Keyword Research for Real Estate Industry
-
I just finished reading the Beginners Guide to SEO at SEOMoz and joined as a Pro Member. I have created a campaign for my new SEO project and feel like I have a good understanding now of on-page optimization. I am going to start fixing title tags and on page content for our top 50 pages and start a new campaign to go after some keywords. Our website is 360dwellings.
I am struggling to determine what the best keywords are for us to target. Right now our primary markets are Denver and San Diego, we also display listings for all of Colorado as well.
We had originally gone after competitive keywords like "Denver Homes for Sale". What I am learning is that even ranking bottom of page one for that term doesn't bring a ton of traffic. Meanwhile, we rank well for a lot of niche content like "5280 best neighborhoods" "Denver Lofts for Sale" and "Denver Neighborhood Map".
My questions is do we completely abandon going after big keywords like 'Denver CO Homes for Sale", and 'Denver Real Estate" and go as far as removing them from title tags? We have pages for every Denver neighborhood like Park Hill and the Highlands, but there is no search data for these searches in Google Keywords. My gut says that if each of those pages ranked for terms like "Denver Highlands Neighborhood Homes for Sale" that it would bring good targeted traffic. Does anyone know of search terms for Real Estate that are low competition but have some search volume?
Thanks!
-
Thomas, that just confirms what I was thinking. If we can spend less time ranking really well (top 3) for deeper niche searches for someone looking to live in a specific area, and times that by 100 then we are getting some really nice targeted traffic.
Since the long tail keywords are usually a broad mix of real estate terms, how do you get one page to rank well for those variations? In real estate, someone could search for the same thing in a thousand different ways. Do you go after a bigger term like "Denver Highlands Neighborhood Homes for Sale" in the title tag and then use other real estate keywords on the page like MLS, listings, houses, condos, lofts, etc. Seems like we get some long tail action just off random words used once on the page. Any info you can provide on page optimization for longtail searches would be appreciated.
-
My advice is find the higher converting less competitive terms. Individuals that are search for "Denver Highlands Neighborhood Homes for Sale" are further along in their buying decision than "Denver Homes for Sale". The shorter phrases are more often window shopping. The more detailed the phrase, the more likely they will enter the store and make a purchase. Plus, if you do it right, it is much harder to get knocked knock out by a competitor when you are the first to capitalize on a unique search. If you find some gold in "Denver Lofts for Sale" then try dominating that term.
Large rivers are made up from very small streams.
-
Thanks Zack, will do some research on meta keywords from competitors.
-
Thanks Frank, the website has been a lot of work. We convert really well... just a matter of getting the visitors there. Our best conversions tend to be the longest types of searches, like exact addresses. We have individual listings in San Diego but can't for Denver due to MLS restrictions. We get a ton of address searches in San Diego though, and those seem to convert best.
-
So, for our Denver search page do something like the following:
Denver CO Homes for Sale - Realty in Denver | 360dwellings Real Estate
The second term "Realty in Denver" shows 5400 local monthly searches and low competition.
-
Frank, thanks, just read the Rand article and I am checking out seogadget now. Not bad pricing for less than 1000 keywords. I want to make sure that I get the keywords locked up before making changes to title tags, content, etc
-
Just read about this: https://tools.seogadget.co.uk/ in Rands Article, maybe it helps.
-
Google's keywords tool usually does a decent job of suggesting other phrases and terms. You are using the keywords tool, right? If would try words like "apartments, condos, houses, etc.." I have found similar issues with local terms using the keywords tool (no traffic). You can also get some help by playing with the auto-complete on Google's search bar but it's more vague..also try looking at page source of your competition to see what they are optimizing for, especially in the meta keywords field.
-
Hey Ryan,
if you don't get data from google keyword or maybe google insights for search , chances are, there won't be too many searches. But as you say, the long tail (longer, less competitive but highly relevant) queries can bring valuable traffic as well. Prices for ads for those keywords will also help you determine the degree of competition for a term.
