Three Ways Title Companies Can Attract More Local Clients Online
Most title companies provide title insurance and escrow services to real estate agents and home buyers in the state where they are located, rather than nation-wide. Because of this, it is vital that your title company is getting its fair share of local search engine traffic and visitors. Is your website showing up on Google for those important searches related to title insurance? Is your website user-friendly, and more importantly, is it mobile friendly?
According to Google, over 60% of the 3.5 billion daily Google searches are conducted on a mobile device. Furthermore, 88% of all mobile searches are for local businesses! This represents a massive opportunity to attract new agents and buyers to your website – engaged clients that are actively looking for YOUR service.
Here are three simple ways to ensure your title company is showing up for local Google searches.
1. Optimize Your Website Content
In order for local real estate agents to find your website, you must prove to search engines that your website and its content are relevant to what they are searching for. For example, a title company might want to appear on Google for a keyword search such as “title insurance company Norfolk”. To show up in searches for that, that phrase should appear naturally throughout your website’s content.
As obvious at it may sound, you should be including your business name, address and service areas on your website. This is another item that Google scans when determining which title company’s website it will show in a given area. Websites without this information have a lower chance of showing up in the search results, even if the rest of their content is highly relevant.
Bonus Tip: It is critical that your business name, address, and phone number (known as ‘NAP’) are listed consistently across the web. This includes your website, social media profiles, online directories, and trade associations. Search engines like Google reward you for consistency as it sees this as being a better experience for its customers and will show your website in a higher position in the search results.
2. Get Found Locally, For Free
A great way to list your title insurance company locally and for free is to create a Google My Business page. It allows you to build visibility for your title company in Google maps and in local area searches. The Google My Business page outlines a few simple steps for you to start managing how your business appears across Google. It also allows you to interact with customers and provides a way for customers to review you.
In addition to showing important business information to potential customers, it also allows you to “own” more of the Google results page. Couple that with your organic SEO listing and your paid Adwords ad and you’ve got yourself some prime real estate that clients can’t ignore!
3. Win the Popularity Contest
Search engines like Google prefer websites that other important websites link to. It is like a popularity contest. The more high-quality inbound links you have to your website, the higher the likelihood is that Google will show your website.
In addition to Google Business that we discussed earlier, there are many other directories that you may consider listing with. Just ensure your name, address and other details are consistent across all directories.
Yelp – Yelp is a popular site for customers to read and write reviews on a business, but it is also beneficial from a search engine optimization perspective. Again, when Google sees that an influential site like Yelp is linking to you, it directly influences where and when Google will show you in its search results. Go ahead and create a Yelp Business page, or, if someone has already reviewed you on Yelp, you can “claim” the page as owner, and edit the details to confirm accuracy.
Trade Associations and Other Local Directories – Having a listing and link on Association websites like VLTA for example, is very beneficial in helping new clients find you. The website contains a lot of relevant content and can provide an inbound link to your website, signaling to Google that you are legit.
Other local directories vary from city to city, but most will have a Chamber of Commerce or similar that will post your business listing upon submission. You may need to become a paid member, but the link to your website alone may be worth the cost of membership. These types of links to your website are invaluable.
The Takeaway: Potential clients are constantly searching for title and real estate services right in their city or community. Your title company can benefit greatly from being at the top of the search engines results. Make sure your website content is reflective of what your clients are searching for and make your business easy to find by submitting your website to several local listing directories.
Dalton Digital is an Arlington-based digital marketing agency that helps Title Companies grow by designing stunning, mobile-friendly websites and driving growth through search engine and social media marketing.