Keyword Research for Real Estate Industry

[360ryan]

I just finished reading the Beginners Guide to SEO at SEOMoz and joined as a Pro Member.  I have created a campaign for my new SEO project and feel like I have a good understanding now of on-page optimization.  I am going to start fixing title tags and on page content for our top 50 pages and start a new campaign to go after some keywords.  Our website is 360dwellings.

I am struggling to determine what the best keywords are for us to target.  Right now our primary markets are Denver and San Diego, we also display listings for all of Colorado as well.

We had originally gone after competitive keywords like "Denver Homes for Sale".  What I am learning is that even ranking bottom of page one for that term doesn't bring a ton of traffic. Meanwhile, we rank well for a lot of niche content like "5280 best neighborhoods" "Denver Lofts for Sale" and "Denver Neighborhood Map".

My questions is do we completely abandon going after big keywords like 'Denver CO Homes for Sale", and 'Denver Real Estate" and go as far as removing them from title tags?  We have pages for every Denver neighborhood like Park Hill and the Highlands, but there is no search data for these searches in Google Keywords.  My gut says that if each of those pages ranked for terms like "Denver Highlands Neighborhood Homes for Sale" that it would bring good targeted traffic.  Does anyone know of search terms for Real Estate that are low competition but have some search volume?

Thanks!

[AdamThompson]

I would recommend continuing to work on the bigger keywords like Denver CO Homes for Sale as a long term goal, while working on the smaller keywords for short term returns.

[FranktheTank-47497]

Hey Ryan,

if you don't get data from google keyword or maybe google insights for search , chances are, there won't be too many searches. But as you say, the long tail (longer, less competitive but highly relevant) queries can bring valuable traffic as well. Prices for ads for those keywords will also help you determine the degree of competition for a term.

I would probably compare your ranking for some of these longer tail keywords (e.g. Position 3 in google), to the data in google analytics, there you can check, how many people came searching for each keyword. Or you use google webmaster tools, they will actually tell you what the rank in google for each keyword was. In my experience, data isn't as precise as in analytics, but it will still help to evaluate if going for longer, niche keywords would be the right thing to do. The most important factor is of course to check, if those customers actually convert and deliver any kind of revenue for you.

Hope this helps a bit, btw, the site looks great!

Cheers

Frank

[znotes]

Google's keywords tool usually does a decent job of suggesting other phrases and terms. You are using the keywords tool, right? If would try words like "apartments, condos, houses, etc.." I have found similar issues with local terms using the keywords tool (no traffic). You can also get some help by playing with  the auto-complete on Google's search bar but it's more vague..also try looking at page source of your competition to see what they are optimizing for, especially in the meta keywords field.

[FranktheTank-47497]

Just read about this: https://tools.seogadget.co.uk/ in Rands Article, maybe it helps.

[360ryan]

Frank, thanks, just read the Rand article and I am checking out seogadget now.  Not bad pricing for less than 1000 keywords.  I want to make sure that I get the keywords locked up before making changes to title tags, content, etc

[360ryan]

So, for our Denver search page do something like the following:

Denver CO Homes for Sale - Realty in Denver | 360dwellings Real Estate

The second term "Realty in Denver" shows 5400 local monthly searches and low competition.

[360ryan]

Thanks Frank, the website has been a lot of work.  We convert really well... just a matter of getting the visitors there.  Our best conversions tend to be the longest types of searches, like exact addresses.  We have individual listings in San Diego but can't for Denver due to MLS restrictions.  We get a ton of address searches in San Diego though, and those seem to convert best.

[360ryan]

Thanks Zack, will do some research on meta keywords from competitors.

[Thos003]

My advice is find the higher converting less competitive terms. Individuals that are search for "Denver Highlands Neighborhood Homes for Sale" are further along in their buying decision than "Denver Homes for Sale". The shorter phrases are more often window shopping. The more detailed the phrase, the more likely they will enter the store and make a purchase. Plus, if you do it right, it is much harder to get knocked knock out by a competitor when you are the first to capitalize on a unique search. If you find some gold in "Denver Lofts for Sale" then try dominating that term.

Large rivers are made up from very small streams.

[360ryan]

Thomas, that just confirms what I was thinking.  If we can spend less time ranking really well (top 3) for deeper niche searches for someone looking to live in a specific area, and times that by 100 then we are getting some really nice targeted traffic.

Since the long tail keywords are usually a broad mix of real estate terms, how do you get one page to rank well for those variations?  In real estate, someone could search for the same thing in a thousand different ways.  Do you go after a bigger term like "Denver Highlands Neighborhood Homes for Sale" in the title tag and then use other real estate keywords on the page like MLS, listings, houses, condos, lofts, etc.  Seems like we get some long tail action just off random words used once on the page.  Any info you can provide on page optimization for longtail searches would be appreciated.