Even though we\u2019re emphasizing Google search, this aims true for other search engines.<\/p>\n
The real estate industry vertical must constantly evolve its SEO strategy<\/a> to compete.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re noticing an impact on your real estate business, it\u2019s probably time to invest and add PPC to your strategy.<\/p>\n Here are some PPC strategies, tips, and ad formats specifically aimed at the real estate vertical to enhance your visibility.<\/p>\n This will also consider the challenges and nuances specific to real estate.<\/p>\n So, what makes paid search for real estate so different?<\/p>\n For the most part, the end-user must physically live or plan to live in the location they\u2019re searching for. Investors can certainly be an exception, but they\u2019re still searching for a specific location.<\/p>\n So, for starters, a Google Ads<\/a> campaign for real estate should target users in a specific location \u2013 the location of your property.<\/p>\n Google Ads\u2019 location settings have changed within the last year where you can\u2019t hyper-target to just \u201cPeople in\u201d your location. They have changed it to \u201cPeople in, or regularly in.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s fine. You don\u2019t want to exclude people who want to relocate, and people who regularly visit a location (maybe they commute in for work) are also likely to want to live there.<\/p>\n During the pandemic, we\u2019ve seen a massive shift of individuals and companies picking up their roots in other parts of the country.<\/p>\n There could be a play to target these users in different regions, but this can cause problems on a limited budget.<\/p>\n This challenge is specific to investors running rental properties. If a consumer owns their home, it is highly unlikely they will want to rent.<\/p>\n How do you prevent current homeowners from seeing your advertising?<\/p>\n While a renter is an ideal candidate for a home builder or seller, the reality is they are tied to six-month and, more often, 12-month leases. This makes their eligibility hit or miss on any given day.<\/p>\n You need to build a longer-term relationship with them, so they think of you when they\u2019re ready.<\/p>\n On top of all of this, customers need to be able to afford (and qualify) for the products.<\/p>\n Credit checks disqualify many hopeful candidates for both a new apartment and their dream home.<\/p>\n The good news is that Google Ads is one of the few platforms that can specifically hone in on a qualified real estate shopper, provided the campaigns are set up correctly.<\/p>\n So, let\u2019s start with a plan to optimize a PPC campaign for your real estate business.<\/p>\n It\u2019s one of the industry\u2019s favorite debates (or maybe it\u2019s just the client\u2019s favorite debate): whether to bid on brand terms<\/a>.<\/p>\n The reality is, for real estate, the discovery process is unique and requires a critical investment in branded terms.<\/p>\n Real estate searchers learn about the locations and communities in a wide variety of ways:<\/p>\n These sources, however, do not always provide adequate information.<\/p>\n The result is a branded search on Google for more information.<\/p>\n This also means shoppers searching for your specific brand name are likely your hottest leads.<\/p>\n Make sure you capitalize on these lower funnel searchers!<\/p>\n If you elect to not bid on your owned brand keyword terms, it is likely one of the two (if not both) things will happen:<\/p>\n You aren\u2019t doing real estate SEM correctly if competitors steal your warm leads.<\/p>\n At the very minimum, you should invest in brand terms to protect that coveted top spot on the page.<\/p>\n Under Location Options, <\/em>I like to leverage the recommended setting Presence or interest: People in, regularly in, or who\u2019ve shown interest in your targeted locations<\/em> and Presence or interest: People in, regularly in, or who\u2019ve shown interest in your excluded locations<\/em> initially.<\/p>\n Based on the campaign performance, I may adjust these.<\/p>\n However, these recommended settings help compensate for someone who may be looking for your brand or real estate in your target locations but not physically located in that area.<\/p>\n Next, for city targeting, typically, I start by choosing the largest metro area around the targeted location.<\/p>\n Most often, people will move within the same city or suburb.<\/p>\n You want to avoid missing someone who is moving or relocating from one Florida suburb to the other, for example.<\/p>\n Pro Tip:<\/strong> Use city targeting with nested bid adjustments for a bigger win!<\/p>\n The idea is simple. Incrementally bid down the further out from your target location and, theoretically, as the quality of the lead decreases.<\/p>\n I found that Google defaults to the closest identifiable location to determine the bid adjustment.