Now more and more getting those high rankings in Google for top search phrases as a real estate investor (wholesaler, flipper, rental property owner, note buyer/seller, turn key investment property seller, etc.) can be a HUGE reward… but it isn’t like it used to be to get your real estate investing company’s website ranked high.
How SEO Used To Be For Real Estate Investors
When I started getting really good at SEO (back in 2007) ranking my own websites high in Google because I didn’t have the money to pay for ads or to pay an SEO firm… it seemed kind of like everyone was gaming the system.
All you had to do was stuff a page with the keyword phrase you wanted to rank for (“sell my house fast Portland”, as an example)… go buy a bunch of backlinks from bogus websites pointing to your website… and get your title tag right… and you were on your way to a better ranking.
But over the years Google has been making updates to the way they rank our websites in their search results. The most recent big update came in October… that focused on websites building “spammy” backlinks.
What these Google updates are doing is making people… including you real estate investors… go back to the basics and really focus on putting together great websites that the visitors actually want to go to and browse around… with great content (not sites with barely any content)… solid credibility… get good quality “votes” from other websites (backlinks) and bumps from social media (Facebook “likes”, Google +1’s, etc.).
With that said… since our members generate over 100,000 visits to their websites per month now… and many of our customers have top rankings in some crazy competitive markets using our tools and training… we’ve seen some major correlation to ranking your real estate investing website high in Google to…
Google +1 – Why It Matters So Much In Your Google Search Rankings and SEO
We first started to see this strong correlation in many of the most competitive markets in the country for highly motivated sellers over at our sister company Carrot during our weekly LIVE InvestorCarrot Mastermind Calls with our Pro and Content Pro members (these calls are FREE to Content Pro and Pro members).
When a member would send through their website URL during the Mastermind Calls and the search phrases they were going for… I’d do a quick “competitive analysis” there on the call and come up with a quick action plan for them to rank well based on what the websites in the top 5 for those phrases tended to have.
And more and more this year… the number of Google +1’s a website has (or even just the fact that they had some) has been showing up as a strong signal in the websites that were ranking in the first 5 results in a Google result for sellers, buyers, tenants, etc.
As an example… here is one of the top markets for motivated sellers and the top 3 rankings on page 1 vs. the top 3 rankings on page 2 and the Google +1’s they have.
Note that since there are hundreds of ranking factors that Google uses… no single factor is the main differentiator. So you’ll see some of the ones ranked high have lots of Google + action… some have low Google + action… but the thing in common is all of the websites in the top 3 in almost every market we’ve searched has some Google + action happening.
Top Results Houston, Texas – “we buy houses Houston”
#1 – 410 Google +1’s
#2 – 9 Google +1’s
#3 – 16 Google +1’s
Collectively in this example… the top 3 ranked pages have a total of 435 Google +1’s.
And a hat tip to Carrot member Guillermo for his #3 ranking (and climbing) in one of the most competitive search phrases in the country for motivated sellers… with his InvestorCarrot website and our SEO service help.
Now the top 3 for the 2nd page in Google…
#11 – 13 Google +1’s (but there’s other reasons this site isn’t ranking on page 1 we can go into on another blog post)
#12 – 0 Google +1’s
#13 – 0 Google +1’s
#14 – 0 Google +1’s
In this example… collectively in the 11-14 positions for the same search phrase… they have 13 Google +1’s.
I can show in many many other top rankings in other markets across the country as well that the…
…top ranked sites on average have more Google + and Facebook activity than the sites ranking on page 2 and below.
This Is Just One Example, Does It Mean There Is Really A Correlation Of Google +1 Activity to Ranking Well In Google For Real Estate Investors?
Even though we have access to probably the best data in the entire real estate investor website industry because of the 10k+ leads per month our members generate and the many many many top search rankings they have with their InvestorCarrot websites…
… we wanted to make sure there was actually a correlation.
Recently a report put out by a top SEO firm, showed their own data on the ranking factors that Google is showing right now in their search results. Notice how high the correlation of social media (including Google +) activity they’re finding in the top ranked websites across the web.
