In today’s digital-first world, having a strong online presence isn’t just a luxury for estate agencies – it’s essential. For those operating in multiple locations, the challenge of standing out in local markets can feel daunting. This is where local SEO comes in. Local search engine optimisation is a game-changer for estate agencies, helping potential clients in specific areas find your business when they’re searching for property-related services. Whether you’re targeting buyers, sellers, landlords or tenants, a well-crafted local SEO strategy ensures you’re visible where it matters most.

SEO, or search engine optimisation, refers to the process of improving your website’s visibility in search engine results, making it easier for users to find your business online. Local SEO takes this a step further by focusing on optimising your online presence for location-specific searches. For example, when someone searches for ‘estate agents in north London’ or ‘letting services near me’, local SEO techniques ensure that your agency’s branches show up in those results.

In this beginner's guide, we'll explore how estate agencies with multiple locations can leverage local SEO to grow their business, boost their visibility and connect with clients in each of their target areas. Whether you’re new to the concept or looking to refine your approach, this guide is packed with practical insights to get you started.

How does having multiple locations affect SEO?

For a search engine to be able to show the closest branch when needed, each location must have its own search presence.

Before we look at the steps you need to take, it’s worth bearing the following three local SEO ranking factors in mind. There are more, but Google specifies these key elements for local searches, and they are applicable to each step we’re about to cover.

• Relevance. How effective the match is between your local Google Business Profile and what a prospective client is searching for.
• Distance. Between every potential search result and the location used in a search.
• Prominence. This is based on how effectively a website is performing, taking links, content and reviews into account.

How to target multiple cities without hurting your SEO

The days of stuffing location-based keyphrases into content are gone. Today, priority is given to quality content by search engines. This also is of more interest to prospective clients so will engage them for longer.

If done right, targeting multiple cities without detrimentally affecting your SEO is absolutely possible.

How to do SEO for multiple locations

The following steps will help you to optimise SEO for your multiple estate agency locations:

• Know your competition

Analyse each of your different competitors’ approaches to multiple location SEO. Do this for every area. You can establish who they are as they’ll rank highly for the same keyphrases.

Check those keyphrases to make sure you haven’t missed any and to see if there are any your competitors aren’t using. And look at their local rankings – remember to look on Maps, etc.

Next, work out approximately your competition’s distance to the most populated regions in your target location. And review their Google Business Profile information, noting differences between their services and yours.

Carry out analysis on their websites, paying attention to their local pages and localised content, etc. And review their backlinks and citations to identify where they are linked to, and references.

Finally, investigate how engaged they are in the local community online, and do the same with their effectiveness offline too.  

• Google Business Profile (GBP)

Generate a GBP for each of your estate agency locations. To do this, log into Google Business Profile Manager and click on ‘Create group’. Name your group and begin adding your locations. You’ll be prompted to add either a single business or import businesses. Selecting the latter, you’ll need to submit a spreadsheet with all information on your business. You’ll then need to complete as many fields as possible, including location code, your business name and address, for example, for each location.

Once completed, click on ‘Select file’ to upload all your estate agency locations. For over ten, you’ll need to request bulk verification.

Make a point of keeping information updated.

• Location pages

Generate a location page on your website for each of your estate agency premises. Each location page should include the location in the URL and location keyphrases in the meta title and description, headings and main content. Then include all contact details, opening hours and facilities. Ensure all content is unique to each page. Include internal links and embed Google Maps.

Group your location pages together, adding a location finder to your site if you have ten or more locations.

• Keyphrases

Optimise for local keyphrases for each of your premises. This includes explicit local keyphrases which tend to constitute a brand, product or service, followed by a location or ‘near me’ phrase. And implicit local keyphrases where users don’t include a location. Also optimise for informational local keyphrases, for example, ‘best estate agents in Liverpool’.

• Localised content

Build a localised content strategy for each of your estate agency locations with an emphasis on providing value to your local audiences. Think blog posts, localised FAQs and when appropriate, refer to well-known local landmarks.

• Internal links

Internal links are great for helping search engines and users understand your website structure.
Internal linking works particularly well for multiple location SEO, as it connects your location pages with the rest of your website.

• Schema

Schema mark up, or structured data, helps search engines to understand the structure of your content more deeply. It can also increase your click-through rates (CTRs) and it helps users complete actions more quickly.

• Local backlinking

Attain local backlinks for each of your estate agency location pages. Not only will they heighten prominence, but they will also provide additional relevance for each of your specific business locations.
Reach out to the local community, including content creators, run local promotions, surveys and competitions, generally be present and make your estate agency known in each location.

• Local reviews

Nothing will boost your reputation locally like lots of favourable reviews. Both quality and quantity are important.

Should you receive negative online feedback, manage it well. Check it’s genuine and respond carefully but speedily. Resolve any issues and let clients know they can adjust their review.

Multiple location SEO for estate agents is vital due to the nature of the business. It’s well documented that when it comes to purchasing a property, area is key. You can establish an effective strategy by following the steps above – understanding your competition, creating your Google Business Profile and so on. However, should you need any help at all, our knowledgeable team has worked with agencies of all sizes and would be happy to assist.