<\/p>\n This provides an added layer of control when using a more advanced geotargeting<\/a> strategy.<\/p>\n Google rolled out this campaign type nationally in 2019, with additional services added in 2020.<\/p>\n This campaign type is one you must test, especially if you\u2019re bidding on terms like \u201creal estate agents near me.\u201d<\/p>\n In this example, I searched specifically for real estate agents in Cape Coral. The first half of my mobile screen was Local Service ads.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll have to go through a setup process to get started and be eligible for Local Service Ads. You will also have to go through a background and license check in order to be Google Screened<\/a>.<\/p>\n Negative keywords are search criteria preventing your ad from showing up.<\/p>\n For instance, let\u2019s say you have no interest in dealing with certain properties or home types.<\/p>\n You would list those as your negative keywords, and every time someone initiated a search using those terms, it would prevent your ad from showing.<\/p>\n Not many city names are unique.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, not many community brand names are unique either.<\/p>\n The challenge is removing clicks generated by these different city searches.<\/p>\n A simple strategy here?<\/p>\n Set up a separate negative keyword list specifically for State and State abbreviations.<\/p>\n This will weed out many of these duplicate (and untargeted) searches.<\/p>\n Important:<\/strong> Don\u2019t forget to remove the state and state abbreviation of your target location before applying the list.<\/p>\n As Google has become more and more liberal with its keyword matching (even for \u201cExact Match\u201d<\/a>), preventing a wide variety of keyword matching has become even more challenging.<\/p>\n Over the years, I\u2019ve developed a default list of negatives (which you can download here<\/a>).<\/p>\n For each new campaign, applying this list to campaigns along with the state negatives is part of the process.<\/p>\n These negatives include everything from \u201ccraigslist,\u201d \u201chome depot,\u201d and \u201ctiny\u201d (as in \u2018tiny homes\u2019) to \u201czillow,\u201d \u201cresume,\u201d and \u201csection 8.\u201d<\/p>\n Should you elect to download the list, be sure to scrub the list to make sure you won\u2019t be removing anything you actually want to serve.<\/p>\n Detailed demographic targeting is a powerful tool \u2013 not just for Search Ads!<\/p>\n Over the past few years, Google has rolled out additional ways to reach your target users in the real estate space by adding categories around:<\/p>\n It\u2019s important to note that with these audience segments, you can either target, observe, or exclude<\/strong> them.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s also not forget the power of combination.<\/p>\n For example, if your goal is to target renters who are looking to purchase a home, you could create a combined audience that includes \u201cDetailed demographics: Renters\u201d and also must include <\/strong>\u201cLife events: Purchasing a home\u201d or<\/strong> \u201cIn-Market: Residential properties.\u201d That example would look something like this:<\/p>\n It\u2019s also important to understand the nuances of these targeting options.<\/p>\n Some are only available in Display or YouTube campaigns, while other targeting options above can be used in Search campaigns.<\/p>\n Specifically for real estate, you can use the following for Search, Display, and YouTube:<\/p>\n For Display and YouTube only, you can target by:<\/p>\n These targeting options are invaluable to your real estate strategy, especially if you are on a budget.<\/p>\n Try layering on the targeting criteria above for your Search campaigns to ensure you\u2019re reaching the most relevant users.<\/p>\n Google released an Ad Rank formula update<\/a> that now factors in ad extensions.<\/p>\n So, aside from their value for real estate, it\u2019s a good practice to leverage a minimum of three ad extensions<\/a> per ad.<\/p>\n A no-brainer in general for a local business, for nearby searchers, location extensions<\/a> help provide the user:<\/p>\n There are many, many ways to leverage sitelinks in the ad copy. For real estate specifically, floor plan pages are an ideal application.<\/p>\n Not every consumer is the same. Some may be looking for a studio vs. a one-bedroom apartment or a one-story home vs. one with four bedrooms.<\/p>\n Getting a consumer directly to the page they are interested in is half the battle and can drive very high CTRs \u2013 which, in turn, can lead to improved quality scores.<\/p>\n First launched in 2017, the price extension<\/a> is available for both mobile and desktop devices.