Boost Your Real Estate Website Traffic with Google My Business: Tips for Listing Optimization and Performance Tracking

Claim and Verify Your Google My Business Listing

In today's digital age, having a strong online presence is essential for any business. For real estate agents and brokers, this means optimizing their website to attract potential clients and generate leads. One effective way to boost your real estate website traffic is through Google My Business (GMB). Claiming and verifying your GMB listing can help increase your visibility in local search results, improve your online credibility, and ultimately drive more traffic to your website.

The Importance of Claiming and Verifying Your Listing

Claiming and verifying your GMB listing is an important first step towards improving the performance of your real estate website. By doing so, you are essentially telling Google that you are the owner or representative of the business listed on their platform. This enables you to manage how information about your business appears across Google Search and Maps.

When it comes to local search results for real estate keywords such as "real estate agent near me," having a verified GMB listing can give you a competitive edge over other businesses that don't have one. Not only does it make it easier for potential clients to find you online, but it also helps establish trust with them by showing that you are a legitimate business.

How to Claim and Verify Your Listing

The process of claiming and verifying your GMB listing is relatively straightforward:

Go to google.com/business/claim.

Enter the name of your business in the search bar.

If there's already an existing listing for your business on Google, click on it.

If there isn't an existing listing yet, add all relevant details about your business such as its name, address, phone number (NAP), hours of operation, etc.

Follow the instructions provided by Google on how to verify ownership of the account.

There are several ways in which you can verify ownership including via mail postcard verification or phone verification if eligible within certain regions/countries; email verification; or instant verification if you have already verified your business's website with Google Search Console.

What Information is Needed to Optimize Your Listing

Once you've claimed and verified your GMB listing, it's important to optimize it to ensure that potential clients can easily find and learn more about your real estate business. Here are some of the key pieces of information that you should include in your listing:

Business name: Make sure that the name on your GMB listing matches the name on your website and other online directories.

Address: Include a complete physical address for your business including street number and name, city, state/province, zip/postal code.

Phone number (NAP): Use a phone number that is local to the area where you do business - this makes it easier for potential clients to contact you.

Hours of operation: Indicate when your office is open so people know when they can reach out or schedule an appointment

Description: Write a brief but informative description of what services does their real estate agency offer? What sets them apart from competitors?

Photos/ Videos : Add high-quality photos/videos showcasing properties sold / rented out in order to attract more leads.

By optimizing these elements within Google My Business accurately & completely will help improve its performance in search results, increase credibility among users searching for similar businesses nearby as well as engage new prospects who may not yet be familiar with their brand!

Optimize Your Listing with Accurate Information and Photos

In today's digital age, having an online presence is crucial for any business, especially in the real estate industry. Google My Business (GMB) is a powerful tool that can help boost your website traffic and improve your online visibility. However, to make the most of GMB, you need to optimize your listing with accurate information and high-quality photos.

Add Accurate Business Information

The first step to optimizing your GMB listing is to add accurate business information. This includes your business name, address, phone number, website URL, business hours, and category. Make sure all the information you provide is up-to-date and consistent across all platforms.

When adding your business category on GMB ensure it aligns with googles categories as this will enable google show relevant search results when users search for businesses within those categories.

Optimize Your Business Description

Your business description should be optimized with relevant keywords and a clear value proposition. Use short sentences or bullet points to highlight what sets you apart from other real estate agents or brokers in the area. Focus on providing valuable information that would entice potential clients such as services offered by you company alongside their benefits.

Avoid keyword stuffing as it could sound unnatural but rather write naturally without forcing keywords into sentences so not compromise readability of content.

Upload High-Quality Photos and Videos

High-quality photos are essential for showcasing properties effectively online hence its important to upload quality images which should include exterior shots of property listings alongside interior photographs showing key features of specific homes.

Videos showcasing different aspects of your services including client testimonials could also be added however videos shouldn't exceed 2 minutes long as users tend not watch lengthy videos while searching for businesses online.

Always use original photos/videos where possible instead using stock photography unless necessary because authentic visual contents increases trustworthiness & authority among potential clients who might want engage the services provided by companies listed on google my business platform.

Encourage Customer Reviews and Respond to Them

Customer reviews can be a powerful tool for boosting your real estate website's traffic and credibility. They provide social proof to potential clients that you are trustworthy, reliable, and offer high-quality services. Encouraging customers to leave reviews is essential for optimizing your Google My Business listing and tracking its performance. Here are some tips on how to encourage customer reviews:

Encourage Customers to Leave Reviews

Asking customers for their feedback in person or via email is an effective way of encouraging them to leave a review. You could also display a call-to-action on your website asking visitors to leave their thoughts about their experience with your business.

