A powerful real estate website indicates better SEO performance. Your website’s overall link authority is directly linked with higher search engine rankings. Now, better SEO performance for any website requires more quality backlinks. The better your real estate website will perform in SEO, the more quality backlinks you will require. Top-ranking real estate websites have more real estate backlinks than the real estate sites that are ranking below them.
Backlinks Are Incredibly Important for Your Website’s SEO
The higher your real estate website’s position is on the SERP, the more referring backlinks it will have. So, focusing on your website’s SEO and real estate link building is crucial. Read on to learn more about SEO for real estate and why real estate websites need to focus on SEO. You will also learn the top tips on how you can boost your rankings and visibility across the web.
The Importance of SEO for Your Real Estate Business
Just like everything else, the number of searches for homes and properties online has been increasing each year. Nearly 50% of all property buyers start looking for properties online, which almost makes up half the market. Naturally, this number is only going to increase.
What this means for you is that if you aren’t visible online – you are missing out big time. Effective SEO includes high-quality backlinks. Having a compelling website, making sure you are visible in local searches, and getting yourself listed in major real estate platforms is the way to go now.
By having a solid online presence, you can establish credibility for your business. Just think about it – if your potential clients cannot find you online – they will definitely have second thoughts about doing business with you.
Backlinks – A Crucial Part of SEO
According to Google guidelines, good-quality content needs to earn backlinks naturally. Otherwise, backlinks shouldn’t be randomly built outside of creating good content. Backlinks include many metrics, including the following:
- DA or Domain Authority
- Referral Research
- Many specialized tools
What Are the Different Types of Links?
Broadly speaking, there are three types of links that will work as real estate backlink types. You have an internal link, an outgoing link, and an incoming link, which is also known as a backlink.
Internal Link
The first is the internal link, which is established to link the different pages on the same website together. For instance, if your real estate blog post covers a specific topic, such as selecting the right property, and if that blog post links to an actual property or a product page on the website, this aspect is known as an internal link.
Internal links are essentially used to connect relevant pieces of content together.
Outgoing Link
The second type of link is an outgoing link, which points from your real estate website to another website – externally from the content that you have. For instance, if you have a blog post that links to another blog post that explains everything about mortgages, that may be a very relevant link to create because, in this case, you are thinking about the search intent of the website visitor.
Outgoing links are like votes where one website is voting for another.
Incoming Link, Aka Backlink
The third type of link is an incoming link, which is actually referred to as a backlink. Backlinks are links that point externally from many websites into your real estate website. For instance, if a blogger links to your home or product page, this is considered an incoming or backlink.
In essence, it is voting or recommending your website as it is linking to you.
The Importance of Real Estate Backlinks and Citations for Your Real Estate Business
The first question you want to ask yourself is how well-positioned you are to get discovered by potential buyers and establish a competitive market environment. On that note, make the most of local business directories.
Once you have your Google account set up and verified – you have your real estate website set up, and it syncs with your Google account. There are two things that you want to focus on – backlinks and citations.
Good Citations vs. Bad Citations
One thing you should know is that there are good citations and bad citations. There are also good backlinks and bad backlinks. The easiest way to determine whether they are good or bad is whether or not you earned them or whether you paid someone money to make them.
If you are paying someone a few hundred dollars to get thousands of citations or backlinks, they are bad for your website and actually harm your real estate website instead of benefitting you. There are also SEO companies out there that can help you and do it right.
However, keep in mind that you must focus on quality backlinks instead of quantity so that you don’t get penalized by Google.
Social Media Citations
Your business Facebook page is known as a citation as it mentions your business name, phone number, and address, and it matches your Google business account. Google looks at this aspect as off-page SEO.
You aren’t doing anything on your website or your Google account. You are doing things on the internet that Google looks at, and that will help you get ranked.
Off-page SEO, such as Facebook citation, gives you authority and lets Google know that you are the real deal. Your business LinkedIn page is another example of a citation. The thing is that social media accounts can be known as citations.
Local Directory Citations
There are loads of directories out there for different business associations, etc., that you can get listed in for free or for a small fee, and that will also count as a local citation. Google absolutely loves local citations when it comes to ranking your business on the Google Map Pack or the Google My Business section.
Backlinks for Organic Rankings
Backlinks for your real estate business are incredibly powerful – not only for the Google My Business account rankings but also for organic rankings in the normal Google search results. You can rank up on Google twice by using really good and powerful backlinks.
How Does A Backlink Work in Google?
A backlink can be a word or a picture that, when someone clicks on it, links over to another website. It is that simple, which is why there is no need to overcomplicate it. You can place your link on a relevant and reputable website so that when visitors click on it – they land on your website.
Google thinks of this backlink in a positive way, saying that if this reputable website over here is linking to this real estate website – the real estate website must have something incredibly important to offer, which is why it must be a very valuable website to the community.
Google is going to use this aspect as part of the ranking algorithm, which will then help with increasing your website ranking.
How to Get High-Quality Backlinks for Your Real Estate Business?
When other websites talk about your real estate business and link over to your website, it is incredibly powerful for Google My Business when it comes to rankings.
