ORBIT, your AI partnerIn short
- Rank for your area first: neighbourhood, home value and listing pages.
- Every page needs its own clear title and description with the words people search.
- Reviews and a complete business profile matter as much as the website.
- Measure enquiries from search, not rankings alone.
What real estate SEO is
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the work that helps your website appear when someone searches for what you offer. For a realtor in Ontario, that usually means searches with a place in them: an area, a neighbourhood or a type of home.
Good SEO is mostly useful pages written clearly, with the right words in the right places, on a website that loads fast and works on a phone. There are no tricks that last; there is only being the most helpful page for the search.
The pages that bring a realtor enquiries
A realtor's website earns search traffic from a handful of page types. Build them first, keep them current, and link them to each other.
| Page | What people search | Why it brings enquiries |
|---|---|---|
| Neighbourhood guides | Living in an area, schools, commute | Buyers research the area before the agent |
| Home value page | What is my home worth in an area | Each request is a seller lead with an address |
| Listing and property pages | An address or a building | Buyers searching a specific home |
| Sold and track record | Recent sales in an area | Owners checking what homes sold for |
| Buyer and seller guides | How to buy or sell, closing costs | Useful content people save and share |
| About and reviews | Your name and your brokerage | People checking you before they call |
Titles and descriptions
Each page needs a title of about 60 characters and a description of about 155 that say exactly what the page is about, with the words people use: “Homes for sale in Port Credit” rather than “Welcome to my site.”
Write one page per topic. Two pages about the same neighbourhood compete with each other; one strong page wins.
Use headings that match questions people ask, and answer each one in the first sentence under it.
Local search, reviews and your business profile
For searches with a place in them, a complete business profile on Google Maps often appears above the websites. List the areas you serve, keep the photos current and post updates.
Reviews are part of local search. Ask every happy client for a short review a few weeks after closing, and reply to each one.
Keep your name, brokerage and phone number written the same way on your website, your profiles and your listings.
Technical basics that matter
Most realtor websites need only a few technical things done right: fast pages, a site that works on a phone, a secure address (https), a site map submitted to search engines and pages that search engines are allowed to read.
Listing search pages are useful to visitors, but your own written pages are what rank: guides, neighbourhood pages and your home value page.
- Pages load in a couple of seconds on a phone
- Every page has its own title and description
- Images have short descriptions (alt text)
- The site map lists every page you want found
- Your own domain, connected with SSL
What an SEO service for real estate should do
If you hire SEO services, ask for work you can see: which pages they will write or improve, which searches each page targets and how they will report enquiries, not only rankings.
Be careful with promises of first place in weeks, packages of links from unrelated sites or pages copied across many towns. Search engines ignore or penalize that kind of work.
Much of real estate SEO is steady work you can keep doing yourself: one useful page a month, titles kept current and reviews collected after every closing.
How to measure real estate SEO
Watch three numbers every month: how many people reach your website from search, which pages they land on, and how many of them fill in a form, call or chat.
Give each new page two to three months before you judge it. Search results move slowly, and a page that brings two home value requests a month is worth keeping.
Questions
What is SEO for real estate agents?
It is the work that helps a realtor's website appear when people search for homes, neighbourhoods or a realtor in their area: useful pages, clear titles and descriptions, a fast site that works on a phone, reviews and a complete business profile.
Which pages should a realtor's website have for SEO?
Neighbourhood guides, a home value page, listing and property pages, a sold page, buyer and seller guides, and an about page with reviews.
Do I need to hire an SEO service?
Not always. Much of real estate SEO is steady work: one useful page a month, titles kept current and reviews after every closing. If you hire help, ask which pages they will improve and how they will report enquiries.
How long does real estate SEO take?
Give a new page two to three months. Search results move slowly, so judge SEO over a quarter, not a week.
Does Tanero include SEO?
Yes. Every Tanero website has an SEO view that scores each page out of 100, and ORBIT keeps titles and descriptions current. Plans include SEO pages and monthly SEO page updates.