Your company may offer great, professional property management services. But without a strong online presence, marketing those services and attracting new clients will be challenging.
When would-be clients search for management services, you want them to be able to find and click on your website. Here are some key search engine optimization (SEO) tips that can help you improve your website’s rank, get more traffic and build your business.
Title Tags
The title, h1, and meta description tags on your website are extremely important if you want the search engines’ web crawlers to find and rank your content.
Title tags are the web page title or headline that appears in search results. They are also displayed at the top of browser tabs after a user clicks on the page. This means that the title tag is the most important tag on the entire page for SEO purposes.
As a general rule, title tags shouldn’t exceed 70 characters, which is the maximum length that Google will display in search results. You should include relevant keywords in the title tag. But don’t overload it with repetitive keywords, also known as keyword stuffing.
Meta Description
Meta description tags create the short summary of your website or webpage that shows up under the title tag in search engine results. Google doesn’t currently use the descriptions to rank pages, but a good description is more likely to make someone click to visit your site. For example, a meta description for your homepage should include a brief description of your services. Typically, up to 160 characters of your description will show up in Google. While you can write a longer description, make sure to include relevant information at the beginning, so it doesn’t get cut off.
Header Tags
You should also check to see that the HTML code on your web pages makes proper use of the header tag hierarchy. H3 headings should follow h2 headings, which should follow h1 headings. Don’t skip any headings in the hierarchy, such as jumping from h1 to h3 for page headings. This helps the search engine web crawler to properly index your page and evaluate the content structure.
Keyword Research
Identifying good keywords to include in your site’s title tags and meta description is key. You want to anticipate the phrases potential clients will use when they’re searching for the services you offer.
To help you find and test some possibilities, you can use a number of paid tools or the free Google AdWords Keyword Planner. Sites give information on the relative popularity of search terms and how competitive those terms are, which can affect how likely you are to end up on the first page of results.
Link Building
Link building is another aspect of SEO strategy. Increasing your external links by creating great content may take time, but it will also increase your site’s value in the search engine rankings. You should also link to other well-written, relevant industry content. Don’t attempt to “game” the system by providing only internal links on your site or links to other sites that you own. You have the best chance of ranking well in search if your company has been mentioned on a variety of other industry sites or blogs related to property management.
You’ll get better results if your SEO efforts are part of a strategic plan for your online content and marketing. As you make changes, periodically evaluate what’s working well and what needs tweaking. You can use Google Analytics to analyze data about your site’s users, including site browsing behavior and keywords they searched to find you.
For more information about SEO tools and strategies for your business site, check out the following links:
Wordstream’s Keyword Research Guide
Microsoft Advertising Intelligence
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