When reaching out to customers, it's important not just to ask for any review but specifically request if they would consider leaving positive feedback on the platform of choice (Google Maps). This helps ensure that you get more favorable comments than negative ones.

Respond To Positive Reviews

Responding positively and promptly shows gratitude towards the client who left the review as well as displays professionalism of handling criticism respectfully; doing so will help build trust with new prospects visiting online directories such as Google My Business listings.

To respond appropriately, start by thanking the customer for taking time out of their day writing praise about specific aspects they enjoyed most during transactions - whether it was exceptional communication skills or going above-and-beyond expectations when helping find properties suited perfectly within budget constraints. Highlighting what made them happy makes other potential clients feel confident transacting business with someone who has already garnered approval from others similar enough in needs/interests/requirements etc., indicating good fit between real estate agents/brokers and future homebuyers/sellers!

Respond To Negative Reviews

Negative reviews may seem like an inevitable part of being in business today since everyone has access online information quickly through search engines or social media platforms; however, these should never be ignored! Instead turn this into a chance opportunity by responding empathetically first before providing solutions/resolutions.

Start by acknowledging the customer's feedback. Apologize for any issues they may have faced and offer a resolution, if possible, to make things right. Make it clear that you are always open to discussing their concerns further offline so as not to add fuel or negativity online where everyone can see it (especially new potential clients).

By responding quickly and empathetically to negative reviews, you show both current customers and potential ones that you take their satisfaction seriously and will work hard to ensure a positive experience with your business.

Use Google My Business Insights to Track Your Performance

Google My Business Insights is a powerful tool that can help real estate agents and brokers monitor their online presence and track the performance of their listing. By understanding your Google My Business Insights, you can gain valuable insights into how potential customers are interacting with your business listing. In this section, we will discuss the importance of using Google My Business Insights, provide tips on interpreting the data, and explain how to use the data to optimize your listing and improve website traffic and click-through rates.

Understand Your Google My Business Insights

When you log in to your Google My Business account, you will be presented with a dashboard that displays important metrics related to your business's online presence. These metrics include views (the number of times your listing has been viewed), searches (the number of times someone has searched for specific information about your business), actions (the number of clicks on various elements within your listing), and more.

By monitoring these metrics over time, you can identify trends in customer behavior and adjust accordingly. For example, if you notice that most people are viewing or searching for information about your business during certain hours of the day or week, you may want to adjust your operating hours or schedule more staff members during those times.

Interpret Your Data to Optimize Your Listing

Once you have collected enough data from Google My Business Insights, it's time to start analyzing it so that you can optimize your listing accordingly. Here are some tips for interpreting the data:

Identify popular search queries: Look at which keywords people are using when they search for businesses like yours.

Analyze peak viewing times: Find out when people are looking at listings similar to yours.

Check user actions: See what types of interactions users take when they find a local real estate agent or broker’s page through GMB – whether by calling them directly from their phone/tablet/PC; visiting pages offsite such as social media profiles linked together via GMB listings; or by visiting their website.

Once you have identified these trends, it's time to optimize your listing accordingly. For example, if you notice that many people are searching for "real estate agents near me," make sure that this phrase is included in the title and description of your Google My Business listing. Similarly, if you find that most people are viewing your listing during certain hours of the day, adjust your operating hours so that you can be there when potential customers need you.

Improve Website Traffic and Click-Through Rates

The ultimate goal of using Google My Business Insights is to improve website traffic and click-through rates. By optimizing your business listing based on the data from GMB Insights, you can increase the chances that potential customers will visit your website after finding your business through a local search.

To achieve this goal, consider optimizing key elements of your website such as keywords (including long-tail phrases) used within blogs/articles posted regularly about news related topics relevant to real estate industry trends – thereby providing users with valuable information they may not otherwise know about; making sure call-to-actions like “Contact Us,” or “Schedule an appointment,” appear prominently throughout webpages where appropriate. Additionally ensuring mobile-friendliness and fast page load speeds can also help improve user experience while browsing after clicking through from GMB listings.

By following these tips for interpreting and utilizing data available via Google My Business insights effectively – including understanding metrics available such as views/searches/actions taken on local agent/broker’s pages – real estate professionals can reap benefits beyond just increased visibility online but more importantly conversion leading ultimately resulting into sales transactions!

Conclusion

In conclusion, utilizing Google My Business for your real estate website can greatly boost your online visibility and drive traffic to your site. By optimizing your listing with accurate information and tracking its performance, you can ensure that potential clients are finding you easily through their search results. In today's digital age, it is crucial for real estate agents and brokers to have a strong online presence in order to stand out from the competition. Whether you're just starting out or looking to grow your business, taking advantage of this free tool offered by Google can make all the difference in achieving success with SEO strategies for the real estate industry.