Introduction to SEO and Real Estate
The property sector is a constantly evolving market, where competition is fierce and multi-faceted. In this context, online visibility has become an essential competitive advantage. Search engine optimisation (SEO) plays a crucial role in achieving this visibility. Because of the local nature of the real estate industry, local SEO is particularly relevant. The task of a real estate website is not only to attract visitors, but above all to convert these visitors into potential customers. Real estate agencies and advertising platforms therefore need a website that is effectively optimised for SEO in order to reach the specific target audience.
Why optimising estate agency and listing websites is crucial
A website optimised for SEO helps estate agents to generate quality traffic that can easily be converted into leads. SEO also helps to improve website visibility, increase brand awareness and build credibility and trust with potential customers. The more visible a website is in search results, the more organic visitors it will attract, which translates into more leads and sales for the real estate business. In addition, SEO can help real estate listing sites position themselves as a trusted and reliable resource for real estate information, which can boost user engagement and encourage desired actions, such as submitting contact forms or requesting more information.
Need a website?
Ask for a free quote!
html
Overview of the online property market: figures, challenges and competition
In France, more than 95 % of property searches begin on the Internet, according to a SeLoger 2022 study. This figure puts the sector in the same league as travel and motoring, where the quality of the digital experience is now a key factor in the decision to buy. The market is polarised around national players (SeLoger, LeBonCoin, PAP, Bien'ici) and international portals such as Idealist.a (Spain) and Rightmove (UK). Alongside these behemoths, a constellation of 30,000 independent agencies are still trying to capture qualified local traffic. The surge in advertising on Google Ads is driving up the cost per click (CPC) on queries such as "flat Paris 15th" (up to €9 according to Semrush 2023), making SEO all the more strategic for generating sustainable ROI.
This first part sets the scene: competition is twofold (portals + agencies) and users are demanding, accustomed to the UX standards set by e-commerce giants. To stand out from the crowd, methodical SEO optimisation is becoming a major lever, both offensive (generating leads before the competition) and defensive (reducing dependence on advertising). The following sections set out the priority areas, with real-life examples and comparative analyses.
Keyword research and user intention: beyond the same old "buy flat + town
Segmenting research by stage of maturity
Property purchases follow a decision tunnel of 3 to 18 months. Informational queries ("notary fees", "simple/exclusive mandate difference") precede transactional queries ("loft for sale Lyon Croix Rousse"). Agencies that nurture these early intentions through editorial content reinforce their authority (Google's E-E-A-T) and capture the prospect's e-mail address even before they visit a portal. For example, Orpi publishes a 2023 Buyer's Guide which is positioned on the "compromis de vente" deadline (1,600 searches per month, Source: Keyword Tool), a keyword rarely used by portals.
Exploiting long tail data
An Ahrefs audit reveals that 70 % of the volume of property searches is below the threshold of 100 queries/month, in particular the combinations "T3 with terrace +". postcode . In Marseille, "T4 balcony 13007 sea view" generates little competition but attracts an ultra-qualified public. Specialised CMS (Hektor, Apimo) can dynamically inject these attributes into the title and H1 tags of each listing. SeLoger exploits this logic: each listing contains a
Information architecture and internal networking: structuring tens of thousands of ads
Large-scale SEO is based on a coherent taxonomy: city > district > type of property > room > features. Rightmove, in the UK, manages 800,000 listings without cannibalising its pages, thanks to an index-friendly faceted navigation principle: each filter generates a stable canonical URL, while ephemeral combinations are blocked by robots.txt. Conversely, some multi-site agencies let Google index 30 different versions of the same property list (sorted by price, date, etc.), wasting the crawl budget.
Vertical internal meshing (links from district pages to city pages) and horizontal internal meshing (links between similar properties) enhance discovery. Since 2022, the Foncia agency has added a "Similar properties in the same district" block, generating +18 % page views/session (internal Google Analytics communicated at the RENT show). This practice limits the bounce rate and signals consistent entities to Google. The use of precise anchors ("studio for sale Paris 11" rather than "see more") further improves relevance.
Property sheet: On-page optimisation checklist
Basic tags
- Title (65 characters max): include type, surface area, town, differentiating feature.
- Attractive meta description (155 characters): mention the price range to pre-qualify the click.
- Single H1 aligned with the title: essential for shared CMS where Duplicated H1s explode quickly.
