In this article: 9 proven and effective ways to increase traffic to a real estate website or blog (and how you can combine them for even better results).
Does your real estate website feel like the digital equivalent of a ghost town? Does your website analytics tracker resemble a flat line? If so, you probably need a website traffic “intervention.”
In this article, we’re going to break down some of the most effective ways to increase traffic to your real estate website or blog. These techniques are based on real-world experience and analysis. They all have potential to drive more traffic to your site, especially when combined into a comprehensive strategy.
9 Ways to Increase Traffic to Your Real Estate Website
You don’t necessarily have to use all of the techniques listed below (although you would certainly be in the advanced class if you did). I’ve presented all of these different strategies to make this lesson as useful as possible. Read through them and find the ones that resonate with you. Start there, and consider expanding your marketing program as you go.
1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search engine optimization is one of the best ways to increase traffic to a real estate website or blog. That’s because it offers several overlapping benefits.
When you conduct an SEO campaign, you’re not just focusing on your search engine rankings (although that’s a big part of it). You’re also creating a well-organized, content-rich website that will set you apart from the competition.
As a result, your website visitors will be more inclined to stick around for a while — and possibly reach out to you. Search engine optimization can help you achieve all of these things, and more.
How to get started: SEO mostly comes down to three things. (1) You need to research and identify relevant keywords and incorporate them onto your website. (2)You need to create high-quality content around those relevant topics. (3) You need to create a well-organized website so that people and search engines can find all of your content.
2. Local SEO
We just talked about search engine optimization, and how it can help you increase traffic to your real estate website. Local SEO is an offshoot of this. This is when you take certain actions to make sure your name appears in local search results.
When it comes to real estate marketing, local SEO is huge. That’s because home buyers and sellers almost always use location-specific keywords (like the name of their city) when conducting internet searches and looking for agents.
Local SEO can help you put your name in front of potential clients when they are actively searching for real estate help and information. This makes it a great way to increase traffic to your website and also generate leads from potential clients.
How to get started: Create a “Google My Business” listing with information about your business, including your address, phone number, etc. Make sure your website is optimized for local keywords, and that it includes customer reviews and testimonials. Create content that is relevant to your local area, such as blog posts about the housing market in your city or neighborhood.
3. Blogging on a Regular Basis
Blogging can also help you increase traffic to your real estate website. With this strategy, you’re publishing high-quality content on a regular basis to keep your audience engaged and informed.
You’re also giving people more ways to find you through the search engines, social media, referring websites, etc. You can think of each individual blog post as a kind of portal or entryway to your real estate website.
Blogging can help you increase traffic in several ways:
- It allows you to create a higher volume of content with greater ease and efficiency, thereby increasing your search engine traffic over time.
- It can help you attract links from other websites and publishers, which can boost your search engine rankings and drive more traffic to your real estate website.
- It gives you content that you can share on social media, in order to engage with potential clients and guide them back to your site.
How to get started: We’ve written an entire book e-book on the subject of real estate blogging. So if this strategy appeals to you, be sure to download it. In short, a blogging strategy involves publishing useful information on a regular basis. You could create blog posts about local real estate market conditions and other topics relevant to local home buyers and sellers.
4. Using Social Media
Social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook can help you connect with a huge audience at little or no cost. This makes it one of the best ways to increase traffic to your real estate website.
But it’s not the place to push a marketing message or engage in “hard sell” tactics. Instead, social media is a place to be … well, social. It gives you a way to start a conversation online, or join an existing conversation. Even so, it can help you drive targeted traffic back to your real estate website or blog.
How to get started: Resist the urge to tackle all of social media at one time. Choose one platform that appeals to you, and start there. Create a business account and enhance your profile with a high-quality headshot photo and a header image. Start sharing useful information, with a mix of real estate news, updates, local community events, etc. Follow relevant accounts to stay informed. Engage with others to start a discussion.
5. Acquiring Links and Citations
We talked about search engine optimization, and how “link building” is a big part of it. By attracting links from other websites to yours, you can slowly but steadily increase your search engine visibility. This in turn will help you bring more traffic to your real estate website.
But there’s a right and wrong way to go about it. The best strategy is to create high-quality content that others will want to share with their readers. For instance, if you publish detailed and comprehensive reports about your local real estate market, other bloggers or publishers might end up linking to it.
