Building Your Local SEO – A Property Manager’s Guide to Success

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Building Your Local SEO – A Property Manager’s Guide to Success

Building Your Local SEO - A Property Manager's Guide to Success

  If you had your choice between your property management company ranking first or eighth in relevant searches, which would you choose? Ranking high on Google is a priority for many property management companies, yet it's easier said than done. Local SEO is one of the most efficient ways to increase your property management company's online presence and win more leases.   Many property managers think an SEO strategy seems daunting, but that doesn't have to be the case. This blog will break down SEO and why it's important and provide easy-to-digest tips for creating a successful local SEO approach.  

What is Local SEO, And Why Does it Matter? 

  While regular SEO focuses on increasing your brand's global presence, local SEO allows you to boost visibility in a particular geographic location to connect with the audience in that area. For instance, if your property management company has an Austin location, you would only want that property to appear in the search results of potential residents apartment hunting in the Austin area or those planning to move to the Texas town. If your Austin property appears in search results for someone looking for an apartment in San Diego, the results wouldn't be relevant or useful.   Local SEO is a necessary component of robust localized marketing. To add weight to your local SEO strategy, E.A.T. is a must. If you want to show up at the top of local search results, your properties must shine in the areas of expertise, authority, and trustworthiness. Google considers all three factors when deciding where a business ranks in relevant search results. If you're missing out on any of the three, you're losing a valuable opportunity.  

Tips for Boosting Your Local SEO to Rank Higher on Google

 

Expertise

  Being seen as an industry expert matters to Google. Specifically, your local properties must ensure the accuracy of content featured on your local search and social platforms. It may seem like a no-brainer, but if Google discovers your properties have shared inaccurate information, it will hurt your SEO. Take local social, for example. All of your local properties must share correct information and cite their sources. If they're posting a report about apartment prices in the area, are they including where the data is found? Citations are crucial if you want to build expertise.   As a property manager, it might seem challenging to verify that all of your content is accurate across numerous properties, but that's where SOCi comes in. Our social media management software empowers your property management company and local property managers to publish localized content, manage content libraries, respond to social engagements, and analyze performance — all within one powerful platform. This software allows corporate to see the content before it gets published, confirming that all the information is correct.  

  The same goes for local listings. Accurate and updated local listings are essential for local properties. If your office hours have recently expanded because of loosening pandemic-related restrictions, but you still require masks inside the leasing office, your local listings should reflect these changes. Any discrepancy in your local listings information has the potential to damage your local SEO and hurt your chances of ranking high on Google.   You can also build your property management company's expertise through a local social strategy with high-quality interviews or written content from industry experts and by taking charge of your local properties. Meet and exceed the needs of potential residents. If you can anticipate what your residents want in an apartment search, you can ensure that your local apartments deliver. Is a renovated pool significant? Is an efficient maintenance team a must? These are things to consider when building your expertise.  

Authority 

  Authority is the next step in boosting your local SEO. To build authority, your property management company must become synonymous with relevant topics in the industry. As a thought leader, you should be providing prospective residents with the information they need to find the best apartment for them.   Start by partnering with industry experts and influencers. The more you create relationships with these people, the more likely they will mention your business when citing a source, thereby enhancing your reputation. Is there an influence on TikTok that does apartment tours in a city where one of your properties has an apartment? Could you partner with a financial advising firm that will provide tips on creating the right budget for an apartment? These are examples of great opportunities when it comes to being a go-to authority.   If you're having trouble connecting with industry leaders and influencers, try mentioning them in your content or offer a content swap. If you start small and begin to partner with a few industry experts, more will notice and want to be a partner in the future. Your property management company can also boost your authority by increasing the number of mentions you receive online. Whether it's from industry experts, the competition, or prospective residents, social mentions are crucial for local SEO.    

 

Trustworthiness 

  Consumers want to feel confident the businesses they interact with are reliable and have a good reputation. There's always room for improvement when it comes to trustworthiness. As mentioned previously, updated local listings are essential for building expertise, but they also play a role in reliability. Imagine if a potential resident locates your local property listing and leasing office hours through Google, only to find you closed when they try to visit. If someone's first experience with your property isn't a good one, how do you think it affects your trustworthiness?   Up-to-date and consistent local listings are essential to building and sustaining trustworthiness with your prospective residents—and Google. Maintaining current information at each location can seem challenging, especially during a pandemic, but it doesn't have to be. SOCi Listings can help you manage your property's local listings at scale and effectively optimize your online presence and local search rankings.  

  Along with local listings, there are other areas your business must focus on to create trust. Managing and maintaining your customer reviews is also crucial when building trust. Ratings and reviews help consumers know what to expect. Without them, confidence in your company may be harder to come by. On the other hand, glowing reviews and testimonials about your properties or customer service should boost business. Seventy percent of prospective residents visit a property with a higher online reputation. The numbers speak for themselves. Customer reviews and testimonials go a long way to establish trust for your multi-location business.   Finally, your property management company can boost your trustworthiness by providing your customers with quality amenities and service. This one should be a given, but even if you have the best customer service in the world, it will impact your trustworthiness if your amenities aren't great. Your ratings and reviews will also be affected by the level of service and amenities you provide. As we just learned, your online reputation impacts whether or not residents will visit your local properties.  

Gain More Residents and Increase Your Property's Visibility 

  Building a winning local SEO strategy is attainable by following the steps needed to achieve expertise, authority, and trust. As your SEO strategy starts to come together, you'll see an increase in your property's online visibility. If your local property is ranking higher on Google, your leads will start increasing, which will ultimately result in winning more leases. What are you waiting for? Give local SEO the attention it deserves. For more information on how SOCi can help your property management company improve your local SEO efforts through local social media and updated local listings, request a demo today! It's time to take the next step towards ranking higher on Google.