Back in 2019, we published The Ultimate SEO Guide for REALTORS®, which was designed to help real estate agents optimize their websites for better search engine visibility. Although the fundamentals have remained the same, a lot has changed since then. The way people find information is changing dramatically, and SEO strategies that worked in 2019 have evolved. New trends like AI-powered search, zero-click results, and visual search are now playing an important role in Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
This updated guide will not only revisit some of the tactics from the previous version but also explore the cutting-edge strategies that real estate agents can implement to thrive in 2025 and beyond. If you haven’t read the old guide, don’t worry. Whether you’re a seasoned SEO practitioner or just getting started with your online presence, this comprehensive guide will provide you with practical, actionable insights, and builds upon a lot of the concepts that were covered in the old guide.
So, without further ado, let’s dive into the SEO landscape as of late and discover how you can bring more leads to your real estate website, rank higher on Google, and dominate your local market!
Table of Contents
- Glossary: Important SEO Terms
- Chapter 1: Audience, Keywords & Meta – Still Relevant but Refined
- Chapter 2: Content-Rich REALTOR® Websites
- Chapter 3: Social Media’s Role in SEO for 2025
- Chapter 4: Leveraging Visual and AI Search Trends
- Chapter 5: Google’s E-E-A-T and User-Centric Algorithms
- Chapter 6: Backlinks, Internal Links & Online Partnerships
- Chapter 7: Leveraging New Media Types
- Chapter 8: Technical Optimizations for 2025
Glossary: Important SEO Terms
Before diving into the nuts and bolts, let’s brush up on some essential SEO terms that will be useful throughout this guide:
- E-E-A-T: Experience, Expertise, Authority, Trustworthiness. Google uses these factors to assess content quality (source).
- Core Web Vitals: Metrics Google uses to measure page performance, focusing on loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability.
- Zero-Click Search: Search results that answer the user’s query without the need to click on any links.
- Passage Indexing: Google’s ability to rank individual sections of a page rather than just the entire page.
Chapter 1: Audience, Keywords & Meta – Still Relevant but Refined
If you’ve been following SEO trends for a while, you know that keywords have always been central to optimizing your REALTOR® website. However, in 2025, the way we approach keywords has changed. It’s no longer just about stuffing your pages with high-traffic phrases but about understanding your audience’s intent and the way they search for information. This was always an important factor to consider, but now it’s vital.
Let’s look at some of the new ways people are find the information they seek, and see how you can implement them as a real estate agent.
Voice Search Optimization
One major shift we’ve seen in the past few years is the rise of voice search. This shift means that real estate agents need to think beyond traditional typed keywords and focus on more conversational, long-tail queries.
“Long-tail” SEO is a technique for generating high-value organic website traffic. It targets long-tail keywords, which are search terms that consist of three or more words. They also have a lower search volume and competition rate, as well as a higher conversion rate than short-tail keywords.
For example:
Instead of targeting keywords like “Vancouver condos for sale,” consider optimizing for voice-driven searches like, “Where are the most affordable condos in Vancouver?”
A study by BrightLocal revealed that voice searches often involve question-based queries, such as “Where is the best place to buy a home in [City]?” or “What are the property taxes in [Neighborhood]?” This requires a shift towards creating content that directly answers these types of questions.
🥷 Ninja Tip: Consider creating focused content like this on your real estate website, for buyers, sellers, investors or any other subset you want to target. If it’s content that’s only relevant for a short period of time then we recommend creating a video for social media, then embedding that (along with a written version) on your blog.
AI-Powered Voice Assistants are getting better and better, and while platforms like Siri aren’t that great when compared to third-party tools, they are only getting better. Soon it will be common to talk to all of your devices using your voice, including your main laptop/computer, and get one answer, as opposed to a “laundry list” of potential answers you have to dig through. These won’t be separate apps or websites either (like how most people currently access ChatGPT), they’ll be baked right into the operating system and always at your fingertips.
AI-Powered Keyword Research
Tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush are still indispensable for anyone serious about online marketing, however AI-powered tools have taken keyword research to the next level by analyzing user behaviour and trends in real-time, helping you identify keyword opportunities that didn’t exist before.
