Do you know the best thing about SEO?
It helps the people that are looking for someone like you find you in the EXACT moment that they need you!
In fact, anyone that reaches out to you from your real estate website that landed there from a search should be considered a warm lead because that tells you they are already interested in hiring you.
However, if you want people looking for a real estate agent in your market to land on your real estate website, your SEO has to be in tip-top shape.
Sadly, I meet real estate agents just like you every day that have been terribly misled by common SEO myths. When you fall victim to one of these SEO myths you will attract the wrong people at the wrong times, if at all.
What does that mean for your real estate business?
A higher acquisition cost per lead and cost per client
Increased bounce rates
30% less revenue by 2021
If you are like most real estate agents, you can’t afford to suffer losses like that and certainly don’t want to.
So in today’s post, I am going to reveal the seven most common SEO myths that are holding you back and give you practical step-by-step instructions for following the right SEO strategies that will get your real estate website at the top of search engines.
**But before we dive in I want to warn you that I went very in-depth in this post which made it a long read. Make sure you pin and bookmark it to come back to if you don't have time to read it all now because I keep it juicy right up until the end!**
Myth 1: You Can’t Keep Up With The Google Algorithm Changes
In the past, I have told you that search engines like Google change their algorithms 1.5 times per day on average. That statistic can feel extremely intimidating and has helped to propagate our first myth that you will never be able to keep up with the algorithm changes.However, SEO is NOT about beating the algorithms.It is NOT about constantly studying them and changing everything you are doing to keep up with those changes.Although their algorithms change frequently, most of those changes are just tiny tweaks being used to deter spammers and anyone that would counterfeit search results.The truth is that you don’t need to keep up with constant changes but rather pay attention to the hard and fast rules of Google that rarely ever change. The last thing I want you to do is be so discouraged or overwhelmed by the evolving algorithms that you decide not to work on your real estate website’s SEO at all!When you follow the basic rules of SEO like constantly adding fresh and original real estate content with appropriate longtail keywords you will be able to reach the people that are searching for someone like you in the exact moment that they need you.That is the sheer power of SEO.
Myth 2: Bounce Rates Don’t Matter
This one makes me laugh.
Your real estate website’s bounce rate refers to the number of people that land on your website and immediately “bounce” off and go to another site.
This is an extremely important number because it reveals to you:
The quality of your real estate content
The quality of your real estate website
The quality of your SEO
Somewhere along the line over recent years, people got the crazy idea in their heads that as long as they were getting clients, the bounce rate of their website didn’t matter.
I don’t know about you but if I could make a few simple tweaks to one of my company’s largest assets and instantly start getting more clients and increase my passive income I would rush to do it! Fixing your real estate website’s bounce rate is that simple tweak!
I will explain how to determine your real estate website’s bounce rate and show you how to improve it in my post: How To Get Rock Bottom Bounce Rates On Your Real Estate Website.
Myth 3: You Need To Include Your Keywords Into Every Page & Blog Post A Lot To Rank
Keywords are one of the most misunderstood aspects of SEO. That is mostly due to the fact that the rules around keywords have changed dramatically over the last twenty years and if you haven’t kept up with those changes, you’re going to be fooled by this myth.
As it stands when I am writing this post in the summer of 2019, you will actually by punished for including your desired keywords too much on your real estate blog posts and website pages. In fact, keyword stuffing as it is referred to is only going to damage your SEO rankings because Google will see you as someone trying to cheat their results.
At this point, you should aim to make your longtail keywords account for .5%-1.5% of the content on any given page or post in order to improve your ranking.
Watch & Learn 22 Ways To Optimize Your Real Estate Website's SEO | Get Found By Google | Sarah Layton
Myth 4: Your Current SEO Rankings Will Be The Same For Voice Searches
Let’s say that for the last couple of years you have been dominating search engines with your real estate website using fresh content and longtail keywords. First of all, I want to commend you for doing the right thing and congratulate you on seeing the lucrative results.Unfortunately, unless you are aggressively reworking your content to rank with voice searches, you are about to lose your valuable position in those search results (if you haven’t already).You see, just because you’re at the top of Google when you run a manual search right now, that does not mean that you will be the recommendation of Siri, GoogleHome, or Alexa when a potential client is looking for you in a voice search.Since experts are predicting that voice searches will continue to take over until they completely change the way we use technology and the internet, you have no choice but to get your voice strategy into place. As I have told you in the past, Gartner, a leading business strategy site, brands that redesign their websites to support visual and voice search by early 2021 will increase their revenue by 30%.Don’t worry because I will outline exactly what you need to do to keep your ranking or take over the number one spot on search engines in my blog post 4 Steps To Optimize Your Real Estate Website For Voice Search.