Surprising Google +1 Correlation: As part of a well optimized website, Google +1’s are showing up more and more in top websites according to this report by SearchMetrics. But, don’t let this blind you from the other important factors that are just as important on your website.
You’ll also notice that just in this one graphic there are many many more things that also are showing up in websites that rank high… so don’t take this article as telling you to go out and buy 100 Google +1’s from Fiverr and your website will rank well.
That’s not the case.
Google +1’s Aren’t The Only Answer Though…
Yes, one of the first things we have our members do now on their websites is share their website with their friends and family to get some Google +1’s on their websites… which we make really easy with our built in social media buttons that you can easily turn on or turn off.
But we do that just to cover our bases.
Your website still has to be built to…
- Have great content on the whole site that is optimized well for the search phrases sellers, buyers, tenants are typing into Google (which our system makes easier for you)
- Engage the visitor to stay on your website and click around (which Google looks at as a ranking factor)
- Have the elements in the actual website code that Google is looking for (which Carrot sites are built to be liked by Google from the ground up)
- Have solid backlinks pointing to your website (which we have training showing you how to do this)
All this to say… that there’s a lot that goes into getting your website ranked well in Google for search phrases motivated sellers, cash buyers, private lenders, tenants are typing into Google to find what you offer.
Google +1 action is just one of the latest things we’re seeing the top ranked websites have in common versus the websites that are ranked lower.
So, How Can You Get More Google +1’s For Your Website?
Again, don’t look at this as a quick “SEO fix”. It’s not.
Getting some good social media “likes” is just one part of the puzzle to outrank your competition in Google for your real estate investing business.
But here are some quick easy ways to get some more Google +1 action on your website to give it a better chance of ranking well in your market (if your site is built and optimized with the other SEO factors in mind. If not, take a look at InvestorCarrot to save yourself time and money).
- Setup Facebook and Google + sharing buttons on your website (just put them on your homepage and your blog post pages).
You can have your web guy do this for you… or if you’re using WordPress and you want to keep hacking your own site together… grab a plugin and configure it. This is all built into your InvestorCarrot websites and pre-configured so you don’t have to do anything at all. - Create your own Google + account and go to your website, and click the “G+1” icon and while you’re there… hit the Facebook “Like” too
- Share your website with your friends and family via email and Facebook with the quick message below:”Hey [name], we’re starting to really grow our real estate investing business and have been working on our website [insert your url here]. Can you check out my website and give me feedback? It would help a ton!- [your name]PS – While you’re there… can you scroll to the bottom of the page and click the “Facebook Like” and “Google +1” buttons too?! It’ll help us out a ton. I’ll love ya forever! “Simple eh?
- Do the same thing with your colleagues at your local REIA, your workplace, etc. Get as many people in your network to G +1 your website
That’s it.
That should get you at least 10-20 likes and +1’s… and give you a great head start.
What’s Next For You As A Real Estate Investor Trying To Rank Well In Google?
First, keep an eye out for new changes from Google.
It seems they come out monthly now.
Make sure you’re subscribed to our blog for weekly updates just like this to help you get better results with your real estate investor websites… and by better results… we mean ranking better, converting higher, and getting more leads and deals.
We send out weekly online marketing updates for real estate investors that’ll help you stay ahead of the competition.
Last, focus on quality and focus on what you do best.
If you’re not a web guy, not an expert on SEO, and not an expert on conversion rate optimization… leave that up to someone else… or another system that makes it easier (or does it for you) like InvestorCarrot.
The reason so many real estate investors are seeing such awesome success with Carrot is because we’re the experts in building websites that make it easier to attract high quality visitors… and once the visitors get there, our websites convert higher than the average real estate investing website (as this post shows).
Whatever you choose… get out there and focus on getting your website ranked higher whether it’s leveraging our tools or your own time and energy. We have members generating dozens and dozens of leads per month and turning those into multiple deals per month… just from SEO.
Search Engine Optimization has some of the highest return on investment around… it just takes some time and commitment to do the right things on your website to get yourself ranked higher.
Hit me with your questions or just comments on what you’ve seen SEO wise in the comments section below. I’d love to hear from you!!!
