Revamp Your Real Estate Marketing by Optimizing for Local Search

If someone did a search for “moving into {Your City Name}”, would you be on the first page? Would you show up at all?

According to a recent study done by the National Association of Realtors, approximately 69% of those shopping for homes online began their search with a local search term.

So what is it about local search that’s so great?

And more importantly, how can you apply it to your real estate marketing plan?

Let’s take a closer look.

The Power of Real Estate Marketing and Local Search

Local search is simple – it’s just optimizing your online presence (whether that be on your website, blog, social media, etc.) for a specific location. A lot of local marketing is based on direct mail - like EDDM, for instance - but local search is about optimizing your online presence for a specific neighborhood or city. 

For example, as a realtor, basic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) principles would tell you to optimize your website for search terms such as “Real Estate” or “Real Estate for Sale,” and while this is great, it really only just skims the surface. If you want to get real, localized result, you’re going to need to be more specific with the keywords that you choose to target. So instead of just targeting “Real Estate,” try “Real Estate in (your local area),” or even more specifically, “Luxury Homes for Sale in (specific neighborhood) in (your local area).

The general rule of thumb here is that the more specific your target keyword, the smaller your target audience. And while this may seem a bit counterintuitive, remember that someone who is searching for a specific home type in a certain neighborhood is much closer to being ready to make a purchase than someone who is broadly searching for “Real Estate for Sale,” which in turn shortens the length of the sale for you. Focus on small, targeted audiences in order to achieve bigger, quicker results.

How Can You Improve Your Local Search?

So now that you know about local search, what can you do to make your real estate business better in that regard?

1. Location Specific Blog Posts – Blogging is one of the best ways to target specific keywords for SEO purposes, and the same technique applies to local search. Try writing about your local community, recent homes you’ve sold, or even market trends – just remember to target a specific local keyword.
2. Write About Community Events – Know about a cool upcoming event in your community? Write about it on your website and share it on social media. Remember to mention the specific neighborhood/location.
3. Optimize Your Social Media – Speaking of social media, make sure that you list your location on your social media homepages (like Facebook and Twitter). This way, if someone is searching for real estate in your area, they’ll be more likely to end up on your page.
4. Start a Google My Business Page – Listing your real estate business with Google is practically a must in local search. Doing so allows your business info to pop up when someone searches for your company name or more generally, real estate agents in your area. It’s easy to set up, too, so definitely do this one ASAP.
5. Ask for Local Reviews – Reviews are always good, but if you can get local customers to review you on sites such as Yelp, new potential clients will be much more likely to find you when searching the web for real estate agents in your area.
6. Create an Account on Various Real Estate Sites – If you haven’t tried sites such as Trulia and Zillow, you should definitely look into them. Sites like this give you the opportunity to list location specific details, which is always a bonus for bettering your local search.
7. Try Google AdWords or Facebook Ads – The great thing about both Google AdWords and Facebook Ads is that you can target your ads to reach specific demographics and locations. So if you’re looking to try out some advertising, try creating an ad through one of these services and remember to target your specific location.

As with any real estate marketing plan, the state of local search is always evolving. But with these strategies under your belt, you’ll be well on your way to knocking your local search results out of the park!