You don’t have to be an SEO expert to use these tools effectively. Many of them now provide AI-driven suggestions for keywords that align with your target audience’s needs. These tools can also predict seasonal trends and search patterns, allowing you to tailor your content calendar around high-traffic periods, such as the spring home-buying season.
🥷 Ninja Tip: Before you spent a bunch of time and money going down the rabbit hole on keyword research, Ask yourself if you really need to use high-tech tools like these to identify your target audience.
You probably already know who you’d like to do more business with, whether it’s by geographical region or otherwise. Most real estate agents don’t need to do in-depth keyword research, but should instead focus on creating unique, high-quality content that is specific to their target audience. Every bit of that content you produce should be tailored for its intended consumer.
For example: don’t write a generic blog post about assessed values going up or down in the entire province. Instead, give specific numbers and trends happening on the city or neighbourhood level.
For example “Property assessments in North Vancouver increased by 2% in 2024, mostly from detached houses.” is better than “Property assessments in BC increase by 2%”.
By focusing on these “long-tail” keywords you’ll have a much higher chance of ranking in search results, and you’ll be demonstrating your expertise while doing it. Yes, the audience will be smaller but their intent will be higher, which matters more than appearing on page 30 of search results for a broad topic.
Meta Tags: Essential but Evolving
Meta tags, including meta titles and meta descriptions, remain a key part of your SEO strategy. However, Google’s algorithms have become more sophisticated, meaning that user experience metrics such as dwell time have a greater impact on rankings than ever before. To capture attention:
Make sure your meta descriptions are engaging, relevant, and enticing. Avoid keyword stuffing and focus on what the user wants.
In essence, while meta tags are still part of the SEO puzzle, their importance lies in how well they address the searcher’s intent. It’s not just about getting the click; It’s about offering the best possible answer once they land on your page.
RealtyNinja customer? Read our implementation guide on meta tags.
🥷 Ninja Tip: Put yourself in the shoes of a person searching for the content that you’re creating. Let’s say you’ve created a page all about Condos for Sale in Oakville, and a user lands on that page with the intention of finding exactly that… but if you’ve buried the Condo listings way down the page (or worse, not included them) then the user will leave pretty quickly. You would too. Google will consider the amount of time that user stayed on your page (and the fact that they didn’t interact), knowing what the users intent was. By them leaving immediately (ie: low dwell-time), it signals to Google that your page was irrelevant, thus lowering its probability of ranking for that search term. If this pattern repeats then Google can confidently lower your page’s rank because it has enough evidence that real people were not getting what they were seeking on your page.
Chapter 2: Content-Rich REALTOR® Websites
Creating content is still the cornerstone of SEO, but the kind of content that ranks well in 2025 goes far beyond blog posts. Content-rich websites need to offer value in multiple formats—from long-form guides to videos, infographics, and interactive tools.
A study by HubSpot found that companies that blog more than 16 times per month generate 4.5 times more leads than those that don’t.
🥷 Ninja Tip: Create a set of pages on your website that are for users with transactional intent, and another set for informational intent.
Here are examples for both:
- Transactional: MLS® Searches, Featured Listings, Office Listings, Rentals, etc.
- Informational: Blog Posts, Mortgage Calculator, Neighbourhood Guides, Buying Process, etc.
Video SEO is the New King
Video content has seen a massive surge in popularity. Real estate agents who include property video tours, neighbourhood guides, and client testimonials on their websites see significant improvements in engagement and search rankings. According to Cisco, 82% of all consumer internet traffic will come from video this year.
To optimize your videos:
- Use descriptive titles, chapters, tags, and transcriptions to ensure your videos are indexed properly.
- Host your videos on YouTube, which acts as a secondary search engine, while embedding them on your website to increase dwell time.
You can even go beyond traditional video by incorporating 360-degree virtual tours and drone footage, giving potential buyers a more immersive experience.
Search engines and LLM’s (like ChatGPT) are constantly sucking up vast quantities of data online, including video and podcast content, which can be served up to users making relevant inquiries. This means people can get super-specific answers and insights from hours-long podcast episodes, without having to sit through the whole thing.
