimization, you'll achieve total real estate SEO domination.
Real Estate SEO FAQs: Answering Common Questions
As real estate agents, you likely have a lot of questions about SEO and how to rank higher in search engines like Google. Here are some of the most common queries we get from agents looking to boost their visibility online.
What keywords should I focus on?
Focus on keywords that your target clients are actually searching for, like "homes for sale in [your city/neighborhood]", "[your city] real estate", or "[your property type] real estate agent [your city]". Also target keywords for the specific services you offer, e.g. "property management [your city]", "new home construction [your city]", or "relocation services [your city]".
Combine these with your company and agent names to help build brand awareness. Track which keywords are driving the most traffic to your site using a tool like Google Analytics or Moz Pro. Optimize your content around those terms.
How often should I blog?
We recommend blogging at least once a week to keep your site fresh for search engines and potential clients. Writing useful content on topics like local market updates, home selling tips, or profiles on neighborhoods in your area establishes you as an industry expert. Link to resources on your site and link internally between your blog posts to help with search engine rankings.
Should I do video marketing?
Video is becoming increasingly important for real estate SEO and lead generation. Create video tours of homes you have listed for sale or rent. Shoot vlogs on things like "5 Things Every First-Time Homebuyer Should Know" or "The Cost of Living in [Your City]". Upload to YouTube and embed the videos on your website. This gives search engines more content to index and provides visual information for people searching online.
Video also helps to build trust and form personal connections with potential clients. As with blogging, be consistent by uploading new videos regularly, like once a week or a few times a month. Link to your latest videos in email newsletters, social media posts, and on your website.
What are backlinks and how do I get them?
Backlinks are links from other websites that point back to your website. They signal to search engines like Google that your site is an authority on a given topic. To build backlinks, contribute blog posts or videos as a guest to industry media sites and ask to include a link back to your website. Reach out to local organizations and charities and offer to provide resources or advice for their members in exchange for a link. Build relationships with other agents and see if they will link to your content. Focus on getting high-quality backlinks from reputable, authoritative sites.
Does this help answer some of your burning questions about real estate SEO? Let us know if you have any other queries. We're happy to help you strengthen your search ranking and online presence.
Conclusion
Ultimately, you've got all the tools you need right at your fingertips to completely dominate real estate SEO in 2024. By focusing on local rankings, optimizing for long-tail keywords, producing epic content, and leveraging schema markup, you can crush it in the search engines and bring in more leads than you know what to do with. So don't overthink it. Just start chipping away at your strategy, track your progress, and continue testing and optimizing over time. With the right info and a little elbow grease, you'll be well on your way to total real estate SEO domination in the new year. Now go get out there and start executing!
We are here to help!
We are one of the top real estate SEO & design agencies throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico. We help agents like you create an incredible web presence to attract the best leads and retain them. Get in touch today to see how we can help you dominate this year with all of your real estate goals!
