5 Ways Realtors Can Engage Google to Beat the Competition

Admit it: you want to be the TOP realtor in all of your markets. In your world, "ambition" is never a negative but instead a springboard to personal success in empowering home buyers to find their forever home.

In today's digital landscape, you'd be surprised at who you must impress to be at the top of all real estate search queries online. Hint: It's not the local press, your PTA, or even your favorite influencers. Instead, it's the most powerful search engine in the world: Google.

Real estate agents must engage and conquer the workings of Google to elevate their business listing. 

The name of the tech game is search engine optimization (SEO). Securing your Google business page with the perfect assets will bring you success beyond your imagination.

Consider these tips a guide to understanding how Google operates and what you must do to beat the competition!

1. Check Your Website: Do an SEO Audit

If you want to be the master of your real estate domain, you need to understand and conquer Google. Google is the number one search engine globally for real estate agents and answers 90 percent of all search queries. No matter your location, you must master Google My Business, use "verify my business," create your real estate website, check out Google reviews, and improve your search engine optimization.

Every time a person searches to buy or sell a home, they enter specific words. Once a search appears on the internet, AI goes into action, and like a tiny digital detective, searches for matching, relevant content. 

Search engines identify high-traffic websites and content matching already established popular search items. Your website's content is ranked, meaning your business will show up on Google searches when potential home buyers enter searches.

The more your website and content are applicable for real estate search queries, the more clients you will engage. Real estate agents must create great tags, aka keywords and phrases in your content, from article or blog titles to educational blurbs and social media posts. Keywords are how search engines discover your real estate agency services and share them with business internet queries.

Think of an SEO audit as an annual checkup for your Google ranking and online visibility. When someone searches the google business page for realtors, you want your site to be at the top of the list!

Visit Google and do a search using your business profile. Then do a second search, this time asking for homes for sale in your area. See how your business profile and website rank in the search. Are you on top, lower on the first page, or invisible?

Whatever you find for local SEO and search results for your business listing, you need to know how to take your website and name up the ranking toward number one.

Here's how.

Crawling on Google Leads to Ranking High on Searches

Your business content must be clear, concise, and engaging to be discovered by Google "crawlers" online. Crawling is the investigative work Google AI undertakes to find your content and then offer it up to anyone searching for your type of business services or products.

Search engine crawlers, also called spiders, use AI to crawl through written content, articles, press, photos, videos, PDFs, webpages, social media, and more. 

Google discovers your business and saves all of your applicable content, using your URL to answer search questions online.

After these crawlers discover your links, your information is added to a Google index, ready to be matched up for online real estate queries. This beefs up your Google account!

The Google Index Elevates Your Real Estate Business Profile

Powerful SEO content means offering straightforward, engaging published content, including words, phrases, tips, questions, blogs, videos, and photos. This content is where the Google index becomes essential. You need to know the top search terms and tags for your business.

Google searches organize and file every bit of your content and then place it into the index, like a Google library. The index includes your keywords and links and grows your online visibility dramatically.

By publishing all your work simultaneously on all your platforms and including your agency site, your website, a blog, social media, and any real estate networks you work within, your SEO will grow.

Strong content published everywhere contributes to a higher ranking on Google, resulting in robust website traffic and branding. Organic content is king and grows your branding via visuals, keywords, blogs, etc., to grab attention via Google for all searches in your area. Your business will prosper by using this free and simple Google tool.

If you'd like to see your index status for your Google business page, you can visit Google Search Console. This tool will show you the number of pages Google has "crawled" using your site. Using this Google tool, you can check your ranking anytime you like!

Hire a Google IT Professional

If doing an SEO audit is out of your comfort zone, feel free to find a Google IT professional online. Google also offers free experts if you would like them to help you figure out how to do this work on your own, but if not, there are affordable IT specialists available everywhere.

2. Create a Google My Business Page & "Verify My Business" on Google

To reign supreme on real estate Google searches, you must create or update your own Google My Business page online and complete your page at "Verify My Business" on Google. Confirm your business and services are prominent online and visible to anyone searching for homes in your area.

Google My Business and business verification on Google are free tools offered by the search giant. It's essential to show the world your real estate agency is legitimate, and the best way to do this is to be on Google.

How to Verify Your Business Page on Google

Make sure to take the time to visit the "Verify My Business" page on Google. Using simple prompts, you can fill out your business information and make your business more official! Click here to verify your business now.

6 Steps to Set Up a Google My Business Page

Here's how to create this vital Google page for your search engine success.

If you encounter any problems creating your Google My Business page, click here to utilize the free Google help site.