🥷 Ninja Tip: Get yourself a decent microphone and record yourself interviewing someone interesting in your field (even if it’s over Zoom). Upload that to YouTube and then share it all over social media and your website. You can then use something like the AI Clip Generator from Captions to make great looking short form snippets of your video, specifically for social media.
Interactive Content: Boosting Engagement and SEO
Interactive content, such as mortgage calculators and MLS® search pages, keep users engaged. This not only improves their experience but also signals to Google that your site is valuable, especially when the same users come back to it multiple times.
For example, if a user spends five minutes playing with a mortgage calculator, that’s a significant increase in dwell time, which helps boost your rankings.
Content for Passage Indexing
In 2020, Google introduced Passage Indexing, which allows the search engine to rank specific sections of a page independently. This means that even if you have a long article, sections within it can rank for various keywords. To take advantage of this:
- Structure your content with clear headings (Heading 2, Heading 3, etc.), and make sure each section can stand alone in answering specific queries.
- Include FAQs at the end of articles to capture long-tail search queries.
Chapter 3: Social Media’s Role in SEO for 2025
Social media and SEO are increasingly intertwined, even though Google doesn’t directly use social signals like follower count or likes as ranking factors. However, social media activity still affects SEO in several powerful ways.
Building Social Proof & User-Generated Content
In 2025, your reputation on social media platforms can indirectly boost your SEO. User-generated content—such as client reviews, testimonials, and social shares—act as backlinks to your website. These organic mentions signal to Google that you, your brand, and your site are trusted resources.
For example, if a satisfied client shares your blog post or video tour on Facebook, TikTok or Instagram, it drives traffic back to your website, improving your site authority and overall rankings.
Short-Form Video: TikTok, Instagram Reels, and Beyond
Short-form video is dominating social media. Platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels allow real estate agents to engage with potential clients in short, entertaining formats.
A 2024 survey by Sprout Social showed that short-form video had the highest engagement rate of any content type on social media.
Use these platforms to post quick property tours, market updates, and tips on home buying. Then link back to your website, increasing both traffic and dwell time.
Video Podcasts
While bite-sized video became hugely popular with platforms like Instagram Reels and TikTok, long-form video is quickly overtaking it. Video podcasts for example have become incredibly popular, fuelled by a need to deep-dive on complex topics that often lack depth in traditional and short-form channels. We strongly recommend appearing as a guest on an existing real estate podcast or starting your own. It’s easier than ever before.
Chapter 4: Leveraging Visual and AI Search Trends
Visual and AI-driven search trends are transforming the way users find information online.
Visual Search Optimization
Google Lens and other visual search tools have become increasingly popular. With these tools, users can take pictures of anything (ie: properties or neighbourhoods) and search for them online. This presents a huge opportunity for agents who optimize their images properly.
- Add ALT tags to every image on your site.
- Ensure images have descriptive file names like “unit3-123-fake-street-downtown-vancouver-condo.jpg” instead of generic names like “image001.jpg.”
According to Moz, websites that include properly optimized images see an increase in both visual search traffic and overall page rankings. Don’t neglect your image file names, captions, and descriptions—they are all essential for ranking in Google’s image search and newer visual search tools like Google Lens.
AI-Powered Search Experiences
As AI continues to integrate into search algorithms, optimizing for AI-driven results becomes increasingly important. AI analyzes search behavior and delivers results based on user intent, context, and content quality.
To optimize for AI search:
- Ensure your content provides accurate, in-depth answers to user queries. AI tools prefer content that addresses questions comprehensively and factually.
- Use structured data to help AI models understand your site’s content and display it in rich results or featured snippets. These AI models often pull from high-quality, fact-based sources, so establishing authority through consistent, informative content is crucial.
Incorporating AI-optimized content will also help you capitalize on zero-click searches, where users get their answers directly from search engine results without clicking through to a website. By ensuring your content is well-structured and addresses search queries succinctly, you increase your chances of being featured in these AI-powered answers.
Chapter 5: Google’s E-E-A-T and User-Centric Algorithms
Google’s core updates have emphasized E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness) as critical ranking factors. As a REALTOR®, establishing yourself as an expert in your community is key to improving your online authority.
