Google has been one of the most dynamic platforms to increase online visibility and your digital marketing strategies can truly benefit from it.
Why? There are no less than 3.5 billion Google searches that occur every day and the number is expected to increase with more people getting connected to the internet.
Google has become the convenient go-to tool for anyone who wants to make ANY search query online and the challenge is to make sure that you get to be among the first query results that show up on your niche.
Very competitive
Apparently, the search market is a very competitive one and it would take more than just keyword use or focus to get to the top of the search rankings or if you want your website to appear on the first page of the query results.
This is where search engine optimisation (SEO) comes in that uses several strategies to enhance your digital marketing campaigns especially if you want your real estate website to rank among the search engine results page.
So, if your digital marketing strategies do not include Google and SEO, your website is likely to drown in the sea made up of billions of websites.
But there’s a caveat, SEO is not a magic pill that grants you overnight success. SEO requires a consistent and sustained strategy that takes time to generate results. Studies have shown that more than half of the web pages that get included in the first page of Google search results have existed for an average of three years.
Nonetheless, it should not discourage you from being competitive online and should all the more inspire you to be on top and stay ahead of the competition.
Why ranking in Google is important
There are several ways to get to the first page of Google search results, of which two of the most common are your ad budget and website.
From a budget perspective, Google Ads allow your page to bag the coveted spot at the top of the search results but do take note that it requires ad spending so plan it well.
Organically, aiming to be at the first page of Google for queries related to your real estate business is crucial and necessary, because 75% of the searchers have been found to only click on the results found on the first page of SERP’s (search engine results page) and the top-ranked result gets 35% of all clicks.
This is followed by the second-ranking result that gets around 25% of all clicks with the 6th ranking result getting a measly 6% of the search results.
Unfortunately, one can expect a very low click-through ratio (CTR) of only around .78% for search results ending up on the second page.
Worse, going further down the SERPs decreases your chances of getting traffic and sales through your pages.
So, think about it. The longer you wait to devise your SEO strategy, the longer it takes to get your web pages to rank on the first page of Google.
Start with a good SEO strategy
Remember, there’s no magic formula to give you instant success for ranking in Google because its deeply-guarded algorithms make sure it does not.
However, there is a process that can be followed through an efficient SEO strategy to help give you the results as it should.
Step 1: Keyword research
This is the foundation of every SEO campaign and it starts by determining the keywords that people would use to search for your business online.
Nowadays, several keyword research tools are available online, both free and paid, to help you find the right keywords to use.
Also, you must learn and understand buyer personas so you can target the right demographic and audience profiles you wish to target.
Step 2: Observe and study your competition
Of course, your competition is likely to use the same real estate-related keywords so understand what keywords they are using as part of your SEO strategy.
Short-tail keywords are more competitive compared to longer ones, so make sure to incorporate using long-tail keywords that can help you get more results.
Analysing the keyword usage and strategies of your competitors that rank in Google can equip you better to find a way to get past them in the search game by incorporating both short and long-tail keywords for your pages to help you get better search capability and eventually outrank your competition.
Step 3: Keyword mapping
There’s a common misconception that Google ranks websites. It does not.
What it does instead is rank web pages individually, which is a good thing and provide you with vast possibilities to rank in organic SERP listings provided you have the right keywords targeted for your specific audience.
A very effective method for this is to use keywords that are relevant and associated with some form of user intent as part of your strategy, such as “to enquire” or “make a purchase.”
These targeted keywords must be mapped or assigned to their page, particularly once you want to show up when that keyword shows up and is linked to your page.
For instance, targeted keywords are related to a user intent and used in blog posts that provide information intent, landing pages that target the keywords for a service purchase intent, and category or product pages to target those keywords for purchase intent.
This is your goal for your SEO on-page optimisation and maps specific keywords that are targeted or tailored to your content so that visitors can be directed exactly to what they are looking for and find it in a single click.
Step 4: Amazing content
Let’s face it, poor quality content is not going to get you anywhere near your winning expectations. The moment Google’s algorithms crawl through poor content doesn’t expect to score high on the rankings.
The same thing happens when you have a very little word count for your content material, such as an article that contains only 100 words- not enough room to give your readers the salient details of a topic.
Studies have shown that content for pages that make it to page 1 of the SERP range between 500 to 1,500 words- depending on the topics discussed.
Step 5: Internal links
As Google pushes through with indexing individual pages, it also analyses the overall structure of the site that includes the schema and internal indicators that portray the relevance of a webpage and the website’s overall health.
Adding internal links that direct a reader to any of your webpage that provides additional information or takes them to the next step of your funnel is a powerful way to increase the chances of your web page going up the rankings.
Step 6: Create backlinks
Of the few “secrets” that Google shares about its algorithm processes, it is the use of backlinks. Link building is an effective and long-term strategy that is essential to the growth and organic performance of your web pages and overall site as a whole.
While there is no specific number of backlinks required to rank for a keyword, it is ideal to develop more backlinks overtime to help your pages move up the rankings.
Step 7: Measure and observe your metrics
There are no shortcuts to moving up the rankings not because you are doing it wrong, it’s because there are those who are already there and are doing the work in ensuring they remain at the top.
This is the obvious and most plausible reason why it takes time to get on top of the rankings. It is critical that you constantly review your online performance, identify opportunities, develop your strategies based on your metric analysis and how you can make adjustments.
There are several online tools available to help you generate your performance results and also provides some insights and suggestions on how to improve your campaigns.
Remember, getting to the top of the rankings is not a short-term deal but a long-term one that can only be achieved through consistent implementations of these basic yet effective SEO steps.
Step 8: Focus on what’s working and repeat
Now that you have identified your strengths and opportunities, now is the best time to firm up and repeat your strengths and work to address areas where you find opportunities for improvement.
Remember that online competition may be fierce, just as long you remain steadfast and consistent in your strategies, you’ll soon find your way moving up the rankings and finally getting to page 1 of Google.