If you are reading this blog, it is likely that you have already set up a Google My Business page. This is great news! Now you want to learn how to optimize it. Just creating an account won’t do much to make your business more visible or bring in new customers.
If you don’t have a Google My Business page, you are missing out! Before you continue reading, take a look at this blog explaining how to create a Google My Business page. Setup an account by following the guide and come back here to learn more about how to take full advantage of GMB.
Now that we’re all clear on what we’re discussing, let’s talk about some important ways to improve your GMB account, actively engage with potential clients, and properly manage the account day to day.
What Is Real Estate SEO?
Search Engine Optimization for real estate is about making sure that yourproperties are easy to find online. potential buyers search for properties online, and you want to make sure that your listings appear in their search results. If your real estate agency is the most in-demand in town, it could be because you have a strong search presence. If you haven’t invested enough in SEO, your agency may remain in obscurity.
For example, customers who are looking for a property may have a budget and a preferred location in mind. The next step in their process is to search Google using the criteria they have in mind to find the perfect fit.
Guess what? If your website is one of the first three that comes up in a search, you will get more traffic, leads, and sales.
Creating a website was once enough. Competition has increased significantly in recent years, especially since businesses have started taking their operations online. You are not only competing against other organic results in a search engine, but also against paid advertisements by your competitors, which can make your rankings appear lower. The challenge of becoming a real estate SEO expert is huge!
Why Is Real Estate Seo Important For Agents, Realtors, And Investors
Instead of you having to go out and look for customers, real estate SEO brings customers to you. Doesn’t it feel great when clients visit your website, leave their personal information, and wait for you to reach out and start a partnership?
Effective real estate SEO brings huge benefits to businesses that come down to:
Brand Awareness
The majority of buyers do not look past the first Google search page, with 64.5% of them clicking on one of the first three results. If you want to appear at the top of users’ search results, you need to do the right things. The more visibility you have, the greater your brand awareness will be, and your real estate firm will start to be discovered by new and recurring audiences. Search visibility is very important to real estate experts because it brings in leads.
More Traffic
People are now aware that the first results they see in their search queries are paid ads. They have been trained to avoid ads and look for the next best organic pages that guarantee quality content since they made it in the rankings. SEO organic results are getting 25% more traffic than paid ads. This is why optimizing your website for search engines is the most reliable way to get more traffic. A by-product of increased traffic is that you will see more valuable actions, such as users following you on social media or sharing your content with friends.
More Leads
Make sure your landing page is excellent and informative if you want users to stick around. Essentially, what this means is that people will input their information into a contact form with the expectation that you will reach out to them. Some people may subscribe to your newsletter in order to receive tips and insights. It’s possible that someone will find your phone number on your website and call you. Sweet, isn’t it?
More conversions
In the end, it all comes down to getting people to buy what you’re selling. There is no cheaper way to turn leads into customers than SEO. Since users are ignoring paid ads, organic SEO is more effective than other marketing techniques and has high conversion rates that happen without additional effort. This is an advantageous way to sell more properties and represent more clients with real estate SEO marketing.
Higher ROI
The ROI, or return on investment, helps you measure how well your SEO campaigns are doing. If you don’t have ROI data, you can’t tell how much money your SEO efforts are making. Real estate SEO is focused on organic traffic from customers who are searching for your services online. ROIs are usually high for this type of marketing.
Market Authority
Websites that rank in the first search results of Google are perceived as market leaders and authorities. If you want your website to be successful, you need to create content that is valuable and that other websites will want to link to. Although it may take some time and effort to build up your rankings and authority, it will be worth it in the end.
Ask for reviews!
Most people consult reviews before making a purchase or choosing a service company. You should research and choose a real estate agent to work with in the same way you would any other important decision. The purchase of a home is one of the most important decisions a person makes in their lifetime, so it is important to have the right support in the form of a real estate agent. Some research is required to make sure you find the best possible agent.
The reviews that potential clients read about your business can influence their decisions, and also help to boost your credibility. Positive reviews can earn client trust and encouragement from other people to do business with you.
Who do you ask for reviews? Those who have had the opportunity to work with you, or witness how you work, are lucky.
You should start with your clients because they are the most relevant people. Both past and present! Email your clients and give them a link to your Google My Business page. Ask them to take some time out of their day to share their experience with you. Make sure your guests have a good time and tell them that you hope their experience is worth a 5-star review. If their experience was not 5-star quality, this will give you a chance to get feedback, correct any mistakes, and make improvements for the future.
The list goes on to include past clients, current clients and also potential clients. The list of people who you should keep in touch with doesn’t just include people who have bought or sold a home with you – it also includes past clients, current clients, and potential clients. If you have any questions about the home buying or selling process, you can ask people who work in related fields, such as your colleagues, real estate agents you have worked with, lawyers, and mortgage brokers. These people can also tell you about their experience with you and your professionalism.
If someone has left you a positive review on another platform, you can ask them to post the same review to your Google My Business page. This can be done by sending them an email with the review already included. By using a pre-written review, businesses can avoid having to start from scratch, and the review can have a more positive effect.
Don’t be afraid to ask for these reviews! Obviously use your judgement when asking for a review. If you had a bad experience with a client or another real estate agent, don’t ask them for referrals. Do not bother trying to get in touch with someone if you are sure they will say nothing nice.
Respond to all reviews
Now that you have had success in contacting current and past clients as well as other industry professionals, you are starting to get 5-star reviews! Good work! Give yourself a pat on the back. It is always nice to receive praise. Do not only sit there and enjoy the great reviews. It is time to RESPOND to all of them.
You should set aside some time each week to read and respond to reviews. Actively engaging with your account shows that you appreciate all the people who took time out of their days to write to you.
