Google Ads for Realtors: Get More Clients

Whether you’re starting out or scaling your business, using Google Ads for realtors is excellent for finding customers. You can find people in your area that are actively looking to buy or sell a home….potentially both!

To get the most out of your presence on Google, there are a few basic initiatives you should consider:

• Setting Up & Maintaining a Google My Business (GMB) Account 
• Establishing Your Presence on Local Service Ads (LSAs)
• Establishing Your Presence on Google Search Ads

Each of these initiatives is a fantastic opportunity to get more clients. Creating and managing these different initiatives can be overwhelming at first. This article will provide you with a framework for getting started and getting more out of your presence on Google.

In this article, we will review:

• What is Google Ads?
• Why are Google Ads Great for Realtors?
• How to Get Started
• Expert Advice to Get More Clients

What is Google Ads?

You’ve probably heard about Google already and probably use it on a daily basis. What you might not know is that you have a variety of opportunities to advertise to people on Google. Google Ads for realtors is very useful for a very basic reason.

Search is Intent – Google is one of the few places you can find customers actively searching for realtors or trying to buy/sell a home.

You might be asking….why is that?

When someone is searching for a “realtor near me” or to “how to sell my home fast”, they clearly want help selling their home. 

Google Ads for realtors allows you to show an ad in the search results for those terms. Then if people choose to click on your ad and call you, more likely than not, they will do business with you. That’s because they want advice from an expert realtor and whomever they can talk with first will have the first chance at establishing trust with them…..then anyone they contact after that is usually compared to you.

Since the market is so competitive, your competition is likely to get a new client over you. Just because they showed up in the search results when that prospective client needed help.

Another thing to consider with Google Ads (generally speaking) is that advertising gets you to the top of the search results. The image above is a good example of this. 

The first row of results are Local Service Ads (LSAs) and the next two results are search ads. 

For terms outside of your brand name, this is a common theme in real estate since it is such a competitive industry. A lot of realtors and affiliate marketers already use Google Ads to get new business which is why it can be so competitive. This gets into why you should use Google Ads.

Why is Google Ads Great for Realtors?

There are quite a few benefits to Google Ads for realtors. Here they are below to keep it simple:

• Search is intent – see the prior section

• People need someone experienced for a huge purchase/sale – they could potentially do it themselves, but most people need an experienced realtor to guide them through one of the largest purchases/sales they will ever make.

• Google My Business – is 100% free and allows you to showcase your reviews. You can also let people contact you directly if they’re searching for you. It’s a great way to get new business and box out competitors that could be bidding on your brand.

• Local Service Ads – allow you to show up in Google when people are looking for services you provide in your service area. Best of all, you only pay for leads (calls & messages). We have a detailed article on the topic if you’re interested in learning more. We are also happy to help you set up and manage your account too.

• Google Search Ads – you can pick the keywords you want to show up on and you only pay for clicks. That means you can get a presence with potential customers for free and only pay when they try to call you or visit your website. That’s why Google Ads for realtors is so valuable. You can show up in the search results when someone wants to sell their home fast to…..sell their home for them in a fast manner.

How to Get Started on Google

If you already have a GMB account, LSA account, and campaigns on Google Search….congrats! Feel free to go to the next section.

Here’s the setup to help you get started with each of these accounts. If you want an expert to set this up for you, then please feel free to book a free consultation.

Google My Business (GMB)

1. Sign into your Google Account or create one (a gmail account) – make sure you use your business email address.
2. Go to Create a Profile
3. Enter the name of your business. You might find your business from the list of suggested businesses as well. It’s important to make sure someone didn’t already set this account up for you in the past.
4. Search for your business category.
5. Choose whether you have a location customers can visit. If you do, you may be asked to verify your business address.
6. Enter your service area – you can add up to 20 different service areas based upon the cities, postal codes, or other areas you serve.
7. Enter a phone number and website URL
8. Besides verifying your business, you should be finished!

Local Service Ads (LSA)

Our article on this topic has detailed setups for setting up your account.

Google Ads

1. Go to the Google Ads homepage
2. Click Start Now
3. From there you will be prompted to create a new account.
4. We recommend choosing Google Ads account vs Smart Campaign account because you get more targeting options.
5. You’ll need to give your account name, select a country/time zone, add a payment method, and invite users (if applicable).
6. Click create account and you should be all set!

Expert Advice for Realtors on Google Ads

There are a variety of reasons why Google Ads for realtors can help you get more clients. Here’s our advice based upon our client’s past successes and learnings.

• Start with free/low cost initiatives – the best things in life are free. This is especially true getting new customers. You should use everything that is free to start with before paying for ads. After all, you could get more clients just by establishing your GMB profile. 

• Know what you’re paying for – local service ads (LSA) are a great example of this. You can pay only for calls and request a refund for lower quality calls. On Google Search, you can pick exact match terms to show up only on specific terms. This allows you to increase the quality of the search queries you show ads on to get more out of your marketing budget.

• Content is King – you should have a website that shows off your reviews, pictures of your work (ideally before/after pictures), and gives potential clients an idea of how to do business with you. 

• Make sure you can answer your calls in a timely manner – this is crucial for your success. If you don’t answer, they will call someone else and hire them instead of you. It’s that simple.

• Have a process for collecting reviews –  this will help when you show reviews on GMB, LSA, and Google Search because customers like to compare. Besides the price, customers rely heavily on the reviews to see if they should trust you.

• Start small – target exact match terms on Google Search, keep your daily budgets for ads smaller, and try to get as much out of your budget as possible. That way, you can more effectively scale to get more leads later on.

• Consider what your customers are looking for – you should know why your customers want to do business with you vs your competitors. Then make sure you show off that differentiator in your website content and on Google. Whether that’s your price, quality of service, providing a niche service, comprehensive realtor services, and so forth. Google Ads for realtors is only as good as your underlying business. Google can help you find potential customers but they will only become your customers if you have something to offer that stands out against the competition.

• Consider your open house offerings – especially during the offseason or before/after your peak season. Google Ads for realtors is great to get exposure. That exposure is only as good as what you are offering. You can showcase your client’s home and get information out there to prospective buyers.

• Consider your case studies – this is an excellent opportunity to stand out vs the competition. Besides reviews, showing how you sold properties in a similar area as your prospective client for a good value is a great way to establish your credibility. Google Ads allows you to get this type of content in front of prospects proactively while they are searching for your services.

Final Thoughts

You should be in a great position to get started on Google Ads after reading this article. If you need more help or don’t have the time to manage all your accounts like most realtors on Google Ads, we’re here for you. Book a free consultation with us today and we’ll go over how to get started on Google and how to get better results.