SEO for B2B Real Estate: Complete Guide to Dominate Your Competition

Over 80% of tenants and investors looking for commercial real estate use the Internet to conduct their own research.

Besides, 59% of people begin their commercial real estate search with an online tool or marketplace, and 78% of them use online commercial real estate services or tools.

That’s why you need SEO for B2B real estate.

You need a solid website that ranks high, is easy to index, and has all the necessary tools and content assets.

This article will teach you how to achieve those SEO goals based on our agency’s experience and in-house tactics.

Let’s begin.

TL;DR:

• SEO Importance: Over 80% of B2B tenants and investors start their commercial real estate search online, making SEO crucial for visibility and attracting qualified leads.
• User and Search Engine Focus: Effective SEO improves experience for both site visitors and search engine crawlers, enhancing site indexing and visitor retention.
• Continuous Marketing: Unlike temporary ad campaigns, a robust SEO strategy offers ongoing benefits, acting as a "silent salesperson" to continuously draw traffic and generate leads.
• Specialized SEO Services: B2B real estate requires tailored SEO strategies due to unique industry needs, including both broad and detailed targeting in keywords and content.
• Technical Optimization: Emphasizes the importance of mobile-friendly design and fast loading times to accommodate the high volume of mobile users and improve Google rankings.
• Comprehensive Strategy Elements:
  • Technical SEO Audit: Identifies and fixes site issues to enhance visibility.
  • Speed Optimization: Crucial for user experience and ranking.
  • Mobile Optimization: Ensures the site is functional and user-friendly on mobile devices.
  • Competitor Analysis: Informs strategy by understanding market positioning and competitor tactics.
  • Keyword Optimization: Focuses on selecting the right keywords to attract relevant traffic.
  • Local SEO: Targets geographically relevant keywords to reach local clients.
  • Content Quality: Enhances product pages and blogs with high-quality, relevant content to engage users and improve rankings.
  • Link Building: Develops a strong backlink profile to boost site authority and ranking.
• Avoid Unethical Practices: Warns against risky SEO tactics like keyword stuffing and using Private Blog Networks (PBNs), which can damage reputation and rankings.
• Engagement and Conversion: Stresses creating a user-centric website that not only attracts visitors but also converts them into leads through effective content and SEO practices.

Why Do You Need SEO for Your B2B Real Estate Company?

SEO literally means search engine optimization, but who are you optimizing your website for? 

Remember: You’re improving your website for both your website visitors and search engine crawlers.

• If your website visitors have a better experience on your real estate site, they’ll spend more time on it and return for future advice, product listings, or even purchases.
• If search engine crawlers have a better experience on your site, they can index it better.

Basically, SEO is your silent salesperson working 24/7. 

Insider story: The real estate companies we worked with relied heavily on cold calls, ads, and references.

This approach can lead to a never-ending investment cycle in active marketing and sales efforts. 

So, you can never stop if you want your business to keep growing.

But unlike cold calls or ads that stop when your budget dries, a strong SEO strategy boosts your real estate business's online presence continuously. 

Basically, you’re building your reputation and online presence to attract potential clients actively searching for your services.

Every click is a step closer to a qualified lead after you’ve built a sustainable SEO machine, even when you’re slowing gears.

What Makes B2B Real Estate SEO Services Different?

You can't hire a generic SEO agency if you want good results for your real estate website.

B2B real estate SEO services differ from SEO services for other industries because your niche is unique.

Here are just three SEO issues we take into account at Blue Things.

Set Correct SEO Goals for B2B Real Estate

In real estate SEO, you aim to attract both people ready to buy and those still exploring.

Therefore, your target keywords need to cater to both ends: the bottom of the funnel for immediate conversions and the top of the funnel for awareness and education.

This approach ensures a steady stream of qualified traffic, which, in turn, enhances your conversion rate and brings in high-quality leads.

Your Website Needs B2B-Friendly Product Pages

Your product listings should attract a B2B audience of decision-makers in companies.

Besides, real estate product pages in themselves are very unique compared to ecommerce or DTC websites.

That’s why they must be optimized with engaging visual content and precise keywords that reflect your website architecture and localization. 

But that's not all. 

Insider tip: We also advise our clients to offer valuable content like blog posts, white papers, and tools such as online calculators.

This content variety boosts your online presence and attracts potential B2B link partners or content creators in your niche. 

And expanding your link profile with their valuable mentions ultimately enhances your search engine ranking, making you more visible to qualified traffic.

