You've worked hard to become a real estate agent and as we all know, it was grueling. Fortunately, all those long hours studying contract law, finance, business, ethics, taxes and fundamental principles of real estate, etcetera did pay off in the end--because now we're all here with our shiny, valuable real estate licenses making a living selling property. Congratulations to us!
The coursework and wisdom within our real estate education toward passing the exam seemed exhaustive. What DIDN'T they leave out? I know; the kitchen sink! Not to bring back those memories and silly puns, but indeed it was the whole hog of real estate, inside and out--or so we thought.
Despite all of the information that got crammed into our brains, and regardless of us thinking that we know everything we ever needed to know about the real estate profession, some essential advice was neglected, and it's important.
Do Not Use Duplicate Content
How often have you seen identical listing descriptions of the same property? Let's take a look at an example from Austin, Texas. I chose a home listing at random in the SoCo (South of Congress) neighborhood, then copy/pasted the description in Google to see what would come up. The results are predictable: the whole page featured listings from different websites, but every single description for this property was exactly the same. I'm not impressed with this phenomenon. Why? While so much was taught to us in the business of real estate, something of utmost importance was missing. What they didn't teach us while prepping to become an agent was: Do not use duplicate content!
Run this test by yourself by entering this query in Google:
"Beautiful single story home in the highly desired McKinney Heights neighborhood. Open floor plan with the kitchen overlooking the living room. Large master bedroom with a huge walk-in closet. Just a short walk to the community pool and sports courts."
Why you should not use duplicate content on your own business website is related to all things Google. Google is a tricky beast and when it notices wording repeated verbatim (regardless of industry) on various websites, it sneers. When Google sneers, your website loses a chunk of power. In other words, unique content on your own website is a real estate must-have because Google values one-of-a-kind wording and in turn, your site will gain power and will rank better than those websites copy/pasting their power away.
Your Friend For Listing Property: Copywriter or SEO Consultant
"…But writing a new description for every single listing will take too much time!" You might be lamenting this right about now, but don't fret. There's an easy solution. Keeping up with our example à la Texan and assuming you're an agent in the "Blueberry in the Red State" why not hire a copywriter or SEO consultant in Austin? Being local, they will be the most qualified to do the job because they have the inside perspective of the city they chose to live in. As a copywriter their profession mandates that they provide unique and well-written descriptions for your listings, which overall, will save you an enormous amount of time, as well as strengthen the power of your website. So, unfriend the tired, old copy/paste function when listing property, and instead, commit to a more friendly relationship to a reliable copywriter or SEO consultant in Austin (or elsewhere) to write worthwhile, unique copy. After some time, your website will move up in rankings resulting in more people finding your listings, and you'll watch your number of sales increase.
Comments(6)