<\/p>\n If you prefer to reserve your sitelinks for the standard \u201cContact Us,\u201d \u201cAbout Us,\u201d etc. this is a viable alternative and, arguably, a more visually appealing application of floor plans.<\/p>\n Up to eight price \u201ccards\u201d can be added and, once clicked, will direct users to the floor plan or model that they are most interested in on your site.<\/p>\n These cards also expand your ads\u2019 real estate (especially on mobile), which helps block out your competition.<\/p>\n With the explosion of mobile combined with the influx of advertiser investment in the Google Ads platform, being able to speak to the potential lead directly is a gold mine.<\/p>\n A call extension or a call-only Google Ads campaign<\/a> is the ideal implementation for this effort.<\/p>\n Tip:<\/strong> Make sure you align your call extension with your business hours. There\u2019s nothing worse than sending a potential lead to a phone number that keeps ringing or gets picked up by voicemail.<\/p>\n The real estate market is unpredictable. Whether you\u2019re a single agent team or working for a large-scale broker, every qualified lead counts.<\/p>\n Narrow your Google Ads real estate campaigns to exclude as much unqualified traffic as possible to generate more qualified leads. You can do this by following the tips and strategies above.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re new to PPC, it may take some time to find the right mix of campaigns, audiences, and extensions that work best for you. When in doubt, test. And then test again<\/a>.<\/p>\n More Resources:<\/strong><\/p>\n Featured Image: Monkey Business Images\/Shutterstock<\/em><\/p>\n In-post Image #1: Paulo Bobita\/Search Engine Journal<\/em><\/p>\nFirst, Let\u2019s Talk Challenges<\/h2>\n
Real Estate Is An Extremely Local Product<\/h3>\n
![\"Real](\"https:\/\/marketingnewsbox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/real-estate-ppc-tips-for-optimizing-google-ads-campaigns-via-sejournal-jonleeclark.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\nHomeowners Will Not Rent<\/h3>\n
Renters Are Locked Into Long-Term Leases<\/h3>\n
Not Everyone Is A Candidate For Either A Home Or Apartment<\/h3>\n
Bidding On Your Brand Terms Is Super Important<\/h2>\n
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Geotargeting For The Win<\/h2>\n
![\"Google](\"https:\/\/marketingnewsbox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/real-estate-ppc-tips-for-optimizing-google-ads-campaigns-via-sejournal-jonleeclark-1.png\")
Screenshot from Google Ads, June 2022<\/span><\/div>\n![\"Nested](\"https:\/\/marketingnewsbox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/real-estate-ppc-tips-for-optimizing-google-ads-campaigns-via-sejournal-jonleeclark-2.png\")
Screenshot from Google Ads, June 2022<\/span><\/div>\nLocal Service Ads Are A Game-Changer<\/h2>\n
![\"Local](\"https:\/\/marketingnewsbox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/real-estate-ppc-tips-for-optimizing-google-ads-campaigns-via-sejournal-jonleeclark-3.png\")
Screenshot from search for [cape coral real estate agents], Google, June 2022<\/span><\/div>\nNegative Keywords Will Be Your Best Friend<\/h2>\n
Prevent Other City Keyword Matches<\/h3>\n
![\"State](\"https:\/\/marketingnewsbox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/real-estate-ppc-tips-for-optimizing-google-ads-campaigns-via-sejournal-jonleeclark-4.png\")
Screenshot from Google Ads, June 2022<\/span><\/div>\nRemoving Low-Intent Searchers<\/h3>\n
Don\u2019t Forget The Demographics<\/h2>\n
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![\"Custom](\"https:\/\/marketingnewsbox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/real-estate-ppc-tips-for-optimizing-google-ads-campaigns-via-sejournal-jonleeclark-5.png\")
Screenshot from Google Ads, June 2022<\/span><\/div>\n\n
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ALL The Ad Extensions<\/h2>\n
Location Extensions<\/h3>\n
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Sitelink Extensions<\/h3>\n
![\"An](\"https:\/\/marketingnewsbox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/real-estate-ppc-tips-for-optimizing-google-ads-campaigns-via-sejournal-jonleeclark-6.png\")
Screenshot from search for [cape coral homes for sale], Google, June 2022<\/span><\/div>\nPrice Extensions<\/h3>\n
![\"Real](\"https:\/\/marketingnewsbox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/real-estate-ppc-tips-for-optimizing-google-ads-campaigns-via-sejournal-jonleeclark.jpg\")
Screenshot from search for [apartments in new york], Google, June 2022<\/span><\/div>\nCall Extensions<\/h3>\n
![\"Mobile](\"https:\/\/marketingnewsbox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/real-estate-ppc-tips-for-optimizing-google-ads-campaigns-via-sejournal-jonleeclark-7.png\")
Screenshot from search for [seattle real estate listings phone number], Google, June 2022<\/span><\/div>\nThe Bottom Line<\/h2>\n
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