SEO is a gift that keeps on giving

[John Powers]

Search engine optimization is the most important, and most underutilized strategy for driving leads and sales online. After years in the industry, its apparent to me that SEO is often overlooked by real estate and property management companies. SEO generates, free high quality traffic to your website. In an industry where digital advertising costs are rising over 6% a year, SEO is a must for any business that is looking to cut marketing costs and drive long-term results. I am starting this thread to share the strategies that I use, and answer any questions. I have implemented the following practices to dozens of website, and have seen positive results that drive more leads and sales every time.

1. SEO Audit and Google Analytics: A proper website audit includes comprehensive keyword research, competitor analysis, website code/structure analysis, and analysis of your company's entire online presence (local listings, linkscape, social media, etc..). You also need to ensure you have proper website tracking set up so you can track progress, measure results and make adjustments accordingly.
2. Foundational Improvements: To rank well on Google, you will need to fix any issues with your website code/structure that were identified in the initial audit. If your website is not coded and structured correctly, the search engines will never see the content you create.
3. Website Content Creation: With the foundation set, and keywords identified, you will then need to update the content on your website and create new pages for any additional keyword opportunities. Google doesn’t rank websites as a whole, it ranks individual pages. Each page on your website gives you an opportunity to rank for a specific set of relevant keywords. I am adding new landing pages/articles on a consistent basis and constantly thinking of creative ways to get in front of potential clients.
4. Content Marketing/Blogs: This is a great way to provide value for potential clients and build a trusted brand. 78% of visitors prefer to interact with your business through an article rather than an ad. Well written articles will help you stay fresh in the eyes of Google, and will help solidify your brand as a trusted source.
5. Claim Local Listings and Optimize Offsite Factors: It is incredibly important to create, optimize, and claim your listings on third party listing sites such as Google My Business and Yelp. Each site is a new opportunities for a client to find your business. Google will crawl these sites, so you will want to make sure you have accurate and consistent info across all platforms. Additionally, you will want to take advantage of any opportunities for another credible website to link back to yours. Think of links from other authoritative websites (REIAs, local chambers of commerce or the BBB) as votes of authority or digital recommendations. Reach out to me and I can provide you with an email template that use to reach out to other businesses to request a backlink to my site.

I only touched on a a few of the higher level strategies that I typically see overlooked in this industry. I can almost guarantee if you implement the strategies above you will see an increase in website traffic, leads and hopefully sales! Let me know if you have any questions or if you have other SEO related strategies that you see work!

Yours truly in digital optimizations,

John