What is Citation Building?
Citation building is the process of creating citations for a business or website in online directories, review sites, and other web properties. Citations mention your business name, address, and phone number (NAP) on other websites. Integral to any search engine optimization (SEO) strategy, citation building aims to increase visibility and authority in local search engine results pages (SERPs).
Benefits of Citation Building for Real Estate Agents:
Real estate agents can benefit from citation building because it helps them establish their presence in local searches. When potential customers search for real estate services near them, they’ll see listings with accurate NAP information that reflects the agent’s location and contact details. Citation building can make it simpler for potential customers to locate you when they require assistance buying or selling a property. Additionally, having multiple citations from authoritative sources increases your trustworthiness as a real estate professional, which could lead to more leads and sales down the line.
Examples of Citations:
Some examples of citations include listings on Google Business Profile, Yelp, Yellow Pages, Facebook Pages, Angi, and more. You should also create profiles on relevant industry-specific sites such as Zillow or Realtor if you specialize in residential real estate transactions or LoopNet if you focus on commercial deals. Having consistent NAP information across all these platforms will help ensure accuracy so customers can easily find you when searching online.
How to Build Citations for Real Estate Agents?
Real estate agents need to build citations to increase their visibility and credibility. Identifying the right platforms and directories is essential for effective citation building. Citing real estate-focused sites like Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com, and Homesnap is important in citation-building.
Creating a consistent NAP profile across all listings is also essential for successful citation building. Ensure that all information matches exactly what appears on your website or other business listing sites like Google Business Profile or Yelp so customers can easily find you online when searching for local real estate services. Optimizing each listing with relevant keywords and descriptions will help ensure it ranks higher in SERPs. This will make it easier for potential clients to find you online when looking for real estate services in their area.
Lastly, don’t forget to utilize local SEO tactics, such as including geographic modifiers like city names in content posted throughout various social media channels. This increases the chances of appearing prominently during searches conducted by people interested in purchasing properties located nearby.
Tips for Effective Citation Building for Real Estate Agents
Claiming existing listings on popular platforms/directories: One of the most effective ways to build citations for real estate agents is by claiming existing listings on popular platforms and directories. It’s important to ensure that any existing listings are claimed as soon as possible since they may be claimed by someone else if left unattended.
Keeping your NAP information up-to-date everywhere: To maximize the impact of citation-building efforts for real estate agents, it’s essential to keep your NAP information up-to-date across all platforms and directories. This means ensuring that any changes in contact details or business location are updated promptly on each platform or directory where a listing exists. Doing this helps maintain accuracy in SERP rankings while avoiding potential customer confusion when trying to reach out with inquiries about properties or services offered by the agent.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Building Citations for Real Estate Agents
Neglecting to be attentive when constructing citations can result in costly errors and wasted effort. Here are some common mistakes that real estate agents should avoid:
Not claiming existing listings on popular platforms/directories: It’s important to claim any existing listings on popular platforms and directories, such as your Google Business Profile, Yelp, or Bing Places. If you don’t claim your listing, it could be claimed by someone else or removed altogether. This will result in lost opportunities for potential customers searching online for local businesses like yours. Optimizing your Google Business Profile and other citations is crucial.
Inconsistent NAP information across all platforms/directories: When creating listings across different platforms and directories, ensure the NAP information is consistent across all of them. Inconsistencies can lead to confusion among search engines, potentially hurting your rankings in SERPs. Additionally, suppose customers see discrepancies between what they find online about your business and what they see in person at your location. In that case, it can create distrust, leading to fewer conversions from leads into sales.
Neglecting to optimize listings with relevant keywords and descriptions: It’s essential that each listing includes relevant keywords related to the services you offer and an accurate description of those services. Hence, potential customers know exactly what they’re getting when they choose you over another agent or agency nearby. Without this optimization effort put into each listing, not only will customers have difficulty finding you, but there won’t be enough context provided about why people should pick you over competitors within the same geographic area.
Embrace Citations in Real Estate
Citation building is important to any real estate agent’s digital marketing strategy. When done correctly, citation building can boost visibility and lead generation efforts. It requires a bit of work, but the rewards for increased online presence and potential customers are well worth it. Consider these guidelines when constructing citations for your real estate business to get the most out of this effective link-building approach.
February 7, 2023