(Newswire.net — November 4, 2020) — Today, almost all industries take advantage of digital marketing. Real estate is not an exception. In the olden days, people usually browsed through newspaper ads to check out property listings. But now, thanks to the Internet, we can effortlessly check different real estate agencies and listings online across the globe.
If you’re in the real estate sector, this article is for you. Perhaps you already have a website, but there seems to be something missing. A real estate SEO expert can help position your brand higher on the search result rankings, providing your business with a greater chance to reach its full potential.
Here are some possible mistakes that could be affecting the performance of your website.
1. Failing to Do an SEO Audit
All types of websites go through a standard procedure called SEO audit. In this process, your website is evaluated based on its ability to show up on the search engine results pages (SERPs). This is required so that you can figure out if there are any issues in your SEO strategy that need to be fixed. To analyze the online presence of your website, get ready to perform the following tasks:
Technical analysis
This step checks for the accessibility of your website. Are its pages loading correctly? If not, then creating content will be useless. At this stage, you also check your site’s speed, interface, and if it’s mobile-friendly.
Another factor to consider in this step is the indexability of a website, which is how a search engine classifies your site’s content for relevant keyword search terms. Removing duplicate content and ensuring that all redirect URLs are working contribute to making a website indexable.
On-page analysis
In this step, you check for any general content or individual page issues. Of course, every piece of content posted on your website should have relevance to your business. Remember that the key to good ranking is good content.
URLs should also include keywords that will describe the content briefly. Images should be optimized and meta descriptions should be short yet informative.
Off-page analysis
Off-page SEO strategy includes all the actions done outside of your website to help it rank higher on the SERPs. Linking from external websites is a common practice in off-page SEO. The question is if those links remain relevant to your site’s main theme.
Competitive analysis and keyword research
At this stage, you gather data to know which strategies are working for your competitors. You can learn from your competitors’ strengths and apply them to your business. Knowing their weaknesses also allows you to capitalize on them.
2. Using the Wrong Keywords
Keywords represent what people search online, and optimizing them is your website’s way of introducing what your business is all about. When a search engine knows what your website is about, it’s more likely to suggest it to people searching for keywords related to its content.
Ideal keywords should be those that have medium difficulty and medium traffic volume. Difficulty means how hard or easy it is for a keyword to rank. Meanwhile, traffic shows how well a keyword performs or how often people search for that term in a month.
Keyword research plays an important role in your SEO strategy. The goal is to look for familiar words and phrases people often use when searching on major search engines. However, these terms should be related to the products and services offered on your website. Through keyword research, you’ll have a better idea as to what people are searching for, the number of people using a particular keyword, and in what format they want to receive that information.
Make sure to use keywords from an external perspective or “layman’s terms”. Avoid using jargon or business terminologies that ordinary people are not familiar with.
Keywords that you are optimizing for or bidding on should also be popular. You can check the popularity of the keywords using free online tools, such as Google Adwords or Microsoft’s AdCenter Labs Keyword Forecast.
Lastly, don’t forget to test the performance of your chosen keywords regularly. You may want to do some adjustments if their search volume remains the same or has dropped.
3. Lack of an Effective SEO Plan
An SEO plan can be compared to a blueprint. It serves as a guide for your SEO activities. It is a long-term approach that makes sure your website gets pre-qualified traffic, gains improved conversion rates, and increases your online revenue. You’ll know if your SEO plan is effective if there are positive results within the first few months.
There are many mistakes you may not be noticing that make your SEO plans less effective. Perhaps, you’re still stuck on applying traditional SEO techniques. Or maybe, your strategies are more inclined to search engines rather than the real users themselves. What’s worse, you might not have clear goals set for your campaigns.
Start with the basics. Identify the goals you want to accomplish with your website. From there, you can create a more specific SEO plan that applies adequate measures that would meet those goals. Without a concrete strategy, you’ll get nowhere.
4. Neglecting Your Web Design
Web design and SEO work go hand in hand. If web design is compatible with SEO, your site will have a higher chance of generating more traffic. So, what are the things you should check for when it comes to your web design?
Mobile-friendliness
These days, most people check online information using their mobile phones, rather than their desktops or laptops. If your web design is not mobile-friendly, then you may be losing potential customers. Also, if your website is not loading properly on a phone or tablet, this may send a signal to search engines about your website quality, potentially lowering your ranking on the results pages.
Readability and navigation
Is the font on your pages too big or too small? Are there too many hyperlinks or ads blocking your web content? Is the color scheme too light or too dark?
Remember, no matter how informative your website, if the users are having a hard time navigating it, then it will prove useless.
Loading speed
Loading speed is an important factor when it comes to a good user experience. If your website loads too long, chances are that people will leave it and look for a faster resource. Your website’s speed also affects Google’s ability to crawl it. You can optimize images, remove unnecessary plugins, or allow browser caching to speed up your website.
Sitemap
A sitemap is a guide containing all the pages and content of your website. If you want search engines to be smarter about how they crawl your website, this is something you shouldn’t miss. This is also beneficial for user navigation, helping your visitors get around your website easily.
5. Forgetting to Incorporate Social Media into Your SEO Campaign
In the world we live in, it’s very rare for someone not to have a social media account. You wouldn’t want to miss this advantage. Though social media may not directly help when it comes to SEO rankings, you can still gain brand exposure through the links shared across multiple social media platforms.
One effective SEO strategy is to add social share buttons to your website. This way, if a user sees valuable content, he or she can just simply click on the buttons and share it on a preferred social media channel.
Your social media profiles should also be optimized for quality and posting frequency. They should contain your business’s basic information and frequent, compelling posts to attract more followers.
6. Not Using Video Content
Your site’s content should not only contain words and pictures. Videos also make digital marketing successful by improving user experience. Videos are effective tools to give your audience a deeper understanding of what your brand is all about.
While video content is informational, you should still work on optimizing it. For example, you should make sure the titles and descriptions are accurate and concise. They should be clear and not misleading, so the videos wouldn’t have a high bounce rate.
Why Is SEO Important in Real Estate?
SEO is important when it comes to real estate, as it brings a lot of benefits to the table. Here are just some of them:
More traffic and higher conversion rates
With the right optimization techniques, your website can have higher rankings on the SERPs.
Higher returns of investment
The more people check on your website, the more likely they’ll convert to become customers, which in turn generates more revenue for your business.
Brand awareness and authority
Implementing the right SEO strategy will make your brand rank high on the search results and make it more popular among online users. Your website will become a go-to source for those looking for real estate information.
How to Find a Real Estate SEO Expert
You can find many agencies offering SEO services for real estate. However, if you’re looking for a standout real estate SEO expert, Ardor SEO is the company to call! They have helped many real estate clients in the past and are still committed to guiding more clients to success. Learn more about what real estate SEO strategies Ardor SEO can provide for your business.
Final Thoughts
SEO is applicable in most industries, and these include real estate. You may have a website, but is it optimized well enough to attract the leads you want? With SEO, you can make your brand more visible and reach more potential customers. A real estate SEO expert can identify and correct all possible issues preventing your website from ranking high in SERPs.
For more information that you can use for your business, browse our website!