Using Citations To Rank Your Real Estate Business Better Locally

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Although most realtors in the US have access to Multi Listing Services (MLS), those outside the US don't and must find alternative ways of marketing their business or services to find potential clients independently.

Getting your business the necessary exposure it needs locally is vital and there is no better way than actively promoting it via Citations.

These are listings on quality business directories that contain all the important information about your business and gives readers the information they need when searching for businesses like yours.
In this article, I'll be using one of my clients as an example with all their listings so that you can see exactly what they should look like.

 

Map Listings on Search Engines

Top of the list is making sure you create business listings on both Google and Bing.
Once you fill out all the details requested, you'll be asked to verify the business is yours and is at the address you stated in the listing.

Make sure you fill in as much detail as possible and add photos to enhance your listings to the maximum.

 

Property Portals

There are several major property portals available for estate agents to promote their property inventory to potential buyers and they will vary depending on which country your business is located.

Below is a selection of popular UK and Spain based property portals that target those locations as well as worldwide.

Zoopla
A Place In The Sun
Prime Location
Spain Houses

These portals are mostly paid services so you need to check what your budget is and which ones work best for your needs.

 

Quality Business Directories

You need to make sure you list your business on the main business directories online to increase the visibility of your business and gain trust and authority in the eyes in both the search engines and to potential clients.

Here are some of the more popular directories I added client business listings to.

Yelp
Four Square
Hotfrog
Houzz
Europages

The business directories are mostly free but some may need verification to be able to publish them online.

Business Review Sites

Review sites are really hrelpful when it comes to gaining trust in potential clients because people tend to check reviews of businesses before making any important decisions, especially when it comes to making large purchases like property.

One such website is Trustpilot which helps in the trust building process of any business.
Ask clients or customers to leave reviews of their experience using your business and you need to rememebr that this is an ongoing process.
People reading reviews like to see recent feedback so that they know the information is current. Businesses can change a lot in a year so make sure you keep reviews as recent as possible.

 

Social Media

Last but not least, social media plays its own role in the whole process of building trust and interaction, especially social proof.

You don't have to spend a lot of time updating your accounts on social media but make sure there is some interaction once in a while to let your followers know that you're still active and interested in their comments or questions.

The platforms that I feel are a must for any business are the following:

Facebook
Twitter
Google Plus

Like I said in previous paragraphs, make sure you fill in all the necessary details and focus on quality updates to keep your followers engaged.

 

Final Tips

One thing I see often is business owners not responding to reviews, whether good or bad.
Wherever the reviews are made, make the effort to respond and if the reviewer leave a bad review, try to find out why they did and what can be done to reverse their decision.

 

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