How To Get More Traffic To A Real Estate Website And Blog

Kyle Hiscock

Kyle Hiscock | Greater Rochester NY Real Estate | Pittsford NY Realtor at RE/MAX Realty Group

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Top Tips For Building Real Estate Website Traffic

How To Get More Traffic To A Real Estate Website!

How To Get More Traffic To A Real Estate Website!

The percentage of real estate professionals who have a website is constantly increasing and for good reason.  A real estate website is a professionals virtual storefront and can pay huge dividends if it’s used properly.

While the percentage of real estate professionals who have a website is constantly increasing, the number of professionals who’re actually benefiting from their website is not.  The majority of real estate professionals get a website and expect it to start yielding tons of leads and money without having to spend any time or effort.

This is a huge misconception and frankly it often leads to disappointment.  There is no magic “pill” when it comes to having an effective real estate website.  It doesn’t matter if you pay $500.00 for a real estate website or $10,000, if you don’t know how to get traffic it simply will not produce the results you’re hoping for.

Over the past 6 years working as a Rochester NY real estate agent, I’ve devoted a ton of time and effort to build a strong web presence.

Why?  It’s quite simple, the internet has drastically changed the real estate industry!

Home buyers and sellers are now hopping on their computers or mobile devices to get answers to their real estate questions or to get information on local professionals.  The days of buyers flipping through the local real estate section to find homes are numbered.  The same can be said for home sellers who’re looking to hire a real estate agent to sell their home.

Recently I was involved in a discussion with a handful of other agents across the country who were struggling to get traffic to their real estate website, which has led me to writing this article on how to get traffic to a real estate website or blog.

Below I’m going to discuss not only why real estate website traffic is important but also provide some helpful tips on what you can do to build your websites traffic!  The tips below have led to an average of approximately 40,000 website users per month here at Rochester’s Real Estate Blog!  There is no magic “pill” to getting website traffic, however, by following the right tips and spending the time you will see results.

Why Is Real Estate Website Traffic Important?

If you have a website for your real estate business, you need to have visitors.  Think about it this way, if you owned a local bakery and didn’t have people walking through your door, how would you make any money?  You wouldn’t, that’s correct!  So why is real estate website traffic important?  The answer to this question is actually very simple.

Real estate website traffic = leads…leads = sales…sales = money!

If you were to own a brick and mortar store, people who walk through your door are leads, not guaranteed sales.  Once a lead walks through the doors of a storefront, they must now be converted into a sale.  In order to convert a lead into a sale, you must show them value in what you’re selling.

For a real estate professional, showing value can be done in many ways which can lead to a sale.  Whether you’re providing detailed information on the steps to buying a house or selling a luxury home, by showing a website visitor that you have a strong grasp on the topic they’re interested in and that you’re the expert is a great way to get the conversation started!

What Can You Do To Build Your Real Estate Website Traffic?

Now that we’ve covered why real estate website traffic is important, how does someone go about building the traffic to their site?  Below are some of the best tips for getting visitors to a real estate website.  

1.) Content, Content, Content!

EPIC Content Will Skyrocket Your Website Traffic

EPIC Content Will Skyrocket Your Website Traffic

In order to consistently improve the amount of traffic to a real estate website, you need to continually offer more “products.”  In this case, I’m using the word “products,” but really mean you need to constantly create fresh content for your website.

Using the example above regarding the local bakery again, if a local bakery only offered Italian Bread the number of leads (people) walking through their door would be very limited.  Now if the local bakery introduces new products such as French Bread, Garlic Bread, Cannoli’s, Pies, and Cakes, the number of new leads walking through the door would improve dramatically, which should lead to more sales.

When you run a real estate website, a great tip for improving web traffic is to consistently create new content.  As a real estate professional the number of topics that you can write about or create videos about is literally endless.

Below are just a few ideas and topics that would be great pieces of content and some examples.

