Small construction and real estate businesses may think they don’t need to formulate any online marketing strategy. But all businesses need to, regardless of size, as long as they have an online presence. And no matter how small the business, search rankings still matter. This is where search engine optimization comes in handy.
If your small construction, real estate, or home service company has its own website or social media pages, you can use SEO to improve your visibility. SEO can help your target customers find your site or pages right away. When these customers use search engines to look for a product or service you provide, they will see your business listed on the search results. By having an SEO strategy, you can establish yourself as a notable brand.
So, how can you apply SEO techniques as part of your online marketing strategy? Here are some tips:
1. Use and Optimize the Right Keywords
One main component of SEO is keyword optimization. And if you are a small construction or real estate business doing your own online marketing strategy, it helps if you understand how keywords work.
Keywords are words customers are most likely to use when they look for something online. So, if you are a home services company, for example, your goal is to know what words people use when looking for home services. If you offer deep house cleaning services, you need to optimize keywords related to deep house cleaning.
How to Find the Right Keywords
You can find the right keywords with the help of online tools designed for this purpose. There is Google Ads, for one. You can list down words you think your target customers would use and have Google Ads validate these words. There’s also a Google Ads product called Keyword Tool, which helps you grow your list by finding more keywords.
You can also decide on only one keyword and use Google’s autofill function on the search box to get more keyword ideas. The search results page also related searches at the bottom. You can use these related searches in your keywords list.
How to Optimize Keywords
You can start optimizing your keywords when your list is ready. Optimizing your keywords will help them rank higher when people use them in their search. So, for example, if you optimized the keyword “real estate agent in Manatee County” for your site and potential customers type “real estate agent in Manatee County” in their Google search box, you could be among the first ones they see in the search results. Your placement on the search results depends on your ranking.
You can optimize your keywords by using them in your website content or copy. You can also insert your keywords in your website’s URL, metadata descriptions, title tags, image tags, and other backdoor aspects of your site.
It’s also a good idea to use your keywords on your Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and other social media pages. If you are using a social media platform for your construction, real estate, or home service company, you can insert your keywords in your posts or hashtags. This will help you connect to your local audience.
More Keyword Optimization Tips
Here are a few more keyword optimization tips you need to keep in mind:
- Insert your keywords in an organic way so they won’t come out as forced or unnecessary. Do not overstuff your content with keywords.
- Use variations of a particular keyword. If your keyword is home renovation company, don’t forget to also use variations like house renovation, home renovation services, and home remodel.
- Write long-form content for your site. This type of content usually has 1,000 to 1,500 words. This way, you can naturally insert more keywords.
2. Get Backlinks
Backlinks are links from other sites leading to your own website or pages. These can affect your search engine rankings.
Backlinks are an important component of your search engine ranking because they prove how trustworthy your content, website, and pages are. Backlinks are like votes of confidence from a reliable online source. They show search engines that you are a credible and valuable online source. They also show Google and other search engines that your content deserves a listing on their search result pages.
Additionally, backlinks affect your website or domain authority. Domain authority describes your site’s relevance for a specific industry or niche. In this case, your domain authority tells how relevant your business is to the building, construction trade, real estate, and home service industries.
And since backlinks improve your search engine ranking, you can expect more visits to your site. The more people head to your site via these backlinks, the more they become aware of your brand and your existence.
Always Choose Quality Over Quantity
Remember that when it comes to backlinks, quality is always the priority. So, there is no point in getting many backlinks if most are low-quality. In other words, you should be careful about where you get your backlinks from. Make sure they are only from reliable, high-authority third-party sites. Google will lower your search engine ranking if you have many low-quality backlinks.
High-quality backlinks don’t necessarily have to be from sites or sources within the same building, real estate, or home service industry. They can also be from news sites and other credible domains as long as they are linking to content relevant or related to the subject matter.
3. Build Your Business Listings
You can further enhance your visibility online by building your business listings. This is part of your SEO strategy. Listings also include local citations, company profiles, and business directories. Keeping your listings up to date makes it easy for potential customers to find you online, contact you, or find your physical location.
Business listings contain your business name, office address, office number, and website link. There are also listings that include information like business hours, products and services, email address, images, and social media pages. Backlinks from business listings and sites like Yelp and Bing are high-quality since Google already trusts them.
4. Plan Your Content Well
Even as a small construction, real estate, or home service business, you should produce content on your website regularly. Write content with SEO in mind. But even if you have to use keywords, make sure your content sounds natural.
You should also be wise about what you write. Add value to your content by making it informative, educational, and entertaining. Even as a small business, you can establish your expertise and authority in your niche. This way, high-authority sites will see your content and find it worth sharing and linking to. This is another way to get high-quality backlinks.
You can publish your content on your site’s blog pages and share the link via social media for a broader readership.
Conclusion
If you are a small or start-up player in the construction, real estate, or home service sector, you should use SEO techniques to create more awareness about your brand or business. Through SEO, you can make it easy for people in your area who are searching for construction and home-related products and services to find you online. So, the smaller you are, the more you need SEO to grow your business. And all you need is a basic understanding of how it works.
