How To Set Up Google Ads For Real Estate

Last Updated on: 12th December 2024, 05:36 pm

No one likes endless showings that generate very few actual buyers. But the problem with low-quality real estate leads is often due to the source of the lead. Fortunately, Google Ads can help you attract more high-quality buyers to your real estate business. 

In this article, I’ll show you how to run real estate Google Ads that generate lots of interest and commissions.

Let’s take a look!

Why Google Ads Works Phenomenally for Real Estate

I don’t know about you, but whenever I travel somewhere, I like to look at the property listings. This has made me an absolute nightmare for any realtor in Spain – and I’m exactly the type of lead you don’t want to be getting calls from.

But the good news is: Google Ads makes it very, very easy to never show your listings to prospect like me (people with no real intention to make a purchase) – instead, you can show your ads to people or companies that are ready to buy right now.

How?

Zero in on Your Perfect Buyers with Google Ads for Real Estate

Firstly, by filtering the queries you run ads for. For example, you could advertise for “Properties in Brighton,” but that is a very broad keyword. You’ll get a lot of window shoppers wasting your ad spend and increasing your cost per click. 

Instead, Google Ads allows you to get more specific: “3 br 2 bath properties Brighton Kemptown.”

Programmatically Advertise All Your Listings on Google Ads

With a few bits of code (and you can ask ChatGPT to help you with this), you’ll be able to advertise your entire property catalogue with the level of detail you’d typically have to set up manually. 

Once the results start pouring in, you’ll know which property types offer the highest returns so you can increase your bids for them. On the other hand, you can decrease the bids for those properties that take ages to sell.

And speaking of bidding…

Target Your Ideal Acquisition Costs

Maybe you’ve heard about the increasing CPC costs for real estate, and now you’re shy to try Google Ads. Many of my clients have been in your shoes but changed their minds once they realised they could be paying less with a higher Quality Score and proper conversion tracking.

Google Ads offer more to those that know how to game the systems and the AI that powers it. There is a metric inside Google called quality score – your advertising campaigns are being rated out of 10 and it can have an enormous impact on how much you pay for clicks. (You’ll pay 50% less if you can to 10 and 400% more at 1)

If you set up high-quality ads and copy with keyword targeting that corresponds with your leads’ queries, your ads will get a higher position and you’ll be charged less for it.

Separately, if you understand how much you’re prepared to spend to acquire a top-quality buyer, you can easily set up your campaigns to target that specific cost.

If this sounds good, let me walk you through the best methods to run effective real estate Google Ads!

The Best Campaigns for Real Estate Google Ads

Search Campaigns for Real Estate

With traditional Google Ads Search campaigns, as a realtor, you can use keywords to filter out all the low-quality prospects (using the negative keyword list) and zero in on the most detailed keywords, showing high interest in making a purchase.

Search campaigns also allow you to test different copy and use Google Ads ad extensions like lead gen forms, call and CTA buttons, a great way to stand out on search engine results pages. The key is having a great landing page dedicated to each ad – you can choose a category page or build a particular page geared towards booking a showing.

However, I recommend comparing your options regarding using Google Shopping or standard Search ads.

Video and YouTube Google Ads for Real Estate Businesses

You can use video Google Ads at the top of the funnel to generate interest or do my favorite thing: remarket. 

With remarketing, you’re cherry-picking the best potential buyers and showing your ads to them to remind them of the properties they were looking at. This is an excellent option for investment real estate or more significant purchases. 

If you’re in B2C real estate, you can also produce video content to establish yourself in your target neighborhoods and provide educational resources for first-time buyers or individuals wanting to move into that area. 

Should You Use Display Ads for Real Estate?

Absolutely – especially if you want to establish your presence in a market or you want to remarket to leads. The great option here is contextual targeting; you can display ads on websites related to real estate or home-buying.

Similarly, you can retarget users who have previously visited your website by showing them relevant property listings. 

Remember what Booking.com does whenever you look for a new location? A day later, you’ll find all the sites you visit covered in retargeting banners reminding you that you were looking at that hotel in New York or apartment in Paris.

You can do the same thing if you use Display Google Ads for real estate!

Source: MaxTraffic

Try Local Services Google Ads for Your Real Estate Business

If you’re a real estate business or agent with a physical location, not only can you get the Google Guaranteed badge, but you can also use Local Services ads. They will allow you to appear in searches such as: “Realtors near me.”

However, make sure you have enough reviews and ratings to stand out!

Best Practices for Keyword Research, Ad Creation, and Landing Pages for Real Estate Google Ads

Choosing the right campaign is only half the battle. Before you allocate a budget to Google Ads, make sure you know how to set up your campaign right – or contact a Google Ads professional to ensure every penny is going toward the right goal.

• Target keywords with high search volume and low competition. Try long-tail keywords (e.g. two-bedroom flats for sale in Kensington) to get better results, as they have less competition and target users with more specific search intent.
• Experiment with advanced keyword targeting such as Dynamic Keyword Insertion.
• Use your CRM and first-party data to find the right customers. Even though some things have changed since the big iOS privacy pivot, your existing customers are still your best reference for your next best customers. Look at what they have in common and build a keyword journey model used by top-quality leads. Then, find the right keywords to intercept them. Keep everything stored in your CRM to retarget and build audience models. 
• Use ad extensions like call extensions, location extensions, or sitelink extensions to provide additional information and occupy more space in the Google pages.
• Use ad customisers to dynamically insert relevant information, like property prices or availability. 
• Align your landing page with your ad. If you promised someone two-bedroom flats in the ad, the landing page should make good on your promise. This is a great way to decrease your costs per click, too! 
• Monitor your conversions and switch to Target CPA or ROAS bidding strategies as soon as possible.

Build the Foundations to Your Advertising Success

Successful Google Ads campaigns for real estate take planning, consideration, and testing. However, when you compare them to spray-and-pray methods, they’re much easier to scale once you have all the data you need.

So don’t settle for showings you’d rather skip. Instead, discover how your best customers use Google, intercept them with your ads, and close those sales!

If you need specialised assistance, get in touch with me. I’ve been running profitable Google Ads for my clients and my own businesses since 2008, and I’d love to help you secure the best purchases!

Or, if you’d prefer to do it on your own, get a copy of my best-selling Google Ads book. You’ll learn how to launch a profitable campaign in 7 steps, including advice on campaign setup, optimisation, and specific campaign types (such as Google Shopping).