Get Your Real Estate Company Found Through Google Places
You probably already know by now that 90% of home buyers search online while they're shopping for a home and that more than a third of them are looking for real estate agents. There's been a whopping 253% increase in real estate related searches in Google in the past four years alone. In other words, you can't afford not to be found online. One of the best ways to ensure this is to take advantage of one of Google's own services – Google Places for Business, a listing platform. The best part? It's completely free.
If you haven't set up an account yet or if you have yet to flesh it out, here's a brief guide about the most important things you should keep in mind so you'll get a better chance at ranking higher in the search results:
- Get the basics right: Make sure all the information in your listing is complete and accurate. Remember, folks are looking to find out more about you and where to find or how to contact your office.
- Don't forget to verify your listings. This is part of the setup process, but sometimes gets overlooked. Google will also ask for verification again if you make changes on your listing's info (name, address or phone number).
- Be as local as possible. Use a local phone number that connects directly with your listing's location.
- Write a precise company description. Again, it's important to be accurate and to take care not to insert superfluous keywords as you can get penalized for that.
- Don't go crazy with keywords, especially in your business name. Use only your official one.
- Build citations. A citation is another place on the web that mentions your address and phone number. Typically, these are online directories, review sites, and so on. What you can do is submit your listing to the relevant directories and ensure that all the contact information is identical to the one on your Google Places listing. Consistency is key here.
- Definitely link to your real estate website. Make sure your website is impressive and efficient so you can easily capture your potential clients.
- Add photos and real estate videos. Make sure that they're up-to-date and do use relevant keywords in the tags.
- Ask your clients to post reviews not only in Google Places, but in other major review sites as well.
Need more information on using Google Places? Interested in other ways that you can enhance your online visibility? Check back often for more updates and get in touch with us anytime.