As you’re creating new content for your real estate website in order to bring in more visitors, there are several things to keep in mind.  First and foremost, you need to ensure that when you’re creating content for your website that it’s EPIC content.  You’re probably asking yourself, “what the heck is epic real estate content?”

Epic real estate content is not a quick 250-300 word blog article that you write in 10 minutes.  An epic piece of real estate content is one that takes a fair amount of time and one that really dives deep into a specific topic.

You’ll notice in the above example of the article on costs of selling a home that it’s a very in-depth breakdown of all the costs that a seller could expect when selling a home.  This article was a 2,000+ word, detailed breakdown, and explanation of the costs associated with selling a home.

Sure, I could’ve written a quick 300 word breakdown of the costs, but that’s not epic.  Epic content is the kind of content that is found by people who’re searching on the topic because it’s placed towards or at the top of the search engine results.

If someone finds your real estate website when searching for a specific topic and you’re able to provide them with a detailed answer to their question, the chances they reach out to you improves exponentially!

For example, many Rochester NY first time home buyers reach out to me because of a detailed article I wrote about regarding the programs available for first time buyers that’s found on page 1 of Google for many different search terms.  When they find my article they feel comfortable and confident that I know the ins and the outs of the programs and that I’ve worked with many first time buyers in the past.

This is only one example of a piece of content that gets people through my “doors” which is all you can ask.  Whether you convert the lead depends on many factors and is a whole different topic for discussion.

2.) Utilize Social Media

Social media provides some amazing opportunities to build up traffic to your real estate website.  Utilizing social media correctly can lead to an insane amount of traffic to your real estate website.  Since there are so many different social media websites and each has different audiences, you can select how you want to present your website and content.

In this section we’re going to discuss some of the most popular social media networks that can increase traffic to your real estate website.  There are certainly other social media websites that you can use, however, these are some of the most important ones that you need to be using if you want to build the traffic to your real estate website.

Social Media & Real Estate Websites Are AMAZING Companions - Tips To Explode Your Real Estate Website Traffic Inside!

Social Media & Real Estate Websites Are AMAZING Companions – Tips To Explode Your Real Estate Website Traffic Inside!

Facebook 

The majority of people nowadays have a Facebook account!  This means that you have ample opportunities to get your real estate website and content in front of the masses.  It’s suggested that you use Facebook to reach not only potential home buyers and sellers in your area but also other real estate professionals.

I’m willing to bet that if you search Facebook groups in your local area, there will be some that allow you to share helpful information about real estate.  Now this doesn’t mean that you should go into your local groups and start blasting your greatest and latest listing because that’s a surefire way to look like a fool in front of your local audience.

With that said, sharing a helpful piece of content on some of the local festivals upcoming in your area will probably be well received by the group members.  While it may not immediately lead to a boatload of leads, it will lead to traffic and also gets your name in front of locals with the hope that eventually when they’re ready to buy or sell a home, they remember your name and website.

Many real estate professionals don’t see the value in sharing helpful content with other agents because they believe that it won’t result in local buyer and seller leads.  It’s highly likely that sharing a piece of epic content with other agents or real estate professionals will not result in a local lead, however, you never know if they happen to know someone relocating to your area.

In addition to the potential of getting some relocation business, if your piece of content is epic and other agents find it worthy of sharing, they will.  This will result in more traffic to your real estate website!  Check out this fantastic resource on the best real estate Facebook groups!

Twitter

Another fantastic social media website to use to help build traffic to a real estate website is Twitter.  It’s a very fast paced social network but can lead to some solid traffic.

It’s recommended that when you use Twitter to build traffic to your website that you’re posting (Tweeting) more frequently than other social networks.  Tweeting and retweeting 20-30 times per day is not unrealistic, nor would it be construed as a spam move.

You’re probably thinking to yourself, “how can I find the time and that much content to tweet and retweet that many times in a day?”  There are several fantastic tools that exist, such as Buffer, that allow you to pre-load your Twitter feed which can make it much easier to stay consistent.

