There are a lot of myths and misconceptions regarding SEO best practices in 2019. Here are some tips so you can beat the competition and master SEO today.
Google Marketing SEO Spark Site Success Tips
Most of you have heard that Search Engine Optimization is the process of optimizing your website to appear towards the top of a Google search engine results page.
In a real estate website environment, optimal SEO practices can help you gain a specific advantage over the competition and drive high-value leads towards your website. If you haven’t already, I highly recommend visiting our Post Launch SEO Guideline to see how best to optimize your site for modern, effective SEO.
While the above example is a great success story, moving towards the top of Google search results doesn’t happen overnight. Unfortunately, there are a number of common misconceptions out there regarding best SEO practices and how to get your real estate website to rank higher.
Let’s jump into the most common SEO myths in 2019!
1. SEO is only for improving my site’s position on Google search results
While ranking high on Google is extremely important for bringing traffic to your site, there are additional benefits of using the best SEO practices:
- Cost-effectiveness: Proper SEO helps you actively target specific users and keywords, saving your business money when compared to outbound marketing strategies such as cold-calling and paid ad placements.
- Brand awareness: While ranking high on Google can significantly increase traffic to your site, it also instills trust to help connect users with your targeted keywords and ultimately, your brand.
2. Meta description has a huge impact on search rankings
While meta descriptions might not have a direct effect on your site’s SEO rankings, they do play a large part in creating a positive first impression on the user and can increase clickthrough rates.
3. My homepage needs a lot of content
“Quality over quantity” holds especially true when it comes to the content on your homepage. The homepage of your website is “the gateway your business” and overcrowding it with too much information or spammy pop-ups will leave a bad first impression with visitors.
Additionally, Rankbrain – Google’s user experience algorithm – is designed towards interpreting user intent and delivering results that are most likely to satisfy the searcher. Thus, if Google realizes that people aren’t satisfied with your site, it could send the next user to a competitor instead!
Keep your homepage content clear and to the point, with engaging CTAs (Call to Action) that help you generate leads for your business.
Read about how AgentFire helps you create awesome CTAs.
4. The more pages I have, the better
Going hand in hand with the previous point, having dozens of pages without individual and meaningful value will not have a good effect on your website. While you might not be penalized directly on search engine results, a user disrupting their journey because you have 11 pages that say pretty much the same thing is poor user experience.
Just like with homepage content – Less is more. Strive for concise, detailed pages that are easily accessible to your users through site navigation.
5. Images don’t require any optimization
Ok – this is an easy one! Any image you add to your site will require optimization. The main reason for optimization is to cut down on page load times – a key factor Google takes into account with search rankings.
Read our guide on How to Optimize Images to see how you can cut down on unnecessary file sizes and increase page load time.
Additionally, having proper alt text for images on your site helps Google connect your content with relevant searches. Read more about alt text and how to properly use it in this excellent Moz guide.
6. The H1 is the most important on-page element
At one time, heading tags used to be the best way to show Google what was the most important content on a page. While there is still some value in highlighting the structure of your website, heading tags have been proven to have little to no effect on SEO. Instead of focusing too much on H1 tags, spread your efforts across all factors of SEO.
That being said, heading tags are still important when it comes to the look and feel of your website. Compelling H1 content displayed prominently on your homepage will be the user’s first impression.
7. Keyword optimization is the key to SEO
As you guessed it – there are a number of factors that all equally contribute to a good SEO profile. Here are two SEO factors other than keyword optimization you should focus on:
- High-quality content is always preferred by Google over keyword-heavy content that is specifically created to try and appeal to the search engine, not the user.
- Link building is another huge factor when it comes to your SEO score. Having more links point towards your site increases your credibility and trust with Google. You can read more about how to achieve this using different strategies in this link building guide.
8. Video doesn’t have any SEO benefits
8. Video doesn’t have any SEO benefitsYouTube has over one billion users – which means almost one-third of all Internet users are active on the platform. Much like Google, YouTube ranks videos based on a number of different factors, and most of these can be optimized just like with website SEO.
How-to videos, customer testimonials, or even home tours can all be excellent videos that can find you new leads and promote engagement.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention that YouTube is actually a subsidiary of Google!
Bottom line – there are plenty of reasons why combining Youtube video with a slick website is a great formula for succeeding with SEO.
SEO Myths – Conclusion
Wrapping it all up – SEO is a must if you are looking to maximize lead generation for your real estate website. However, it’s not about just focusing on SEO and relying on Google to grow your business. Provide your users with real value through dynamic, engaging content and the results will be noticeable. Read how AgentFire Spark Sites help with SEO.
A quick word from our founder and CEO on how to correctly use SEO to grow your AgentFire business:
Do you have any questions regarding SEO on your website? Leave a comment below or book an online session with an AgentFire Expert today!
