Local SEO for Real Estate

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J1218 said:
BTB how would you recommend setting up your site structure if you were starting a project like this from scratch on a fresh domain?

Would you register a domain like chicagorealestate.com and then use all inner pages for targeting the actual long tail search queries? For example:
  • chicagorealestate.com/3-bed-2-bath-homes
  • chicagorealestate.com/homes-for-rent-near-airport
  • chicagorealestate.com/best-studio-apartments
  • Etc...
(I know Chicago is a massive metropolitan area, so substitute that for any city; I'm just using it for purposes of this example.)

Or would you get hyper-specific with the domains such as:
  • 3bed2bathhomeschicago.com
  • chicagohomesnearairport.com
  • and so on...?
I'm also curious to hear your thoughts on another idea I've been formulating to target local industries on a larger scale (this isn't anything new or unique by any means, but I never really see people taking this approach; it seems like most people usually opt for targeting specific verticals in each city instead):

I was thinking of setting up an "authority" style site on an entire city and then targeting a multifarious amount of industries and long tail search queries including all of the real estate ones I can think of. So instead of chicagorealestate.com, I'd build out something like thebestgoddamnsiteforchicago.com and have inner pages for every vertical and local search query I can think of.

thebestgoddamnsiteforchicago.com/restaurants/top-3-italian-restaurants
thebestgoddamnsiteforchicago.com/real-estate/3-bed-2-bath-homes
thebestgoddamnsiteforchicago.com/real-estate/most-affordable-studio-apartments
thebestgoddamnsiteforchicago.com/entertainment/best-music-venues

I feel like this latter option would allow me to build up the most domain authority over time while giving me the freedom to target literally any industry and keyword I want in that city without having to start a new site from scratch every time. From an outreach/link building perspective, I think I would have way more success getting people to link to an authority site built around a whole city than I would with a hyper-focused site about 1 bedroom apartments in that city.

I see pros/cons to every option though, so I'd love to get your thoughts BTB (as well as anyone else here who wants to jump in and share their ideas).

Thanks all.
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  • chicagorealestate.com/3-bed-2-bath-homes
  • chicagorealestate.com/homes-for-rent-near-airport
  • chicagorealestate.com/best-studio-apartments
This is what I'm doing with my test site. You can setup a blog and use that to build authority. Matt Diggity says content doesn't need to be specific it can be generic like "things to do in Chicago at Christmas". Although if you can find keywords that have local + niche that'd be great. Something like "Chicago home styles" would be an excellent article to write where you could link to a page on "greystones for sale in Chicago" as an example... :)
 
Holzr said:
Matt Diggity says content doesn't need to be specific it can be generic like "things to do in Chicago at Christmas". Although if you can find keywords that have local + niche that'd be great. Something like "Chicago home styles" would be an excellent article to write where you could link to a page on "greystones for sale in Chicago" as an example... :)
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Got it. So it seems like I'm possibly onto something then with the 3rd method I referenced where I build out a site that focuses more broadly on Chicago, and by doing so, I can write a compendium of different blog posts targeting various topics that will boost my overall authority along with whatever money content I'm focusing on.

This way I also don't have to start a new site for every industry I want to target in the same city. I can seamlessly go from real estate to restaurants to "best hookers under $100/hour" without missing a beat.
 
Copy/paste a conversation I had with someone in DM. For those wanting to take this to the next level, You'd need to do it with home styles or something unique but think there's good space to carve out. I just think of YouTubers who do things really well in a particular city that'd translate well to other cities, it's sort of like that. I'd imagine you could promote (video/images) real estate listings for free in return for content. Win win.

If you were really serious about this then I'd try and carve out a niche. Find something that no-one is really doing (or you know someone is doing well in other parts of the country). I'm talking about having FB/IG pages for images/videos, doing property walkthroughs etc. on YouTube etc. getting local media mentions etc. sponsoring local events/charities (think related to property like help for habitat, homeless shelters and historic preservation societies etc.). Really build up a brand (there's some very successful Realtors etc. in NYC who do YT videos etc.). The more you could niche down on a property type lets say that'd give you way more authority. Like how many are specializing in x style homes in x city vs being a generic Realtor/site etc.

