In today’s competitive real estate market, standing out and reaching the right audience can be challenging. Google Ads provides real estate professionals with a powerful tool to connect directly with potential buyers and sellers actively searching for properties.

Unlike social media ads, which target users based on interests, Google Ads leverages user search intent—meaning your ads reach people precisely when they’re ready to make a move.

This guide is designed to help real estate agents and property marketers navigate Google Ads effectively. From building strategic keyword lists to optimizing ad copy and landing pages, we’ll walk through each step to create a campaign that not only attracts clicks but drives qualified leads to your properties.

Whether you’re new to Google Ads or looking to refine your approach, this guide will equip you with the insights needed to create a high-performing campaign that maximizes return on investment.

The Full Video Guide can be found here :

Before we continue. Download the resources! A full Google Ads template + Powerpoint.

Lets jump right into it!

1. Understanding PPC and the Benefits for Real Estate

Google Ads is a pay-per-click (PPC) platform where advertisers pay only when a user clicks on their ad. For real estate, this is advantageous because of the high purchase intent, which is stronger than on social platforms like Facebook.

• Purchase Intent: Users searching on Google often have a way higher intent to purchase a property, making it easier to convert leads.
• Audience Warm-Up: Ads on Google allow users to discover your services while they’re already searching for them, making engagement more natural.
• Quick Launch: Setting up a Google Ads campaign is fast and allows for real-time results tracking, making it ideal for real estate where lead generation is time-sensitive.

2. Building Your Keyword List

Start by developing a comprehensive keyword list focused on high-relevance terms for your real estate target audience.

• Keyword Examples: If you’re selling investment properties in Florida, focus on specific keywords like “Siesta Key Buy Property” instead of broader terms like “Florida real estate.”
• Using Google Keyword Planner: Leverage Google’s keyword planner to identify search terms that are both high-intent and relevant to your market.
• Google Keyword Planner

Keyword Selection Tips:

• Prioritize high-intent keywords related to your property’s location.
• Test broader keywords to gauge interest but refine based on actual ad performance.

3. Grouping Keywords for Targeted Campaigns

Organize keywords into specific groups, which will later serve as ad groups. Each group should reflect a certain theme or user intent, enabling better testing and performance tracking.

• Examples of Keyword Groupings:
  • Group 1: Siesta Key General Terms – “Siesta Key Buy Home”
  • Group 2: Siesta Key Beachfront – “Siesta Key beachfront homes for sale”
  • Group 3: Siesta Key Oceanfront – [siesta key oceanfront homes for sale]

Grouping keywords allows for tailored ad copy that increases relevance, click-through rate (CTR), and ad quality score, leading to better campaign outcomes.

4. Creating Relevant Ad Copy

Effective ad copy directly relates to the keywords and user intent. Make each ad highly specific to its group to boost engagement and Google’s quality score.

• Sample Headlines:
  • Group 1: “Homes in Siesta Key” / “Siesta Key Homes for Sale”
  • Group 2: “Beachfront Homes in Siesta Key” / “Find Siesta Key Beachfront Properties”

5. Landing Page Optimization

A well-optimized landing page can significantly boost conversion rates. Try to avoid sending traffic to your homepage which has a lot of buttons and irrelevant content to your specific targeted offer.

• Tailored Content: Design landing pages with content that directly answers the user’s search query. Avoid sending paid traffic to a generic homepage.
• Examples:
  • For “Siesta Key Beachfront Homes,” design the landing page to showcase relevant beachfront properties, adding sections for property details, availability, and investment benefits.

6. Setting Up and Managing Campaigns

With your keywords and ads prepared, setting up the campaign in Google Ads becomes straightforward.

• Bidding Types:
  • Max Clicks: Maximizes clicks for the lowest cost-per-click (CPC).
  • Manual Clicks: Sets a maximum CPC per keyword (recommended for precise budget control).
  • Max Conversions: Optimizes for conversions, adjusting bids based on factors beyond keywords.

Budget Recommendation: A minimum of $200 per week is suggested to gather enough data and test for effective conversions.

7. Tracking and Optimisation

Proper conversion tracking is essential to understand what’s working and improve accordingly. You want to track when someone fills in a lead form and calls or emails you.

• Conversion Tracking Setup:
  • Integrate Google Analytics and tracking codes for form submissions, calls, and other lead interactions to gather accurate data.
• Campaign Monitoring: Run the campaign for at least two weeks, then review metrics. Identify underperforming keywords and adjust your negative keyword list to reduce wasted spend.

In my video and in the powerpoint I suggest the ideal DIY strategy for real estate professionals if you want to make a campaign all by yourself.

Start your campaign off with Mcpc/M.Clicks bidding strategy and run it for 2 weeks or until you get 5 conversions. I would recommend at least $400 per week for the 2 weeks of testing.

Now it´s time to look at your keyword list and turn off keyword groupings  that have spent a lot but gotten no conversions. An example might be you have 3 keyword groupings.

Adgroup 1. $100 spent and 3 conversions,

Adgroup 2. $400 spent and 1 conversions

Adgroup 3. $100 spent and 0 conversions

In the above scenario, you would turn off Adgroup 2. Adgroup 3 still has time to show some performance.

After pruning your adgroups it’s time to check your keyword list and add keywords you don’t want to bid for to the negative keyword list. You should be doing this all time and throughout the test campaign peroid.

Now that your campaign has been pruned of underperforming ad groups and irrelevant keywords it’s time to change your campaign to max.conv.

Max.conv was already covered as a smart bidding type and it will now optimise for phone calls, lead fills and more based on the data you already got. With all the data you gathered you should see an overall performance lift and consistent results week on week.

8. I’m Not Getting Conversions

If conversions are lacking, consider these troubleshooting steps:

• Tracking Issues: Check tracking codes and use tools like Google Tag Assistant to ensure proper setup.
• Targeting Review: Analyze ad metrics to confirm your keywords and locations are relevant.
• Landing Page Quality: If competitors have strong landing pages, consider redesigning your own to better engage potential leads.

9. Advanced Strategies and Next Steps

Consider expanding with A/B testing for landing pages, retargeting campaigns, or even advanced multi-channel strategies as your campaign matures.

However, if you like what you see and what a PRO to bring it to the next level. Tag me on LinkedIn or grab a virtual coffee with me alongside a LIVE account audit by filling out my contact form!