Now it’s important that if you’re on Twitter you don’t only rely on your pre-loaded Twitter feed and that you’re on Twitter interacting with others who’re retweeting and sharing your content.  A great way to learn about how Twitter can be leveraged in order to build traffic to your real estate website is to follow other top Realtors on Twitter.

Google Plus

One social media website that is often overlooked as an opportunity to get traffic to your website is Google Plus.  There are many benefits of using Google+ as a real estate agent, one obviously being the traffic that can be gained.

It’s recommended that when you’re sharing your epic content on Google+ you not only share with your followers but also find some of the top real estate groups.  There are a few real estate groups on Google+ that have 30,000-40,000 members which is a huge number of potential website visitors.

My personal favorite group on Google+ for real estate professionals is the Real Estate group run by Bill Gassett.  With over 30,000 members, this group is one of the most interactive groups and provides it’s members an excellent opportunity to get additional web traffic.  You’ll find in this group many of the top real estate professionals on Google+ in this group, constantly sharing helpful content and interacting with one another.

LinkedIN

LinkedIN is another social media website that is forgotten.  There are some simple but effective ways for real estate agents to use LinkedIN!

I personally love LinkedIN because you won’t find posts from your connections pertaining to what they ate for dinner last night.  LinkedIN also provides an excellent opportunity to get additional traffic to your real estate website.

Sharing epic content with your connections on LinkedIN can lead to some very solid traffic but more importantly, joining real estate related groups on LinkedIN can skyrocket your traffic.  Connect with the best real estate professionals on LinkedIN to learn how this social network can improve your websites traffic.

Pinterest

Last but absolutely not least is Pinterest!  Correctly using Pinterest for real estate will have your website traffic through the roof!

Pinterest is the number one source of traffic to Rochester’s Real Estate Blog out of all the social media websites.  As you’re creating epic content, you need to remember to create amazing real estate graphics.

Real estate professionals who’re creating killer real estate graphics and sharing them to Pinterest are seeing huge amounts of traffic to their websites.  There are many reasons why Pinterest is such a powerhouse for driving website traffic, one of the most important being that a “Pin” has the ability to continually be shared because there is no “shelf life.”  If you were to “Pin” a graphic from a great piece of content it will be getting shared months potentially even years later as more people discover it.

Bottom line, if you’re looking to get more traffic to a real estate website, you absolutely NEED to be using Pinterest.  Similar to the other social media networks, it’s suggested to check out the best real estate Pinterest accounts and see how they’re killing it.

3.) Focus On Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Strong Search Engine Optimization Can Explode Your Website Traffic!

Strong Search Engine Optimization Can Explode Your Website Traffic!

The term, Search Engine Optimization, often scares many real estate professionals.  It’s truly not as scary as it may seem on the surface.  Search Engine Optimization is commonly referred to as SEO and for the purpose of this tip for getting visitors to your real estate website, we’re going to refer to it as SEO as well.

The first step to focusing on SEO for your real estate website is to understand what it is.  Check out this fantastic beginners guide to SEO from our friends from MOZ to get a general understanding of SEO.

Now that you have a general understanding of SEO, how does SEO impact real estate websites and how can it be improved?  Focusing on SEO for your real estate website is absolutely critical if you want to get additional traffic.  SEO has a huge impact on where a real estate website will show up in the search engine results.

If you have a real estate website with no SEO, it will not show up on Google and other search engines which will result in low traffic.  As you’re creating content for your real estate website you always need to keep SEO in mind.  With that said, you don’t want to only focus on SEO because that can lead to poor content or even worse, content that gets your website penalized.

As you’re creating content with SEO in mind, you’ll need to focus on keyword placement, keyword percentage, internal linking, external linking, and a few other factors.

We’re going to discuss a few things to keep in mind using a live example of SEO using an article written previously targeting people who’re thinking about moving to Rochester NY.

First and foremost, you don’t want to load the article with the same keyword over and over again.  The content should flow naturally and not as if you’re trying to just add the keyword of your article.  The content needs to flow!

