Are you frustrated because your multifamily website doesn't appear on page one of search results when you search for your apartment community's name? You're not alone.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the most important aspects of any multifamily website, but it can be hard to understand why your website isn't appearing in the top search results.
Unfortunately, many multifamily websites don't rank as well as they should because of poor SEO strategies or lack thereof. Let’s examine some common reasons why this might happen and how you can improve your SEO strategy to get better rankings.
Do you have relevant, unique content on your website?
One of the most important aspects of SEO is having relevant and unique content on your website. Search engines like Google use algorithms to determine if a website has quality, relevant information that users are looking for. If your website doesn't have enough content or isn't correctly optimized, it won't appear as high in search results as other websites with better SEO strategies.
Think about what your target audience is searching for. What questions are they asking? What are they researching? What are their biggest pain points and concerns? The answer to these questions are blog topics you should be writing about on your website! These blogs are not only relevant and helpful to your core demographic, but they can help increase your property’s ranking in Google search.
Do you have a backlinking strategy in place?
Another factor to consider is backlinks — links from other websites that point back to your multifamily website. The more quality backlinks you have pointing to your site, the higher it will rank in search engine results pages (SERPs). Good SEO practices can help build up these backlinks over time, but getting started can be difficult and time-consuming.
Building organic backlinks is a slow but surefire way to boost SEO rankings, as search engines view these links as an endorsement of your website's credibility. Fortunately, there are ways to increase the number of organic backlinks pointing to your site without relying on paid services:
Utilize SEO-friendly content: SEO-friendly content will help increase organic backlinks to your website by making it easier for other websites to link to you. Make sure the content on your multifamily website is well written, relevant and includes keywords related to your apartment community's location or services.
Reach out to other industry partners: Contacting industry partners such as local businesses or organizations can be a great way to get quality backlinks pointing to your multifamily website. Consider offering a free service or information in exchange for a link on their website; this shows that you are an authority in the industry and increases the likelihood of them linking back to you.
Engage with other apartment communities: You can also reach out to other multifamily websites in your area or around the country. Consider offering a guest blog post or start an SEO-friendly discussion on social media. Building relationships with other multifamily websites could help increase SEO rankings for your website over time.
Finally, SEO is an ongoing process. As search engine algorithms change and new websites are created daily, your SEO strategy may need to be frequently tweaked to keep up with the competition. Knowing what keywords you should target, having a well-structured website, and keeping track of analytics data will help you stay ahead of the game.
By understanding why your multifamily website isn't showing up on page one of Google search results and taking steps to improve SEO, you can get better rankings and more organic traffic for your apartment community's website. Good SEO practices take time but can have huge, huge rewards in terms of more visibility for your business online. With a little effort and attention to detail, you can get the SEO results you're looking for.
Ashley Tyndall is Director of Business Development for Criterion.B.