Focus on Technical Optimization: Mobile and Speed

Today, many potential customers browse for properties on their smartphones, B2B or not.

That’s why mobile optimization is a must. 

Your website needs to be fast and display well on mobile devices. 

You need that because a seamless user experience on mobile ensures potential clients stay engaged with your content longer.

Therefore, your bounce rate decreases and website visit depth increases, boosting your website's Google rankings so you can become even more visible.

Our Agency’s Tried-and-Tested SEO Tactics for B2B Real Estate 

If you've read so far, you’re probably ready to hire an SEO agency or kickstart your own B2B SEO campaign. But to avoid any downfalls, focus on the SEO elements below.

We’ve tried and tested them all with awesome results.

We’ll also give you all the necessary tools and actionable steps so you can even start today.

1. Technical SEO Audit

Insider story: We had tons of clients with decent websites and link-building efforts, but their websites were still not ranking because of technical issues.

That’s why we always start with a technical SEO audit and advise our clients to do it as well.

This way, you can solve the issues hindering your online visibility and search engine ranking in hours. 

Tools we use:

• We like Google Analytics and Google Search Console because they offer insights into your site's performance and user behavior.
• SEO tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs are more in-depth because they help you understand your site's technical health, keyword rankings, and competitive landscape.

Steps to do it:

• Site architecture: Check if your real estate website has a logical structure that makes it easy for search engines and online users to navigate.
• Broken links: Identify and fix any broken links within your site. These can frustrate users and negatively impact your search engine ranking because they affect your website architecture.
• Meta titles and meta descriptions: Your SEO tool will show you incomplete meta titles and meta descriptions that negatively affect indexing as well as click-through rates.
• Internal linking: Check your internal links distribution because it helps users navigate your site and distribute page authority across your website.
• Keyword optimization: Ensure your content includes relevant keywords without keyword stuffing. This helps in matching user queries to your content.
• Technical SEO Issues: Look for technical issues such as duplicate content, confusing URLs, lack of image ALT tags, and toxic links that could be affecting your site's SEO performance.

Let’s look at the commercial real estate website Knight Frank.

They have two major SEO problems, according to Ubersuggest.

The first is that 90 our of their 150 pages are broken.

And secondly, their desktop speed needs significant improvement.

2. Speed Optimization

We always advise our B2B real estate clients to focus on speed optimization, even before content.

That’s because speed directly impacts user experience and search rankings.

A fast website keeps potential clients engaged and reduces bounce rates, so they’ll explore more of your property listings and real estate services.

Tools we use:

• Google's PageSpeed Insights: We get a lot of detailed recommendations to improve your website's loading times from this SEO tool.
• GTmetrix: It has good insights into your website's performance and practical optimization tips.

Here’s a complete guide for this made by our friends over at Ahrefs:

Steps to do it:

• Image optimization: If we had a penny for every time image optimization was the main speed issue, we wouldn’t be running an SEO agency anymore. Or we’d do it from the Seychelles. So, ensure images on your site, especially for property listings and visual content, are compressed without losing quality. This reduces load times and enhances user experience.
• Minify CSS, JavaScript, and HTML: Remove unnecessary characters from your code to speed up your website's processing time.
• Leverage browser caching: Set up your website to store elements in the user's browser so they don't have to reload whenever they visit your site.
• Improve server response time: Consider upgrading your hosting solution if your server response time is slow because this can delay your page loading times.
• Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN): CDNs distribute your content across multiple servers worldwide, speeding up access for users no matter their location.
• Reduce redirects: Each redirect triggers an additional HTTP request, slowing down your website. Minimize them where possible.

3. Mobile Optimization

Everyone has a smartphone today, and your B2B potential clients use theirs to search for properties.

A mobile-friendly site ensures a seamless user experience, so you can keep your prospective customers engaged and improve your search rankings as a direct consequence.

Tools we use:

• Google's responsive tester: This evaluates your website's mobile design and usability.
• A responsive design checker: For example, this calculator allows you to see how your website looks on different devices.

