Real Estate SEO

What is real estate SEO and does it work for agencies?

Real estate SEO, or SEO for real estate agents, is ranking your agency’s website and Google Business Profile for the searches owners make before they choose an agent. It works, but only if you aim it at vendors and landlords. Buyers search for listings, and realestate.com.au and Domain win those searches almost every time.

That split shapes everything. An owner thinking about selling in Glenelg or Carindale searches things like “real estate agent Glenelg”, “best agent to sell my house in Carindale”, “how much is my house worth” or “agent fees Carindale”. Each suburb on its own has small search volumes, but each search is a person deciding who to call. One listing is worth more than a month of buyer traffic.

Most agency websites are built the other way around. The homepage leads with a property search widget, listing pages expire every few weeks, and the “Sell” page is one paragraph and a form. Google has little to rank there for vendor searches, so the portal profiles and franchise head-office pages win by default.

Can you outrank realestate.com.au and Domain?

Not for listing searches, and you shouldn’t try. For suburb-level vendor and agent searches you can, because the portals’ pages are built for buyers and their agent directories list every agency in the suburb equally. Your website can say things a directory can’t: your sales in that suburb, your read on its streets, and a direct way to book an appraisal.

Treat the portals as a second front rather than a rival. Your agent and agency profiles on both portals often rank on page one for an agent’s name, and vendors check them before they call. Keep them current with sold results, recent reviews and the same phone number and office address as your website and Business Profile. That consistency helps Google trust your details, and it helps vendors trust you.

Search type	Example	Who usually wins	What to do
Listing search	“3 bedroom house for sale Bentleigh”	realestate.com.au, Domain	Leave it to the portals; your listings live there anyway
Agent search	“real estate agent Bentleigh”	Google Maps pack, portal directories, local agencies	Business Profile per office, suburb page, reviews
Appraisal search	“property appraisal Bentleigh”, “how much is my house worth”	Portal estimate tools, agencies with good pages	Appraisal page per core suburb with a clear request form
Selling cost search	“real estate agent fees Victoria”	Comparison sites, guides	A plain guide to commission, marketing costs and how you charge
Agent name search	“Jane Smith real estate”	Portal profiles, RateMyAgent, your site	Agent profile page on your site, kept current
Landlord search	“property management Bentleigh”	Local agencies, Maps	Property management page and rent appraisal page

Which pages should a real estate website have for SEO?

A real estate website needs four page types: suburb profiles for the suburbs you farm, appraisal and selling pages, agent profiles, and property management pages if you run a rent roll. Listing pages bring in buyers but rarely rank on their own, so the pages above carry your SEO.

Suburb profile pages. One page per core suburb, not one page with twenty suburb names. Include median house and unit prices with the source and date, your recent sales there, the main streets and pockets, school catchments, transport and what tends to drive price. A page that reads like a local agent wrote it beats a page of stock text with the suburb name swapped in, and Google can tell the difference over time.

Appraisal and vendor pages. A page for “free property appraisal [suburb]”, a selling-costs guide, and a “how we sell” page covering method (auction or private treaty), marketing and timelines. Each should end in a short appraisal request form and a phone number that rings a person.

Agent profile pages. Each salesperson gets a page with a photo, the suburbs they cover, their recent sales and reviews. Vendors often hear about an agent by name and search for them. If the agent’s page on your site ranks, you keep that enquiry on your site.

Property management pages. Landlords search for “property management [suburb]” and “change property manager”. These leads build a rent roll, which brings recurring fees and sales leads when investors decide to sell.

Use sold results throughout. A recently sold property with a short write-up makes a good proof point on a suburb page long after the listing has come off the portals.

How does Google Business Profile work for real estate offices and agents?

Each physical office gets one Google Business Profile, and Google’s guidelines name real estate agents as individual practitioners who can have their own profile. That means a busy office can have one profile for the agency and separate profiles for public-facing salespeople, each named only with the agent’s name.

Set it up carefully:

• One profile per office. Google allows one profile per location. Don’t create extra profiles for the same office, and don’t list a “virtual” office that isn’t staffed during business hours.
• Agent profiles. Public-facing agents who can be reached at the office during stated hours can have their own profile. Support staff shouldn’t. A solo agent who is the face of the agency is better off sharing the agency’s profile.
• Categories. “Real estate agency” as primary for the office profile; “Real estate agent” for individual agents. Add “Property management company” only if you manage rentals from that office.
• Reviews. Ask vendors and landlords for a Google review at settlement or after a lease is signed. Many agencies also collect reviews on RateMyAgent and the portals. Spread your requests so the Google profile doesn’t fall behind, since that’s the one that shows in Maps.
• Posts and photos. Recent sales, auction results and real office and team photos keep the profile current.

For the wider picture on Maps rankings, see our local SEO service.

What advertising rules affect real estate SEO content?

Your website is advertising, so the Australian Consumer Law applies to every suburb page and agent profile, including section 18 (misleading or deceptive conduct) and section 30 (false or misleading representations about the sale of land). State agent rules also apply, especially to prices and appraisals. In plain English, every claim on your site needs to be true, current and backed by evidence.

Do	Don’t
State median prices with the source and date	Publish old or rounded-up figures that make a suburb look hotter than it is
Show your genuine sold results, with dates	Show sales by another agency or office as yours
Say “most sales in [suburb] in 2026” only with records to back it	Call yourself “No.1 agent” without saying by what measure and when
Use reviews that are real and attributed	Write, edit or selectively republish reviews in a misleading way
Treat online appraisal tools as a request for an appraisal	Present an automated estimate as the agent’s opinion of market price
Keep listing prices on your site matching what the seller authorised	Advertise a price the client hasn’t approved

Appraisal pages need extra care. In WA, rule 26 of the Real Estate and Business Agents and Sales Representatives Code of Conduct 2016 says that if an agent gives someone an opinion of market price, the agent can’t act for that person unless the opinion, the reasons and any comparable sales are given in writing. Rule 23 bars advertising a property at a price the client hasn’t authorised. Other states have their own price rules, which we cover on our real estate marketing page.

This is a plain-English summary, not legal advice. Check your state’s rules with your principal or your state’s fair trading regulator.

How much does real estate SEO cost and how long does it take?

Real estate SEO typically costs $1,500–$3,000 per month for a single office in a competitive area, and $3,000–$6,000+ per month for multi-office agencies and franchise groups. Expect early movement in 6–12 weeks and meaningful growth in appraisal requests over 3–6 months. These are typical Australian market ranges, not guarantees.

Scope	Typical Australian market range
Single office, quieter regional town or small farm area	$800–$1,500 per month
Single office, competitive metro suburbs	$1,500–$3,000 per month
Multi-office agency or franchise group	$3,000–$6,000+ per month
One-off paid audit	$500–$2,500
Hourly consulting	$150–$250 per hour

The maths is simple to check. Using a hypothetical 2% commission, an $800,000 sale is $16,000 in gross commission before the agency and agent split. If SEO brings in two extra listings a year at that level, it has covered a mid-range retainer. Property management leads take longer to pay back but keep paying through ongoing management fees.

Timing matters too. Spring is traditionally the busiest listing season in most capitals, so suburb and appraisal pages are best built in winter, while owners are researching agents. For more on how costs are set, see our SEO pricing guide.

Work is month-to-month with no lock-in. Real estate SEO sits well alongside Google Ads for “sell my house” searches while organic rankings build.

Want to see where your agency ranks across your farm area and which vendor searches you’re missing? Get a free real estate SEO audit.