Should I choose a freelancer or an agency for SEO for my real estate business? I’m working alone and there’s so much conflicting advice online. Any suggestions would be really helpful.
There are good and bad agencies and freelancers. It really depends on your needs. Ideally, a friend can refer you to a reliable SEO professional. Ask them to show their past work and explain their methods. If they suggest buying backlinks instead of creating content or optimizing your site, it’s best to avoid them.
@Will
Thanks for your input. The SEO strategies mentioned make me think twice. I’ve seen a lot of similar pitches on freelance platforms. If you have a moment, what questions should I ask an SEO expert? I know building a good relationship takes time.
@DanielBlogs
When talking to an SEO expert, ask about how they plan to increase your website’s traffic, their approach to finding the right keywords, and how they track their progress. It’s important they understand the real estate market. Tools like Moz and Ahrefs are useful for these tasks and can help find the right audience. This will help ensure you work well together.
@DanielBlogs
Ask them about the changes in SEO over the past few years to see if they stay updated. They should be able to explain key concepts clearly. Also, ask for a strategy tailored to your business and how each step affects your rankings and traffic. Make sure they have a way to track success beyond just rankings, like organic traffic. Request a cost estimate for each part of their plan and why it costs that much. Finally, ask for success stories with real numbers and get a contract signed.
@Will
Focusing on EEAT might not be useful since it’s not a direct ranking factor and is quite vague. Google also emphasizes things like PageSpeed more, but these don’t always make a big difference.
If you have a website ready, start with an SEO audit. It will show what’s missing and whether you need ongoing SEO services from a freelancer or an agency. I always recommend an audit first because it provides clear recommendations. A good SEO will tell you if you need an agency, freelancer, or no help at all. If someone offers ongoing SEO without an audit, consider looking elsewhere. Every website has different needs, like more content or fixing technical issues.
@LyamGenesis
Choosing between a freelancer and an agency for SEO is like choosing toppings for a sundae—what works for someone else might not work for you. An SEO audit will show exactly what your site needs, so you’re not just guessing. Before spending money, get audits from reliable professionals who know their stuff. Tools like Moz and Ahrefs can help, and keeping up with industry trends is important.
@Ron
SEO audits often focus on broad SEO aspects, which isn’t always effective. People might focus on things like title lengths and meta descriptions, which aren’t always important. Google doesn’t rank sites based on HTML quality or minor issues like missing alt tags. Only significant issues, like broken pages, matter. So, audits can sometimes miss the real strategy needed.
Agencies usually hire freelancers to do the actual work and then charge clients more. It’s often better to hire freelancers directly for each task. This way, you have less risk and can replace a freelancer for a specific job without affecting your entire marketing team.
Go with a freelancer.
Both freelancers and agencies require time. I’d recommend running ads and retargeting while building your contact list for long-term success. This list is yours and can provide ongoing benefits. Also, consider SEO and PR to increase your visibility. Many real estate professionals use hosted platforms with limited options unless you create your own website. Building your own site and using an API can be a good investment.
There are pros and cons to both freelancers and agencies. It depends on your business size and what you need. Agencies have access to more tools and diverse experiences, but the team working on your account might change. Freelancers can work more closely with your team and often provide more hours for your money. It really depends on how you prefer to work and what your business needs, whether it’s content, link building, or technical fixes. An audit can help determine what you need.
@Stephanie
How do in-house SEO teams usually find agencies to work with?
It depends on what your website needs. If your market is already dominated by strong competitors, you might be better off spending on local advertising instead of SEO. If you want to focus on SEO, hire a local freelancer. Get keyword research and an audit done first to help you decide.
Agencies claim to have many people working on your site, but often your money is paying for things like consulting and management, not just SEO. They need to cover costs like salaries and office rent, so much of the work is done by newer team members. This can limit new ideas and make it hard for agencies to adapt quickly.