Google Ads For Real Estate Agents – Tried And Tested Strategies

Whether you are just starting your real estate business or are a seasoned veteran, using Google Ads can help you get more leads. By targeting people who are already interested in buying or selling a home, you can save yourself the time and hassle of chasing down potential clients, instead getting them to come to you.

Understanding how Google Search works is key to using Google Ads effectively. When someone searches on Google, they are presented with a list of results that match their query. The order of these results is determined by several factors, including the quality of the website and the relevancy of the content to the searcher's query.

Google Ads allows you to place your ad at the top of the search results for specific keywords related to your business. For example, if you are a real estate agent in Los Angeles, you could use Google Ads to place your ad at the top of the search results when someone searches for "Los Angeles real estate." This ensures that your ad only shows up when you have the best possible chance of closing a client and getting them to take your desired action.

Using Google Ads (formerly known as Google Adwords) does require a bit of up-front investment, both in terms of time and money. However, if you can find the right keywords and create effective ads, the payoff can be huge.

You should only invest in Google Ads if you have a solid marketing strategy. Simply creating an ad and hoping for the best is not likely to yield good results. To get the most out of Google Ads, you need to understand your target market, what they search for, and how to reach them.

Your real estate business plan needs to consider various factors, including your budget, the type of property you are selling, and your target market. Google Ads can be a valuable part of your overall marketing strategy, but it is not suitable for every real estate business.

In addition, when you are setting up your real estate marketing plan, you need to consider the type of leads you are hoping to generate. For example, if you are focused on generating buyer leads, you will want to target keywords related to people searching for homes in your area. On the other hand, if you are looking for seller leads, you will want to target keywords related to people looking to list their homes.

Furthermore, knowing what immediate actions you're going to take when people click on your ads is key to a successful real estate marketing strategy. When someone clicks on your ad, Google will take them to a landing page (a page on your website) relevant to the keyword they searched for, and that provides them with more information about what you have to offer.

If you cannot drive traffic to an effective landing page on your site, you will not get the results you are hoping for from your Google Ads campaign. Instead, you'll just be wasting your money. To be successful, you need to ensure that everything from your ads to your website is optimized for conversion.

A massive part of practical real estate marketing is staying within your budget. Google Ads allows you to set a daily budget for your campaign, so you never worry about overspending.

The cost of your ad campaign will vary depending on the keywords you choose to target. The more competitive the keyword, the higher the price you will likely pay per click. 

Generally speaking, you should expect to pay around $2-$3 per click for a closely related keyword to your business. However, this can vary significantly depending on the industry and even the locations that you are targeting.

It is important to remember that you do not have to use all of your budget in one campaign. You can spread your budget out over multiple campaigns or even different types of ads. This will help you better target your audience while testing out various strategies to see what works and what doesn't.

Before diving deep into how real estate agents should use Google Ads, it is essential to understand the terminology involved. Here are some of the most common terms you will encounter.

Landing Page

The page on your website that someone is taken to after clicking on your ad. This page should be relevant to the keyword they searched for and provides more information about what you have to offer. Creating real estate ads without a relevant landing page will likely result in a low conversion rate. The quality of your landing page also impacts the health of your Google Ads account. I'll get into landing pages in more detail later on in this article.

Campaign

Search ads, display ads, shopping ads, and video ads can all be a part of a single Google Ads campaign. You can set different budgets and targeting options for each campaign, so it is essential to create campaigns specific to your needs.

Ad Group

Your real estate ad campaign will likely be divided into several ad groups. This helps you target specific keywords and ads to different parts of your audience. For example, you may have one ad group for people looking to buy a home and another for selling their homes.

Text Ad

Text ads are the most common type of ad on Google. They are short, catchy, and often include a call to action. Based on your choice, they appear at the top of the search results page and on other websites that partner with Google.

Here's an example of a potential text ad:

This ad is relevant to the keyword "dentist Los Angeles" and includes a call to action, making it more likely to result in a click.

Keywords

The real estate industry is very competitive, so choosing the right keywords for your campaign is essential. As mentioned in the previous point, these are the words or phrases that people will search for when looking for a product or service like yours. 

