SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is the bread and butter for multifamily companies looking to rent out more units. In our digital age, most bookings and rentals are done online, and a well-optimized website can lead to an increase in high quality clicks - which turn into more units rented and increased revenue.
One of the most under-utilized tools at your fingers as a multifamily rental company is organic SEO, or search engine optimization - more specifically, Title tag and Meta description SEO.
When we talk about search engine optimization, colloquially known as SEO, we are referencing all of the factors that impact a search engine's (like Google's) ability to read your site, understand your site, and serve it to users searching for relevant topics - you can read our comprehensive guide to apartment rental search engine optimization here -
It is how Google knows to show multifamily sites to real people searching for new places to call home!
While organic SEO is a multi-faceted, complicated marketing strategy - read our comprehensive guide on basic SEO for multifamily real estate here - there are some simple things you can do to give your multifamily site a boost in your website rankings relatively quickly: optimizing title tag and meta description SEO.
What is a title tag?
A title tag tag, like it sounds, is the title of your page or post as it appears in search engines (see the highlighted sample below):
You may hear the title tag referred to as the SEO title, SEO page title, or meta title as well.
On the technical side of things, the title tag is a piece of HTML that tells search engines to read a line of code as the title of a page. This piece of code will also be pulled as the page title for the tab title when viewing the page or sharing the post anywhere there may be a page preview like social media or slack.
Best practices for title tag SEO
When optimizing your title tag SEO, the most important thing to remember, above all else, is accuracy and clarity. While you do want to include relevant keywords, the goal of SEO is to understand user intent and serve users pages that answer their queries. As you can see from the image above, a user and a search engine would know exactly what this page is without even clicking through.
Beyond clarity and accuracy, a well-optimized title tag should include as many of the following as possible:
Between 50-60 characters While there is no technical character limit for title tags, there is a limit on how many characters will show on search engines. If it is over 60 characters, your title will be cut off in search results. If it is under 50, you may struggle to accurately and completely describe what the page is about. The horizontal space taken up by characters is a factor in title length as well. Do not use all capital letters, and consider using a colon (:) or line (|) instead of a dash or slash (/,-)
Unique title tags Each page of your multifamily site has unique information on it, and a unique title tag will help search engines and users alike to know exactly which page they need.
Target one main, relevant keyword Multiple related keywords are great when optimizing a full page or post for SEO, but is too much for the title tag. Include your main, most relevant keyword once in your title tag. We like to use SEMRush to find target keywords!
Make your title tag similar to your actual page title When you are writing your post or the copy for your page, your page title is not the same as the title tag. In most website editors, the title tag can be set without going into the actual code in the site - it is typically found in the SEO settings. Make sure to keep your title tag similar to your page title, but more optimized for Search Engines.
What is a meta description?
A meta description is the other very important piece of information shown by search engines, with a summary or preview of the content of the page:
Much like a title tag, the meta description is a piece of code that is read by search engines to learn what your page is about, as well as shown in searches to give users an idea of what to expect on your page. With a longer character limit, your meta description SEO is a great opportunity to include keywords and really get specific so your page can show up in relevant searches.
Meta descriptions are crucial for user experience and, when written well, can greatly increase your click-through rate, or CTR.
*If you do not create your own meta description, or the search engine thinks that it is not accurate or doesn't serve user intent, it may auto-populate it's own meta description.
Best practices for meta description SEO
Many of the best practices for title tag SEO are important for meta description SEO as well:
User intent is the most important thing for meta description SEO When users type a query into google, they are looking for pages that best match their query. The more specific and accurate you can be in your meta description, the better the user (and search engines) will understand your page and if it is relevant to them. That means higher-quality clicks that lead to higher-quality leads.
Keep meta descriptions to 105 characters Like with title tags, search engines only allow a certain amount of space for meta descriptions before truncating them. This also means it is best practice to put your primary keyword and most important information as close to the beginning of your meta description as possible.
Target relevant keywords Be sure to use your main keyword in your meta description. If there is space and it makes sense, you can include a secondary keyword (or two!) as well. If a keyword that a user searches shows up in your meta description, google will bold the keyword, pointing the user to the relevance of that page.
Include a call to action (CTA) A call to action (CTA) is, as it sounds, an imperative that compels the user to click. As long as it is relevant, a call to action can dramatically increase your quality click through rate.
When it comes to title tag and meta description SEO, these are some best practices that you can implement on your multifamily site to increase your search presence relatively easily and, in turn, organically improve your click through rate and lead generation!
However, title tags and meta descriptions are only small piece of the puzzle that is SEO.
J&J Creative specializes in helping multifamily companies create high-converting websites through copywriting to organic SEO, website analytics, and ongoing maintenance. We are passionate about elevating the digital presence of our clients to help them attract better leads and increase their digital footprints. Contact us today for a complimentary consultation!