SEO for estate agents - boost your ranking on Google

Published: 23/01/2023 By Lucy Goodgame

I probably don’t need to tell you that the bygone era of estate agencies relying on a steady flow of walk-in business is over. Nowadays, 97 per cent of consumers search for businesses online, meaning potential vendors and buyers are far more likely to look to the internet for a new agent than their local high street.

In those 'good old days', you would not have expected much foot traffic if your branch was located down a hidden back alley, would you? Yet many estate agents fall into the trap of doing the online equivalent with their website. The simple truth remains: if customers can’t easily find you, you won’t get their business.

Ranking highly on Google is the online equivalent of having a prime branch location on a busy High Street. Potential customers can find you easily, bringing your estate agency more leads and, ultimately, more money in the bank. Search engine optimisation (SEO) is vital for every profession, estate agents included. 

But how do you improve your estate agency’s SEO? What techniques should you be using? You will be pleased to learn that the answer is not as complicated or mysterious as you might think.

Here are some simple things you can do to get your site ranking better on search engines:

Fix Slow Loading

If your website is slow to load, fixing that will immediately help you rank higher. Slow loading times harm your website’s SEO performance, as well as being a massive turn-off for users. 

This applies to both your desktop and mobile websites. An increasing number of people prefer mobile devices over desktop for their online activities, so it is more likely that visitors to your website will be using their phones and potentially a mobile network. Having a mobile-optimised and fast loading website is therefore essential, because 53% of visitors will simply leave a website if its pages take more than 3 seconds to load.

Google wants their users to have as smooth an experience as possible when using their search engine. Directing users to slow websites is antithetical to that. If your site is slow to load, your Google ranking will suffer. In short, if your website is slow, your customers will go to your competitor’s site instead.
You can check out your websites speed score by visiting Googles Page speed insights page. If there is room for improvement, Webdadi can help you with that.

Post New Content

Consistently updating your website with fresh, good quality content is crucial for SEO. Search engines view regularly updated content as one of the best indicators of a site's relevancy and, therefore, use it to judge how high you should be ranked in search results. 

If you don’t regularly update your website, it will fall in the search engine rankings, making you harder to find for potential customers.
 
A simple yet effective way to do this is by adding a blog feature onto your website. Your blog content should be enriched with keywords and phrases that potential customers are using to search for properties and estate agents in your area can help you to create content and optimize your website to rank higher in search results. Posting regular blogs on topics that are relevant and informative to your customers, enriched with plenty of links and keywords, boosts your chances of being visible on search engine results for the audiences you want to reach. 

Webdadi websites are optimised for search engines and are built to rank highly on Google for the search terms your customers are using, ensuring you rank above your nearest competitors and giving you the edge. Google constantly changes the way it ranks a website, so Webdadi adapts your site even after you’ve gone live to make sure you keep up with those changes.

Ask for Feedback

Google My Business reviews are a part of the Google My Business tool and publicly display customers’ satisfaction with a rating out of five, along with their comments. They are an important business ranking factor in search engine optimisation and should therefore be an integral part of your SEO strategy.

First things first, make sure your website has a Google My Business listing. This is a free listing that allows you to manage your business information on Google, including your address, phone number, hours, and reviews. This will help your business to appear in Google Maps, and also give you more visibility in local search results.

Encourage your satisfied customers to leave you a Business Review on Google.  Your Google My Business profile takes reviews and ratings into account when determining how high you should rank in search results. The higher your rating and the more reviews you have, the more it can increase your search engine visibility. 

Be Mobile Friendly

Make sure your website is mobile-friendly and easy to navigate. A lot of people now use their mobile devices to search for properties. In fact, according to Statista, over 75% of estate agent website site visits are now made through a mobile device. 

A mobile-friendly website isn’t just providing a better user experience, it is also great for search engine optimisation. This is because Google prioritizes mobile sites over desktop-only sites, making it harder for your non-mobile-friendly site to be found.  Therefore, all Webdadi websites are mobile responsive as standard.

Use social media 
The chances are that you’re already using at least some of the social media channels like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or TikTok to advertise your properties to potential buyers and tenants. If not, you really should. Posting on these channels is great a great way of sharing your website content such as pictures, videos, and information about your properties and agency.

Social media doesn’t directly impact SEO ranking, but should lead customers back to your website, bringing more visibility and traffic to your website, telling Google that your website is what users want to see. Plus, it builds your brand and creates new lead generation opportunities - win, win.

And finally…

Search engine optimization is a crucial aspect of online marketing for estate agents. By optimizing your website and online presence, you can increase your visibility and attract more potential buyers and sellers to your business.

Check out our Free SEO Guide for estate agents to get some more ideas about how you can make your website more visible on Google or get in touch with Webdadi’s expert website consultants to see what Webdadi can do for you.