That way you can rely way way less on organic and build referral, direct etc. up way more. Build a brand with a following and command higher listing prices, throw in additional coverage like interviews, property tours etc. etc.

This is obv. a whole new level but one I could see doing well and turned into a proper business (maybe there's enough business in one city or you could focus on a property type and scale nationwide).
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Holzr said:
Copy/paste a conversation I had with someone in DM. For those wanting to take this to the next level, You'd need to do it with home styles or something unique but think there's good space to carve out. I just think of YouTubers who do things really well in a particular city that'd translate well to other cities, it's sort of like that. I'd imagine you could promote (video/images) real estate listings for free in return for content. Win win.
Click to expand...

"I'm talking about having FB/IG pages for images/videos, doing property walkthroughs etc. on YouTube etc. getting local media mentions etc. sponsoring local events/charities (think related to property like help for habitat, homeless shelters and historic preservation societies etc.). Really build up a brand"

^^^^100% this

Branded properties are a definite win in the SEO realm. Properly built out branded properties that are actually treated as a branded property will do wonders.
 
Rj268 said:
Forget using keyword tools in this niche. In most areas there is very little local competition, most agents do not have websites or use any internet marketing. Your local competition will be brokerages and those aren't to hard to out rank.

Forget competing against the big sites like Zillow, Realtor, Redfield, ect. They will dominate keywords like "home for sale in Twin Falls". But they may not rank for search terms like "3 bed 2 bath home in Twin Falls" or "cheap home in Twin Falls" and so on. Rank pages for multiple keywords and create niched down pages as needed. Search volume may be low for each keyword but real estate leads are valuable and it doesn't take a lot of leads to generate some income.

I'm a Realtor in Southern California and I can rank plenty of local niche keywords and pull in leads.
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Thank you so much for sharing this valuable information !
 
how do you "brand a property" ?

LIke this link?
coolsheet said:
"I'm talking about having FB/IG pages for images/videos, doing property walkthroughs etc. on YouTube etc. getting local media mentions etc. sponsoring local events/charities (think related to property like help for habitat, homeless shelters and historic preservation societies etc.). Really build up a brand"

^^^^100% this

Branded properties are a definite win in the SEO realm. Properly built out branded properties that are actually treated as a branded property will do wonders.
Click to expand...
 
Big Ron said:
how do you "brand a property" ?

LIke this link?
Click to expand...
A branded property would be any properties that match the brand. So kinda like your YouTube channel except I usually name it the same as the business. Or close to the name of the business. Your name is technically your brand in your case.

So If i wanted branded properties for Big Ron Realtor i would have all of my properties titled "Big Ron Realtor"

Branded properties would be:

Google biz site sites.bigronrealtor.com
Blogger blog bigronrealtor.blogspot.com

and so on for others like:

Weebly site
Wix site
Some book markeing sites
Any social profiles

Anywhere you can add a branded profile that makes sense. Where do the biggest brands in your industry have profiles? Where are they active?
 
coolsheet said:
A branded property would be any properties that match the brand. So kinda like your YouTube channel except I usually name it the same as the business. Or close to the name of the business. Your name is technically your brand in your case.

So If i wanted branded properties for Big Ron Realtor i would have all of my properties titled "Big Ron Realtor"

Branded properties would be:

Google biz site sites.bigronrealtor.com
Blogger blog bigronrealtor.blogspot.com

and so on for others like:

Weebly site
Wix site
Some book markeing sites
Any social profiles

Anywhere you can add a branded profile that makes sense. Where do the biggest brands in your industry have profiles? Where are they active?
Click to expand...
Hot dog...now we're getting somewhere! I"m branding the RonJones.me and just using my name. I'm in a brokerage for now so my URL points to the company/brokerage CRM (RealEstateTwinFalls.com). I also bought RealEstateTwinFallsSearch.com from Expired Domains and point it to the same place. If I leave the brokerage, I'll just point the URL somewhere else.

