SEO For Estate Agents And Letting Agents

Rightmove, Zoopla and OnTheMarket dominate searches for houses for sale, and an agent's own site will rarely beat them for 'houses for sale in' a town. The searches an agent can win are the ones that bring instructions: valuations, 'estate agents in' a town, 'letting agents near me', and questions sellers and landlords ask before choosing an agent. That is where estate agency SEO should spend its effort.

Compete where the portals do not

Valuation searches, agent comparison searches and local market questions ('how long does it take to sell a house in', 'average rent in') are mostly answered by agents and local guides, not portals. Branch pages with real local knowledge, a valuation page per area and genuine market commentary are what rank here. Each branch also needs its own Google Business Profile, because 'estate agents near me' is decided in the map pack.

Rules that apply to your own website

National Trading Standards' material information guidance says property listings must include certain information from the start. Part A covers the price or rent, the council tax band (rates in Northern Ireland) and, for sales, the tenure, including costs such as service charges and ground rent. The guidance is about property listings in general, so the same information belongs on listings on the agent's own website, not only on the portals.

Letting agents in England and Wales must publish their fees on their website, with each fee described clearly, and state which redress scheme they belong to and whether they are in a client money protection scheme, under section 83 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015. Clear fee and landlord service pages are also what landlords search for, so the compliance work doubles as content.