In this monthly advice column, Marketing Mastermind Christy Murdock Edgar answers three burning questions from the real estate industry at large. This month’s topic: rebranding in 2020.
It’s that time of year when everyone is reaching out for advice about branding, content and marketing strategies. For most real estate agents and brokers, New Year’s resolutions wouldn’t be complete without some professional goals related to growth.
Here are the top three questions I’m hearing most frequently as people turn their sights toward the spring market:
How can I use keywords to improve my website’s SEO (search engine optimization)?
One of the most important things you can do to ensure that the content you’re creating is improving your website’s rank on Google is to focus on the right keywords for your market and your services. A good keyword search can help you identify a variety of phrases that people use to search for real estate services in your area.
Once you have identified a primary phrase that you want to rank for, use it throughout the site and on your blog. For blog articles, choose a primary keyword for each article and use it in your article’s title, in its first paragraph and in one of the headers in the body of the article. If you are loading your blog on a platform like Hubspot or Wix, optimize with your chosen phrase in the meta-description and in image titles.
Avoid keyword “stuffing,” the practice of using a couple of keywords or phrases repeatedly in a way that sounds artificial. Google’s algorithm is sensitive to this type of manipulation both on the front and back sides of your page and will punish you for it with a lower rank.
Finally, take a look at your highest ranking competitor for some insight into the types of keywords for which to optimize. You may find that there is a phrase you haven’t thought of that would help local buyers and sellers better identify your services.
How can I make an impact online quickly?
There are a variety of ways to give your online footprint a quick boost. These include:
- Optimizing your free Google My Business page to ensure that your contact information and location are showing up on the first page of Google for your local market.
- Thinking about alternate ways to phrase your service offerings and include a variety of keywords so that people can search for you in a number of ways. Consider adding additional pages to your website or including a variety of blog posts aimed at different niches and different types of clients.
- Looking for opportunities to get linkbacks by guest blogging or contributing to online forums like Quora, Medium or as an expert source through HARO (Help a Reporter Out).
While a lot of SEO takes time, these strategies, along with consistent content creation and distribution, can help improve your page rank more quickly and get you in front of many new fans and followers.
Everyone says I should be using video, but I hate the idea of standing there talking about myself week after week. What can I do instead?
Great real estate video content doesn’t have anything to do with being just another talking head. If you’re a little camera-shy, focusing your video channel on the community is a great way to communicate both your local bona fides and your business.
Get out and feature any of the following on your online and social media platforms:
- Local small business owners
- Teachers, coaches and principals at local school events
- Directors of local festivals and community events
- Directors of local non-profits and community service organizations
- Contractors, lenders, title officers and other real estate-related professionals
By putting the focus on others, you show potential clients what it would be like to work with you. You also create opportunities to get your brand in front of the social media following for all of the people and organizations you feature.
Do you have questions for the Marketing Mastermind? Send them here.
Christy Murdock Edgar is a Realtor, freelance writer, coach and consultant with Writing Real Estate. She is also a Florida Realtors faculty member. Follow Writing Real Estate on Facebook, Twitter, Instagr
Are you ready for what the industry holds in 2020? Inman Connect New York is your key to unlocking opportunity in a changing market. At Connect you will gain insight into the future, discover new strategies and network with real estate’s best and brightest to accelerate your business. Create your 2020 success story at Inman Connect New York, January 28-31, 2020.
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