Did you know that according to HubSpot, 50 percent of Google queries are four words or longer? It’s just one reason why Google actually hates your neighborhood pages—and that’s not just our opinion either. It’s a fact!
But how many brokerage sites are taking advantage of this huge opportunity to rank higher in Google for these types of long-tail keywords using neighborhood content? Very few, but it’s not their fault…
Where 99 Percent of Brokerage Sites Go Wrong
Remember, Google is smart. They know the majority of real estate buyers search using very specific phrases when looking for homes—most commonly: “homes in under $450,000.” Google loves this type of precise search because it helps them match the most accurate result.
It’s also a perfect opportunity for you to draw organic traffic by showing off your local knowledge. While many brokerages have some form of neighborhood page content on their sites, unless they’ve hired an in-house team of professional content writers, there’s a high chance their content isn’t unique at all—and if there’s one thing Google hates, it’s duplicate content.
What happens is one site typically ends up getting all the search results for that specific neighborhood. Why? Because they’re the one site that doesn’t contain duplicate content. That’s why Google hates the majority of neighborhood pages—instead they want fresh, unique, hyper-local data.
Another common mistake is having a mismatch of search words to page content, meaning if for some reason on your neighborhood page you mention hockey rinks, Google may be sending you people interested in hockey in that area instead of buying a home. Not exactly what you’re paying for, right?
How to Instantly Fix Your Leaky Lead Faucet
So we already know neighborhood pages are essential to any brokerage website, and we’ve also established that Google favors precise, relevant and contextualized information. Now how do you leverage this “neighborhood trick” to get more organic leads than your competition?
- Start by geographically contextualizing the neighborhood. For example, “Mission is a neighborhood of San Francisco, California.” This will help Google find your page easier.
- Describe the types of homes in the area (use Census or other data sources to be ranked favorably): primarily detached homes, condos, split-level, etc. This sort of localized content is exactly what Google is crawling for.
- Mention the name of specific nearby amenities—grocery stores, schools, parks—and their preponderance in the neighborhood.
- Think about the lifestyle in the area and describe it in detail. Most importantly, you want to invest in high-quality, unique text that is locally relevant and SEO-friendly.
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