How Do You Rank? 5 Tips for Real Estate SEO Success

When it comes to real estate lead generation strategies, many agents seem to have a love/hate relationship with search engine optimization (SEO). At times it can feel like you're chasing an elusive dream. "What does Google want?" Outside of the algorithm-developing nerve center, no one may ever completely know. What we do know is, we all want to reap the reward of having qualified leads delivered to us via organic search, and when our tried-and-true efforts stop producing, our instinct is to jump ship and seek out the next promising opportunity.

But here's where most real estate professionals get it wrong. Experienced SEO wranglers have learned that it takes patience to tame the beast. And patience does pay off, especially when it comes to Google. According to NAR, 90% of home searches begin online, and over the past 4 years, real estate-related Google searches have grown 253%.

So, what does that mean for you? In a nutshell, leads. SEO leads are 8 times more likely to close than outbound leads and cost around 61% less. Think about it like this: investing in SEO is like buying a home instead vs. renting. You're building equity on a previous investment instead of paying a fixed rent for a place to live, with nothing to show for it when you leave. The key is knowing which methods to apply — and which to abandon — to improve your results.

With that being said, here are some SEO best practices to consider when implementing your next online marketing campaign.

Conduct frequent keyword research

The competition for keywords is fierce so tightly target your keywords on a specific area. 69% of home shoppers begin their research with a local keyword phrase, like "Phoenix realtor." Use Google's Keyword Planner to gain an overall picture of what target keywords should drive the most traffic to your site, and how tough it will be to rank well for those keywords.