Let’s cut right to the chase: we’ve selected over 200 best SEO keywords for real estate for you.
You can find them below and/or make a copy of a free spreadsheet that already contains all of them. The spreadsheet will give you a high-level overview of all your target keywords + help you monitor your real estate SEO efforts.
Before we get to that, though, let’s see why you should optimize your website for real estate keywords in the first place. You should know what results to expect, right?
So let's get to it!
Optimizing your website for real estate SEO keywords helps you:
As an example, consider the top-ranking results for the keyword “buying a vacation home:”
These top-ranking pages attract the most users typing in this specific keyword into Google. And that means they also have higher chances of converting more people into clients — which is probably your end goal, too.
For further proof of how important SEO is, consider these statistics:
With that in mind, let’s see how you can attract more traffic through organic search.
Below, we’ve extracted over 210 SEO keywords you can use on your real estate website. Some of these will be a better fit for informational, while others will work better for commercial pages.
Some keywords, like “real estate near me,” may require a different approach. Instead of adding them word-by-word to your website, you can consider investing in local SEO (especially off-page local SEO).
Consider consulting an SEO expert or a professional link building agency if you need more help or information.
Let’s kick this off by looking at high-level real estate SEO keywords.
These keywords typically have high difficulty, which means you probably won’t be able to rank for them without quality backlinks and high authority.
Still, that’s not to say you shouldn’t target them. However, we highly suggest you do so by combining great content with great off-page SEO:
As the name suggests, lead generation queries can help you generate leads — i.e., attract, identify, and cultivate clients. Here are some such SEO keywords for real estate:
Some of these may be a better choice for blog posts, while others — like “free home valuation” — may be a better fit for static pages.
These SEO keywords will help you attract people looking to buy property — whether it’s a house, an apartment, a mobile home, or something else:
These keywords can also be way more specific. For example, they can specify that a house must also have a pool or a gym. We’ll give you more specific iterations of these keywords below.
Also, note that some of these keywords have higher buying intent than others (e.g., “# story house for sale” vs. “steps to buying a home”). Take this into account when planning your content.
These SEO keywords for real estate encompass queries that target sellers.
Target them if you want to sell your services to people selling or looking to sell their property:
Real estate renting queries are SEO keywords that focus on renting (out) a property.
Target them if you want to work with renters:
Real estate insurance keywords may or may not be a good choice for you, depending on the services you provide.
However, even if you don’t provide insurance yourself (or don’t work with insurers), you can still consider targeting these keywords to provide valuable information to potential prospects. Offering free value upfront may help you eventually turn them into clients.
Top lists keywords are real estate-related keywords that can make for great listicles.
They’re typically searched for by users with high buying intent:
Let’s now look at some real estate SEO keywords that leverage highly specific descriptors.
Such keywords could lead to higher conversion rates than more general keywords, as the buyer knows exactly what they’re looking for. If you can deliver that, you’re very likely to close the deal:
Reviews and comparison keywords focus on comparing/reviewing usually multiple different options, such as buying versus renting a home.
These keywords can be a good fit for both informational and commercial pages, depending on the user intent and how you personally want to target them:
For example, you can target “buying vs renting a home” with an informative blog post, but also a tool that allows users to calculate and compare total long-term costs.
Here are some real estate questions that buyers, sellers, investors, etc. frequently type into search engines:
These questions make for great keywords to target with informational pages, such as blog posts.
Other keywords you can target include currently-trending real estate keywords — i.e., keywords users increasingly search for in recent days, weeks, or months. You can find such keywords using specialized tools, such as Google Trends (free).
Here are some such keywords:
You can find more yourself by entering different seed keywords into tools like Google Trends. Make sure to adjust the location according to the audience you want to target.
In recent years, we’ve seen a significant uptick in “hyperlocal searches” in real estate.
Many users leverage Google’s geo-location abilities by typing in “[keyword] near me” and relying on the search engine to determine where they are and which properties to show them based on their location.
That’s why, as we’ve already mentioned, you also want to invest in local SEO in order to rank for keywords such as “rentals near me,” “realtor near me,” etc. This can be done through building local-specific backlinks and a robust Google Business profile.
Other users, however, are still typing in their desired location themselves. This is especially true when they’re looking for a property or a realtor that isn’t necessarily ‘near them.’
In this case, you can expect to see keywords such as “home for sale in california” or “apartment for sale in new york.”
To optimize your content for such keywords, simply add the location next to the keywords you’re targeting.
Here are some examples to get you started:
It’s ultimately up to you which location-specific word you’ll use. It will also, of course, depend on where the actual property or your agents are located.
Want to have these keywords in one place? We’ve collected them for you in this easy-to-use spreadsheet. Use it to track the keywords you’re targeting with specific pages on your website.
Feel free to tailor it to your needs. For example, consider adding positions in the SERPs or monthly traffic.
So, how is SEO used in real estate? And how can you use the keywords we’ve listed for you above?
Well, as mentioned, one way is to create unique pages that target different keywords.
For example, “when to contact a realtor to sell your house” is a great keyword to target with an informative blog post. The keyword “commercial real estate,” on the other hand, may be a better fit for a static page on your website showing listings of commercial property.
Either way, here’s what the process usually looks like:
However, as mentioned, some of these keywords — especially the more general ones with high buying intent, such as commercial or residential real estate for sale — may be very difficult to rank for without quality real estate backlinks.
So, for best results, combine on-page SEO with off-page SEO.
Also, don’t forget to monitor your results. You can do so with tools like Google Analytics 4 (GA4), Google Search Console (GSC), or third-party tools like Semrush and Ahrefs.
Finally, consider which real estate keywords you should target.
Ask yourself the following questions:
Once you settle on a keyword, consider also which type of content you should create to target it.
As we’ve already mentioned, some keywords are a better fit for commercial (e.g., listings), while others are a better fit for informational pages (e.g., blog posts).
This depends on the user intent behind typing a keyword into a search engine.
To determine the user intent, you can use common sense (“why would someone search for this? what are they expecting to find?”), as well as look at the current search results for your keyword.
For example, the top-ranking search results for “commercial real estate for sale new york” include property listings:
This tells us that the user intent here is likely commercial (and not informative).
With that in mind, you shouldn’t try to create blog posts targeting this keyword, as it wouldn’t be effective. Instead, optimize your listing page for this keyword.
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