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How to ace local seo for real estate

Easy to follow step-by-step guide

1. Know the #1 Rule of Local SEOThe thing about local search is that companies like Google want to give people the most relevant results for their search quires.  And, the most relevant results for local search quires are the businesses that are nearest to the location the searcher is looking in or for.So the #1 rule of Local SEO is to optimize for where your business is actually located.  Otherwise, you may end up with low rankings in both the area you want to target, as well as the area you should be dominating (especially true for Google’s Local Pack).

2. Ace Your Site StructureIt all starts with your home page.  Your home page should set the overarching theme for the rest of the pages on your website. From a structural point of view, your home page should be your foundation.Here’s an example:Let’s say your business, Joe’s Custom Homes, is located in Frisco, Texas, and you build in communities throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth area. You’ll set the theme of your site by giving people general information about your custom homes: the unique benefits of your homes, etc.You don’t want to go into every detail of your business, or all the information about your various developments.

Joe’s site structure will look something like this:

3. Ace Local Onsite OptimizationFor instance, as a custom home builder in Frisco, Texas, you don’t want to present yourself as a custom home builder in Dallas.  Your business may be located in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, but it’s not located in Dallas.With that in mind, let’s do a mock optimization:

Title Tag – “Custom Home Builder in Frisco, Texas – Joe’s Custom Homes”Meta Description – “Joe’s Custom Homes located in Frisco, TX builds elegant homes throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth area.  Contact us today to learn more.”H1 – “Custom Home Builder, Frisco, TXH2 – Benefits of Joe’s Custom Homes

From there, you can move on to your other area pages.  Here’s a mock optimization of an area page:

Title Tag – “Custom Homes in Little Elm, Texas – Joe’s Custom Homes”Meta Description – “We build elegant custom homes in Little Elm, Texas.  Visit Joe’s Custom Homes today to learn more.”H1 – “Build A Custom Home in Little Elm, Texas”H2 – “Joe’s Custom Home Building Process”

4. Ace Image Optimization for Local SearchDid you know that you can get consistent traffic to your site from Google Images?If you’re a real estate agent, or a custom home builder, or a national home builder, or whatever your business – if you optimize your images for local search you can draw in people who are interested in the areas you serve.

For instance, I took the main image of one of my pages (the master slider at the top), which was a photo I took of one of the largest, most impressive homes in the entire community.Since it was a community of luxury homes I optimized the image as follows: alt=Westridge Valencia | Luxury Home | Exterior

This image alone started drawing several new visitors per month.

5. Ace Your NAPWhat is a NAP?

No…Not that kind of nap.  NAP stands for:NameAddress, andPhone numberTo ace Local SEO for real estate, you need to make your name, address, and phone number clear on your website.  Some people recommend that you put all of this information in both the header, and the footer.  I think this is a best practice, but if you can only get it in the footer you should be fine (I only had my NAP in my footer and still ranked really well).Your NAP will guide you in your offsite endeavors as well, as you start to build citations for your business.

6. Ace Your Business Listing PagesHaving a Google My Business page is imperative to a solid Local SEO strategy.  Without it, you will not show up in the map section of Google searches (though, every now and then Google will create one on your behalf, which you must then claim as your own business.  See below).

7. Ace Getting ReviewsNow that you have your business listing pages up and optimized, what better way to draw more interest in your real estate services than reviews?

8. Ace Citation Building

Citations are closely related to business listings.  In fact, some business listings are categorized as citations.For a more concrete definition, you can say that citations are “mentions” of your business on directories, such as Yellow Pages, or City Search.

9. Ace a Local BlogDon’t underestimate the power of a blog.  I would go out on a limb and say that having a really good, local focused blog, is one of the top 3 most important things to your local SEO strategy.

10. Ace Link BuildingIn an industry as competitive as real estate, it’s typically not enough to do everything stated above and dominate local search.  You need to set you site apart as the authority in: “real estate sales” or “new home construction”, or “property management.”To become the authority on a given subject in search, you need other people to “vouch” for you.  Not just vouch for your existence, like citations, but vouch for your expertise.  And while getting reviews is a great way to have people vouch for your expertise, the most powerful way from a ranking standpoint is by link building.

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For more in-depth information, visit our blog post on this topic at: http://crownlistings.com/blog/how-to-ace-local-seo-for-real-estate/