Real estate SEO services can benefit your real estate investing business.
If you haven’t already done so, start by reading our Introduction to Search Engine Optimization. It explains what SEO is, why it’s important, and guidelines to keep in mind.
Also, be sure you’ve read our Search Engine Optimization (SEO) part 1 tutorial, which has step-by-step instructions for changing certain things on your web page.
We talked about how to change things on your pages to let Google and other search engines know what that page is about.
In this section, we’ll talk about how to make sure you’re using keywords that people are actually searching for.
You don’t have to use real estate SEO services if you can’t afford it. You can totally do this on your own. But sometimes you are better off using your time somewhere in your business efficiently.
Suggestive Search Text
When you go to Google and search for something, as you start typing it in, Google comes up with suggestions for what it thinks you might be looking for.
For example:
As you can see, when I typed in the phrase, “sell my house fast”, Google gave me suggestions for things I might want to search for, such as “sell my house fast atlanta”, “sell my house fast for cash” and “sell my house fast houston”.
How can you use this to your advantage?
First of all, try to put yourself in your prospects’ shoes. Imagine you’re in their situation. What would you be searching for on Google? Make a list of some things you think you would search for.
Next, go to Google and start typing it in. Pay attention as you start typing to see what suggestions pop up.
If something comes up in those suggestions, that generally means enough people are searching from it to be significant. Take note of any suggested phrases that you might like to go after. Make a list of them. Of course, some words and phrases are not relevant, so only use the ones that are.
Google Keyword Planner
Google has a tool you can use to get more information on some of the keyword phrases you’re thinking of using.
You can access this tool here:
https://adwords.google.com/KeywordPlanner
It’s a tool that Google provides to help you choose good keyword phrases. You can type in the phrase you’re thinking about using, and many other details, the web address (URL) of your landing page, locations you want to target (like your city, state or area), and more.
You can put in as much or little information as you want. But start off with a keyword phrase. It will show you information about how many people are searching for that and will give suggestions for related phrases that people are searching for.
This tool is really designed to be used with Google’s Adwords service, where you’re advertising in Google’s search results and pay when people click your ad. So you’ll see information about suggested bids, and that’s what that’s referring to.
There are other tools you can use to do research on keywords too. Initially, these will be plenty to get you started and you can refine things later if needed.
Focus on Local
It’s generally best to focus on your local area where you’re investing, and including that in your search phrases. Why? Because you’ll have less competition and a better chance of ranking well in the search engines.
If you go after a broad search like “sell my house fast”, you’d be competing with every real estate investor around the world. If you add the name of your city, like “sell my house fast Denver”, then you’re only competing with other local investors or ones who focus on your city.
Try to work in your city or area name wherever you can, as long as you can do it in a natural way.
Some Suggested Keywords
To help you get started, here are some of the top search phrases in several categories:
Motivated Sellers
- We buy houses
- Sell my house fast
- Stop foreclosure
- Home buyers
- Foreclosure help
- Cash for houses
- Sell my home fast
- House buyers
- Avoid foreclosure
- Stopping foreclosure
Rent-to-Own (Lease Option) Buyers
- For rent by owner
- Houses for rent by owner
- Homes for rent by owner
- Real estate listings
- House for rent by owner
- Real estate for sale
- Rent by owner
- Rent to own houses
- Free rent to own listings
- Rent to own homes in Houston tx
Cash Buyers
- Reo properties
- Bank owned properties
- Reo real estate
- Investment properties
- Foreclosure properties
- Foreclosure houses
- Income properties
- Wholesale properties
- Multi-family properties for sale
- Multi-family properties
Please note: We’re just providing these for your convenience, to help you get started. The order in which these rank changes all the time. Do your own research to decide which phrases will best for you.
Again, on your site, add your city/area name.
For example, let’s say you want to go after the phrase, “home buyers”. On your site, you wouldn’t just put “home buyers”, you’d put “Home Buyers in Minneapolis, Minnesota” (obviously you would put your own city there, rather than Minneapolis).
What to do with these keywords
First off, what not to do. Don’t just stuff lots of them on a single page. It’s best for each page on your site to just focus on one keyword phrase, or two at the most. Don’t reuse the same phrase over and over again. If you can work that one phrase into a few key spots on a page, that’s good. Don’t try to see how many times you can fit it on the page. That will do more harm than good.
Pick one keyword phrase that you want one specific page to rank well for, and go to work adding that phrase into the important areas of that page. For help with that, see our Search Engine Optimization (SEO) part 1 tutorial.
Likely, you have more keywords you want to target than you have pages on your site. That’s where blog posts come in. You can write short articles as blog posts on your site. Each blog post can target a specific keyword phrase. Be sure the article is informative to people reading it and relevant to the keyword phrase you’re focusing on. Also, be sure to include a call to action. If you want people to visit a certain page and fill out a form, tell them why they should do that and include a link to that page. In some cases, you might want to include a contact form right in the blog post.
If you are a Done Deal Website Pro member, you already have access to all the tools you need for doing this. Blogging is built right into your site, and you have the ability to edit your pages as much as needed.
If you’re not already a Pro member, upgrade today!
Note: You don’t have to use real estate SEO services; at least not if you are just starting out. For now, you can do these things on your own.