Understanding how estate agencies rank in search results is essential for maintaining visibility and attracting clients in a competitive market. We’ve been tracking search results across 4,000 towns, counties, and postcodes in the UK.
This data gives us a clear picture of the landscape, showing how different agencies perform on Google and offering insights into both organic and paid search rankings. While national portals and well-known chains often dominate due to their extensive reach and online strategies, local agencies can also achieve significant visibility by leveraging targeted SEO and paid media tactics.
With our partners Roar, a digital marketing agency specialising in data and location marketing, we've been monitoring a wide variety of relevant search results across 4,000 towns, counties, and postcodes in the UK every month over the last few years. For every one of these locations, we record which businesses appear in search results for a host of keyword searches such as "estate agency in Kent", "value my house Canterbury" or "how much is my house worth in Dover?".
This means together, we have built a comprehensive data picture over the past few years, helping us understand how different estate agencies across the country can be found on Google, and we're able to drill down to investigate the data in Kent specifically.
At the national level, Rightmove and Zoopla dominate with a massive organic presence, due largely to their online nature (meaning they can be visible in any UK location). Your Move is the agency with the most widespread exposure on Google, benefiting from both a strong organic presence and backed up by map listings, then On The Market and Yopa appear, with a slightly greater dependence on paid exposure. Beyond that, there are well known chains with large branch networks, as you'd expect at an overall national level, such as Hamptons.
In Kent, the paid search visibility of estate agents reveals a competitive market landscape, with several agencies effectively leveraging paid strategies to increase their online presence. Leading the way is Purplebricks, which covers an impressive 761 searches across 107 locations. This demonstrates their strong investment in paid search tactics to maintain visibility across the county.
Close behind, Yopa.co.uk shows significant paid visibility with 512 searches covered across 107 locations. Their performance indicates a robust approach to paid search, ensuring they are prominent in the minds of potential clients during their property search journey.
Bairstow Eves also features prominently with 256 searches across 97 locations, further highlighting the importance of paid search in maintaining a strong digital footprint.
Other notable performers include Manncountrywide.co.uk and Haart.co.uk, both securing high visibility with 172 and 162 searches covered respectively. These agencies appear to be strategically targeting their paid search efforts to maximise exposure in key areas across Kent.
The data underscores the significance of paid search as a vital tool for estate agents in Kent, particularly for those seeking to outshine competitors and ensure their services are prominently displayed to potential clients. By strategically investing in paid visibility, these agencies are not only enhancing their reach but also strengthening their position within the local property market.
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Let's take a closer look at Maidstone as an example, to see how different types of agencies perform at a deeper level.
In Maidstone, we identified 247 searches across 2 main locations, indicating a competitive environment for estate agents leveraging paid search strategies. Ewemove.com and Bairstow Eves lead the pack, each covering 4 searches in 1 location. This suggests that their paid search tactics are effectively targeting the right audience, ensuring visibility in this area.
Sandersons UK and Savills also make a notable appearance, covering 3 searches in 1 location, highlighting the importance of well-executed paid campaigns in maintaining a presence amidst fierce competition.
Local agencies like Balgore's Property demonstrate that even with fewer searches covered, strategic paid efforts can still yield a strong position. These smaller agencies can compete by focusing on niche, localised searches, ensuring that their ads reach the most relevant audience.
The data underlines the importance of a well-thought-out paid search strategy in Maidstone, particularly for agencies looking to bolster their online visibility and attract potential clients in a crowded market. With targeted efforts, even smaller agencies can achieve prominence in local paid search results, driving quality traffic and business opportunities.
Basic PPC practices are crucial, and we cover these in detail in other dedicated posts. Once you've established the fundamentals like keyword research, crafting compelling ad copy, and setting up targeted campaigns, it’s time to dive deeper into optimising your paid media strategy to attract more qualified leads. This approach focuses on refining your ads for specific, high-intent search terms that closely match your services and the needs of potential clients.
For example, by bidding on a term like “estate agents in Tunbridge Wells,” you can generate substantial, relevant traffic when executed properly. This can be achieved through well-structured campaigns, tailored landing pages, or dynamic ads that resonate with local property seekers.
In parallel, it’s essential to continuously monitor and optimise key PPC elements such as Quality Score, ad extensions, and budget allocation, while also enhancing your overall digital presence through remarketing and display ads. These efforts collectively demonstrate to Google that your ads are not only relevant but also deliver a high-quality user experience, which can improve your ad positioning and reduce cost-per-click.
The short answer is that you should continually optimise your PPC campaigns to stay competitive and adapt to market changes, but this can be a complex task and knowing where to start can be daunting. We usually recommend working closely with a digital marketing agency to develop and refine your PPC strategy over time, and especially when launching new campaigns or updating your website.
Homeflow sites offer robust integration with PPC tools to ensure your campaigns are well-targeted and can effectively capture leads. As you update your website, you can seamlessly adjust your PPC strategy to reflect new content and services. If your campaigns are already running, making regular, incremental adjustments to improve targeting and ad performance is a wise strategy.
AI, especially generative tools like ChatGPT, are reshaping the search landscape and changing how users seek information. Many people now prefer these platforms for quick, concise answers over traditional search engines, potentially altering the effectiveness of classic search ranking strategies.
To optimise for AI-driven responses, it’s becoming increasingly important to focus on creating high-quality, context-rich content that aligns with AI algorithms and natural language processing models.
For example, asking ChatGPT "Who is the best estate agent in Maidstone?" can yield different top agents each time, illustrating the fluid nature of AI-generated search results. This variability underscores the importance of staying attuned to AI trends to sustain success.
Google's AI, Gemini, is designed to enhance search capabilities by delivering more nuanced, context-aware results that better grasp user intent, offering highly personalised responses. This evolution could lead to more accurate and relevant search outcomes, reducing the need for users to navigate through multiple pages.
As AI continues to develop, businesses will need to adapt their digital marketing strategies to ensure they remain visible and relevant in this evolving search landscape.
1. Request a Company Report: Analyse your firm's performance, identifying strong and weak areas within your company intelligence report. You can also see how your competitors are performing in your area too. (You can request analysis on your agency with the form below).
2. Check Your Domain Authority and SEO: Use tools to see where you stand and how easy it will be to improve your ranking.
3. Optimise PPC ads: Target your popular searches
4. Consult with Experts: Book a free consultation with Homeflow to analyse your paid and organic rankings and provide actionable insights to improve your digital marketing strategy. Whether that’s an updated website, performance marketing techniques or a custom strategy based on your specific needs.
By following these steps, you can enhance your visibility, attract more clients, and stay ahead of the competition in Kent.