- Open Graph & Twitter Card: boost the click-through rate on network shares.
Rich, original textual content
Google penalises the duplication of copy and paste ads from gateways (MLS). However, 90 % of agencies replicate the same description on SeLoger, Leboncoin and their site. Barnes International is changing the game: each new exclusive property is rewritten to a minimum of 300 words by an in-house copywriter, including local vocabulary, schools and shops. As a result, their listings sometimes outrank SeLoger itself on the English version of "townhouse Paris 7", attracting an international clientele with high purchasing power.
Optimised multimedia
- Images: size < 200 Kb, name "appartement-duplex-rue-muffat-grenoble.jpg", contextual ALT attributes.
- 360° video: integration via YouTube (owned by Google, indirect SEO benefits), transcripts integrated in the form of FAQs to enrich the content.
- 2D/3D plans: indexable PDF files, generating long tail traffic (" plan appartement 3 pièces Lyon Part-Dieu ).
- Matterport virtual tour: improves time spent on the page (+65 % measured at Century 21 Geneva).
Schema.org structured data: speaking Google's language
The Offer type combined with Product or Residence can be used to display price, surface area and availability in SERPs. Zillow was a pioneer in the United States; in France, Bien'ici is experimenting with the <realEstateListing>
proposed by Schema.org Issue #299. While we await its native adoption, we combine Product (price) and Place (address) to generate Rich Snippets. A/B tests carried out by Evernest, an agency based in Lyon, showed a CTR of +12 % on mobile thanks to the appearance of the price range directly below the blue title.
Another crucial aspect is that BreadcrumbList data makes the hierarchy more reliable (region > department > town). Finally, the FAQPage markup in the footer of an ad ("What are the compulsory diagnostic tests? Can I make a lower offer? ) takes up extra space in the SERP, pushing competitors further down the page.
Local SEO: the trump card of physical agencies
Google Business Profile (GBP)
The Local Pack absorbs 40 % of clicks on transactional queries such as "Toulouse Capitole estate agency". Optimising the GBP involves: secondary categories ("Apartment rental agency", "Property expert"), geolocalised storefront photos, publication of weekly updates (new products, video customer reviews). Square Habitat doubled its inbound calls in 6 months by responding to each review (positive AND negative) within 24 hours, a strong signal of trust for the local algorithm.
Local pages and semantic cocoons
A multi-branch agency must create a dedicated page for each physical branch, with NAP (Name-Address-Phone) identical to the GBP, LocalBusiness scheme, customer testimonials, journey times from points of interest (train station, university). Laforêt takes granularity to the neighbourhood: the "Laforêt Paris Butte-Aux-Cailles" page includes a paragraph on the history of rue Bobillot, garnering backlinks from local associations and urban blogs. This approach generated +140 % impressions on the query "Butte-aux-Cailles real estate" (Search Console 2023).
Link building and partnerships: capitalising on local roots
Netlinking for the general public (directories, general press releases) is no longer enough. There are natural opportunities in real estate: sponsorship of sports clubs, partnerships with solicitors, participation in local trade fairs. Each event is the subject of articles in the regional press (Ouest-France, Nice-Matin) with dofollow links. The Côte & Littoral agency, based in La Baule, has produced a number of press kits on the growth of second homes post-Covid, obtaining backlinks from Les Echos and Le Monde. Domain Authority (Moz) from 28 to 45 in one year, correlated with +70 % of non-brand requests.
Internationally, the Luxury Portfolio and Christie's Real Estate networks are gaining high-quality cross-links. Each new prestige property is relayed by design blogs and architectural magazines, boosting Topical Authority on related keywords ("mid-century architecture", "contemporary concrete villa").
Technical performance: Core Web Vitals, mobile-first and digital sobriety
Adverts are full of HD images that lead to the Largest Contentful Paint (LCP). Bien'ici has reduced the average LCP from 3.8 s to 2.1 s by implementing WebP + native lazy-loading. For independent agencies, a CDN (Cloudflare free tier) lowers server response times (TTFB). The PageSpeed Insights report recommends a TTI < 3 s; beyond that, Google will lower your ranking, even more so since the Page Experience 2021 update, which has become a mobile criterion.
Mobile-first indexing requires real responsive interfaces: no intrusive pop-ups blocking the contact form, and call the agency buttons visible without scrolling. Immodvisor has found that 72 % of leads are generated in the evening between 8pm and 11pm via smartphone; any latency leads to a flight to a competitor's portal.
