The Framework Real Estate Agents Use to Choose the Right SEO Partner

This guide is for real estate agents and small brokerages who are actively evaluating SEO companies and want a structured way to make that decision — without getting burned by overpromising vendors.

You don't need to be technical. You need to know the right questions to ask and the right signals to watch for. SEO is a significant recurring investment, and the real estate market has enough complexity — IDX feeds, neighborhood-level content, local competition, licensing compliance — that picking a generalist agency often leads to wasted months and budget.

If you're earlier in your research — still deciding whether SEO is worth it for your business, or how it compares to Zillow leads or PPC — this isn't the right starting point. Check the SEO vs. Zillow/PPC comparison and ROI analysis guides in this cluster first. Come back here when you're ready to select a provider.

If you're already committed to moving forward with SEO and want to vet candidates systematically, this is the guide for you.

Most SEO agencies can optimize a local service business — a plumber, a dentist, an HVAC company. Real estate is different in ways that trip up generalists.

IDX and Duplicate Content

Most real estate websites pull listing data from an IDX feed — the same listings that appear on Zillow, Realtor.com, and every other agent site in your MLS. Google sees this as thin, duplicate content unless it's handled correctly. A real estate SEO specialist knows how to structure IDX pages, apply proper canonicalization, and layer in unique content that gives Google a reason to rank your site over the aggregators.

Neighborhood and Hyperlocal Pages

Ranking for city-level searches like "homes for sale in Austin" is nearly impossible for a single agent competing against Zillow. The real opportunity is hyperlocal: "homes for sale in Mueller Austin" or "South Congress condos for sale." A good SEO company will build a neighborhood content strategy, not just optimize your homepage.

Fair Housing Constraints

Content about neighborhoods, schools, and demographics must be written carefully to stay compliant with Fair Housing Act guidelines and state advertising rules. This is educational context, not legal advice — verify current requirements with your state's real estate commission and legal counsel. An SEO company writing neighborhood content for real estate agents should understand these constraints, not ignore them.

Google Business Profile in a Real Estate Context

Real estate agents often have unusual GBP setups — a home office, a brokerage address they share, or multiple service areas. Managing this correctly affects your Map Pack visibility. A generalist agency may not know the nuances of GBP for agents versus brick-and-mortar businesses.

Use these criteria when reviewing proposals and comparing vendors.

1. Real Estate-Specific Experience

Ask directly: how many real estate clients have you worked with, and what markets? Ask to see ranking examples — specific keyword phrases in specific cities, not anonymized screenshots. A company with genuine real estate SEO experience will have concrete examples to share.

2. Technical Approach to IDX

If a vendor can't clearly explain how they handle IDX duplicate content — whether through canonicalization, noindex directives, or building supplementary content layers — that's a gap. It doesn't need to be a PhD-level answer, but they should have a real answer.

3. Local SEO Strategy

Ask what their local SEO process looks like for an agent. They should mention Google Business Profile optimization, citation building, and hyperlocal content. If their answer is "we'll optimize your homepage and build some links," that's not a local SEO strategy.

4. Content Ownership and Control

Ask what happens to the content they create if you stop working with them. Some agencies retain content rights or host content on their own platforms. You want content assets that live on your domain and belong to you.

5. Reporting Transparency

Ask what you'll see in monthly reports. You should see keyword ranking movement, organic traffic trends, and Google Business Profile metrics — not just a PDF with impressions that could mean anything. Ask whether you get access to the underlying tools (Google Search Console, Google Analytics).

6. Realistic Timelines

In our experience working with real estate clients, meaningful ranking traction typically takes 4-6 months in mid-competition markets, longer in major metros. Any company promising page-one results in 30 days should be disqualified immediately.

These questions are designed to surface how a vendor actually thinks — not just what's in their pitch deck.

• "How do you handle IDX content on real estate websites to avoid duplicate content issues?" — A real answer should mention canonicalization or noindex strategy, plus original content layers.
• "What does your neighborhood page strategy look like for an agent in [your market]?" — They should ask about your farm area, target price points, and competition. If they give a generic answer without asking your market details, that tells you something.
• "How do you build local authority for a real estate agent — what does that actually look like in practice?" — Look for answers that go beyond "we build links." Local PR, community citations, GBP optimization, and local content partnerships are all legitimate tactics.
• "What happens to the content and links if I cancel?" — This should be in the contract. Ask anyway to see if they answer clearly without hesitation.
• "Can you walk me through a real estate client's ranking progress over the first six months?" — The specifics of their answer matter less than whether they have a real example to walk through.
• "How do you approach fair housing compliance in the neighborhood content you write?" — They don't need to be attorneys. But they should know what the concern is and have a process for it.
• "What would cause you to recommend pausing or adjusting the strategy?" — A good partner monitors performance and adapts. A vendor locked into a preset deliverable list will say "we follow the plan."

Some signals are obvious. Others are subtler but just as costly.

Obvious Red Flags

• designed to #1 rankings. No one can guarantee this. Google's algorithm isn't for sale and isn't predictable at that level of specificity.
• No clear explanation of their process. If they won't tell you what they're actually going to do — just "trust us, we have a system" — walk away.
• Requiring a 12-month contract upfront with no performance checkpoints. Long contracts are fine if there are structured review points and exit clauses tied to non-performance.
• All traffic, no rankings. Traffic growth that doesn't correlate to ranking improvement for relevant keywords often means paid traffic is being mixed in, or traffic is coming from irrelevant queries.

Subtler Red Flags

• They don't ask about your market. If a vendor presents a proposal without asking about your city, competition, target neighborhoods, or current website status, the proposal is templated — not tailored.
• They talk only about domain authority or backlinks. These are inputs, not outcomes. You want rankings, Map Pack visibility, and qualified organic leads — not a high DA score.
• They don't mention content. SEO without content strategy is infrastructure without a building. Real estate SEO especially requires ongoing neighborhood and market-level content.
• They can't name a single real estate-specific ranking factor. IDX duplicate content, GBP for agents, hyperlocal search intent — these aren't obscure. If they've never heard these terms, they haven't done real estate SEO.

Once you've identified a provider you trust, the contract conversation is where many agents lose use — either by signing too fast or negotiating themselves into a bad structure.

Contract Length

A 6-month minimum is reasonable for most real estate SEO engagements — long enough to see early results, short enough to exit if things go sideways. Month-to-month from day one is possible but may reduce what a vendor is willing to invest upfront. Avoid 12-month auto-renewals without performance review checkpoints written into the agreement.

What Should Be in Writing

• Ownership of all content created on your domain
• Access to your Google Search Console and Analytics accounts (you should retain admin access, not just view access)
• Specific monthly deliverables — not vague "ongoing optimization"
• A clear offboarding process if you end the engagement
• Reporting cadence and what metrics will be reported

Pricing Context

Real estate SEO retainers vary significantly by market competition and scope. Industry benchmarks suggest that credible real estate SEO engagements in competitive markets typically start in the range of $1,000–$3,000/month for local agents, with larger metro campaigns or brokerage-level work running higher. Be skeptical of both extremes: $299/month packages rarely include enough labor to move rankings, and five-figure monthly retainers from a first-time vendor with no proven track record are hard to justify. Compare what's included, not just the price.

Starting the Conversation

When you're ready to evaluate a real estate SEO specialist, bring your current website performance data — even a basic Google Search Console overview — and a short list of the neighborhoods and keywords you most want to rank for. That context lets any serious vendor give you a more accurate scope and timeline estimate from the first conversation.