Here’s how to use Google’s tool:

Steps to Do It:

• Responsive design: Implement a responsive website design that automatically adjusts content and layout based on the device's screen size. This ensures your property listings and real estate services are easily accessible on any device.
• Touchscreen navigation: Optimize navigation for touchscreens, making it easy for users to tap menu items and links without frustration.
• Compress images and content: Similar to speed optimization, compress images and content to reduce loading times on mobile devices and improve the overall user experience.
• Avoid Flash: Flash isn't supported by most mobile devices and can slow down your page, so use modern web technologies like HTML5 instead.
• Font and button Size: Ensure your text is readable and buttons are easy to tap on a small screen. This enhances readability and interaction for users exploring your site.
• Mobile-first content: Prioritize content that mobile users are most likely to seek, such as property listings, contact information, and easy navigation to services and blog content.
• Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP): Consider implementing AMP for key pages to speed up loading times on mobile devices.
• Location-specific features: Integrate mobile-specific features like click-to-call for your real estate agency's phone number or GPS for directions to property locations.
• Simplify forms: Keep forms short and simple because filling out long forms can be tedious on mobile devices.

4. Competitor Analysis

We honestly love competitor analysis because we can get insights into strategies that could attract more qualified traffic and generate high-quality leads for our clients.

Here’s how that works.

An in-depth competitor analysis helps you understand your standing in the market and identify opportunities to enhance your online presence.

You will also learn from your biggest competitors' successes and mistakes. 

Tools we use:

• SEMrush or Ahrefs: These tools offer comprehensive insights into your competitors' SEO strategies, keyword rankings, and backlink profiles.
• BuzzSumo: Useful for understanding your competitors' content strategy, including their most shared and engaged content.

Steps to Do It:

• Identify your competitors: Start by listing out your direct competitors who target the same potential clients and offer similar real estate services. Don't overlook smaller, niche competitors who might be employing effective SEO strategies.
• Analyze keyword strategies: Use SEO tools to explore the keywords your competitors are targeting, especially those yielding high search volume and qualified traffic. Look for gaps your website could fill.
• Evaluate content quality and strategy: Review your competitors' content, focusing on its quality, relevance, and how well it's optimized for both users and search engines. Pay attention to their blogs, white papers, and how they utilize visual content to engage their audience.
• Backlink analysis: Investigate the quantity and quality of backlinks pointing to your competitors' sites. High-quality backlinks from reputable sites can significantly boost search rankings. Look for opportunities to acquire similar links.

Let’s look at CBRE, which offers global commercial real estate services.

First, their organic keywords ranking is declining, and so is their traffic in the US and UK:

Now, let’s open the “Content Gap Analysis” tool in the left-hand tab. We can see a lot of missed opportunities in their keyword strategy, such as the ones below:

The first tab after the keywords shows you the monthly search volume, while the next is the keyword difficulty.

So, keywords like “commercial property for rent” with KD 3 and a volume of 8,300 would be extremely lucrative in Knight Frank’s keyword strategy.

And that brings us to the next point:

5. Target the Right Keywords

We can’t stress enough how important it is to target the right keywords to connect with a relevant audience. 

Using the correct keywords basically ensures your website appears in search results when potential clients are looking for real estate services or commercial properties you offer.

As such, you get more organic traffic and qualified leads that end up buying.

Tools to Use for Keyword Research:

• Ahrefs: This comprehensive tool provides detailed insights into keyword search volume, difficulty, and potential traffic they could bring to your site. We love Ahrefs at Blue Things, but we also use SEMrush, Ubersuggest, and other Ahrefs alternatives.

Steps for Keyword Research Using Ahrefs:

• Start with seed keywords: Input broad terms related to your B2B real estate services, such as “commercial real estate” or “commercial properties.” These broad keywords will help you discover more specific phrases, although they’re very competitive:

• Identify long-tail keywords: These are longer, more specific phrases that are less competitive and often have a higher conversion rate. Examples might include “commercial properties for sale in [City]” or “how to invest in commercial real estate.” Ahrefs has special sections that can help you get more ideas:

• Analyze keyword difficulty: Use Ahrefs to evaluate the competition level for each keyword. Targeting a mix of competitive keywords and those with lower difficulty can balance quick wins with long-term goals.
• Consider search volume: Look for keywords with a healthy monthly search volume to ensure there's enough interest in the topics you plan to cover.

For example, “how to invest in commercial real estate” is a solid blog post idea for educational content:

• Check for keyword intent: Understanding the purpose behind the keywords (informational, navigational, transactional) is essential because you want to match your content to what potential customers are searching for. 
• Look at competitors' keywords: Identify which keywords your competitors are ranking for and consider targeting these if they are relevant to your services and have acceptable difficulty levels.

6. Focus on Local Keywords

Local keywords are essential in B2B real estate because they connect you with potential clients in specific areas.

These keywords improve your visibility in local search results, so it’s easier for decision-makers looking for real estate services or commercial properties in your area to find you.