Myth 5: Social Media Plays No Role In Your SEO
However, simply being active on your social media is not all that it takes! I bet you’re wondering:
How Can You Use Social Media To Improve Your SEO?
It’s simple! Follow these tips:
Keep your content on topic. Always infuse your posts with your brand and personality but be sure to stay on the topic of real estate and your local market as much as possible.
Link all of your accounts to your real estate blog, lead captures and website. I love the way LinkTree let’s you link to all of these from your Instagram account!
Share all of your real estate blog posts, podcast episodes, and videos. Just be sure that if your are always posting all of your real estate content on your website first and then to platforms like YouTube, ActiveRain, or Podbean.
Myth 6: You Need To Hire An SEO Company
PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD STOP WASTING YOUR MONEY!
I hate to break it to you but the majority of SEO companies out there are still selling people on outdated SEO techniques which are mostly just busywork that will cost you a ton and leave you with a pile of disappointment.
You do NOT need to spend a fortune on some fancy SEO company to get your real estate website to the top of Google.
Instead, it makes more sense for you to at least learn the basics of SEO, along with a list of strategic keywords that make sense for your real estate business.
From there, all you need to know is that content is king!
If you don’t do any of the traditional SEO practices like link-building and ONLY focus on building out the original content on your real estate website, you will find yourself at the top of Google faster and for a longer period of time.
No need to guess or go do a ton of research about the best SEO practices. In my post, The Smart Guide To SEO For Your Real Estate Blog, I will reveal:
How to avoid wasting time on useless SEO techniques
How to design strategic keywords for now (and the future)
The most important basics that you need to implement for growth
In that post, you will also get access to my SEO checklist for your real estate website to make sure you’ve covered all your bases and don’t need to waste a fortune on some B.S. SEO company.
Myth 7: You Will Never Outrank Companies Like Zillow & Realtor
This one breaks my heart.
I know that it seems like these companies are far more powerful than you will ever be and as a result, you will never get your website above theirs in the search results.
The bad news is it takes work but the good news is that it is TOTALLY possible!
In my two-part post, How To Outrank Zillow, I reveal that you can use a combination of neighborhood profiles and similar hyperlocal content, as well as, FAQ’s in order to climb to the top of search engines at lightning speed!
Again, your ranking will come back to content and competition. As I explain in that two-part power post, those companies are trying to rank nationally. You only have to rank for your market which gives you a huge advantage to create original content that is so specific to your market that they will never be able to catch up to you.
How One Real Estate Company Saved $60K AND Got To The Top Of Google In 3 Months
Last year, I worked with a real estate development company to build a content strategy for them. At the time, they were spending $20K+ per month on marketing their luxury condo development with disappointing results.
I told them that for just $7K and three months I could get them the results they had been so desperately chasing using nothing but original blog posts and social media. Although they were skeptical, they agreed.
I’ll be honest, even I was nervous about how good the results would be. Still, I strategically ghostwrote 60 original and hyperlocal blog posts for their website and hoped for the best.
I could simply tell you what happened and ask you to take my word for it, but here is what the client wrote in a Google review at the end of those three months:
“The only thing I regret is how long it took me to pull the trigger to hire Sarah. I had dabbled in some blogging on my own, but never took it seriously enough and never knew how beneficial it can be when done properly. Search engine optimization has always been one of my team's biggest concerns, and we had spent 10s of thousands of dollars a month for almost a year with little to no ROI. After a couple of conference calls with Sarah, we were convinced that the future of our development and marketing strategy will revolve solely around content writing and blogging.
Within 6 weeks of 3-4 blog posts a week, the results were incredible. We had canceled ALL other advertising campaigns and were still seeing an increase in site visits, as well as visit duration. Today, over 75 percent of the visitors to our site come directly from Google, up from about 25 percent. Our website is easily discovered on the first page of Google with very generic search keywords, and without paying google a single penny. We are bringing in quality leads from all over the country while spending 80% less on marketing then we had before.”
Want Your Real Estate Website To Rank At The Top Of Google?
I would be more than happy to help you get to the top of search results, increase your passive income, and lure your ideal clients to you with original real estate content for your website.
You see, when done the right way, your real estate blog and website will work like a magnet 24/7 365 to attract and convert your dream clients. However, before that can happen, I need to take a look at your real estate website and blog to see where your strengths and weaknesses are. If you would like a free assessment of your real estate website along with personalized advice on how to optimize your results, book a free call with me here.
Don’t have a real estate website yet?
No problem! Simply book a free strategy call with me here and I will help you get off on the right foot from day one!
Oh and don’t forget to check out these other helpful tips:
How To Attract Luxury Real Estate Clients With Copy
7 Habits Of Top Real Estate Agents
How To Find Your Real Estate Niche To Get Rich
6 Simple Ways To Drive Buyers & Sellers To Your Lead Magnets
