Anyone involved in real estate investment needs the right property to purchase and, ideally, motivated sellers. The current housing state of housing market is difficult for sellers and buyers. Both new and existing house sales are plummeting in the US. New house sales fell by 12.6% month-over-month to July this year. New house sales have been at their lowest since the start of 2016.
Existing house sales are not looking much better, and these sales have dropped to their lowest rate since May 2020.
However, property investors looking for motivated sellers are dealing with a very different demographic. Cash buyers who look for distressed properties require leads. With the US having so many cash-for-homes type investors, it is essential to appear high on search engine rankings.
Hiring an agency specializing in real estate SEO
The first port of call for a property investor looking for more motivated seller leads could be to call an SEO agency. Optimizing a website and building a long-term strategy for SEO success takes a lot of time. Many website owners wouldn’t have the knowledge or the time to take on SEO work.
For property investment, choosing an SEO agency that understands this specific field would be important. Understanding local property markets also helps. For instance, Oyoy Inc works with property investors in particular regions so that they can identify and gather genuine seller leads from specific markets.
What does a motivated seller look like?
A motivated seller is often someone who needs financial help quickly. So, a motivated seller may have mounting debts, tax problems, or coming out of a divorce.
However, motivated sellers come in all shapes and forms. Someone who is an absentee owner for instance may wish to sell up. They may work elsewhere in the country, or they could have inherited an unwanted home.
Distressed properties are often offered by motivated sellers too. Sellers wonder can some maintenance sell a home when perhaps serious renovations are needed. While property investors are keen on these homes, the average home buyer isn’t. These sellers need to look for other types of buyers. Good SEO can help those homeowners and property investors connect.
3 SEO tips for real estate investors
Being online simply isn’t enough today. With huge competition in every field, your website needs to appear as high in the search rankings as possible.
This helps to grow brand awareness, and create trust. If your site gets shown in search returns frequently you will start to receive more leads, and your reputation will grow.
Using an SEO agency will mean that your site gets a complete review, and a strategy will be put into place to help your site improve. 3 areas that will be looked at are below.
Build a reputation as a local property investment authority
The way people are buying and selling homes is changing. Since the pandemic, more millennials are buying homes online instead of visiting realtors.
With cash for property buyers operating websites, homeowners can sell online also. For a property investor, buying homes online offers a unique way to gather motivated seller leads without having to flyer different residential areas.
By writing content for local relevant websites, you can help to build up backlinks and become something of a local authority. This means you could be the company that sellers turn to first and start to dominate your market.
Improve your local SEO
Apart from local link building, you should also concentrate on appearing in local searches as much as possible.
One crucial step is to do this through Google My Business. Claiming and optimizing this is essential for local SEO. Around 64% of website users have used Google My Business to gather contact details for local businesses. When someone sells a property they will immediately look for real estate agents or cash buyers in their vicinity.
You will improve your clickthrough rate dramatically by taking control of your GMB, and 70% of clicks through Google search this way are organic. Social media is another essential way to connect with your local area and build your brand.
Carry out keyword research
Another important area of SEO that an agency will look at is your use of keywords. Ideally, you will receive most of your traffic organically through relevant searches. But, motivated sellers can only find you if your content contains the keywords they are using to search with.
Focus keywords are important here. Phrases such as ‘how do I sell my house fast in’, or ‘sell my house for cash’. An SEO agency will also carry out competitor research to see how your rivals are using keywords and phrases and their success rate.
Summary
These are just three areas that SEO can help with for property investors. Having a website that appears when motivated sellers are searching for a buyer means more genuine leads will be found.
Property investors move quickly. It is likely that the first buyer a homeowner contacts will be the one who makes the deal happen. The way to do this is to improve your site’s SEO and be on the end of all those motivated seller searches.
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