The first step to organic real estate leads

How do you generate organic real estate leads? There's a lot that goes into the complex process of generating leads organically, but let's start at the basics - keywords.

Organic. From the supermarket to the search engine, if something is organic, it’s better, right?

Not necessarily. There are certain trade-offs. Science, for instance, tells us that organic produce may contain less pesticide residue but it doesn’t provide more nutrition than non-organic produce.

Pursuing organic search results won’t provide the quick results you’ll see with paid search results. Optimizing for organic search is, however, far more cost effective than buying ads, even in the long run, according to some.

Going after increased website traffic through organic search results is the wise choice for real estate agents on tight budgets. But consistency is key. You won’t see overnight results and you’ll have to keep at it.

Let’s take a look at some of the ways you can generate organic real estate leads.

Identify target keywords for organic real estate leads

This is probably the step in the process at which many agents throw in the towel. Keyword research can be tedious and frustrating.

After all, how do we know what terms consumers use when they are researching real estate related topics?

It’s a bone to pick with the NAR. They put out all kinds of nifty research results gained from querying buyers and sellers. How hard would it be for them to also ask which search terms they used when looking for a home, an agent and information on the process?

At any rate, the task falls to you so you’ll need to act like a consumer and pretend you know nothing about real estate.

These keywords absolutely need to be used on both your website and the content you create and share.

The best place to start the search is by taking a look at your site’s analytics. Look for the keywords that visitors used to find your site or where they land when they visit.

Next, head for Google Ads, under “Tools and Planning,” then “Planning,” then click on “Keyword Planning.”

I like to start with the “Discover New Keywords” tool and with a broad search term to get a feel for the volume of searches. For instance, search for “real estate,” and it turns out that there are between 100,000 and 1 million searches.

Right below that, however, is the word “Realtor,” which has between 1 million and 10 million searches. That more people search for the word Realtor than real estate is significant, but what’s more important is the number who search when you localize your keyword.

Las Vegas real estate, for example, is far more popular a search term than Las Vegas Realtors. Your mileage may vary, depending on the city you serve, so try it for yourself.

Come up with a list of keyword phrases. Here are a few examples, but get creative and jot down all that you think of.

Las Vegas homes for sale
Homes for sale in Las Vegas
Houses for sale in Las Vegas
Las Vegas houses for sale
Las Vegas real estate agent
Real estate agent in Las Vegas
Buy a house in Las Vegas

Try adding a few super-hyper-local keywords too, such as the name of the subdivisions or communities you prefer working in:

Homes for sale in Silverado Ranch Las Vegas
Homes for sale in Summerlin Las Vegas
Homes for sale in Green Valley Ranch Las Vegas

Now, back out of the Keyword Planner and click on “Get Search Volume and Forecasts.” Paste your list of keyword phrase in the box and click “Get Started.”

The first two on my list get the most clicks in Google’s search engine. Competition is fierce for the top four phrases.

If you’re finding the same for terms in your market, try making the tail a bit longer. For instance, Las Vegas homes for sale with a pool; Homes for sale in Las Vegas with acreage, Las Vegas homes for sale with a view.

There are other tools available free or to purchase that help with various aspects of generating organic real estate leads, such as identifying low-competition keywords and more, but Google ads is a good place to get your feet wet.

Remember, this is just the first step on the road to generating organic real estate leads. It’s also the most critical. We’ll explore what to do next in a future post.