Having a hard time getting found online? How’s your social media footprint? Are your business profile, website and Facebook page drawing all the attention to your business that they could be? Here’s your chance to find out if you’re doing everything you can to point people to your website, social pages and listings. Senior SEO Strategist for Boostability Colton Miller recently shared the factors that make or break local SEO for real estate in the recent Secrets of Top Selling Agents webinar “5 Tactics You Need to Get Found.”
An online presence is more than just using the right SEO keywords. It means having quality content, blogs, videos, photos, testimonials, and articles that appeal to your local audience and prove to readers that you’re the local real estate expert. While no agent wants to spend all day in front of a computer writing, spending 5-10 minutes a day on your website can build content, credibility, and your online presence quickly.
What Is SEO?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It’s how the internet determines how, where, and what website to send visitors to based on keywords and phrases. Savvy businesses use SEO to make them stand out as an authority in certain areas to increase the number of visitors coming to their site.
Search engines “think” and ask questions. Learn what questions search engines ask before deciding what sites to send a visitor to. By using the right phrases and keywords, or SEO, you can boost traffic to your site and not only generate more leads, but also more qualified, serious, “I want to buy a house now” leads. Miller encourages agents to establish a strong, credible web presence by using tools like Google My Business, social media, and a strong website—and, most importantly, by asking five critical questions.
5 Things Search Engines Want to Know about You and Your Website
Like a good newspaper reporter, search engines want to know the who, what, where, why and how of you and your business, said Miller. Knowing the answer to each of those questions helps you determine exactly what words and phrases to use to boost traffic to your site and generate more leads.
What: What would you search for if you were looking to buy a home you offer? Would you search for “homes,” or would you search for “$250k condo in Provo Utah?” Homebuyers in the early stages of their search generally start with more general terms, like “homes,” Miller said. Focused buyers who know what they want are more likely to use a specific price range, product and location. They’re further along in the buying cycle and more likely to be a serious buyer. If you’re a real estate agent in Provo, Utah, you want that “$250K condo in Provo Utah” to be in your headline, body and every SEO tag you generate. That’s how you attract buyers, leads, and more traffic, he said.
How: Research what your online competition is doing correctly to appear at the top of Google’s rankings—for instance, on their websites to find out “what they’re providing, what kind of information they’re talking about, and what phrases they’re using to show up in the top rankings,” Miller said.
Where: When someone decides to enter into a real estate transaction, they start looking for the right agent to help them, and the most likely place they’ll look for that person is online. Since you only get one chance to make a great first impression, make sure your online presence is up-to-date and packed with relevant information that will help your potential client spot you as the “go-to” agent they want to do business with.
Why: This is the question that causes people to take action. It’s the trigger you have to satisfy when people are looking for that dream home. Think about the emotion you’re trying to satisfy, the itch you’re trying to scratch, and the desire you’re trying to capture, and what words describe those triggers. Videos, local market reports, testimonials—anything that drives an emotion that makes a client want to do business with you is a good thing to have on your website or profile.
Who: This is you, your personality, and the way you write and say things. This is what attracts people to you—it’s your style of how you communicate, help and interact with people. It’s whether you’re introverted, extroverted, the expert, the listener, the assertive agent or the laid back agent.
Learn more about establishing your online presence, social media and SEO by listening to Colton Miller on Secrets of Top Selling Agents. Coming up Dec. 7, catch Tom Ferry live as he presents “Create Your Best Year Ever! Have you completed your 2017 business plan?” Register now, as seats are extremely limited.
For more information, please visit connect.homes.com.
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