3. Unleash the Power of Publishing

Your website is the foundational source of your business. It's also the springboard for all of your effective content to meet within your branding landscape. Google is exceptionally responsive to content that is reinforced by simultaneous online publishing on numerous platforms.

To grow your search engine optimization and reach more home shoppers, you need to unleash the power of publishing content everywhere at once.

Remember you must format your website for phones, since Google rewards all phone-compatible websites with enhanced ranking.

Every time you create a social media post, blog post, article on your site, or any other kind of content, you should publish them all at the same time.

Make sure also to use the same branding and keywords. For example, if your blog title is "Kick back in Miami at Your New Condo," use that title for all your published works. Google will recognize the multiple platforms where you post, and this will help your site receive a higher ranking!

Keywords and Your Real Estate Website

When it comes to keywords, you must think strategically. Keywords refer to the most popular, searchable words on Google. It's wise to include high-ranking keywords that apply specifically to your published content on any given day.

You don't want an overly general keyword. It's best to create categories of keywords in real estate for Google search results.

Real estate agents benefit from including strong keywords for each group of content publishing. Keywords are either head, body, or long-tail keywords, and it's best to include all in your content.

Head keywords are usually one or two words at most and offer the highest search results. Body keywords are generally two to three phrases that offer a strong search volume that is neither high nor low. Think of them as the middle of the keyword road. Long-tail keywords are about four words put together with a low search volume.

Remember to write authentic, engaging content. Don't stuff your keywords throughout your written content or come off like an ad. Google does not appreciate or reward keyword-stuffed content, and this may impair your ranking.

Write organic content and add some keywords, keeping everything natural. 

Using neighborhood names, towns, and cities will positively impact your local SEO. Include the location of a house for sale in your wording. Check your Google account when you publish, and be sure to see that your content is ranking high.

Always add photos to your content since readers engage with visuals more than with solely the written word. Don't be afraid to include captions using rich content.

Write a Blog for Your Local Search Results

As you check on your Google my Business page while following our guide, you will notice your site climbing upward in the ranking. With your new understanding of SEO, ranking, the Google index, and publishing content, you will enjoy being the real estate agent that's on everyone's lips!

Running a successful business for real estate can be rewarding and make you a fantastic living. If you are a born writer, writing a blog is the perfect way for you to put the icing on your SEO cake and make your visibility memorable!

Take the time to create three to four topics for a brief blog. Remember: A blog is not a formal document or article. Instead, it's a way to share your journey as an agent and a person who loves being a real estate broker.

4. Webinar Tips for Local SEO

Did you know social media that geo-targets your demographics can help Google promote your business? Everything you sell, your content, and your most engaging photos can live on social media and bring in more local business.

Posting your professional, visual, and SEO-worthy blogs, articles, listings, and videos will attract attention daily and build your client list.

You already know about sharing your content every time you publish anything new on ALL your platforms, including social media. Now it's time to check out another creative, Google-friendly idea: webinars.

Webinars and Alliances

A webinar is a fancy way of describing a live or taped event that anyone can access online. Your webinar can be educational and inform your viewers about specific tricks of the trade. You may also discuss your agency's business or how to know if a real estate agent is right for someone's needs, etc.

Google loves webinars, and if you follow these simple tips, you'll be a superstar before you know it.

5. Get Some Press Love for Local Results

Money can't buy you love. With local press, you can run listings or video tours on the local paper's websites, but ads are not the best way to inspire anyone. The most authentic way to get locals to know you exist is by having a journalist write an article about you.

How do you do this? There are a few simple ways to interest your local reporter to write a feature story about you. Here's how.

• Ask yourself what makes your business stand apart from the crowd. Do you have a particular way of selling homes that is unique? Are you the youngest or oldest realtor in the area? Have you sold more homes than anyone else during the pandemic?
• If you are a minority or a woman, this is a clever angle for all newspapers.
• Stress the fact that you're a local business.
• Remind the reporter that you and your business are a part of the community in every way as a local agent.
• Do you donate time to a non-profit in town? This tactic is also a fantastic way to get the authentic press that will help those in need - and your brand!
• Once you have your idea, write a "pitch" with about four brief sentences, clearly telling the reporter why your story is unique, compelling, and local.
• When you reach out, add photos to your pitch.
• Read your local area papers, choose reporters who write business or human interest stories, and contact them both at their office and via email.

Takeaway

Coming out on top in any industry is rewarding, but it's miraculous in the crowded world of real estate! Follow this guide, and you will become tech-savvy and see your clients line up to work with you!