Search engine optimization (SEO) can be confusing and tough to understand, let alone master. I’ve seen a lot of customers struggle to get their SEO on track and stay on top of both key tasks and best practices in my role as Vice President of Software and Development at Constellation1. In this post, I’m sharing 3 top tips your brokerage can action today to start ranking higher.
There’s no magic formula to ranking higher. SEO Success rests on two things: mastering the basics, then consistently managing dozens of ongoing and ever-evolving tasks. A little work every day will go a long way. One of our customers saw more than a 2,000% increase in organic web traffic after partnering with us to revamp its website. Read on to learn about a few of the things we helped them with.
1. Improve linking structure
For sites to rank well, they need to be easy to navigate. Search engines are in the business of meeting their customers’ demands for information: if your website doesn’t do that, or makes information difficult to find, search engines won’t trust your site or send users there.
Check your website for dead-end pages, which search engines hate. You can use a tool like User Flow reports from Google Analytics. If you find any, add outbound links, social media widgets, or link back to other high-value pages on your website. You can also create or improve your sitemap, so crawlers can index your site more easily.
2. Improve existing content
If your website structure is already solid and your content is properly tagged and keyword-rich (headings, meta descriptions, canonical tags, etc.), you’re already ahead of the curve. If not, master these basics before moving on to the next step.
Once your content foundation is set, you can improve your ranking by adding or updating content crawlers are looking for, including popular real estate keywords, demographic and neighborhood information, and “community marketing” content. Crawlers are always looking for fresh content, so update your pages regularly.
3. Reduce load time
Fifty percent of users will leave your site if it takes more than 3 seconds to load, according to Google. There are many easy ways to help your page load faster, like optimizing image size and replacing scripts or plugins that take a long time to load. Your IT team or website provider can help you determine which adjustments will provide the best results.
Bring your website vision to life
Your website needs to be fully optimized to ensure your brokerage’s success, both in 2022 and beyond. The technology that powers SEO is just as important as beautiful design and visuals: it’s the brains behind your website, helping consumers to find you.
Constellation1 Websites range from agent to brokerage to franchise-level websites with all the brains you need for a successful SEO strategy.
- We continuously invest in our platform and conduct third-party audits to optimize our platform.
- We make sure our team stays on top of the newest best practices so they can show our customers how to implement them.
