How to Get Your Website to Rank Higher: Back-to-Basics SEO

Boosting your website to rank higher in search engines is a big job, sourcing specialized employment to handle it. As technological advances continue in the digital era, businesses must keep up with the times or suffer the consequences. In the vastness of the digital realm, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) plays a pivotal role in enhancing visibility, attracting potential residents and driving organic traffic to your community’s website.

SEO involves improving the quality and quantity of website traffic by ranking higher in search engine results pages (SERPs) for specific keywords. It’s a complex structure that connects what people are searching for online with the answers they seek, the words and phrasing they use, and the type of content they engage with.

It starts with understanding SEO’s basic components: keyword research, content optimization, local SEO, technical SEO and link building.

Keyword research means identifying relevant keywords and the suitable marketing strategy for each multifamily property, also known as core keywords. Examples include “apartments for rent in Denver,” or “luxury apartments near Central Park.”

Long-tail keywords are increasingly powerful, boosted by AI and machine learning. These help target more specific search queries and can be tied to location (“two-bedroom apartments for rent in downtown Nashville”), amenities (“pet-friendly studio apartments with patio in Dallas”), special features (“furnished apartments for rent in Austin near university”), lifestyle (“senior living apartments in Miami with assisted living services”) or price and availability (“affordable rentals with short-term leases”).

Once you’ve identified your keywords, use them in headings, meta descriptions and throughout your website’s content to signal relevance to search engines.

The content of your website should cover information that addresses the needs of potential renters. Focus on providing detailed information that answers any questions your visitors might have. Examples include neighborhood guides and moving tips. Long-form content means at least 1,000 words.

If you have a blog, post regularly. This helps improve search visibility and establishes your property as a local authority, which leads to your website ranking higher. Hyper-local content, highlighting local amenities, events, or attractions, will also boost your standing in search engines. In addition, user-generated content, such as experiences shared by the residents in a community, helps build trust and attract more visitors.

You must invest in local SEO strategies to establish your multifamily property as a local authority. The place to start is Google Business Profile (GBP), formerly known as Google My Business page. Set up correctly, it will appear at the top of the page when running a Google search by your community’s name. It can display various information, such as contact information, office hours, photos and videos, amenity information, reviews and special offers. In addition, GBP improves the link between your website and Google Search and Maps.

Technical SEO for multifamily websites is standard. Site speed is essential; it needs to load quickly to provide a positive user experience and search engine rankings. Mobile optimization is a necessity because most searches occur on mobile devices. Currently, the standard website is responsive and user-friendly on smaller screens. Using HTTPS to secure your website and protect user data is now a ranking factor.

Building backlinks is humans being sociable beings, who need to stay in contact and communicate. It’s a two-way street—you can write posts for other reputable or local blogs to bring backlinks to your website—and can collaborate with local businesses to be mentioned in their content or listings.

Transcending to generative engine optimization (GEO)

Generative AI goes beyond SEO’s exact match keywords, as generative engines like ChatGPT use a question-and-answer format. And with AI gaining popularity, generative engine optimization opens a new level of marketing challenges and opportunities.

Reach by RentCafe details how GEO builds on SEO’s environment. SEO is the foundation upon which GEO forms more refined queries. Strong on-page SEO, such as page titles, meta descriptions and headings, attract both traditional and generative search engines.

Generative search engines prefer content that mimics how people actually talk and search, so it’s advisable to keep a conversational tone throughout your wording. Because GEO works by using the question-and-answer format, adding a FAQ section to your website will help generative AI understand who, what and where you are.

Working with this guide to improve your website’s SEO, and adding GEO to your marketing strategy, will get your website to rank higher in search engine results pages and generative search engines.