Strategic content: blogs, market research and differentiating formats
Neighbourhood blogging and storytelling
Rather than generic articles on how to get a mortgage, which are already the preserve of the banks, focus on the micro-area. For example: the Stéphane Plaza Dijon agency runs a blog called Vivre dans le Quartier des Antiquaires (Living in the Antiques Quarter): top 5 second-hand dealers, average prices per m², garage sale calendar. The result: +180 % organic visitors on queries in the antiques district. Granularity creates a defensive moat: few competitors will invest so much effort in a micro-market.
Lead magnets and inbound marketing
Downloading a PDF guide to LMNP 2024 taxation (Non-Professional Furnished Rental) generates investor leads. Nexity requires a postal address to send a white paper print, offline/online nurturing strategy. The e-mail addresses collected can be fed into a CRM (HubSpot, Salesforce) for updated price-per-m² workflows for your street based on the government's DVF (Data Valeurs Foncières) API.
Webinars, podcasts and YouTube
In 2023, BARNES organised a webinar Investing in Miami broadcast on Zoom and replayed on YouTube. The replay page, enhanced with time-stamped chapters, focuses on buying a French condo in Miami. The Mon Podcast Immo podcasts (professional real estate) offer a backlinks channel; invite yourself as an expert and the episode description will include a link to your expertise page. The transcripts, recycled as articles, boost voice referencing (long queries).
SEO and SEA: synergies to accelerate sales
Paid search remains essential for the launch of new developments, where the marketing window is short (12-18 months). Bouygues Immobilier uses an I-see-paid-then-organic strategy: queries generating a high CPC (>€10) are gradually switched to SEO via informative landing pages, and then the SEA budget is shifted to brand-new lots. A Data Studio tracking system combines SEO + SEA impressions to measure the success of the campaign. cannibalisation rate. Result: -22 % in overall marketing costs per lot sold in 2022.
Monitoring and KPIs: measuring real estate SEO ROI
Key indicators are not limited to traffic. An estate agency is judged by the number of mandates signed and sales made. Modern dashboards include :
- Search Console impressions and clicks (filtered by property type and city)
- Visit > contact conversion rate via Tag Manager (Click-to-call event)
- Conversion time (first click to closing) - BigQuery Data Warehouse
- Acquisition cost per mandate (including copywriter, photographer, SEO manager)
- Customer lifetime value (successive mandates, rental management)
Foncia has correlated an SEO quality score (indexable pages / 404 errors / loading time) with revenue per agency: +6 % in revenue for every 10 points of improvement (2022 internal audit). This approach demonstrates that SEO is a measurable investment, not a cost centre.
Future trends: generative AI, Open Data and visual search
2024 marks the arrival of Google Search Generative Experience (SGE), capable of summarising ads in an AI block. To remain visible, your listings need to provide structured attributes that can be read by AI. Some players are testing GPT-4 to automatically write descriptions, but there is a risk of duplication. prompt including local anecdotes and exclusive information, guarantees uniqueness.
In addition, Open Data APIs (land registry, DVF, EPC diagnosis) feed free price per m² estimators. MeilleursAgents has established itself as a benchmark for this type of tool. Computer vision algorithms (Google Lens) already make it possible to photograph a facade and obtain similar adverts; the photos must therefore include EXIF geolocation and the street name in order to be matched.
Finally, the rise of Search on Map (Apple Business Connect, integration of ads on 3D maps) relies on the quality of GPS coordinates and cadastral polygons. Accurate agencies will gain pre-sales leads on the ground.
Conclusion: a cross-disciplinary, iterative project
Optimising the SEO of a property site is akin to renovating a Haussmann building: you don't just give it a lick of paint, you rethink the infrastructure, strengthen the technical foundations, sublimate the editorial decor and nurture the neighbourly relationships (backlinks). The examples of SeLoger, Barnes, Laforêt and Zillow prove that it is possible to gain a foothold even against the giants, as long as you work on local granularity, content quality, performance and analytical monitoring.
In a world where every millisecond of loading time and every nuance of user intent counts, agencies that adopt a continuous SEO approach will see their pipeline of mandates and buyers consolidated. Like an exceptional property, an optimised site increases in value over time; to delay it is to let the competition take over the view of the sea.