If you choose keywords that are too general, you will likely have a lot of competition, and your ad may never be seen - unless you spend a lot of money. On the flip side, if you go too specific, your ads will only be seen by a few people, which isn't good practice anyway.

Negative Keywords

As a real estate agency, you will want to target people interested in buying or selling a home. However, there are also some keywords that you will want to avoid. These are called negative keywords.

Broad Match Keywords

Broad Match keywords are the most general type of keyword. When someone searches for one of your Broad Match keywords, Google may show your ad if it closely matches their search terms.

Phrase Match Keywords

Phrase Match keywords are similar to Broad Match keywords, but they must all appear when someone searches on Google.

Broad Match Modifier

Broad Match Modifier keywords are similar to Broad Match keywords, but they allow you to include or exclude certain words from your search.

Exact Match

Exact match keywords are the most specific type of keyword. When someone searches for one of your Exact Match keywords, Google will only show your ad if it is an exact match to their search terms.

Ad Extensions

Ad Extensions are additional features that you can add to your ad to make it more effective. For example, you can add your phone number or address to your ad so that people can quickly get in touch with you.

Impressions

An impression is when your ad is shown to someone, regardless of whether they click on it.

CPM (Cost-Per-Thousand Impressions)

CPM stands for Cost-per-thousand impressions. This is the amount you will pay for your ad to be shown one thousand times.

CTR (Click-Through-Rate)

CTR stands for Click-through-rate. This is the percentage of those who click on your ad in relation to all that see it.

CPC (Cost-Per-Click)

CPC stands for cost-per-click. This is the amount you will pay per instance when someone clicks on your ad.

Average CPA (Cost-Per-Action Or Cost-Per-Acquisition)

The Average CPA is the average amount you have paid for each conversion.

Quality Score

Google assigns a Quality Score to every ad and keyword in your account. The Quality Score is based on several factors, including the quality of your landing page and the click-through rate of your ad.

Conversions

A Conversion is when someone completes a desired action, such as filling out a contact form or making a purchase.

Now that you know plenty of necessary terms related to Google Ads, let's go over the types of campaigns that you can run. First of all, the type of campaigns you choose will depend on your goals. With multiple options in this regard, your final choice will always depend on your ultimate objective.

These are some ideas to get you started:

Google Ads work on an auction-based system. This means that advertisers compete against each other to show their ads to potential customers.

When you run a Google Ads campaign, you will need to set a budget for your campaign. This is the amount you are willing to spend on your campaign per day.

You will also need to set a bid for each keyword you want to target. This is the amount you are willing to pay for each click on your ad.

Your bid and your quality score will determine the position of your ad on Google. The higher your quality score, the less you will need to bid to have your ad shown in a good position.

When someone searches for a keyword that you are targeting, Google will look at all of the ads running for that keyword and decide which ones to show and in which order.

If you are the only one bidding on a particular keyword, you will pay the minimum amount required to get the ad shown in that position.

Once someone has clicked on your ad, Google will take them to your landing page. This is the page on your real estate website that you want them to land on when they click on your ad.

It is essential to have a well-designed landing page relevant to your ad and easy for potential customers to use. If your landing page is not appropriate or easy to use, people will likely leave your site without getting what they want, increasing your ad cost.

This happens as Google will determine that you are not providing its users with the information they're after.

Your real estate website's landing page is one of the most critical pages on your site. This is the page where people will land when they click on your Google Ads. 

It is essential to have a well-designed landing page relevant to your ad and easy for potential customers to use. If your landing page is not appropriate or easy to use, people will likely leave your site without action.

Here are some tips for designing an excellent real estate landing page:

A well-designed real estate landing page can be the difference between success or failure when running a Google Ads campaign.

While your ads might appear in Google searches immediately after they are approved, it's essential to keep in mind that Google is constantly testing ads. Your ad might not always appear in the same position or even on the first page of results.

Google is constantly changing its algorithms to determine which ads to show and where to show them. This means that you need to monitor your campaign and make changes as necessary continually.

While Google Ads are a great way to generate leads for your real estate business, it's important to remember that it's not a set-it-and-forget-it type of campaign. You need to monitor your ad placement and make changes as needed.

If you're not willing to do that, you might consider hiring a real estate professional specializing in marketing that can take over your Google Ads campaigns.