How to get started: Start by developing a content marketing strategy. This can include blogging, social media, and other techniques. Creating and sharing quality content is the cornerstone of a long-term link building strategy. When publishing new information onto your site, ask yourself: “Is this article or report worth sharing?” Keep working until the answer is yes.
6. Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising
All of the traffic-generating techniques mentioned so far are long-term strategies. They are the marketing equivalent of a marathon, instead of a sprint.
If you want to increase traffic to your real estate website more quickly, consider using pay-per-click advertising.
This strategy works best when you have some kind of lead capturing system in place. If you use PPC advertising just to send people to your website’s home page, you’ll probably end up wasting time and money. Instead, you’ll want to steer people toward some kind of lead capture system. One example would be a property listing page where they sign up for alerts.
Real estate pay-per-click advertising can be fairly complex. You really have to know what you’re doing before you start spending money on ads. Here’s the short version…
How to get started: Choose the keywords you want to target. Create text-based ads with attractive headlines and descriptions. Set a daily budget for your campaign. Your ads will appear at the top of the search results when someone types in your targeted keywords. You’ll only pay when someone clicks on your ad. Monitor your campaign and adjust your budget and targeting as needed, to make sure you’re getting a good return on investment.
7. Email Newsletters and List Building
Over the years, I’ve learned that many real estate agents attempt to use email marketing and newsletters, only to give up in frustration. That’s because many of them are going about it all wrong.
If you simply ask people to “sign up for my newsletter,” you’ll probably end up with few subscriptions. That’s because you’ve offered nothing of value. My advice is to turn your newsletter into a kind of informational service. You could even brand it this way.
For example, if I was a real estate agent in Atlanta, I might create an email newsletter called the “Atlanta Market Advisor.” It would include regular updates about the real estate market, home price trends, new construction, etc.
This would be a more useful newsletter, from the perspective of a home buyer, seller or investor. As a result, more people would sign up for. It would give me one more way to drive traffic back to my real estate website or blog. In fact, I could use my blog content as material for the newsletter. It’s all connected!
How to get started: Choose an email marketing provider. I recommend using MailerLite because of its simplicity and low cost. You can install sign-up forms on your real estate blog or website, placing them in a highly visible location. And remember, you’re trying to create a valuable information service — not just a plain old newsletter. So think big!
8. Video Marketing on YouTube
YouTube videos are a great way to increase targeted traffic to a real estate blog or website. And best of all, it’s free to use.
A lot of real estate agents are interested in YouTube, but they’re also intimidated by the idea of making and publishing videos. But here’s the thing. You don’t need a lot of experience or expensive equipment to make decent videos for YouTube. In fact, I’ve seen amateur style videos rack up thousands of views. It’s the information that matters most.
If you have a quiet place in your home or office with decent lighting, along with a basic phone camera, you have everything needed to create real estate YouTube videos.
Remember the “Atlanta Market Advisor” idea mentioned earlier? You could take that same concept and apply it to YouTube videos. Each video would provide an update on local real estate market conditions. This is a great way to increase traffic to your site, grow your brand, and attract new clients.
How to get started: Do a YouTube search to see if anyone else is making videos relating to your local real estate market. Think about ways you can do something different or better. When making videos, imagine that you’re explaining a topic to a close friend. Just be yourself and share useful information. At the end of each video, explain the ways you can help people and then direct them back to your website.
9. Using Website Analytics
A website analytics program allows you to see what’s happening on your site, in terms of traffic, visibility, and overall content performance.
Analytics won’t drive direct traffic to your real estate website or blog. But it will help you identify areas for improvement, as well as things that are working well. You can use the information provided by your analytics program to make informed decisions about content, publishing, keyword strategies, blogging and more.
How to get started: There are many website analytics programs available these days. Some charge a monthly or annual fee. Google Analytics will work just fine for most real estate websites, and it’s free to use. All you need is a Google account. There are WordPress Google Analytics “plugins” available that can make the installation process even easier.
The Next Level: Connecting the Dots
All of the techniques listed above can help you increase traffic to your real estate website. They all have a lot of potential when used individually.
But if you really want to take your real estate marketing and content strategy to the next level, think about ways that you can combine the strategies.
I offered an example earlier, when talking about email newsletters. You could repurpose your blog content and funnel it into your email newsletter. You could actually link to the blog posts from the body of the email newsletter. That’s just one example of combining these strategies to drive even more traffic to your site.
Social media is another good example. Professional social media strategists often start by creating high-quality content, blog posts, videos, etc. They then use their social media accounts to share all of this good content. It’s all connected.