SEO tips for Real Estate agents from JD Spagnola of Allure Technology. This was a handout for the Santa Cruz Women's Council of REALTORS event June 11, 2014.

1. IhopethatthisinformationishelpfultoyouinlearningwhatSEO is,whyit’simportant,
andsomestepstotakeifyouwanttoincorporateitintoyourbusiness.Whateveryou
choosetodo,itisimportanttoworkoutbeforehandthecostsandbenefitsofyouractions,
orinactions.Ifyouarespendinghoursandhourstryingtofigurethisout,thosearehours
youcouldspendonotherleadgeneration.Isitworthit?IfyougowithanSEO service,
makesuretheygiveyouresultsofworkingwithotherrealestatecompanies.Findouthow
theywillworkspecificallytowardsYOUR goals,andhowyoucanmeasureprogress.theywillworkspecificallytowardsYOUR goals,andhowyoucanmeasureprogress.
Resultswon’tnecessarilyappearovernightbutyouneedtobetrackingsothatyoucan
makesmartdecisions.Bestwishestoallofyourbusinessendeavors
JiroWiseman
AllureHomes
C.O.O-Co-Founder
T:831.332.4624
E:jiro@alluretechnologies.com
www.allure-homes.com
2.Thisarticleiswrittenbyarealestateagentandgivessomespecificpointsthatare
importantforrealestatebusinessestoaddress.Theinformationgetsalittletechnicalso
don’tworryifyoudon’tunderstandsomeofit.Ifitisfartooconfusing,oddsareyouwill
behiringanSEO serviceifyouchoosetomoveforward.Itwouldbeagoodideatoshare
thisarticlewithwhomeveryouhiretomakesuretheyhavethesebasescovered.
http://outspokenmedia.com/seo/guide-to-real-estate-seo/
1.HowimportantisSEO foryourrealestatebusiness?HereiswhatREOLOGYthinks,
andsomeadviceonwhattodo.You’llnoticethatthisisnotverydifferentfrom SEO
adviceyougetanywhereelse.
http://realtormag.realtor.org/technology/feature/article/2011/08/3-pillars-seo-for-real-estate-pros
RealEstateSpecificResources
3.Ifyouarecomfortablewiththeconceptsandwanttogetintothenittygritty,withyour
SEO thisisacomprehensiveresourcetogiveyouinsight,articles,tips,andguides.
http://searchenginewatch.com/seo
2.Thisfree“Beginner’sGuide”from MOZ.com isagreatresourceifyouhavemoretime
tospendlearningSEO andtakingaction.Also,youcanseehowMOZ.com’sdecisionto
sharethiscontentaffectstheirSEO.GoogleseesthattheyhaveallthisgreatcontentsoI
easilyfoundthem whenIsearchedforSEO guidance,nowI’vesharedthelinkwithyou
andyouwillcontinuethechain!
http://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-seo
1.ThisarticlefeaturesagreatinfographicexplainingthedifferentpartsofSEO.Thetable
isdividedbetweenthingsthathappenonyoursite,andoffofit.Youcanalsoseehow
importanteachfactorissothatyoucanprioritizeyourefforts.Thisisagoodplactostart
learning.
http://searchengineland.com/seotable
GeneralInformationaboutSEO
SEO forRealEstate:Resources

