Could you be making a costly mistake with your website?

Well, I am here to save you a ton of time, energy, moolah, and heartache.

Creating a real estate website that drives traffic through SEO is a major endeavor. There is a ton of competition out there. If you want to generate traffic AND high-quality leads from an SEO-rich website, this also means you need to look at your competition and consider if you can outperform them.

(Generating traffic is hard enough, but capturing leads, too? That’s a whole other ball game.)

There are real estate agents out there who have published literally hundreds of SEO-rich blog posts over the years. Sometimes they hit on a topic that gets them that coveted first page ranking. But for many topics, that first page (or even second or third page, etc.) of Google search results is still out of reach. It’s an understatement to say it’s hard to compete with Redfin, Zillow, Realtor.com, Trulia, and others in your market who started heavily investing in their online strategy years ago.

You also need to keep in mind that even if you decide you’re going all in on your website’s SEO, it’s a long game. It may take years to see the fruits of your efforts.

If you’re not able to surpass the investment those other realtors or companies are making, then it’s time to be MORE strategic about your SEO.

Without high rankings, it’s very unlikely that someone is going to come across your website via a Google search.

However, if you:

Have a really unique niche in your market
Are the first to blog and share resources and info about a hot topic or a VERY SPECIFIC topic
Are going after long-tail keywords (aka creating content targeting a very niche demographic)
Are the first person in your market to really invest in your website in a hyper-local/specific niche*

… then investing in your SEO could be a very worthwhile endeavor. There is a chance that you can still benefit from an SEO-focused strategy, even without having massive amounts of content.

*Sidenote: I want to make sure I elaborate on that final point. If you are the first person in your specific real estate market to invest in your SEO, I am so, so jealous (on behalf of my clients, haha)! Snap up that high ranking ASAP! The size of your market really matters when it comes to SEO rankings. Let’s use Seattle as an example. The internet is absolutely flooded with generic Seattle real estate content. And having a website that’s going to compete with content that’s already up there is going to be near impossible. However, if you niched down and went deep on a small nearby suburb where there’s not much happening online, there could be some hugeeee opportunities here!)

Let’s say investing heavily in your website’s SEO doesn’t interest you a ton, though (especially after reading this). Should you even have a website?

Yes, absolutely! Your website should still be a place that accomplishes a few *very* important things:

Potential clients can scope you out as they decide whether or not to reach out. This means your website needs to demonstrate that you are competent, knowledgeable, and experienced. They may also be looking for someone who is relatable, a good person, approachable, well-connected, has experience in their very specific market, etc.

Through your social media channels, email newsletters, and print marketing, you can direct people to your website to learn more. Your website serves as an important hub and is the online “home” of your business.

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P.S. One more thought before I sign off here. My opinion is that you don’t need IDX on your website. Really. People are going to turn to Redfin or Zillow to get the most comprehensive and timely information. However, if you’re using a website service that automatically comes with IDX, then I would focus on using it to prominently feature your sold homes and active listings. Don’t worry about people using it as their primary way to search for home listings.