As a multifamily executive working in the Digital Age, you most likely invest in a website to help your apartment community attract potential renters, engage current residents, and execute an overall successful marketing strategy. But, with the demand for businesses to have an online presence becoming greater, competition is now steeper, making it more difficult for your property to stand out in search results.
If you’re a determined apartment marketer, you’ve likely spent hours strategizing various ways to boost your current ranking. With an overwhelming wealth of information available both online and offline, it can be difficult to determine the best place to start. However, by focusing on a few on- and off-page SEO strategies, you can improve your online ranking with little overhead, effort, or headache.
Write Relevant, SEO-Optimized Content
Considering that 84 percent of consumers expect brands to deliver content that tells stories, provides solutions, and facilitates good experiences, it’s no secret that prominent search engines prefer content with substance. However, one of the biggest challenges that marketers face is writing content that appeals to their targeted audience and is effectively optimized for search engine queues. Simply put, effective apartment marketers need on-page content laced with searcher-focused keywords to reel in and engage prospective residents. Remember, SEO is not a one-stop shop. Brands must continually improve upon their current strategy, updating keywords and tags, then analyzing new traffic and results, in order to remain successful.
Improve Your Page Load Speed
Google has repeatedly indicated that site and page speed is a signal used by its algorithm to rank websites. Load speed affects user-experience, and because consumers are now dependent upon receiving instantaneous information, Google dismisses sites to maintain their reputation as the world’s favorite search engine. According to the search engine giant, the ideal site load time is three seconds, but recent reports find that most websites are nowhere near this fast. Website speed heavily depends upon the backend functionality of your website, so your marketing team should consider investing in an apartment website provider that can bring your product up-to-snuff.
Optimize Your Website Images
The old adage, “A picture is worth a thousand words” has never fallen on deaf ears. Consumers love pictures, film, and visualizations. In fact, visual content receives 94 percent more views than text-only marketing. Quality photography, video walkthroughs, and other visual assets have been known to transition casual web browsers into serious prospects. Despite the type of visual material you decide to upload to your site, make sure it’s properly optimized. Pay special attention to file sizes and types—and of course, the ALT IMG tags to your visual uploads, which allows search engines to crawl the image text and keeps your property compliant to new ADA standards.
Increase Your Number of Backlinks
Backlinks are links from outside domains that point to your webpage’s domain, making the name extremely fitting to the concept. For users, backlinks provide a method to find other sources of information, while search engines determine a page’s value based on the number of quality backlinks it possesses. Your objective should be building backlinks on websites that are relevant to your niche—which is, in this case, apartment housing. Other important factors to consider during the backlink building process are domain authority, website traffic, and editorial standards. Again, you might want to consider hiring an SEO strategist to ease the burden of this detailed – but worthwhile – process.
Ensure that Your Website Is Mobile-Friendly
Of all the online ranking factors we’ve discussed, mobile-friendliness ranks third among the most important of Google’s signal factors. Last year, the search engine rolled out mobile-first indexing, meaning it will predominantly use the mobile version of a website’s content for ranking. To achieve mobile-friendliness, you must focus on content that is concise, purposeful, and readable across multiple devices, in addition to incorporating responsive design into your UI/UX strategy. For some companies, this entails auto-resizing the site’s content and visual assets, while for others, it means a completely different appearance altogether. Google provides a “Mobile-Friendly” test tool as a starting point, which displays mobile readiness results that allow you to determine where to invest your resources.
Search Engine Optimization is constantly evolving alongside the ever-changing technology industry. For years, it was assumed that inserting keywords into your website was all it took to reach favorable ranking results. But, SEO is not that simple, which is why it’s crucial for your apartment community to approach SEO with a thorough understanding of its working parts. Doing so will allow you to monitor your website’s performance and implement different strategies to improve ranking. With these simple, Google-approved SEO tips, you’ll be well on your way to re-strategizing your current marketing efforts to obtain the best online ranking results.
AUTHOR
Kerry W. Kirby is a renowned entrepreneur, technology innovator, and philanthropist. He is the founder and CEO of 365 Connect, the leader in providing the most advanced automated marketing, leasing, and resident engagement platform for multifamily communities across the globe. Executing on a progressive vision of creating leading-edge products and services, Kerry has won more technology awards than any other company in his home state of Louisiana, as well as the industry he serves. Prior to founding 365 Connect, Kerry worked in the multifamily housing industry developing communities across the Southeastern United States. Kerry’s eye for finding buildable sites with incredible locations was his formula to creating an array of successful ventures.
Kerry W. Kirby has earned widespread recognition and numerous prestigious awards throughout his career. His accolades include the Louisiana Governor’s Technology Award and Titan Entrepreneur Award, both highlighting his outstanding contributions to the tech industry. For nine consecutive years, he has been listed on the Silicon Bayou 100 as one of Louisiana's most influential entrepreneurs. Most notably, Kerry became the first in the multifamily housing sector to receive the Bootstrapper Award, underscoring his remarkable journey of turning a scrappy startup into a leading proptech powerhouse without external funding.
Kerry W. Kirby serves on the Board of Advisors of Rainbow, a national nonprofit organization that provides service-enriched housing programs for over 32,000 affordable housing units across the country, and general-partner services to an additional 12,300 units. He is Chair of Technology Initiatives for the Multifamily Innovation Advisory Council, an executive membership level organization with over three million multifamily units represented, focused on assisting owners and operators explore innovative solutions that will drive change across the industry.
Kerry W. Kirby and his wife Melinda M. Kirby are actively involved in supporting communities and causes, with an unwavering dedication to humanitarian, educational, healthcare, and equality programs. Through the Kerry & Melinda Kirby Foundation, they provide resources to nonprofit organizations that accelerate progress by championing causes that give a voice to those that are often not heard. They have been highly recognized for their philanthropic commitment, being honored with a Communitas International Award for their significant impact in making a difference in people’s lives.