The typical real estate agent website suffers from several issues, which all negatively impact search rank and the flow of organic/free web traffic. However, most of the problems boil down to cookie-cutter designs and duplicate content. As a result, the typical real estate agent website hardly ever is found, if at all, on the first page of search results.
In order for any business website to be successful, it must naturally attract web traffic, build your reputation, and help convert leads into active customers. Here are some basic search engine optimization (SEO) issues affecting real estate search rankings.
Search Engine Optimization for Real Estate Agents
1. Web Design – First and foremost, whether you are using a website provided by your broker or paid for an out-of-the-box solution, most real estate agents are not using a web design that is properly optimized. Some of this has to do with generic content, usability, functionality, and layout. Some will come from weak underlying coding. Regardless, it ultimately all comes down to Google interpreting these sites as affiliates with massive amounts of duplicate content.
2. MLS Feeds – If you have an MLS feed to your site, it generates many pages of new content on a daily basis. Typically, this is a good thing. Fresh content encourages search spiders to visit and index your website more often. Unfortunately, many MLS organizations will tightly control how you display the feed information. This causes these pages to be seen as duplicate content, which will have a negative impact.
3. Content – Your website is the hub of your online marketing effort. All your inbound marketing works to farm prospects, leading them further into your sales funnel. Therefore, a real estate website must have a blog and become a resource for your audience. Each blog entry is a new opportunity for your target to find you in a search, subscribe to your email newsletter, or share on social media. However, to be effective, your content must meet several thresholds.
- Content must provide an obvious and authentic value to the reader.
- It should be of high quality and stand out compared to the competition.
- The typical reader should describe your content as both unique and useful.
- The average visitor should not return to Google to find a different result.
- Ultimately, it is the content of a page that makes it deserving of a good position within search results. That is why the user conducted the search, and what search engines work to provide. Consequently, it is critical to publish high-quality, unique content.
Do you have questions? What haven’t we covered yet that is important to you? If you would like to talk about search engine optimization for real estate agents or a related topic, please contact us.