I would probably compare your ranking for some of these longer tail keywords (e.g. Position 3 in google), to the data in google analytics, there you can check, how many people came searching for each keyword. Or you use google webmaster tools, they will actually tell you what the rank in google for each keyword was. In my experience, data isn't as precise as in analytics, but it will still help to evaluate if going for longer, niche keywords would be the right thing to do. The most important factor is of course to check, if those customers actually convert and deliver any kind of revenue for you.
Hope this helps a bit, btw, the site looks great!
Cheers
Frank
-
I would recommend continuing to work on the bigger keywords like Denver CO Homes for Sale as a long term goal, while working on the smaller keywords for short term returns.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
How Google distinguish and ignore keyword attested with or in a brand?
Hi community, Generally there will be a primary keyword which everybody concentrates and expect their homepage or website to rank for....like "seo" for seo consulting or seo tools. There might be some companies with this keyword in their brand name like "ABC SEO". So this primary keyword will be all over the website being part of the brand name; especially in page titles and header tags. How Google distinguish and ignores this keyword in brand name to avoid giving more ranking boost to such websites? Will this keyword will be completely ignored being the part of the company name or their domain name? How Google distinguish between a generic keyword and keyword in company name? Thanks
Algorithm Updates | | vtmoz0 -
Missing Keywords in Google SERP
We just got this attached image from one of our partners - has anyone seen Google putting 'missing' keywords in SERPs like this before? They said that it was not a plugin or anything and this is a screenshot of their organic search results. google%20screenshot_zpsgmwaf9e2.png
Algorithm Updates | | ReunionMarketing0 -
Home page rank for keyword
Hi Mozers I have traded from my website balloon.co.uk for over 10 years. For a long while the site ranked first for the word 'balloon' across the UK on google.co.uk (first out of 41 million). Around the time Penguin launched the site began to drop and currently sits on about page 5. What's confusing is that for a search on 'balloons' ('s' on the end of balloon) it ranks 2nd in the location of Birmingham where I'm based. That's 2nd in the real search rather than a map local search. But - if I search 'balloon' from the location of Birmingham my contact page ranks 5th: http://www.balloon.co.uk/contact.htm but the home page ranks nowhere. So - it's gone from ranking 1st nationally to ranking nowhere with my contact page ranking above the home page (which is a generic word domain). Any ideas?
Algorithm Updates | | balloon.co.uk0 -
Google keyword tool
I was quite happy with google keyword tool for basic and accurate searches for keywords. Can anyone suggests a new tool that will give accurate search volume on google ( country specific ) I am not interest in info for adwords, and find a keyword planner tool way out in traffic results, compared to Keyword tool. Is the keyword tool completely gone?
Algorithm Updates | | summer3000 -
Google Sign-In increasing organic encryption keywords?
I am curious how brands that have implemented Google Sign in dealing with the organic encryption keywords. Have encrypted keywords increased after applying Google Sign-in?
Algorithm Updates | | LNEseo
How are you dealing with the missing keyword information?0 -
Should I remove my keyword meta?
So it's safe to assume keywords are no longer used by SEs in the old fashioned sense to rank sites, but should be keep them as indicators of site content? It's been suggested by some that they're detrimental for two reasons: 1. Your competitors can snoop the keywords you're targeting but mainly... 2. Over-optimisation is the enemy these days! Thanks for your input 🙂
Algorithm Updates | | underscorelive0 -
Is my page footer the reason keyword rankings have dropped?
Hi all, One of my sites http://henstuff.com/ has seen some ranking drops for major keywords over the past few weeks and I was wondering if it was something to do with Penguin not taking a positive view of link-filled footers. It is something we are looking at phasing out but wanted to get the opinions of the SEOMOZ community. Thanks! Rob
Algorithm Updates | | RobertHill0 -
If a page one result for a keyword is mostly directories, do I have a chance to rank for this keyword?
I feel like although directories carry a lot of weight and links, I'd think that my client would be able to gain a top position, since none of the others are competitor pages, nor are the directories engaging.
Algorithm Updates | | randallseo0