So by branding the properties with a name, you just mean adding the name to the address, right? Cuz all properties are identified by the address. Anytime you list a IG/TT/FB post about the property, you would add the brand in front of the address. Is that what you mean? Could you be more efficient with a hashtag (ie., #RonJonesMe) ?
 
Big Ron said:
Hot dog...now we're getting somewhere! I"m branding the RonJones.me and just using my name. I'm in a brokerage for now so my URL points to the company/brokerage CRM (RealEstateTwinFalls.com). I also bought RealEstateTwinFallsSearch.com from Expired Domains and point it to the same place. If I leave the brokerage, I'll just point the URL somewhere else.

So by branding the properties with a name, you just mean adding the name to the address, right? Cuz all properties are identified by the address. Anytime you list a IG/TT/FB post about the property, you would add the brand in front of the address. Is that what you mean? Could you be more efficient with a hashtag (ie., #RonJonesMe) ?
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You could. But the property is the entire FB. So as long as the FB (for example) is named the same as your website/brand then thats what there is to it. Now how you treat these properties is what determines their power. Treat it like a real brand would and be active and you're all good. I automate this by syndicating everything with my blog via IFTTT.
 
Im a realtor / Digital marketer in So Cal and in real estate there is something much much more profitable than referring home sale leads to realtors. Its wholesaling deals to investors. That is where the true money comes in. Currently working on something to get leads of people that want to sell their homes for cash.
 
ladyboyboom69 said:
Im a realtor / Digital marketer in So Cal and in real estate there is something much much more profitable than referring home sale leads to realtors. Its wholesaling deals to investors. That is where the true money comes in. Currently working on something to get leads of people that want to sell their homes for cash.
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Are you connected to any of the chapters here - https://nationalreia.org/?
 
ladyboyboom69 said:
Im a realtor / Digital marketer in So Cal and in real estate there is something much much more profitable than referring home sale leads to realtors. Its wholesaling deals to investors. That is where the true money comes in. Currently working on something to get leads of people that want to sell their homes for cash.
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I agree. Wholesale deals are impactful.

But there's a point of convergence that needs to be met when turning such deals into fruition. Most important of them being - your physical presence in the country.

Until then, talking to realtors - convincing them to pay for their leads is the best we can do for all the HQ traffic and interest our websites generate.

Additionally, when your income is contingent on someone else's large transaction - there's way too many moving parts and the plausibility for things to go wrong increases manifolds.

Out here, I almost ventured into what was a sole-selling proposition by an up and coming developer in 2017. I couldn't proceed with it for certain reasons, but the company that got into it after me had to drag the developer to court for pending dues. It wasn't pretty.

But I agree - Real Estate as a whole is extremely lucrative. But you dip your tongue in the stream that matches your risk appetite.
 
I have a friend who has a real estate company who says he can generate so many leads with SMS that that's almost enough for him. He is unfamiliar with SEO and doesn't know if it will pay off for him. He also thinks that SMS is cheaper than PPC or SEO. But I'd like to generate leads for him.

Most people in his hometown are 40+ who want to sell a house. That means they are more used to traditional channels (coldcalls, sms, physical mails).

I never did SEO/PPC in real estate niche, so I can‘t show him case studies or whatever (only random ondes from Internet).

However, so that he has a better budget overview, I will offer him pay per lead, and no monthly fee, so I may get him as a customer/partner.

But has someone experience with SMS vs. SEO/PPC in real estate? What do you guys think?

And how much commission per lead would be fair and common in Real Estate? After all, this is a highcomp niche and the sales make very good profits for the clients..

I appreciate every tip! :-) Thx!

Cheers
 
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