In this day and age, a real estate professional’s online presence could make or break a business. The lion’s share of home buyers and sellers head to search sites such as Google to find an agent or properties. This means your website and other digital content must be optimized for SEO. There are common SEO mistakes made by real estate agents that can hurt their online visibility.
- Lacking a Mobile-Friendly Website
Mistake:
It is shocking how many real estate websites still are not mobile-friendly. Considering that more than 50% of all web traffic comes from mobile devices, not having your website optimized for mobile is a critical mistake. Websites that are not mobile-friendly will have poor loading or difficult navigation on smartphones, which will translate to high bounces and a poor user experience.
How to Fix It:
Make your website responsive, meaning that its content automatically adjusts to the dimensions of any device’s screen. Google performs mobile-first indexing, which means it places a greater priority on websites’ mobile versions when ranking them in search results. Tools like Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test can help you identify issues and make adjustments as needed.
- Not Utilizing Local SEO
Mistake:
Real estate is a very locally driven business, yet many agents are not optimizing their websites for local SEO. Many agents focus on national or even worldwide keywords, while the right audience is within their neighborhoods. For example, targeting “real estate agent” instead of “real estate agent in [city name]” can make it harder for you to rank in your area.
How to Fix It:
Use location-based keywords in your website title tags, meta descriptions, and content. Create location-based landing pages for neighborhoods or cities you serve. For example, if you’re a real estate agent in Miami, include things like “Miami real estate agent” or “homes for sale in Miami” so search engines know your site is relevant for people searching in that area.
- Keyword Stuffing
Mistake:
Many real estate agents try to include a lot of keywords in their content to make their websites rank higher, but they often do so unnaturally. This includes repetition of the same keyword or inclusion of irrelevant keywords that do not relate to the content. Keyword stuffing not only makes the content difficult to read but also creates penalties by Google due to spamming.
How to Fix It:
Use keywords in a natural manner, which would sound sensible while writing your content. In fact, it should be about 1-2% of keyword density. Your main aim is to provide great content to your audience. Tools like Google Keyword Planner or Ahrefs will help you in finding long-tail relevant keywords to your niche.
- Not Implementing On-Page SEO Factors
Mistake:
Most agents don’t pay much attention to on-page SEO elements, which include title tags, meta descriptions, header tags, and image alt texts. These on-page elements provide context for search engines about your pages, making it easier for them to index and then rank your content.
How to Fix It:
Ensure that every page of your website has a unique, optimised title tag no longer than 50-60 characters and meta descriptions no longer than 150-160 characters. Use header tags (H1, H2, H3) to break up your content into pieces, making it more readable for users and search engines. Alt text on images will be helpful for their better understanding by Google. - Slow Page Load Times
Oversimplification:
Page speed is vitally important for user experience and SEO. If your website takes too long to load, many visitors may leave before the page finishes loading, which might increase the bounce rate and lower your ranking.
How to Fix It:
Check out your website’s speed using tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix. Optimise images, minify CSS and JavaScript files, and leverage browser caching to reduce load times. A fast website improves the user experience and also your ranking potential. If you have a WordPress website, there are many
- Failure to produce high-quality content
Mistake:
Some agents put too much weight on transactional content, meaning a preponderance of listings and sales-orientated pages, without giving enough attention to informational content that educates possible clients. Content such as blog posts, guides, and how-to articles will help in driving organic traffic to your site and position you as an expert in your field.
How to Fix It:
Create content that provides real value to your audience. This can be through regularly posting blog articles about subjects such as “How to Buy Your First Home”, “What to Know Before Selling a Home”, or “Best Neighbourhoods in [Your City]”. This will attract potential clients who are coming to your site looking for information or attempting to solve a problem.
- Not optimizing Google My Business (GMB)
Mistake
Google My Business is among the most powerful tools for local SEO, and a lot of real estate agents neglect to fully optimise their profiles. An incomplete or inaccurate GMB listing can reduce your local search visibility and make it far more challenging for potential clients to find you.
How to Fix It:
Claim your Google My Business profile, and ensure all information is accurate and current, including photos of your office, team, and property listings. Suggest that satisfied clients leave reviews on your profile, since positive reviews can greatly improve your local search rankings. - Not having a blog or fresh content
Mistake:
Most real estate agents either don’t have a blog or never update their website with new content. Search engines love fresh, updated content, and without that, your website will fall behind in the rankings.
How to Fix It:
Create a blog and regularly post on it. The topics you choose to write about should be relevant to your local market, including trends in the real estate industry, how to advise homebuyers and sellers, and insights into various neighbourhoods. Regularly updated content improves not just your SEO but also provides ongoing value to your audience. - Inadequate use of Internal Linking
Mistake: Internal linking, or the linking of pages within your website, is one of the most neglected practices for SEO despite its importance. Without internal links, search engines may have a problem crawling and indexing pages on your site. It also helps users in the navigation of your content more easily. How to Fix It: Link to other relevant blog posts, landing pages, and listings from within your content to help drive visitors deeper into your site. For instance, if you write a blog post focused on first-time homebuyers, link to other pages on your site that might be relevant for them, such as your “Homes for Sale” or “Buying Guide” pages. Internal linking helps the search engines crawl your site more efficiently and may even give your rankings a boost. 10. Not Tracking SEO Performance Mistake: Search engine optimisation is an ongoing process, yet many estate agents do not follow up with analysis and tracking of their SEO efforts. Without analysing your website’s performance, you won’t know what works and what doesn’t. How to Fix It: Set up Google Analytics and Google Search Console to track the performance of your website. These tools show you the sources of traffic, user behaviours, and what keywords you are ranking for. Regularly check such metrics to find out which strategies are driving results and make adjustments based on data-driven decisions.
Conclusion: SEO will not only increase your online presence but also help you secure more clients if you work as a real estate agent. By avoiding these common mistakes and following the above-mentioned strategies, you will successfully improve your website’s ranking in search results, drive more traffic, and thereby grow your business. Keep in mind that SEO is all about investing in the long-term game, so be consistent, track your results, and further adapt your strategy to outperform the competition.