Thus, they increase your chances for qualified leads and conversions.

Three tools we use for local keyword research:

• Google Keyword Planner: This tool helps you find location-based keywords because it allows you to target specific cities, regions, or countries.
• Ahrefs: Offers detailed insights into local search volume, keyword difficulty, and competitive analysis for specific geographical areas. You can also use it for consistent optimization.
• Moz Local: Provides features tailored to local SEO, including keyword suggestions and SERP analysis for local searches.

Steps for Local Keyword Research:

• Set geographic filters: Start by setting Ahrefs to filter keywords based on your target location. This will ensure the data you get is relevant to your area.
• Use geographical modifiers: Add keyword modifiers like “in” to your seed keyword to localize your keywords. 

• Analyze keyword difficulty and search volume: Look for local keywords with a manageable level of competition but a decent search volume. This shows people in your area are looking for these terms.

Here’s an example:

• Identify long-tail local keywords: These are more specific and typically less competitive, like “commercial real estate valuation services in [City].” But although they have lower keyword difficulty, their monthly search volumes might also be lower. So, include a solid mix of them into your content strategy, but don’t focus exclusively on low-volume long-tail keywords.
• Study the SERPs: Check the search engine results pages for your chosen keywords to understand what type of content ranks well. This approach gives you deeper insights into user intent and what Google considers relevant for these queries.

7. Create Awesome Content for Your Product Pages and Blog

Compelling content on both product pages and your blog is essential to engage potential clients and improve your search rankings. 

The question is, what type of content works best for B2B real estate websites?

Our experience shows that you need detailed product pages with attractive descriptions, high-quality images of properties, and relevant BOFU (bottom-of-the-funnel) keywords.

Your blog should offer valuable insights, tips, and industry updates to establish your authority in the real estate market.

It sounds a bit complicated, but a solid content production team can help you get there.

Tools we use for content ideas and images:

• BuzzSumo: This tool helps you discover popular content within the real estate industry to inspire your blog posts.
• Canva: Canva is the easiest-to-use tool for creating custom, appealing visuals and images for your content.
• Ahrefs: Ahrefs recently introduced an AI tool in Keyword Explorer that suggests relevant topics for different search intents. 
• Ubersuggest: This tool has a “Content ideas” tab in its left-side section, which you can click on after inputting a real-estate-related keyword.

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

Steps to Do It:

• Understand your audience: Know what your B2B customers are looking for. For product pages, they need clear, concise property details. For blogs, they seek insights and advice on real estate topics.
• Product page content: Focus on high-quality content including detailed descriptions, key features, and unique selling points of the property. Use high-quality images to showcase properties effectively. Include location-specific keywords and long-tail keywords relevant to the property type and amenities.
• Blog content creation: Offer valuable content that addresses common questions, provides market analysis, or shares tips for buyers, sellers, and real estate investors. Use relevant keywords to improve organic search visibility and engage a wider audience.
• Incorporate visuals: Visual content is key for both product pages and blog posts. Ensure product pages have clear, professional photos of the properties. For blog posts, use engaging images, infographics, or videos to complement the text and improve user engagement.
• Content optimization: Optimize all content for search engines and users. Use relevant keywords naturally, ensure content is well-structured with headers, and include internal and external links to boost SEO.

For example, Knight Frank organizes its content into four categories: Intelligence, Property, Press Releases, and Lifestyle.

And they include awesome images in their articles like the ones below:

Conversely, CBRE has a neat website architecture, organizing its properties into two categories: “For Sale” and “For Lease.”

Insider tip: Ideally, they would include multiple subcategories here as well: 

And their product listings could be more detailed and include more relevant keywords:

Pro tip: Their URLs could use a bit of combing as well:

8. Relevant Pages and Directories

B2B real estate websites need well-organized, relevant pages and be listed in the right directories. 

We advise our clients to do that so they can improve their local search presence and online visibility.

Focusing on these elements makes it easier for potential clients to find and interact with your real estate website, enhancing your chances of converting them into leads and, eventually, clients.

Tools we’ve used for this over the years:

• Google My Business: Essential for local SEO, it helps your real estate business show up in local searches and on Google Maps.
• Moz Local: Streamlines managing your business listings across multiple directories, ensuring consistency and accuracy.
• Yoast SEO: A WordPress plugin that helps optimize your site's pages, including using keywords and meta tags properly.

