How to Build a Realtor Website That Ranks Locally in Under 90 Days

How to Build a Realtor Website That Ranks Locally is not a mystery or a moonshot. It is a clear, step-by-step plan you can execute in three months with discipline and a little nerdy joy.

How to Build a Realtor Website That Ranks Locally: Your 90 Day Game Plan

Below is a precise roadmap for technical setup, on-page foundations, local SEO, reviews, links, and conversion optimization. It includes real stats, practical checklists, and a simple chart you can share with your team or lender partner who owes you a favor.

Download the 90 day plan chart

Why a focused 90 days works

People who search locally move fast. Google reports that 76 percent of smartphone local searches lead to a visit within a day and 28 percent result in a purchase. That urgency is your advantage if your site shows up with the right content at the right time. 

NAR’s research shows buyers value photos, detailed property information, and floor plans most on real estate websites. Put those front and center on listing and community pages and you are already aligning with what users want. 

Page speed matters more than most people think. Each extra second of load time can cut conversion rates during the first five seconds by about 4.42 percent. Faster pages mean more form fills and phone calls. 

Local ranking signals are well known. Industry research consistently points to Google Business Profile strength, on-page relevance, reviews, links, and consistent citations as the core categories. We will work each of these in the order that drives impact fastest. 

Weeks 1 to 2: Foundation and technical setup

Set the stage so everything you publish gets discovered, indexed, and measured.

Essentials

• Hosting with strong uptime, server-level caching, and CDN

• SSL, daily backups, security firewall

• Clean WordPress plus lightweight theme and builder settings

• GA4 installed with events for calls, texts, form submits, saved searches, and tour requests

• Google Search Console connected and sitemaps submitted

• Compress and lazy-load images on upload

Helpful tip
If you want a fast, budget friendly toolkit to get rolling, and you enjoy a good gear list, if you want to learn more about stack choices then check out this post: Best Free Tools for Realtors.

Weeks 3 to 4: On-page SEO and structure that makes sense

Your website should read like a map of your market, not a maze.

Build a logical architecture

• One high quality page for each target city or neighborhood

• Internal links from listings and blog posts back to their matching area page

• Clear breadcrumb trails and simple menus for Buyers, Sellers, and Communities

Optimize the important stuff

• One keyword topic per page, focused title tags and H1s

• Short introductions that answer what, where, who it is for, and why it matters

• Real photos with alt text, not just stock images

• FAQ blocks that answer three to five buyer or seller questions

Speed and usability
Keep Largest Contentful Paint under 2.5 seconds on mobile. That gives your content a fair shot at ranking and converting.

Weeks 5 to 6: Google Business Profile and citations

If your GBP is weak, your map visibility will be weak.

Optimize GBP completely

• Categories: primary equals Real Estate Agent, add relevant secondary ones

• Business description that spells out your market, specialties, and proof

• Services filled with your core offerings and neighborhoods

• Photos added weekly and products used to highlight seller service packages

• Messaging toggled on with fast notifications

Citations and consistency
Align your name, address, and phone across major directories. Consistent citations support local trust, while the highest visibility still comes from strong GBP, on-page relevance, and reviews working together.

Pro tip
If you are debating paid traffic to speed up lead volume while organic grows, if you want to compare channels then check out this post: Facebook Ads vs Google Ads for Realtors.

Weeks 7 to 8: Reviews and fresh content

Reviews influence clicks in the map pack and on your site. Consumers rely heavily on reviews to evaluate local businesses, and Google remains a top platform for that research. Ask for reviews with specifics about the address or neighborhood served and your responsiveness.

Make asking easy

• Text request with a short thank-you and your review link

• Follow-up email the next day and a friendly nudge a week later

• Reply to every review with details that show local expertise

Publish content buyers and sellers actually want

• Neighborhood pages with a short lifestyle intro, IDX blocks, and map

• A monthly market snapshot per city or niche you target

• Evergreen posts that answer common questions like closing costs, timelines, and staging

Weeks 9 to 10: Local links and lightweight PR

Google is excellent at separating talk from proof. Local links show real community presence.

Earn links without begging

• Sponsor one school booster, charity event, or neighborhood association and ask for a website mention

• Guest post on a local mortgage, insurance, or home services blog about moving checklists or neighborhood guides

• Pitch the local paper with a data-driven market update or a “how buying patterns changed in our ZIPs this spring” angle

Why local visibility compounds
Businesses in the local map pack typically get far more traffic and actions than those outside it, which means the payoff of these steps is worth the effort.

Weeks 11 to 12: Conversion rate optimization and speed passes

Traffic without action is just vanity. Tighten the site to turn browsing into booking.

Make actions obvious

• Sticky bottom bar on mobile with Call, Text, and Get My Home Value

• Primary CTAs on every page: Book a consult and Request a home value report

• Multi-step forms that start with an easy question, then ask for contact info

Reduce friction

• Compress large hero images

• Defer non-critical scripts and limit heavy widgets

• Keep forms to four or five fields unless the value of the offer justifies more

Why this matters
Improving speed and clarity can lift conversion rates quickly. Even shaving a second off load time helps, since conversion rates tend to drop with each extra second of delay.