The house hunt begins with an online search! 99% of home buyers (ages 24 to 57) and 84% of buyers (between 77 and 97) stated that they used the Internet during their home-buying process. The Internet has become an indispensable tool for home buyers, so you must incorporate digital visibility to reach your potential customers. Including SEO in your marketing plan will boost traffic to your site and bring more valuable and qualified leads to your business.
With a robust SEO strategy, your content rankings will continue, and you will retain online leverage against your competitors.
SEO, or search engine optimization, is a process used to improve a website’s visibility on search engine result pages (SERPs). In simpler terms, it makes a website more attractive to search engines like Google, so it appears higher in the search results. Doing so involves optimizing content, the site’s structure, and acquiring backlinks. SEO is complex due to the constantly changing algorithms. Understanding SEO requires technical elements, content quality, and user experience. To remain competitive, you must continually learn and keep up with updates in the online landscape.
If you are new to SEO, we have compiled a list of terminology to understand:
Here are nine strategies home builders can incorporate into their SEO marketing efforts.
Every project begins with research. Market research is vital for a home builder SEO strategy as it can provide detailed information about your target audience’s needs, wants, and search intent. Start with a simple search of ‘home builder’ or ‘local home builder’ in your preferred search engine, looking at the results that populate. Ignore the “sponsored” listings, as those are paid advertisements. Examine which websites appear and in what order. The ability to be closer to the top of the search query is due to that website’s SEO rank. These search queries can provide insights about your competitors and prospective clients. Similarly, the ‘People Also Ask’ section will appear when you scroll down using Google. These phrases can help you determine what people are searching about the keyword you initially queried.
A Google Business Profile is a free tool enabling businesses to manage their online presence on Google Search. It displays business information such as name, address, phone number (NAP), website URL, business hours, business category, photos and videos, customer reviews, bookings, etc. A Google Business Profile will help you manage your local home builder SEO by increasing visibility in your area, enhancing credibility with positive reviews, interacting with your customers, optimizing your business profile, and using analytics.
To create a Google Business Profile, follow these steps:
Local listings mention your business in online directories like Yelp, Bing Places, Houzz, HomeAdvisor, etc. Search engines like Google use these citations and listings for local relevance. Being listed on various local listings ensures a broad presence, increasing the likelihood of attracting local leads. These directories drive targeted traffic and lead generation, allowing you to effectively outrank your competitors and establish a local home builder SEO presence. Similar to the Google Business Profile, follow this guide to manage your local listings effectively:
When determining the keywords and phrases you want to rank for, it is essential to consider both the search volume and keyword difficulty. Short-tail keywords will have a higher search volume but will be harder to rank due to the broad and competitive range of results that will populate them.
For example, ‘home builder’ has an average monthly search volume of over 12.1K and a difficulty of 90%, according to SEMRush. A long-tail, local keyword like ‘Minneapolis home builder’ has an average monthly search volume of 70 and a difficulty of 43%.
You can use local keywords to attract more regional customers, specifying neighborhoods, suburbs, or landmarks relevant to your business.
Sample keywords to consider include:
It is essential to consider keyword variations in your home builder SEO strategy, whether in a sentence or related words in your content. Using synonyms, long-tail keywords, and latent semantic (LSI) keywords can provide search engines additional context and relevance, improving your ranking. The placement of your keywords needs to be strategic, including within the title or header, introduction, and body text, ensuring smooth readiness for the search engine and the reader.
We recommend that your website be optimized for both mobile and desktop. Most users search for home builders on their mobile devices; therefore, your site should be responsive.
To ensure your website is mobile-friendly:
Create a content calendar to publish relevant content regularly, including blog posts, case studies, industry news, and updates. This strategic tool helps you manage your content creation efforts, plan for keyword integration, and push relevant communication to your audience as a tactic for SEO for home builders. A weekly schedule or monthly calendar are examples of timelines to manage the production and publishing of your content. You can use platforms like Google Drive, Excel, Notion, or SEMrush.
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Date |
Platform/ Content Type |
Topic/Title |
Caption |
Responsible |
Status |
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2024-09-01 |
FacebookPost |
Behind the Scenes: Our Latest Project |
We are thrilled to share a sneak peek into our latest build. The Praire floorplan encompasses an open-concept living room with modern finishes and double-hung windows, bringing in abundant natural light. Stay tuned as we bring this beautiful home to the Eden Prairie area. |
Emily |
Posted |
|
2024-09-02 |
Website Blog |
Top 5 Home Design Trends in 2024 |
From eco-friendly materials to smart home technology, 2024 is the year of innovation in home design. |
Alex |
Editing |
|
2024-09-02 |
InstagramReel |
Day in the Life of a Homebuilder |
Have you ever wondered what goes into building a custom dream home? Join us for a behind-the-scenes look at a day with our homebuilding team. |
Jane |
Scheduled |
User-generated content (UGC) can be a beneficial tool for homebuilders to incorporate within their marketing strategy. UGC is any form of content, text, video, image, post, or review created by individuals rather than the brand. UGC has grown in popularity due to its cost-efficiency, authenticity, and homebuilder SEO growth. UGC shares the real experiences of clients with other customers, building credibility in your business. Positive reviews and client testimonials serve as social proof, displaying the bandwagon effect, a psychological and social concept where people adopt the behaviors of those they see engaging. Encouraging the customer to share their experience fosters a sense of community and interactive content creation. A client's sharing this content improves content diversity and brand reach. You can leverage UGC on your website with a testimonial page or gallery section (showcasing clients’ photos and videos). You can also share and repost UGC on our social media accounts, giving credit to original creators and appreciation to contributors.
Types of UGC for homebuilders:
Regular content updates are vital for maintaining and improving home builder SEO performance. Search engines prioritize relevant content with consistent updates, signaling an active and authoritative presence. Use Google Analytics and Google Search Console to identify pages that would benefit from updates. For blog posts, refresh with relevant keywords and new statistics. For product pages, ensure descriptions and features reflect the latest offerings and current customer feedback. For service pages, revise service pages to include new services and case studies.
As you establish your SEO campaign, track and monitor your efforts to determine which yields positive results and areas for improvement. Use Google Analytics and Google Search Console to collect and interpret data from search engines to improve your website’s performance. Metrics to include organic traffic, keyword rankings, click-through rates, number of backlinks, average time on page, bounce rate, and user engagement. The key performance indicators (KPI) provide insights to measure your progress against your goals and competitors.
Backlinks in SEO signal to search engines that another resource finds your content valuable enough to link within its own. Developing a diverse link-building strategy includes fixing broken links, leveraging local partnerships, utilizing a resource page, and implementing internal linking. To enhance your SEO efforts, focus on quality over quantity. Aim for backlinks from websites with higher domain authorities and relevant sites. Obtain links from diverse domains to drive traffic and curate a balanced backlink profile. Create high-quality, shareable content, such as a comprehensive guide or in-depth research. Partner with local businesses, participate in community events, and sponsor local organizations for local backlinks.
While social signals are a debated ranking factor, they can increase your brand’s visibility and organic search ranking. Social signals are the collective metrics on social media platforms and webpages, such as likes, shares, comments, reviews, and follows. These signals can establish a solid social media presence. Likewise, higher engagement rates and social interactions provide direct feedback on the value of your content. With shareable content, there are opportunities for viral marketing and greater exposure, attracting attention to your website and overall home builder SEO efforts.
Do you need help optimizing your website and digital marketing? Contact us for a consultation about taking the next step to transform your home builder business.