On the web, we all understand the importance of inbound links, but unless your website features content or tools that are truly exceptional, it’s tough to get people to link to you, and real estate websites are particularly tough. So how does a real estate agent gain offsite links to their web pages and build more authority with search engines? The obvious is to create and grow social profiles for business like Google+, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and blogging on real estate topics, etc., but most agents are already familiar with these resources and not everybody is cut out for blogging or social media.
What many Realtors may be overlooking are the face to face relationships they have with professional partners and local business owners. If you have a really good relationship with a title company or insurance agent, discuss the possibility of having your website address added to one of their website pages. I’ll throw in a disclaimer here though; it may be an uphill battle simply because your agent may only have a profile on the company website with no control over adding links. If you’re bringing in a substantial amount of business to the core company, you may have more clout and it never hurts to ask.
If your site is already getting a decent amount of search traffic and you see the value of featuring local resources on your web pages, you might be able to do a trade of links with local retailers and relocation professionals like moving companies, home inspectors, or even your favorite local grocery store. If this is done in moderation, it can be quite helpful and it makes sense that you would have ties to the local community.
If you have friends or family with businesses and they have successful social media business pages or blogs, ask them to give your website a public shout out. The instances of public shares, retweets and +1’s have all the probability of increasing your site’s reputation in Google. It’s not a bad idea to google your name either and comb through all of the results. You may have old profiles out there with outdated information or without your website address. Take a moment to think about all of the possibilities to have your real estate web address distributed out there and follow through.
Thanks for those ideas of title companies and local companies like groceriers.
You should defininately try it Don – your websites rank really well so you could use that as an enticement too.
Getting those links are vital. Has anyone considered buying links from companies like Backlinks Phillipines? Any experience with this outfit?
Hi Johnny – I would not recommend buying links unless you’re buying a listing in an authoritative directory.