For Realtors, SEO is often used as a crutch. What I mean is agents often talk about it in terms of what it can do for their business. They misunderstand the concept of SEO because they assume it is a "set it and forget" it fix to all their online marketing and inbound marketing woes. This cannot be further from the truth. SEO is about providing the right content to the right inquiries. It also has some technical aspects which may need to be researched and implemented. However, it is no place to cut corners or assume. This is why I came up with some brief explanations of SEO myths for real estate.
SEO Myth 1 – Millennials are great at SEO
Keep in mind, this is an explanation on the aggregate, not an individual who might be great at SEO. On a whole, we look at Millennials as tech savvy which means they must be good at SEO, right? This is a myth because the SEO industry is an ever changing business. It used to be SEO was the job of the IT department, now it is more likely there is an in-house SEO position or businesses leverage themselves and hire a private firm to do it. SEO is about planning, executing and then measuring – not about being tech savvy. It is about knowing and understanding the trends in your unique marketplace. This is a job for a professional who understands some technical aspects as well as marketing principles.
Too often real estate professionals look to cut corners on this highly technical and analytical aspect about the industry. If you know a young person who is looking to get into the SEO field this would be a great hire, if you assume they will just know it because they are on Facebook the outcome will be a disaster. SEO is first and foremost an emerging marketing discipline, not something to be brushed off.
SEO Myth 2 – It is all about video
While I absolutely love videos, especially in marketing, there are places where videos are not all you need. Technically speaking videos can slow down the rate at which a page loads. Also, there are some companies which may block the video streaming capabilities of different video sources like YouTube and Vimeo. This hurts your SEO because the user will then go back to the search engine to look for another solution. This brings me to the main point of all SEO which is the user. By providing the end user with a memorable experience, your website will grow. SEO is about this natural organic growth.
Video is great for real estate agents because images entice people to want to look at homes. One thing I would suggest is having a video page on your site which might keep people on your page longer. Video is huge with SEO, however, it is more a part of a marketing plan then an entire marketing plan. Remember SEO is about the end user, not what you think is clever.
SEO for real (estate)
Real estate is unique in that the process from inquiry to close is long, sometimes several months with short sales. It is also unique since the purchase is often the largest of the buyer’s life. This makes the inquiry to appointment time frame critical in the overall marketing of real estate. You must draw the attention of the lead and keep the attention for some time. SEO is a great strategy to do this. As you plan do not mistake what you think is important cloud what actually is. Make sure you do not fall for these and other SEO myths.
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