I have written thousands of community pages for real estate agents and still come across some agents that don’t see the need to put content up on their pages. Instead, they just include the MLS listings, which is good, but not good enough.
If you want to turn your website into a true resource for local buyers and sellers, your community pages need to include much more than just homes for sale. The importance of community pages for real estate agents cannot be undersold. It’s a vital element of a great local website.
Becoming a Local Expert
If you cannot show how well you know a community on your website, how can someone surfing the internet trust you know your stuff? What if someone from another state finds your page and all they see is listings? Then, they find another agent’s page filled with information about the amenities, features, schools, things to do, and the location of the community. Which agent do you think they will choose?
How to Create Excellent Community Pages
Every community is a bit different. Creating pages for your main communities should include the following:
- At least 500 words, but 1,000 words, if possible – Google ranks content higher if it’s longer, as long as it’s high quality and useful. Main communities, such as suburbs, towns, and cities should have at least 500 words.
- List the smaller communities within the larger community with a link to each
- 2-5 high-quality pictures you took yourself or hired someone to take – This is an investment you cannot miss and should be included on each community page. It’s best to take these pictures yourself because generic pictures look generic.
- Listings for the community
Along with your main communities, you should have a page for each smaller neighborhood/subdivision you serve or want to serve. These pages should include:
- 300 to 500 words – These can be shorter because they target a smaller area. You may be competing with hundreds of agents for the cities/suburbs, but only a handful for the actual subdivision.
- Cover amenities, home styles, average sizes, pricing, etc.
- Cover the location and how close it is to main attractions and employers
- Mention the school district and the schools
- Include 1-3 high-quality images you took yourself or hired someone to take.
- Show listings for the subdivision/neighborhood, if possible, along with listings for the larger area
With the right structure including main community pages and smaller community pages, you can become the local expert you want to be.
Benefits of Great Community Pages
The main benefit you gain from putting up great community pages is the local authority. Those finding your community pages will start to see you as a real estate expert in those areas, which makes you a trusted agent to hire. Imagine how much easier it will be for home buyers relocating to your market to trust you when they get many of their questions answered right on your website.
In addition, you’ll gain many important SEO benefits, along with the ability to target local communities in paid search advertising. Community pages on real estate websites also give you a great resource to link to from your blog posts. This creates even more SEO benefits as you build great interlinking on your website.
If you want to be seen as a local expert and you want to become the Go-To agent in your local market, you need strong community pages. I can help you with these pages. Contact us today and find out how I can create excellent community pages for you.
Maybe you need more information to be convinced your community pages are important. Maybe you think just a few hundred words or copying the content from Wikipedia is good enough. This article found on the Real Estate Marketing Blog goes into further detail about the importance of community pages for real estate websites.