Second, you’ll notice in the article that there are a handful of links throughout the article to other pages here on Rochester’s Real Estate Blog.  Again, these links are natural and are included to help the overall user experience of people visiting this page.

Next, you’ll notice that I’ve included a few external links to other websites, such as to local Universities and the local Visitor Bureau.  These external links are included to improve the overall user experience and also provide visitors with quality and high authoritative websites if they wish to learn more on the topics being discussed in the article.

To get more visitors to your real estate website you don’t need to be an SEO expert, however, you need to have a general understanding of SEO.  Read this awesome real estate SEO guide from the folks over at Easy Agent Pro which provides some great examples and tips!

4.) Improve Your Back Link Portfolio

A significant factor in the search engine result placements (SERPs) is the number of quality back links a website has.  A back link can simply be described as a link from an external website back to a page on your website.  The stronger that a real estate websites back link portfolio is, the greater the chance it will rank higher in the SERPs.  The higher a real estate website ranks in the SERPs, the greater the number of visitors to the website.

As you’re working on getting more traffic to your real estate website, you need to focus on improving your back link portfolio.  Before you go out and start soliciting for back links or paying for a service who guarantees to get you back links, there are some important things to understand.

A term we need to first discuss as you’re looking at your real estate websites back link portfolio is “domain authority.”  Domain authority is a statistic that every website has that ranges from 1-100, with 100 being the best.  As the domain authority of a website increases towards 100, the greater the probability the website will rank higher in the SERPs.  This is a very generalized explanation of domain authority.  If you’re looking for more information on this topic check out this beginners guide to domain authority.

Now, the quantity of back links in your real estate website portfolio is not as important as the quality of the back links.  Obtaining a back link from a real estate website with a domain authority of 50 is better than receiving 100 back links from a bunch of non relating real estate websites with a domain authority of 5.

It’s important to also note that your back link portfolio isn’t filled with a bunch of spam “link directories” and also that the majority of back links are coming from real estate or business related websites.  Having too many back links from websites with high domain authorities that are outside the real estate or business industry can potentially lead to a site being penalized by Google.  Google may view this as an attempt to trick their algorithms to rank higher in the SERPs.

The best practice to improve your real estate websites back link portfolio is to find relating websites with solid domain authorities and write quality content on them, if allowed.  One of the best strategies to improving your real estate websites back link portfolio is to secure guest blogging opportunities.

Keep in mind that as you’re reaching out to authoritative real estate websites that all of them may not allow guest posts and some may request something in return.  It’s important before you begin to attempt to secure back links from other authoritative real estate websites that you’ve developed relationships with these people and/or companies.

An excellent way to accomplish this is to interact with them on social media, share their content if you find it helpful, and also to consider using their epic content as external links in your own content to improve the user experience on your site!

Improving the back link portfolio for your real estate website will take time.  If you properly improve the portfolio, the chances your website ranks well in the SERPs will greatly improve which can ultimately lead to a nice bump in traffic!

Final Thoughts

If you have a real estate website, you want traffic coming to it!  That’s a pretty obvious statement, however, many real estate professionals don’t realize the importance of traffic to their sites.

By following the above tips for getting more traffic to your real estate website, you will get more traffic, end of story.  If you’re consistent with your efforts and allow it some time, you’ll be seeing huge rewards when the traffic to your website is steadily improving!

Other Helpful Resources For Getting Traffic To Your Real Estate Website


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About the authors: The above article “How To Get More Traffic To A Real Estate Website And Blog” was written by Kyle Hiscock of the Hiscock Sold Team at RE/MAX Realty Group.  With over 35 years combined experience, if you’re thinking of selling or buying, we’d love to share our knowledge and expertise.

We service the following Greater Rochester NY areas: Irondequoit, Webster, Penfield, Pittsford, Fairport, Brighton, Greece, Gates, Hilton, Brockport, Mendon, Henrietta, Perinton, Churchville, Scottsville, East Rochester, Rush, Honeoye Falls, Chili, and Victor NY.

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