10 SEO Hacks for Your Real Estate Website

No matter where you're based or what your specialty is, most of your future real estate clients will find you online. Search Engine Optimization – usually called SEO – makes the difference in whether they discover you or a competitor with comparable offerings.

SEO is a series of techniques combining best practices in digital marketing and website design.

It has two main purposes:

• To increase your search engine ranking for search queries relevant to your business.
• To organize and optimize your website to provide the best experience to your users.

With a consistent investment of time and effort into SEO, your site will gradually appear higher in search results for the most trafficked and influential terms related to your business. This can create a steady flow of targeted web traffic you'll more easily convert into leads and customers.

Although many real estate pros outsource their SEO to a digital marketing agency, you don't have to be a tech wizard to cover the basics. With these ten hacks, your website will be more visible to future clients – and produce more bottomline value for you.

1. Start by Understanding Keywords

Keywords are the words and phrases people type into a search engine. These terms tell you what question leads want to answer or what problem they want to solve. Every piece of content on your site should address at least one keyword. Special software helps you choose and track them.

2. Write a Blog Post Every Single Week

Blogs posts get you noticed online. Publishing a new post weekly provides more opportunities for search engines to archive and recommend your site. Each blog post should be aligned with at least one keyword, as above. Aim for helpful, informative posts on your areas of expertise.

3. Post Plenty of Video and Photo Content

Video content is especially powerful for digital marketing. First, you can get extra site traffic directly from YouTube. Second, people are more likely to share and link to your videos, which boosts SEO. Beautiful photos get people interested in your site, too.

4. Use a Clean URL Structure

A "clean" URL is one that's short, precise, and human-readable. For example, an agency in Ohio might have a page with the URL /cleveland-ohio-homes-for-sale. This structure provides both the exact location and the keyword "homes for sale" most real estate buyers will search for.

5. Make Sure Your Site Is Mobile Responsive Friendly

A special software plug-in can update most websites to a mobile-friendly responsive design. A responsive site adjusts to the dimensions of the user's display and makes navigating on a phone or tablet easier. Google takes mobile ease of use into account in search rankings.

6. Accelerate Your Site's Load Times

Faster sites get a boost in SEO, but even more importantly, they are easier for your future clients to use. Image compression, which makes photos smaller without reducing their quality, is one big step virtually any real estate website can implement to see an immediate improvement.

7. Reinforce Your Efforts With Social Media

If you're already blogging on a regular basis, social media is the best way to amplify your voice. Accounts on Twitter and Facebook help first-time site visitors recognize your business is active. Promoting your content means more links to your site, the biggest single factor in SEO.

8. Make Your Content Scream "Local!"

Your site's content should demonstrate you're an absolute expert in your local area. Get down to the nitty-gritty with guides about your favorite neighborhoods, nearby attractions, and the latest market trends. Be sure to include a local map and your full postal address, too.

9. Feature Your Listings on Your Site

No matter what MLS service you use, there's an easy way to feature your listings on your site. Including your listings makes your website "one-stop shopping" for eager buyers and encourages them to contact you for more information on whatever catches their eye.

10. Leverage Local Media and Influencers

When authoritative local websites link to your content, it catapults your SEO efforts to the next level. Take time to pitch TV interviews and submit your advice to local newspapers. You can even reach out to bloggers and other ultra-local celebrities to get more exposure.

SEO Separates the Most Successful Real Estate Websites from All the Rest

Unlike paid advertising, SEO doesn't show results right away. However, SEO has staying power no other method can match. Rather than becoming invisible as soon as you stop paying for ads, good SEO will keep you in search listings for months or even years to come.

Over time, SEO becomes a competitive advantage others can't match.

To view the original article, visit the Delta Media Group blog.