Luxury real estate firms are increasingly hiring digital specialists and search-engine optimization (SEO) experts to create an online presence that will reach the highest number of potential buyers.
One of the main ways that buyers are drawn to listings is through highly sought-after home keywords. The top three most popular keyword sets on Zillow relate to the property’s size (“acreage”), its scenery (“view”, “outdoors”, “stunning”), and words that relate to the property’s amenities. This last category is the broadest and most prominent. The worst “custom” is the most commonly used in Zillow’s luxury listings.
Part of internet-search strategy involves attracting buyers, not just people looking at real-estate porn. “You might see that a lot of people search for ‘most expensive apartments in Tribeca’ but those are unlikely to be your actual buyers,” says Christian Mezzina, senior product-marketing manager at Compass, a New York brokerage firm known for its focus on technology. “When you look to optimize a listing for SEO, you have to think about not what just gets eyeballs, but what will convert” into a sale.