As a real estate business website, you might want to focus on getting the backlinks from local sources – because you are a local business trying to rank in the map pack. On that note, it is incredibly important for those backlinks and citations to be local to your city or your area.
Here are some of the best types of backlinks for your real estate business:
High-Quality Directory Backlinks
As mentioned earlier, submitting your real estate website to real estate directories is a great way to establish authoritative backlinks.
It is important to mention here that you should look for relevant directories that are updated regularly and have a high DA so that these can pass on the authoritative juice to your real estate website, too.
Backlinks through Guest Posting on Other Websites
To boost your business ranking in Google and other SERPs, you can write guest posts for other relevant real estate blogs and websites. The thing about guest posting is that it is one of the most effective real estate link building strategies, as it allows you to get high-quality backlinks from various sources, websites, and industries.
What this will do for your real estate business is add variety to your backlinks profile and make your business website appear more organic to search engines, including Google.
Backlinks Obtained from Local Events
Another great way to get high-quality backlinks for your real estate website is by sponsoring local events, such as the following:
- Networking events
- Real estate seminars
- Charity fundraisers
These local events will allow you to build effective relationships and get your real estate website in front of new potential clients.
Backlinks through Useful and Engaging Content
Keeping your real estate website updated is incredibly important. One effective way to do so is by being consistent with publishing content, including guides, tutorials, home renovation tips, moving tips, real estate news, publishing marketing trends, etc.
If you post unique, engaging, and informative content consistently, you will establish authority – not only in the eyes of Google but also in website visitors. You can also promote your content on social media platforms to boost brand visibility, referral traffic, and backlinks.
Polish Your Content by Creating City-Specific Content
Creating informative, high-quality, and city-specific content can really help you with your marketing funnel. For instance, if you have a property to sell in Chicago, you can target users who are planning to move to Chicago and are looking for a place to stay.
In this example, you can create a blog that tells you everything you need to know about relocating to Chicago. When creating a blog, make it as informative as possible. For instance, in the previous example, when writing a blog, you can talk about the costs of living, neighborhoods, transport, etc.
When creating a blog post, make sure to use internal links that take the users to another page of your website that talks about apartment searches in Chicago.
Create Informative Content to Generate Leads
The point is to create informative content in a way that gradually guides users along the sales funnel. You get the point – create useful blogs that help potential buyers learn more about different cities and housing options, which further allows them to make better decisions.
You should know that if you provide useful information to potential buyers when they are in the research stage, they are more likely to trust you and come back to you when they are in the decision stage.
Choose Popular Topics for Blogs/ Guest Posts
Naturally, as it is in the real estate industry, some cities will be easier than others – depending on their search volume and competition. If you aren’t sure what to write about, you can create useful content around popular topics, such as city landmarks and attractions, local jobs, local amenities, local economy, schools, neighborhoods, restaurants, top employers, etc.
You get the point – there are a lot of options when writing informative and useful content.
Why Does Your Real Estate Business Need Backlinks
Here are some of the essential benefits of backlinks for real estate:
Establish Authority and Credibility
Just like any other business, your real estate business needs backlinks to establish credibility and authority. According to Ahrefs, by getting high-quality backlinks from authoritative industry websites and influencers, you establish authority and credibility. The more high-quality websites you get the backlinks from, the higher your real estate website will rank in SERPs.
Boost Website Traffic
Since most homebuyers start looking for homes online before visiting the office in person, higher-ranking websites are more likely to get more visitors. High-quality backlinks allow you to rank higher, which will motivate potential buyers to click on your website more than other websites that are ranking lower than yours.
Higher-ranking websites are better opportunities to connect with potential buyers.
Establish Brand Awareness
Of course, backlinks can help you establish and boost brand awareness for your real estate website. You need to focus on earning or getting quality backlinks from authority websites that get loads of visitors and are highly relevant to your real estate business.
You can establish and boost brand awareness by accessing other relevant website visitors. It is important to mention here that while getting backlinks is easy, you need to focus on relevancy and quality.
Get Referral Traffic
High-quality backlinks to your real estate business essentially drive referral traffic to your website. When a high-quality, relevant website links to your real estate website, visitors to that website will also visit your real estate website.
This referral website will boost your website traffic and give you new business opportunities to generate leads and boost ROI.
Final Thoughts
Make sure that you, as a real estate business, are reviewing your real estate backlinks structure regularly. You want to ensure that you have created really good linked networks that connect quality content together. This aspect is good for the searcher and user of your real estate website. By integrating high-quality backlinks, you will encourage users to check out other pieces of content around your industry. This practice also passes authority throughout your website.
On top of that, make sure to monitor and create unique content so you can naturally earn inbound links to your real estate website.
FAQs
What Are Guest Post Backlinks?
Guest post backlinks are links that you get by contributing to another blog or website’s content in the form of blog posts or articles. You do this in exchange for high-quality backlinks for real estate to your own website.
What Are the Benefits of Guest Posting?
Guest posting is part of SEO and enables you to secure a backlink as well as referral traffic, which boosts your website traffic and ranking.
Why Do You Need Backlinks?
You need backlinks to boost your website ranking and visibility in search engines, leading to more website traffic. It is important to mention here that you should always choose quality over quantity for effective link-building.