Building Expertise Through Content
You can build expertise by publishing in-depth content that answers common questions in your local market. Regularly update your blog with market insights, neighbourhood guides, and buyer/seller tips.
Authority Through Reviews and Backlinks
Google also values external validation, such as reviews and backlinks from authoritative sites (like reviews on Google’s own platform). The more positive reviews you have on platforms like Google My Business, Yelp, or RankMyAgent, the higher your authority will be. Encourage satisfied clients to leave reviews, as these can have a profound impact on your local SEO.
Chapter 6: Backlinks, Internal Links & Online Partnerships
Backlinks have long been a staple of SEO, but the quality of your backlinks now matters more than ever. Instead of focusing on getting as many backlinks as possible, aim to build links from high-authority websites that are relevant to your niche.
Earning Backlinks from Authoritative Sites
Guest blogging is still one of the most effective ways to earn backlinks in 2025. Offer to write for local newspapers, real estate blogs, newsletters or community publications.
Social media outreach is another effective strategy. Consider reaching out to the owners of popular social media accounts in your niche and partner with them. Provide their audience with something highly valuable, and get organic traffic/followers in return. Do the same for them and help each other grow your spheres of influence.
Interlinking for SEO Success
Internal links guide users (and search engines) through your website, to content that users would find relevant in the moment. Include links between blog posts, service pages, and listings to increase time spent on your site. Effective internal linking not only improves the user experience but also helps Google better understand the structure and content hierarchy of your site, leading to improved rankings.
Chapter 7: Leveraging New Media Types
In 2025, SEO is about more than just written content. Google ranks sites that offer a variety of media types, such as images, videos, and podcasts.
Augmented Reality (AR) & Virtual Reality (VR)
Some real estate websites are starting to implement AR/VR tools to allow potential buyers to take virtual tours of properties. According to Statista, AR/VR real estate technology is expected to grow by 18% annually. By incorporating these immersive experiences, you not only improve user engagement but also signal to Google that your content is interactive and valuable.
Chapter 8: Technical Optimizations for 2025
Technical SEO plays a vital role in how well your website performs in search rankings. With Google’s mobile-first indexing and Core Web Vitals becoming critical ranking factors, you need to ensure your site is fast, secure, and optimized for mobile.
Mobile Optimization is a Must
In 2025, more than 55% of website traffic comes from mobile devices. This means your site must not only look good on desktop but also load quickly and function seamlessly on mobile. Ensure you’re using responsive design and prioritize loading speed, as sites that take more than 3 seconds to load lose 53% of mobile visitors, according to Google’s mobile site benchmarks.
Core Web Vitals and Page Experience
Google’s Core Web Vitals—which measure page load speed, interactivity, and visual stability—are now major ranking factors. Tools like Google PageSpeed Insights can help you monitor and improve these metrics, ensuring a smooth user experience that Google will reward.
SSL Security and Data Compliance
With privacy concerns rising and regulations like PIPEDA and GDPR evolving, ensuring your site complies with privacy laws is critical. Google rewards sites that prioritize user security with an SSL certificate (HTTPS). Make sure your website is fully compliant and provides clear privacy policies to build trust with visitors and search engines alike.
RealtyNinja customer? Don’t worry. Our team automatically creates an SSL certificate for each website on our platform, and we ensure there’s a privacy policy on your real estate website.
301 Redirects if You’ve Switched Website Providers or Domains
Imagine if you moved without telling anyone. All your mail would still go to your old address. That’s kind of what happens when you switch up your domain name or your website without using 301 redirects.
In both cases, search engines will try their best to determine what your new website address is and where your content has moved to, but it’s much better to give it clear instructions by way of 301 redirects.
RealtyNinja customer? Check out our 301 Redirects Tool, built into all of our websites. Need a hand? Get in touch with our team.
Conclusion
The SEO landscape is constantly evolving, and 2025 brings new challenges and opportunities for REALTORS®. By adapting to trends like AI-powered search, visual search, and mobile-first indexing, you can stay ahead of the curve and ensure that your website continues to rank well.
Remember, successful SEO isn’t a one-time effort. It requires constant optimization, content updates, and a commitment to providing real value to your users.
Keep learning, keep optimizing, and you’ll see your real estate website thrive in search results!
