The Ultimate Keyword Guide for Real Estate Investors
In the massive world of digital marketing and platform optimization, every SEO strategy that exists is built upon a foundation of keywords. The primary goal of a marketing team is to match the right keywords with common search terms in search engines such as Google and Bing. While the concept is simple, the execution is incredibly painstaking.
Just last year, US companies spent nearly $80 billion on SEO services alone. These services ranged from keyword research and analysis to content writing, backlinks, landing pages, social media optimization, website management, competitive analysis, and paid ads. Ask anyone in digital marketing, and they will tell you that keywords lie at the heart of any effective SEO strategy.
Below, we look at keywords and how they can help your real estate investment business’s digital marketing strategy.
What Are Keywords?
In the simplest terms possible, keywords are search terms that a website owner or SEO professional will use to optimize a website in the hopes of ranking high in search results. A keyword is any search term entered on search engines that have a results page where websites that match the term are listed.
For example, let’s say you type in “Sell My House Fast in Chicago” in Google:
Notice that the top entry includes the keywords you typed into Google:
It is estimated that Google processes approximately 63,000 search queries every second, equating to 5.6 billion searches per day and approximately 2 trillion global searches per year. In every search, there is a keyword or keyphrase that generates hundreds of results from relevant websites. The sites that are the most relevant to the search typically rank the highest.
Why Are Keywords Important?
Keywords are important because they ensure that your website or social media page matches common search terms in your industry. For instance, common keywords that motivated sellers to type into a search engine include:
- “Sell my house fast”
- “Sell your house fast”
- “We buy houses as-is”
- “Cash for houses”
- “Sell your house as-is”
Therefore, you should add these and other common keywords to your website’s content. Keywords tell search engines about the content of your website’s page and rank your page in the search results based on the number and application of the keywords on your site.
Where Should I Add Keywords?
Fortunately, there are many places on your website or social media site where you can add keywords to optimize any page.
Meta Content
The meta content includes both the meta tag and meta description. The meta tag or title tag is the title you see in a Google search result. The meta description is the summary of the page in a Google search that you see under the meta title. Both the title and description should include keywords.
Title and Headings
The main heading of the page is also referred to as the title or H1. Every other heading under the title is referred to as subheadings (H2, H3, and so on). When crawling your page, Google searches for titles and headings. Therefore you should add keywords to headings when possible.
Main Content
The main content includes the headings, paragraphs, lists, tiles, or tables throughout the page. Google crawls the page to analyze the keywords and relevant content. Therefore, you should have multiple keywords throughout the content to make it more relevant to common search terms. Careful, though, because if you add too many keywords (i.e., keyword stuffing), your page could rank poorly or not at all.
Google My Business
In addition to your website, you should add keywords to all other platforms where you have an online presence. One great place to add keywords is on your Google My Business listing. Specifically, you should add keywords to your company description. Keywords can optimize your listing and make it easier for people to find you.
Social Media
Did you know that social media pages can appear in search engine results? You can also find your company page inside of platform searches. Therefore, you should add keywords to your social media posts, paid ads, and your ‘About’ section. With social media, you can also add hashtags (#) to your keywords.
More Tips for Using Keywords
Now that you know where to use keywords, these tips below will help you use keywords properly to get the best results.
Perform a Professional Keyword Analysis
The best way to use the most relevant keywords is to perform professional keyword analysis. The analysis includes a list of relevant keywords and key phrases, pages that currently rank the highest for these keywords, and other vital information that helps you use the keywords to optimize your site.
Add Locations to Your Keywords
Ideally, keywords should be geo-based, meaning that they should be attached to a location. Some examples may include
- Sell my house fast in Cleveland, Ohio
- We buy houses as-is in Riverside, California
- Sell your Tampa house as-is for cash
- Louisville companies that buy houses
- Local home buyers in Indianapolis, Indiana
Adding locations to your keywords can centralize search results and give you a better chance of ranking higher. It can be especially useful if you live in a metropolitan area suburb and want to focus your efforts on the suburb instead of the larger city.
Avoid Keyword Stuffing
Keyword stuffing occurs when you attempt to manipulate your ranking in search results by adding a heavy concentration of relevant keywords. Whether intentional or not, Google can penalize you for adding too many keywords to your page.
Make Sure the Keyword is Relevant to the Page
Some keywords will be relevant regardless of the page or topic you are writing about. However, not all keywords are relevant to all pages. If you add keywords that are not relevant to your page, these are referred to as negative keywords. They will actually hurt your rankings. Therefore, make sure you limit use to only keywords that are relevant to your topic.
Contact Magnyfi for Automated Lead Follow-Up Solutions
Magnyfi can help you get more qualified leads through Spark, our fully customizable lead generation tool. Learn more about how we can help you implement the Motivated Seller Prospects Marketing Program in your area.
To check the availability of your market, fill out our application form or contact us at (877) 404-1161, and we will walk you through the process. We work with a limited number of real estate investors per market, so claim my market today.
