Real Estate SEO Guide + Top 81 Real Estate Keywords
With the right real estate keywords and search engine optimization (SEO) strategy, you’ll generate traffic and attract high-quality leads from Google searches. I’ve broken down what real estate SEO is, identified the top real estate keywords (e.g., “realtor” and “real estate housing market”), and provided the best tips to improve your SEO and build your real estate business online. Download the relevant and most-searched SEO keywords for real estate below to gain keyword ideas you can use on the go.
Semrush offers a range of SEO tools to help you find the best keywords for your target audience. It has a large keyword database and tools for competitor analysis, social media management, and content strategy. These tools can help you optimize your website and reach your audience more effectively.
What Is SEO?
Real estate SEO is the process of optimizing your website pages for search engines, primarily Google. It is a powerful tool to help search engines understand the content on each page, leading to a higher ranking of your site in search results and generating a high volume of targeted traffic. Mastering SEO can significantly boost your online presence and business success. To do so, you need to understand keywords, choose the right ones, and be familiar with the difference between on-page and off-page SEO tactics.
Understanding & Choosing SEO Real Estate Keywords
Real estate SEO keywords are notable terms your ideal customer searches for when they type into Google or other search engines. They can be as general as “real estate” or as specific as “new houses for sale in Houston under $150,000” (also called short-tail and long-tail keywords). To determine the best real estate SEO keywords for your website, you need to identify two primary keyword metrics:
- Search volume: The average monthly search volume for a particular keyword
- Keyword difficulty: How competitive a keyword is (i.e., the measurement of effort needed to rank on the first page of Google search results)
Real estate keyword data (Source: Ahrefs)
Balancing search volume and difficulty is important when choosing keywords for real estate websites. For instance, the term “homes for sale” has a high search volume of 253,000 and a high keyword difficulty rate of 94. However, when you add a location to the keyword to make it more specific, you find a keyword with over 1,000 monthly searches and a much lower difficulty rate of 18. Choosing less complicated keywords will help you rank more quickly in search results.
Short-tail Keywords vs Long-tail Keywords
It’s crucial to know the difference between short-tail and long-tail keywords because this knowledge can significantly impact the effectiveness of your SEO strategy. Short-tail keywords are general searches that use only a few terms, while long-tail keywords include more terms and are more specific. Real estate agents find long-tail keywords ideal for targeting specific audiences on certain website pages or posts.
On-page vs Off-page SEO
Search engines use a variety of metrics to determine how to rank websites, and on-page and off-page SEO strategies reflect the tasks needed to boost your overall ranking power. On-page SEO covers optimizing your website for SEO, including optimizing individual pages for keywords, ensuring your website loads quickly, and making navigation easy for users.
Off-page SEO means getting other high-quality websites to link to your website. This is how Google and other search engines determine that your website’s content is trustworthy. Off-page SEO helps build your domain authority (DA), which is a number that search engine tools use to rate your overall ranking power. The higher your DA, the more likely you are to rank for competitive keywords.
Why Is SEO Important in Real Estate?
Using real estate keywords for SEO helps you reach people actively looking for your expertise and listings. When they look for an agent or a real estate term and you’re using high-quality keywords, they will easily find your website. If they sign up on your website, they believe you can help them and are more likely to contact you. Also, having a strong SEO presence makes your real estate listings more visible to buyers. This shows them that you understand marketing and helps to build trust.
To further prove the importance of SEO in this industry, here are a few important real estate SEO statistics:
- According to the National Association of REALTORS (NAR), all homebuyers in 2023 used the internet to search for a home.
- For 41% of homebuyers, the first step that they took in the home buying process was to look online at properties for sale.
- 63.41% of all US web traffic referrals come from Google.
- As of January 2024, Google’s online search engine accounted for 81.95% of the global desktop search market.
- According to First Page Sage, the average real estate landing page conversion rate is 2.8%.
Where SEO Is Used in Real Estate
SEO is vital for real estate businesses as it enables people to find your properties online and connects you with potential buyers. Real estate agents use SEO to increase the visibility of their websites and property listings in search results, allowing them to stand out online. Here are some areas where SEO can be used or optimized:
- Real estate websites: Improving the visibility and ranking of real estate websites on search engine results pages helps prospective clients easily find property listings and services.
- Local SEO: Using SEO to target potential clients within a specific area helps agents more easily connect with individuals looking to buy or sell properties in their locality.
- Property listing: SEO for property listings ensures they appear in search results when potential buyers search for specific properties or locations.
- Content marketing: SEO optimizes real estate-related content, such as articles, blog posts, and guides, to improve search engine rankings and attract organic traffic.
