Agents who want to grow their business should consider investing in digital marketing and branding. The Internet has made it much easier for people to find businesses and products that match their interests, allowing you to target the right audience and engage them with your content.
Consumers expect to see brands they know and trust online. It is essential that real estate agents develop strong online brand identities that establish them as experts in their fields. Having a strong online presence is the key to attracting business and gaining traction in a largely digital world. In this article, we’ll cover everything you need to know about online branding and marketing for real estate agents, including how to create a marketing strategy, build a digital marketing plan, and establish benchmarks for measuring success.
How to create an online identity that is authentic and trustworthy
Even before gaining traction as a real estate agent, you could already be putting in the hard work developing your professional persona and establishing yourself as an expert in your field. This means creating a solid identity that is both trustworthy and memorable. It’s essential to find a way to stand out from the crowd of real estate agents, and one of the best ways to do this is through your digital footprint. When customers or potential customers visit your website, they should be able to see and feel that you are an expert in your field, not some wannabe pretending to be an agent.
Consumers can quickly become bored with websites that look and behave the same as every other business in the industry. Ensure that your site stands out by providing content that is both valuable and relevant to your target audience. When users arrive at your site, they should see content that is both valuable and relevant to them. If your site lacks this, you may end up losing a customer who could have spent their entire visit, and possibly even become a paying customer. Developing a strategy to attract, engage, and retain customers is critical to your success as a real estate agent.
The importance of SEO and digital marketing for real estate agents
In today’s marketing world, SEO and digital marketing play an increasingly crucial role, and this holds true for real estate agents as well. In 2019, nearly half of consumers search for products, companies, or websites online before purchasing the item in the real world. This means that consumers are relying more heavily on search engines to find the information they need. If you want to capture the attention of customers, develop a strategy to appear in the top results of search engine results pages when customers perform a search on your industry.
Additionally, when someone clicks on a result from a search engine, they are usually taken to a landing page where they can see additional content and information about the item or service they are looking for. A real estate agent’s website that appears in the top search results of a Google search will gain the attention of potential customers. This is particularly beneficial for agents who want to attract a younger audience to their business. Developing a strategy to appear in the top results of a Google search can dramatically increase your site’s traffic and revenue.
The three pillars of a successful online marketing strategy for real estate agents
The digital landscape is constantly changing, and SEO and digital marketing strategies must evolve with it. Just because a strategy is working for you doesn’t mean it will work for your competitors. With this in mind, you can develop a three-pillar strategy that will help you improve your SEO, attract more customers, and grow your agency.
Here are the three pillars of a successful SEO strategy for real estate agents:
- Anchor text
- Keyword research
- Content strategy
The first step in developing a successful SEO strategy is to pick out exactly which words and phrases you will use to describe your product and service. These will become your keywords. When a user performs a search on a keyword or product name, your website will appear near the top of the results page.
Choosing the right keywords can be difficult, and it’s a permanent process. You will want to make sure that the words and phrases you select are both relevant to and describe your product or service. After you choose your keywords, develop a list of phrases that people will use to find what you offer. Be sure to use the keywords and phrases consistently throughout your content.
Content strategy
Now that you have your keywords, you can start developing content for your website. The type of content you will create depends on your target audience. For example, if you want to attract more people to your website, you might want to create content that appeals to younger audiences. Young people between the ages of 18 and 24 visit blogs and social media websites significantly more than older generations. Ensure that your content is of a good quality and is relevant to your audience. If you want to create content that is engaging and will keep people coming back for more, consider experimenting with videos or podcasts. These types of content attract and retain customers, as videos can often be more interesting than text-based content. Additionally, people love to learn something new, and there are many benefits to educational content.
Anchor text is the short description or keyword that appears at the start of a web page’s content. The anchor text of a page usually appears in the top left corner of the page, but it can appear in other places as well, such as the right sidebar or the footer. When a user clicks on an anchor text from a web page, they will be directed to that specific content, which may be a website article, a product review, or a FAQ section. When creating content for your website, make sure to choose relevant and unique anchor texts for each piece of content. If you want to learn more about anchor text, here is a great explainer guide from Google.
Keyword research
Once you have your content strategy in place, you can start to develop a keyword research strategy. Keyword research is the process of identifying and selecting words and phrases that will be used by people who are searching for your product or service. You will want to make sure that these words and phrases are both relevant to and describe your product or service. For example, if you sell furniture, you may want to choose keywords such as “furniture sale,” “furniture package deal,” and “furniture freedom” because these words and phrases are all relevant to and describe your product and service. Once you have your keyword list, begin creating content that will attract search engine users.
If you are looking to grow your business, it’s important to have a clear idea of where you will focus your efforts. With your keyword research completed, you can start to develop a strategy to increase the amount of leads and website traffic your generate. Ensure that your content is optimized for search engines, and take the time to build a profile on social media platforms. Posting on social media allows you to connect with potential customers who are already engaged with you.
Landing pages, website design, and conversion strategies
After customers click on a result from a search engine, they are usually taken to a landing page where they can see additional content and information about the item or service they are looking for. Essentially, a landing page is a page that appears after a user clicks on a result from a Google search. Designing and optimizing your landing pages for SEO is an essential part of growing your business online.
You will want to make sure that your landing page is functional and easy to navigate. Designing a landing page that is accessible is the most important thing, as well as using relevant and informative content. After you visit a site, whether it is a blog, social media platform, or a retail store, you make an impression on the site’s visitors. When someone clicks on a product or service link on your landing page, they expect to see information about the item or service they are looking for.
The most effective way to learn how to design a landing page is to look at successful websites. The good news is that there are many free tools that can help you design a landing page, and even provide you with a mock-up of the page. One of the best free landing page tools is Wix, which provides a variety of templates that you can choose from. Additionally, you can upload your own images, text, and layout for the template you choose. At the end of the day, you can’t design a landing page without first having a clear idea of what the purpose of the page is. In most cases, the purpose of a landing page is to drive traffic to a particular piece of content or to a website altogether. Once you know the goal of the page, you can start to develop content that will engage and convince the reader to click on a particular link or perform a specific action.