Keyword selection Google page one for Chartered Surveyors and Commercial Agents

 

We are all aware that a chartered surveyor and commercial agents website provides a shop window to the world. That those windows can potentially provide a huge source of ‘free’ new business leads. Yet if no one ever walks past that shop window and sees you, what is the point in having it?

Yet SEO or Search Engine Optimisation can ensure that not only more people see and visit your company’s website, but that those that do are more likely to be the type of person you really want to be talking to.

The Power Of Google Page 1

A Chartered Surveyor with a page one listing on Google can expect approximately 50% of all the natural clicks compared to just 1% for the Surveyor listed at the bottom of page one. So SEO is pretty powerful stuff then!

SEO is a term that covers a wide range of skills and methodology. It influences the design, architecture, content and on-going management of your website. Nevertheless, SEO is essentially about words and keywords at that.

Content Is King

Most potential clients, whether a landlord, commercial tenant, developer, investor, looking for a chartered surveyor will at least start their search online. That means using a search engine and over 90% of the market in the UK will be using Google.

Google, in fact all search engines, love content and content that is relevant, up to date and constantly changing. That content can be images, video and of course the written word.

Keyword Selection

Google will scan the written content of a website, identifying the keywords and key phrases that categorise the nature of that website. Therefore keywords selection is highly important. So what words to pick?

Perhaps its just best to list every word associated with commercial property and fill your content with them - Commercial property, office space, industrial units, A1 retail, boundary disputes, business rates, compulsory purchase, party walls, property auctions.

Well practically that would be hard to manage, too diverse and like that last sentence, extremely unpleasant to read. Good keyword selection will deliver faster results and enable you to target the most relevant audience for your commercial property practice.

Then again if as a Chartered Surveyor you specialised in one specific area, say party wall agreements, it could be prudent to optimise for “parti-wall” and “parting wall” as well. It would also be relatively easy to manage.

So it is about understanding where your audience is coming from.

The Audience Perspective

Look at the commercial and residential property services that you provide and then put yourself into your client’s shoes. Like any good marketing, the power comes from being able to see from the perspective of the client seeking such services.

Would they use the same terminology that you do as a property professional? If you specialise in garage forecourts and car retail sites for example, does that sector have different terminology? In its simplest form, would a client search Google for “full building survey” or would they actually use “structural survey” for example?

Consider also the competition for certain generic phrases. A SEO provider like Resource Techniques that specialises in the property sector will be able to help you identify clever keyword phrases that have less competition.

Is It Really Worth The Effort?

Luckily for you – the informed and enlightened commercial agents - few of your competition seem to think SEO is worth the effort or are in fact aware of such things. It leaves you with a potentially huge competitive advantage.

Let me leave you with one thought. I know of a firm of West Country Chartered Surveyors, old traditional business with hundreds of years of heritage in the commercial sector. They got serious about their SEO and within 7 months they saw traffic to their website increase by more than 50%. Yet more importantly the company saw a clear increase in value of those leads that they managed to convert from that upswing in traffic.

Philip Burrows, Marketing Consultant