It’s always a good idea to thank someone for their feedback, as it shows that you’re grateful and humble. This can help you stand out from the competition. If you receive a 5-star rating on a review, you are still required to respond. Saying something like “thank you” or “I appreciate you taking the time to write a review” can go a long way.
GMB lets you see which reviews you have and haven’t replied to so you don’t miss any!
Writing a detailed description
By developing a detailed description, you can more effectively communicate with potential clients, tell them about your business, and why you are the best choice! It allows you to make a good impression on potential clients before they even meet you. This section of your GMB page will be titled “From [your business name]” and will appear near the bottom of the page. You can create a description of your business in the “Info” tab of your GMB account.
Use this space to tell potential clients about who you are, your passion for the industry, what makes you better than other realtors, and why they would want to work with you. Also, specifically mention the areas you service and the types of transactions you specialize in, such as residential, commercial, or leases. Use variations of words like “realtor”, “real estate agent”, etc. throughout your page to make it more relevant to client searches. This will also make it easier for Google to find your page when searches are made.
If you have an “About Us” section on your website, you can use some of the ideas below, but don’t just copy and paste the section word for word. Be more creative than that!
Insert a link to set appointments
Nowadays, people are always busy and never seem to have enough time. You want to make it easy for potential clients to find your contact information and get a response back from you in a timely manner. It’s probable they’ll miss your call back, and then you’ll be stuck playing phone tag for a while. If you email someone, there is a risk that the email will go to their junk folder. Make it easy for clients to set an appointment time by providing a link to quickly and easily confirm the time, whether it is in person or over the phone. This can also be found under the “Info” tab. This is where you can enter your appointment link.
You can insert a link to your “Contact Us” page if you don’t have a Calendly account (or similar appointment setting account) already set up. In other words, having a dedicated appointment setting account can help reduce some of the pitfalls inherent in contacting potential customers. rearranging your schedule so that it looks more professional and can help you to better organize any future appointments.
Make sure all your contact information is accurate
If you have the wrong contact information listed, how can clients be expected to reach you?
It’s important to make sure that the information on your account is accurate. You’d be surprised how many accounts have inaccurate information. It is important that your GMB profile, website and all social media platforms have the same contact information. Use the same business name, phone numbers, address, email, etc.
Even if you are confident that your information is correct, take a moment to double-check it. It is important to make sure that people can easily contact you and find you to avoid any confusion or frustration for clients.
Add a question and answer section
Ever been too afraid to ask a question because you thought it might be seen as stupid? When you include a Q&A section on your Google My Business page, you can help reduce your clients’ fear.
In fact, most people buy or sell a home only a handful of times in their lives. Most people only buy or sell a home a few times in their lives. Many people who are buying a home for the first time do not know where to begin. This is something you know a lot about as a professional realtor. Share some of this knowledge with your clients! If you share your answers to common questions asked by customers, it may help to ease their anxiety about the process and build their trust in you before they even contact you.
You can also write your own questions and respond accordingly to get the section started.
Some things you may want to ask are: What were some of the important questions your friends and family had when they moved, or when considering a move? What clients of yours have had when it comes to choosing a real estate agent? Some potential questions about the home buying or selling process are: how does it work, are you available evenings and weekends, and what documents do people need before starting the search?
One way to market your real estate business is to start a blog and offer advice to potential clients. This is a great way to show off your knowledge and build trust with potential clients.
Add relevant photos
Adding images to your GMB page is a great way to show yourself, your team, and what you’re all about. If you can make it so clients can put a face to your name, you will come across as being more personable. This section should not just be filled with random photos, make sure the photos you include are relevant and will still be relevant.
This section appears at the top of your GMB profile and will likely be one of the first things anyone notices about your page. It is important to include your logo and branding, professional headshots of you and your team, as well as images of the exterior and interior of your office. Make sure to feature homes you have sold or purchased recently, with permission from happy clients! Also consider watermarking each photo with your company branding.
Do not use any stock photos in this section! Also, try not to post photos that require an explanation and don’t have an obvious purpose. Do not post photos of happy customers eating hot dogs and burgers unless they are branded. Use these unique and one-off event photos in a “Post” on your page. More context will be allowed and less confusion will occur. We will touch on this Post section next.
Create new posts weekly
The Posts feature on GMB is another great way to get the most out of the platform. This can be thought of as being similar to the newsfeed section on Facebook or other social media platforms. You are probably already familiar with this type of post and have seen great engagement from it. This is a great way to show your involvement in the real estate industry in a creative way, without directing traffic to your social media pages.
The Posts section can be used to post content similar to what you would post on your social media pages. On this platform, you can share your insights on topics that matter to you, like the best places to live, the best things to do and eat in your area, or updates on the real estate industry specific to your region. Properties that are coming soon, new listings, just sold, or just purchased can be showcased. Open houses, upcoming events/community involvement, and awards that have been received can also be promoted. The possibilities are truly endless!
You should try to post something new at least once or twice a week. This ensures that your feed is relevant and that you are active in your industry.
Put it all into action
If you have read this far, congratulations, give yourself a pat on the back. Great job on taking the time to learn how to optimize your Google My Business profile! This is a lot of information, and it can be overwhelming to take it all in at once.
Now that you have gathered this information, you can put it to use. We can help you learn, but we can’t do the work for you!
Make sure to keep up with different aspects of the account once everything is in action. Especially the reviews and posts! There are some tasks that you need to do regularly that should be part of your weekly schedule.
Making use of these tools will not only make your account more visible online, but will also show potential clients that you are professional and well-organized.
Invest the time and you will see results. Best of luck with strengthening your profile!
