How to boost your estate agent’s SEO for free
Attracting local homeowners to your website has to be the number one priority of any estate agent. With more and more people searching the web for everything related to property and local lifestyle, it’s essential for estate agents to increase their digital presence in every area possible to capture potential new clients.
One of the biggest searches people do is on their own neighbourhood. They might be interested in property values in their street; hunting for something to do locally; looking for local schools and clubs; or perhaps a specific business. Whatever it is, this huge amount of local searches is prime turf for estate agents to put themselves in front of local homeowners, very often before their thoughts have ever turned to moving.
One of your best options is to include local area guides on your website. You can enthuse about the different districts in your catchment area, highlight the various types of property available and discuss the individual qualities of a particular postcode or town. By including as much information as you can on the lifestyle and amenities of each area, you increase the chances of local homeowners stumbling upon a page of your website. You don’t have to wait until they need an estate agent.
You can, of course, also use the guides to help buyers and tenants identify which part of your neighbourhood suits them the most, and then link to any available properties you have that fall within each area. But really it’s landlords and sellers that you’re looking to attract with your local area guides. By demonstrating your proactive approach to promoting your area – ”We don’t just wait for Rightmove enquiries, we actively market the neighbourhood, etc.” – you give local property owners one more excuse to give you their business.
Winning more instructions is all about looking like the best option among all the estate agents that a landlord or seller has invited into their property. Anything you can do to make your estate agency stand out from the crowd makes the job of winning each instruction much easier. And by being the best, instead of the same or the cheapest, you’ll able to charge more profitable fees.
How many different areas do you think you could split your catchment area into? You want to write as many local area guides as possible to ensure maximum visibility. Could you write five? Or ten? Are there ”unofficial” areas or pockets that have been named by local residents, or even estate agents? Exploit the exclusivity people like to feel about where they live.
Publishing as many local area guides as you can on your website that reference the different streets, neighbourhoods, towns and postcodes will push you up the search results to that most hallowed of grounds: page one on Google. You may even take the top spot if your writing is comprehensive and useful enough. It’s just one more string to your bow in reaching local property owners before they contact any other estate agents.
But remember! It’s not just about about keywords and phrases. Google knows exactly what you are doing and will punish you royally for overstuffing your articles with keywords and phrases without following through on the content. Ask yourself this question: if Google didn’t exist, would I be writing it this way? If it sounds overstuffed when you read it, then it’s definitely overstuffed! So take out some keywords and replace them with more useful content.
Let me know how you get on!