Should a Real Estate Agent Bother with SEO in 2025?

NGL, it feels really weird to use a headline questioning real estate SEO when you run a business called "SEO Savvy Agent." 😅

But it's something we should talk about.

Some consultants and marketing agencies are getting out of the SEO business, while others are doubling down in 2025. Either way, it's a legit question to ask. Here's my TL;DR answer:

Yes, you should bother with SEO in 2025. But you have to update how you think about SEO and do it.

Ready to unpack this? Let's go.

The Case for Real Estate SEO in 2025

Yes, SEO is getting more difficult:

1. AI Overviews are showing up frequently for informational searches (more on that below).

2. Google is constantly making algorithm changes, and it's hard to hit a moving target.

3. ChatGPT and other AI search tools give us more new things to focus on for getting organic traffic and leads.

But:

1. While there's evidence that AI Overviews take away clicks, some in the SEO industry are saying the clicks you get are much higher quality.

2. I'd argue the target isn't moving. I think my wife's site was hit lightly during the November Core Update. Does that mean we should stop publishing quality, user-first, helpful content? Hell no. That would be crazy.

3. I don't know of a single small business getting enough AI-engine traffic to justify any time or energy right now. My wife's site had a total of nine visits from them in 2024. That was about 0.0001% of all her website traffic. Let's keep an eye on GPT search, Perplexity, etc., but I'm gonna need more proof before I really care about them.

Here are five more reasons why you should bother with SEO in 2025:

• People search every day for real estate agents and information. You should want to be found.

• In most markets I look at, there's still not a lot of competition -- especially at the hyperlocal level. (NAR stat: In 2024, only 28% of Realtors® had their own website.)

• SEO is evergreen; what you do today can bring in leads for years. But the minute you turn off your PPC ads or stop posting on social media, you disappear.

• Having more lead sources is always a Good Thing.

• Those of us doing SEO continue to get results.

So that's the first half of my TL;DR statement above. Let's talk about the second half: "But you have to update how you think about SEO and do it."

What Should SEO Look Like in 2025?

I'm convinced that the old/current ways of doing things will get less and less effective over time. IMO, they already are. (By that, I mean "keyword-led SEO" where we create content with checklist-style optimization -- keyword here, keyword here, related keyword here, etc.)

Taking a new approach now should keep you in good stead for the future. It's about both your mindset and actions. Here's what I think it looks like:

1. Focus on "prominence."

That's my SEO Word of the Year for 2025. It's a slightly less nebulous way of saying, "become a brand." A prominent business is one that

• gets cited and referenced by local and national media (with a link or not)

• gets talked about in popular online discussion forums

• gets searched for a lot

If you hear me say, "You need to be brand," and your reaction is, "But how?," then think instead in terms of being prominent. People need to know who you are. They need to recognize your business name. Google needs to know who you are. Google needs to understand that you're legit -- that you're an "entity," to borrow an SEO nerd term.

BTW, Google specifically says prominence is one of three things that determine local pack rankings:

In local SEO, prominence is mainly about reviews. But it's also about the strength of your website...which is affected by the same things in the previous paragraph -- being talked about in media and other sites, mentions, links, etc.

2. You are the star of your content.

I wish I could find the post I saw on LinkedIn last week. IIRC, it was from a marketing exec at a tech company. He said they have a new rule for 2025: We won't publish any new blog posts unless they have a first-person story. That's a rule you should adopt, too. Two reasons why:

• Google wants to feature "expertise" and "experience" in its search results. (That's half of E-E-A-T.)

• Those are two things your competition won't get from their GPT-written blog posts.

Cyrus Shepard of Zyppy SEO studied sites that won and lost in Google's 2023 updates, and (while correlation is not causation!) found that content that used first-person pronouns and shared first-hand experiences were most correlated with sites that Google rewarded. Put yourself and your stories in your content and let's see what happens. I bet it'll be good. 😊

3. Don't overdo it.

Many of us in the SEO industry are seeing fewer returns for highly-optimized "perfect" content, and more returns for content that's less optimized. There's always been an art to SEO, but that seems to be truer than ever today. If I can look at your content and tell that you've "done SEO," you may have overdone it.

4. Adjust your expectations.

If it's true that AI Overviews are eating into clicks, and if it's true that more and more people are searching with ChatGPT and getting answers that don't require a click, then we have to be okay with less organic traffic. FWIW, my wife's organic traffic was down in 2024, but she had her best year ever -- and that includes converting a lot of her Google leads. In a world of less organic traffic, there are two things you need to focus on:

• being better at converting the traffic you do get

• building up the loyalty side of your business -- sphere, past clients, referrals, etc.

5. Add video to your marketing plan.

There's a lot of overlap in how people search on Google and YouTube. Plus, the search experience on YouTube is still AI-free. People search, and YouTube shows videos (and ads). Just like the old days on Google when people searched and Google showed web pages (and ads).

So, if you're seeing less traffic and fewer leads because Google's AI Overviews are keeping people from clicking to your site, make YouTube/video a bigger part of your marketing activities this year.

Other Voices

Here are three more very smart takes on SEO in 2025 that are worth a click.

• Lee Densmer shares five content tips for 2025 success. Her #3 is what I'm trying to say above in my #3.

• Dan Shure gives five reasons why he thinks content and SEO are still a "huge opportunity" in 2025. The tips about studying current search results first are super smart.

• Aleyda Solis curated a huge list of 2025 SEO tips and predictions from some of the smartest folks in the industry. (Hint: The word "brand" appears 47 times.)

Your takeaways

SEO is getting harder, but that doesn't mean you should ignore it altogether. Buyers and sellers are still on Google every day, looking for local agents and info. But I do think it's time to rethink how we do SEO. Think brand. Think first-person stories and experiences in your content. Think less "checkbox" SEO. And prepare for less traffic if AI Overviews make a real dent in your organic traffic.

You got this.

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