Steps to Do It:

• Structure your website: Organize your website with clear, dedicated pages for each key area of your business, such as property listings, about us, contact information, and services. Use location-specific keywords and relevant content to enhance each page's relevance.
• Optimize for Google My Business: Create and optimize your Google My Business profile with accurate details, high-quality images, and regular updates. Encourage satisfied clients to leave positive reviews to boost your profile's visibility.
• Directory listings: Ensure your real estate business is listed in relevant online directories and real estate listing sites. Consistency in your business name, address, and phone number (NAP) across all listings is crucial for local SEO.
• Create location-specific pages: If you serve multiple areas, consider creating separate pages for each location. Include local news, property listings, and market insights relevant to each region to improve local search rankings.
• Use Schema Markup: Implement schema markup on your website to help search engines understand your content better. This can lead to enhanced listings in search results, including standout, rich snippets.

9. Link-Building

Link-building is essential for your B2B real estate website because it boosts authority.

Basically, a backlink profile with high-quality links from reputable sites tells search engines that your content is valuable. As such, search engines increase your ranking, which leads to increased online visibility and organic traffic.

Side note: We’re passionate about data-driven link-building at Blue Things.

Tools we use:

• SEO Slack Communities: Platforms like Slack have communities where you can network with others in your industry to find link-building opportunities. 

Pro tip: Our link-building team loves this approach so much that we’ve built our own Slack channel you can join by emailing our friends at snizhana@inbeat.co.

• HARO (Help a Reporter Out): This service connects you with journalists looking for expert sources, offering opportunities for high-authority backlinks.
• Ahrefs: Useful for tracking your backlinks and identifying potential link-building opportunities.

Steps to Do It:

• Create high-quality content: Develop valuable content assets such as in-depth guides, market analysis reports, or interactive tools relevant to the real estate industry. This content naturally attracts backlinks.
• Use HARO: Sign up for HARO and respond to relevant queries where you can provide expert insights. This can lead to mentions and backlinks from news sites and industry blogs.
• Engage in SEO Communities: Participate in online communities and forums related to real estate and SEO. Networking here can lead to guest post opportunities or collaborative content creation, which results in valuable backlinks.
• Guest posting: Contact real estate blogs or local business websites to offer valuable content in exchange for a backlink to your site. Ensure the content is relevant and provides value to the host website's audience.
• Build linkable assets: Develop resources like online calculators for mortgage estimates, downloadable white papers, or interactive maps of real estate trends. These assets can attract links from other sites looking to provide additional value to their users.

Insider tip: Linkable assets are how we boosted inBeat’s organic traffic by 60%. Notice how the website still ranks number one for a slew of calculators:

• Local partnerships: Collaborate with local businesses, community organizations, or real estate events to feature your website on their partner pages or event sponsorship sections.

5 SEO Tactics Real Estate Agents Should Avoid

Commercial real estate is a competitive niche, but ethical and sustainable SEO takes time.

Iffy agencies might propose unorthodox SEO practices to accelerate your results.

But even if they promise quick gains, they can ultimately jeopardize your site's integrity and ranking. Here are the SEO tactics you should avoid:

• Keyword stuffing: Including an excessive number of keywords in your content or meta tags disrupts readability and can attract penalties from search engines. Instead, aim to naturally integrate target keywords within valuable content that genuinely serves your potential clients.
• Buying backlinks: While you can buy backlinks ethically, purchasing them from dubious sources can severely harm your site's credibility and search rankings. You can focus on organically earning backlinks through creating valuable content and engaging in reputable guest posting and link-building practices.
• Duplicating content: Posting identical content across various pages or copying from other websites can confuse search engines, plummeting your site's authority. Ensure every piece of content on your real estate website, from listings to blog posts, is original and informative.
• Using Private Blog Networks (PBNs): PBN backlinks involve creating or purchasing a network of websites for the sole purpose of linking back to your site to boost your search engine ranking artificially. This black-hat tactic is risky and can lead to your website being penalized or de-indexed by search engines.
• Implementing sneaky redirects: Sneaky redirects deceive search engines and users by sending them to different URLs than the ones they initially clicked on. This tactic can be used to manipulate search rankings and is considered deceptive, leading to serious penalties from search engines.

Conclusion

So, steer clear of these risky tactics and focus on genuine, user-centered SEO strategies.

If you want to build a sustainable online presence that attracts and retains potential clients but are unsure where to start, let’s schedule a strategy call.

We’ll use the SEO tactics we described above to skyrocket your online presence so you can get stellar results.