- Social media: Using SEO techniques to optimize social media profiles and posts increases the visibility of real estate agencies on social platforms and drives traffic to their websites.
- Mobile optimization for real estate websites: Optimizing real estate websites for mobile devices using SEO will create a smooth user experience and improve search engine rankings for mobile searches.
Real estate search keywords will be specific to your target customer, including terms related to your location and type of property. To help you start effectively optimizing your website for search, we’ve compiled a diverse range of the best SEO keywords for real estate to help you optimize your website and improve your SEO efforts.
Pro tip: As you look through this real estate SEO keyword list, remember that keyword data is an estimation, not an exact calculation or a guarantee of traffic or ranking. Every SEO tool provides different estimations, and the numbers change constantly. Having the keyword data is extremely important, but don’t expect your traffic to perfectly match the estimations you see online.
Most Searched General Real Estate Keywords
General real estate words are generic one- to three-word phrases related to the real estate industry. These short-tail keywords are some of the most searched realtor keywords with high monthly search volume and are typically hard to rank for. However, it’s important to know which keywords in real estate are ranking nationally so that you can make adjustments and find more specific versions to include on your website.
The top general real estate keywords for search engine optimization include the following:
Most Searched Real Estate Lead Generation Keywords
Top real estate search words are lead generation terms, which use transactional terms like “for sale.” These are essential keywords for lead generation strategy because they attract users who are most likely to want to make a purchase. Therefore, you’ll want to use these terms on the same page alongside a listing search form. For instance, if their search keywords are “houses for sale,” agents should have an IDX website where visitors can search their property in a specified area.
Take a look at the top real estate lead generation keywords:
Real Estate Long-tail Keywords
In general, the most powerful keywords for real estate SEO will be long-tail keywords. Long-tail keywords are key phrases that appeal directly to searchers in your area or real estate niche. Although they have a lower search volume than general terms, they also often have a lower difficulty rating. In addition, long-tail keywords also help you attract a certain type of client, like first-time buyers or investors.
Here are some examples of long-tail realtor SEO keywords:
Location- & Property-specific Real Estate Keyword Ideas
The best real estate keywords to attract your target audience are specific to your location and property types. When you add a city, town, or county to a general keyword, the difficulty rating automatically decreases, providing you with a valuable opportunity to attract leads. For instance, to become a luxury real estate agent, you’ll want to use “luxury real estate” as part of your SEO content strategy. However, you should adjust the term to be more specific to your audience, like “Luxury Homes Utah” or “Luxury Homes Park City.”
Here are some ideas to help you find the top real estate keywords for your local audience:
Tips to Improve Real Estate SEO
Creating a strong SEO strategy that consistently generates targeted traffic and new leads does not happen overnight or without effort. It takes time and consistency to build a website that ranks well in Google and converts traffic to leads, and the process can be confusing. Here are eight tips to help you create a solid real estate SEO website:
Tip #1: Perform Keyword Research
SEO is extremely powerful but also highly competitive. You cannot choose a few keywords that sound good and expect any significant results. To help search engines understand your website and show it to relevant users, you must research various keywords and strategically determine the best ones to target.
Semrush real estate keyword data (Source: Semrush)
To start your SEO journey with the right knowledge, use a reputable tool like Semrush. Semrush provides extensive details on every keyword you search, including search volume, competition, search intent, trends over time, and even pay-per-click (PPC) data. It also automatically generates additional keyword ideas to easily evaluate and compare different keyword options.
Tip #2: Consider Keywords’ Search Intent
Search intent defines the purpose behind every online search. It is an essential element of keyword research and SEO strategy but is commonly missed by real estate professionals. To publish content that ranks well in search engines and successfully generates leads, you need to identify the search intent of each keyword you target. Semrush defines four types of search intent:
- Navigational: Searches for a specific page (e.g., “Keller Williams find an agent”)
- Informational: Searches looking for information (e.g., “how to buy an investment property”)
- Commercial: Users doing research to make a purchase (e.g., “types of homes in Tucson”)
- Transactional: Searches made to make a purchase (e.g., “real estate buyer’s agent Tucson”)
Organize your website page based on what the user is looking for. For example, if someone searches “how to buy a house in Connecticut,” they probably want information about the process, not just a list of houses. On the other hand, if the keyword is “Homes for sale east Hartford CT,” the searcher is likely ready to buy or considering their options and would be looking for real estate listings. So, format your website to fit their needs.
Tip #3. Publish Useful Real Estate Content
Once you’ve chosen the keywords to target and established their search intent, you must create website content that effectively addresses the searcher’s questions, topics, or concerns. Each page of your website should provide valuable information about the specific query and be original and different from your competitors.
