New home prospects are looking for you on the web. Are your homebuilder blog posts structured for maximum exposure in the search engines?
Blogs are a great way to promote news and events to existing prospects, connect with homeowners to build referrals, and communicate with the broker community about your product. But a homebuilder blog can also be a cost effective method of attracting new prospects into your sales funnel through organic search.
Here are 9 ways to structure a search engine friendly homebuilder blog post:
Search Engine Friendly Titles
Let’s say that you are selling new homes in a popular neighborhood called Autumn Creek Glen, and you have a specific home that you want to feature. You could write a title for your existing audience such as, “Featured Home: Maple Crest Plan.” This might entice existing prospects, but you can reach a broader audience with a keyword-rich title such as, “Featured New Home at Autumn Creek Glen.” This way, buyers who are researching new homes in the Autumn Creek Glen community are more likely to find your new homes in the search engines.
Keyword Rich Subheadings
Create a post that is friendly for your audience and the search engines. Break up your paragraphs with keyword rich sub-headers that allow readers to “skim” the blog post and quickly understand the key points. This structure is easier to read and gives search engines more information about which terms to rank your blog post for in search results.
Anchor Text Links
Include anchor text links with keywords early in your blog to increase SEO and to bring visitors to your blog deeper into your website (hint: floor plans are a popular link to bring visitors deeper into your homebuilder website).
Permalinks
Permalinks are the URL that appears in the browser for each blog post. You can create search engine friendly permalinks by including your keyword rich title. (Find out more about customizing permalinks in WordPress.)
Meta Descriptions
Some WordPress themes such as Headway (affiliate link) let you customize your meta description; others default to the first 160 characters of your post. Include keywords here to increase search engine visibility and click throughs.
Photo Alt Tags
Photos are a great way to make your blog post more visually appealing. If you are including photos, create alt tags that are keyword rich, such as “Real Estate for Sale in Autumn Creek Glen: The Maple Crest Plan.”
Tags & Categories
Structure your tags and categories according to how prospects search for new homes on the web. Using our sample new home community, categories might include Autumn Chase Schools, Things To Do in Autumn Chase, Autumn Chase Real Estate News, etc.
Length Matters
Ideally, blog posts should be long enough for the search engines but short enough to keep a readers attention. Target between 250 and 300 words to reach a balance of both goals.
Start Small and Targeted
When beginning to write a blog for search, start with keywords that offer the best chance for ranking. Trying to rank for “Los Angeles real estate” will be much tougher than a more targeted keyword of “Autumn Chase new homes.” Narrower search terms will have lower volume, but a highly targeted audience of potential buyers who are looking specifically for your product – and are therefore closer to a purchasing decision.
3 Comments on "Home Builder Blogs: How to Write a Search Engine Friendly Post"
Thanks for the simple and informative post. It was a great use of my time to read. I was able to take some notes.
“Great use of my time.” This is the best compliment ever. Thanks so much for the kind words!
I
have reviewed your Real Estate Blog. You gave me lots of important housing
business information.
Thanks
Karlos
“Las
Vegas Luxury Home Builders”