10x Organic Growth to Dominate Real Estate Agent Reviews
RateMyAgent faced a decline in organic traffic, threatening its growth as a platform for real estate agents to manage their personal branding. Through strategic programmatic SEO, technical improvements, and innovative solutions like structured data and Google Posts, I helped double organic traffic in just 12 months, scaling to over 10 million annual clicks and securing RateMyAgent’s position as the market leader in real estate agent reviews.
RateMyAgent connects real estate agents with consumers, offering tools to help agents manage their personal branding and build credibility through client reviews. By providing consumers with a transparent way to evaluate agents, RateMyAgent helps them make informed decisions when buying or selling property.
The Challenge
After experiencing impressive growth since its inception, RateMyAgent’s organic traffic had stalled and begun to decline dramatically. The platform faced a significant challenge in maintaining visibility in Google search results.
The agency supporting RateMyAgent at the time lacked both the strategic advice and the technical expertise needed to address these issues. Without the right guidance, RateMyAgent struggled to regain momentum, putting its growth trajectory at risk
RateMyAgent needed a strategy that could rapidly build a competitive product while scaling efficiently and driving tangible results.
The Strategy
Enabled Google to Crawl the Site Quickly and Effectively
- Implemented a self-hosted pre-render solution to resolve issues with Google crawling and understanding JavaScript content.
- Allowed RateMyAgent to publish content quickly and scalably, ensuring improved indexing and visibility.
- Removed the need for Google to perform the additional step of rendering dynamic JavaScript content, enabling faster and more accurate processing of the text on each page.
Improving Site Quality
- Collaborated with the UX team to refine template layouts and enhance the quality of information on the site.
- Managed which pages Google could crawl and index, prioritising high-quality, valuable pages.
Integrating Advanced Structured Data for Entity Mapping
- Ensured comprehensive entity mapping throughout the site to improve Google’s understanding of relationships between agents, reviews, and locations.
- Utilised structured data to build a cohesive semantic framework, allowing Google to better interpret and represent entities in search results and the Knowledge Graph.
- Strengthened the site’s authority by aligning structured data with Google’s evolving focus on entity-based search.
Expanding Beyond Traditional Listings
- Integrated Google Posts for Agents, automating the formatting of reviews to display directly in search results.
- Empowered agents to gain additional placements in Google SERPs and Maps.
Collaboration with Domain
- Negotiated and implemented a partnership with Domain, Australia’s second-largest property portal.
- Ensured SEO was integrated into the collaboration, benefiting both platforms and driving traffic growth.
Scaling Across Regions
- Adapted the successful strategy to expand into New Zealand and the USA, competing with industry giants like Zillow and Realtor.
The Results
Doubling Organic Traffic
Within 12 months of implementing the strategy, organic traffic doubled, growing from 1 million to 2 million clicks per month. This growth has continued, with RateMyAgent now achieving over 10 million annual organic clicks.
Market Growth
RateMyAgent is now the market leader in Australia, and growing globally, with:
- Over 350,000 agents using the platform.
- More than 10,000 agencies and offices represented.
- A total of 2.7 million client reviews, up from just 100,000 several years ago.
Increased Agent Engagement
The platform’s features, including SEO visibility metrics and enriched Google profiles, have empowered agents to take control of their personal branding. These features have become integral to the product and a key driver of agent retention and satisfaction.
International Expansion
The success of the strategy has enabled RateMyAgent to expand internationally. The platform now competes with industry leaders like Zillow and Realtor in the USA, proving its ability to adapt and scale globally.