2. 7.Askhowtheyplantoincorporate
socialmediaandback-linkinginto
yourwebsitetodrivemoretraffic,
andestablishcredibility,and
authority.
6.Askhowwellsearchenginescan
seecontent,especiallyimages,video,
andwordsthathaveabackground
image.
5.MakesurethatHTMLtitletags
containkeywordsrelevanttoeach
pagetopic.
4.Askhowwellyoursite-mapis
organizedforsearchengines.Work
withyourprovidertoidentifywhat
ismostimportantonyoursiteand
makingiteasytoaccess.
3.Findthe“longtail”keysearchwords
thatbuyersusetosearchforyouniche
market.Usethem toguidethesubject
ofyourcontent.Youshouldhavea
lotofinputduringthisprocess.
2.Beclearaboutwhatyourgoalsare
foryourbusinessandmakeadetailed
planwithyourproviderastohow
SEO willgetyouthere.Whatisyour
estimatedreturnoninvestment?Ifit
doesn’tworkonpaper,don’tstart.
1.TrytofindanSEO servicethathas
experiencewiththerealestatefield.
Thismakesiteasierforthem to
understandwhatyourgoalsareand
whoyouraudienceis.
TipsforOutsourcingSEO
7.Pickoneortwoformsofsocial
mediatosharethecontentyouhave
createdonyourwebsite.Don’tjust
useyoursocialmediaasanoutlet,it
isalsoaseparateopportunityto
engagewithaspecificaudience.
6.Postoriginalcontentasmuchas
possible.Ifyoudecidetopostan
interestingarticle,includeyour
opinionoranyexpertknowledge.
Askaquestiontoencourage
commenting.
5.Postcontentasoftenasyoucan
createitmeaningfully.Startwith
onceaweekorbi-weeklyuntilyou
cangetthehangofit.
4.Trytolimiteachpageofcontent
totargetonegoal.Forexample,a
separatepagefordescribingeach
neighborhood.Thisisbecause
Googlerankscontentatthetopof
thepageasmorerelevant.
3.Besuretoincludethepagetopic
inthetitle.Thisisprettystandard
practiceingeneral,butitis
especiallyimportantforSEO.
2.Createwebcontentwithyour
targetbuyersinmind.Thinkofthe
differentwordcombinationsthata
buyerwouldusetosearchforhomes
inyourarea,usethem inyoucontent.
1.Thinkaboutwhatkindofbuyers
arelookingforhomesinSantaCruz,
andwhichonesyouwanttotarget.
TipsYouCanUseYourself
SEO forRealEstate

3. SEO forRealEstate
Butmywebsitehasallthisgreatstuff
onit,whydon’tIgetmorevisitors?
If75%ofsearcherschoose
toclickontheresultsof
organicsearchingrather
thanPPC advertisements,
itwouldbewisetoat
leastmakesomeeffortto
optimizeSEO.optimizeSEO.
Ifyoucancomeawaywithoneideaabout
SEO,itshouldbethatyouaretryingto
representyourselfonlinethesameway
youdoineverydaybusiness.Thereal
lifeconversationsyouhavewithclients
andcolleaguesarejustlikethecontent
youcreateandthecommentsectionsyoucreateandthecommentsections
yourespondto.
HowDifficultisittoIncorporateSEO
intomymarketingplan?
TrueSEO requiresanorganizedstrategy
thatstartsbyidentifyinghowbuyersare
searchingforyourservices,creating
contentthatbuyersaresearchingfor,and
designingthecontentandsitearchitecture
suchthatsearchenginescanunderstandit.
SEO alsotakestimetobuildup.SearchSEO alsotakestimetobuildup.Search
enginesusesomeimportantmeasuresto
rankyoursite.Authorityismeasuredby
howotherpeopleandwebsitesinteract
withyourcontent.Ifmanysitesinyour
fieldrefertoyourcontent,justlikeinthe
realworldifmanyagentsrefertoyour
expertise,searchengineswillacknowledgeexpertise,searchengineswillacknowledge
youasanimportantfigure.
Identityishowconsistentyouarewithyour
subjectmatter.Havingshallowcontent
acrossmanyfieldsmayendupplacingyou
asweakcompetitionineachspecificfield.
Yesyoucan,andPPC adscanbevery
effective.However,theydocostmoney
andconsiderthefollowingstatistics.
Can’tIjustusePayPerClick(PPC)
advertising?
DoesSEO reallymakethatmuchofa
difference?
Absolutely.AccordingtotheNAR,90% of
buyersstartthehomebuyingprocessonline.
Withthatmanypotentialleadsheadingto
searchenginesyouwantthem toseeyou
first.Hereiswhy:
Asyoucansee,ifyourankfirstinGoogle’s
searchresults,youcanexpecttoseenearly
TEN timesthenumberofvisitorsasthesite
rankedfifth!
Assmartassearchenginesare,theycannot
seeawebsitelikeweseeit.Theyreadevery
wordonthepageandseeallthepixelsof
everyphotobuttheyaren’tgoodatjudging
whetheryoursiteorRonnyRealtor’sis
better.However,iftheyseethatmanyother
peopleputlinkstoyoursiteontheirwebpeopleputlinkstoyoursiteontheirweb
page,orcommentonit,orstayforalong
timeafterfindingitthroughgoogle,then
thesearchenginecanguessthatyouhave
agreatsite.ThisisthebasisofSEO.
WhattheheckisSEO?
SEO,orSearchEngineOptomization,is
simplydesigningyourwebsiteandits
contentssothatsearchengineslikeGoogle
canseewhatyouhaveonyoursiteand
rankithigherthanyourcompetitorsinthe
serachresults.