Real Estate SEO: Getting Your Listings in Front of Targeted Audiences

Online searching and shopping are constantly on the rise, and organizations in practically every industry can benefit from Internet marketing. However, if your website is not up to par and you're not utilizing search engine optimization (SEO) to increase traffic and reach the right audience, you're likely not reaching you're full potential. This increases the risk of being beat out by competitors.

In the real estate industry, most buyers, renters, and browsers begin their search online as opposed to print guides, newspaper listings or in-person. With this in mind, it's important to optimize your website so that you're reaching more and more relevant people. In order to do so, you must accomplish a few things. First, find out what your relevant audience is searching for. Then, incorporate highly searched keywords and phrases into your site and listings. Finally, network with other website owners, build links, and be social. To find out more about these important steps, read on.

1.Explore keyword search strings used by potential customers.

When it comes to getting your website and listings in front of the right people, you must first understand what it is that they are searching for. In the real estate world, potential buyers and renters are likely to search by location, but the real question is what else they are including in their searches. For example, those looking for homes in the River North Chicago area may search by neighborhood or simply by Chicago. Additionally, they might search by homes, property or real estate. The key to success is finding the combination that will reach the most number of users. In order to do this, take advantage of tools such as Google AdWords or Google Insights for Search. These will allow you to see if , "Chicago real estate" or "River North property," is more highly searched. Once you have your search string, you can begin integrating it into your marketing materials.

Make searching for properties easier for the consumer

2. Optimize your website and listings to achieve better performance.

Now that you've done your research and have the highest performing strings relevant to your website and real estate listings, it's time to implement them by incorporating them into your page. Your primary focus to start should be your title and possibly your domain name (if you don't already have one).  As you work to optimize your website and any listings you may have up, the most important thing to remember is clarity. If you're hitting the right users, but the title and tags you're using don't make sense, then you're less likely to be successful selling your properties. If you don't yet have a website and are able to create a new domain name, try incorporating the highly searched string. For example, you could choose, "RiverNorthChicagoProperty.com" or "River-North-Chicago-Property.com." Additionally, if you have more than one page to your website, you're likely using internal links, such as, "Home" and "About Us." Instead, incorporate your keywords by titling those, "River North Chicago Property Home Page," and "About Our River North Chicago Property." Now that you've optimized your website, you can continue to improve search results by networking and link building.

Set up your domain name for easier clarification

3. Utilize social media, link building and blogs to grow your network and business.

There are numerous ways to approach networking and socializing when it comes to increasing traffic to your website. Of course it's always great if you can have companies and businesses that you know and work with place links on their own sites back to yours. If you've already done that, reflect back on the second step and try to utilize those highly searched keywords and phrases for their links as well. On top of this, it's a good idea to become involved with relevant forums, blogs and social networks. By making yourself and your company known, you'll be more likely to have additional link building opportunities or at least get your name out in the community. Additional options include paying for directory listings or researching other successful relevant websites and their strategies.

Baird & Warner's social media fan page through Facebook

When trying to get your website to perform better, it is important to do your research, incorporate your findings and then network with your community. These three simple steps open the door for higher traffic to your page, which can also increase your business. Just note that you can delve much deeper into each step, depending on your resources, in order to get even better results.