Many successful real estate agents optimize long-form content for SEO, which is typically around 2,000 or more words. This is ideal for many types of content, like blog posts, neighborhood guides, and real estate market analyses. Ensure your content layout is well-optimized, with your target keyword in the title, well-organized headings and subheadings, and short, easy-to-read paragraphs and bullet points.
Canva real estate infographic templates (Source: Canva)
Alternatively, you can incorporate different media and content types to stand out. For example, embed videos from social media, create detailed infographics or charts, or even add an audio recording of an interview or podcast. Consider using Canva to easily create unique visual content. It has thousands of templates that are easy to edit and customize with your branding. You can even repurpose your graphics for email and social media. Plus, Canva is free to use.
Tip #4. Add & Optimize Images
Images are important for your website’s SEO, making your content engaging and easy to understand. Adding images to your pages helps with readability and improves your ranking in Google image searches. It’s essential to include a description for each image, known as alt text, to make the content accessible to visually impaired individuals and to provide information if the images fail to load. The alt text should be clear and include relevant keywords.
Image of alt text on a real estate listing (Source: Restb.ai)
In addition, using appropriate photo captions engages readers and allows search engines to understand the photo and associate the image with your selected keywords. The image example above contains a property listing, and the alt tags include the specific property address that will help the webpage show up in search engine results if anyone searches for the property address directly.
Tip #5. Improve Your Google My Business Page
Agents can use their Google My Business (GMB) profile to get in front of more prospective clients. Ensure your contact information is updated, but leverage the keywords in your profile description to help improve your ranking. It’ll help searchers better understand what you do and increase click-throughs to your website.
A well-managed GMB page can contribute to improved local SEO, credibility, and user engagement, all of which can indirectly influence your website’s rankings in search engine results pages. It also increases the chances that you’ll be shown in Google’s Local three-pack, the search result Google shows users looking for an agent.
Example of Google My Business real estate three-pack (Source: Google)
Tip #6. Optimize Your Website for Mobile Users
Recent studies show that approximately 60.8% of all online searches are conducted on a mobile device. Make sure your website is optimized for mobile users so you don’t lose this much of your traffic by using a responsive design, compressing images and files to improve load times, and testing your website on various devices. In addition, Google ranks websites that are optimized for mobile over those that aren’t.
Tip #7. Check for Broken Links
Broken links are links on a website that no longer work. Links can be broken due to an invalid URL, the slug changed, or the website no longer exists. These broken links harm your website SEO by increasing website bounce rates and decreasing time on websites. It can also lower your SEO rankings because Google may see it as an indication that your website is outdated. To help you manage your links, use Semrush’s Site Audit tool.
Semrush site audit example (Source: Semrush)
Tip 8. Maximize Your Website Speed
Google wants to ensure that users get quick access to their searches, so it considers the speed of your website in its rankings. In fact, 47% of online consumers expect websites to load in less than two seconds. Longer loading times increase your website’s bounce rate, meaning visitors don’t stay on your website or engage with your content.
There are a few changes you can make to increase your website speed, like:
- Choose a website hosting option that supports high-volume websites
- Upload appropriately sized images
- Allow page caching
- Minimize the number of plugins
- Use a content delivery network (CDN)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Yes. When harnessed with strategy and consistency, SEO can be a game changer for agents, teams, and companies in the real estate industry. It opens the door to a vast pool of leads actively seeking answers to their real estate queries, making it a powerful tool for lead generation.
When choosing your real estate SEO keywords, select some common real estate terms and combine them with additional terms specific to your audience. For example, some common real estate terms include closing, homebuyer, home for sale, and listing. These terms alone would not be ideal keywords for SEO, but they could be adjusted to reach a specific audience.
For example, common terms in real estate could be turned into good-quality keywords like these:
- Closing: “Closing on a house checklist”
- Homebuyer: “First time home buyer Florida”
- Home for sale: “North Scottsdale homes for sale”
- Listing: “Real estate listing websites Oregon”
- MLS: “What is MLS in real estate”
When it comes to selecting keywords for your SEO strategy, a systematic approach is key. Start by leveraging a robust keyword research tool like Semrush. Then, assess potential keywords based on their search volume, keyword difficulty, and search intent. Use the insights from the previous sections to find keywords that not only target your ideal audience but also strike a balance between search volume and keyword difficulty.
Bottom Line
Selecting the best keywords for real estate agents to use in your SEO strategy will help improve your website’s visibility on search engines. Including quality content tailored to your target audience will support your website’s keywords and phrases and help you rank high on search engine results. It will help boost your overall brand’s engagement, generate high-quality leads, increase awareness, and increase your revenue.
