Real Estate SEO Strategy for Ranking Sustainably in Japan
Client Details
Project type:
| Industry | Real estate services |
| Product | Comprehensive commercial property and investment management services, including occupier and office rental, and project management |
| Audience | Corporations, property owners, occupiers, and organizational investors looking for real estate solutions globally, with a focus on Japan |
| Objective | Enhancing online presence and driving organic traffic to the Japanese website |
What We Achieved
Through our collaboration, we significantly improved the search engine visibility, resulting in increased organic traffic and enhanced user engagement on their Japanese website. Over the past 24 months, organic search visits have experienced a significant growth of approximately 180%.
Our strategy highlighted the effectiveness of our SEO, focusing on Google’s E-E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Experience, and Trustworthiness) content algorithm, unique content, and impactful methodologies supported by Humble Bunny’s client case studies across industries.
Our work has also influenced multiple key topics relevant to the client’s services, including workplace strategy, sustainability, and investment, among others. By focusing on these areas, we have helped establish our client as a thought leader in the real estate sector.
Project Highlight 1
Humble Bunny’s Original Keyword Research Process
Our SEO strategy has evolved significantly over the years. Recently, we have employed our internally developed keyword research process, which has helped us identify the best topics, clusters, and keywords that align with our client’s business needs. It involves the following steps:
STEP 1: MARKET & CLIENT RESEARCH
We begin by defining “Business Value” and “Customer Profile” to uncover relevant topics. This process includes detailed research into our client’s business, recent priorities from hearing sessions, and industry trends. By pinpointing high-potential keywords that resonate with client’s target audience and align with their business goals, we establish a strong foundation for our SEO efforts, guiding the subsequent keyword research.
STEP 2: TOPIC FINALIZATION
Next, we conduct comprehensive keyword research to expand the list with synonyms, related keywords, and potential alternatives, optimizing the range of target keywords. Following multiple rounds of filtering, we categorize the keywords under various topics and estimate their volumes to evaluate their potential impact. This generates a Full Topic List with estimated volumes, enabling clients to identify and focus on the most impactful topics. This step is essential for enhancing organic traffic, our client’s primary marketing objective, and driving conversions through keyword relevance.
At this stage, topics are organized into clusters, and keywords are systematically arranged within these clusters.
STEP 3: KEYWORD FINALIZATION
We refine and finalize the specific keywords for each topic, choosing the best options based on search volume and relevance among related or similar keywords. This leads to precise Keyword Finalization. We then perform an audit to ensure all keywords are accurately clustered and relevant to the topic.
Project Highlight 2
Topic Cluster Strategy
The targeted approach and comprehensive coverage of these clusters resulted in an overall performance index increase of 72.2% for the workplace strategy clusters.
WHAT IS TOPIC CLUSTER STRATEGY AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
A topic cluster strategy is an SEO approach that involves organizing content into clusters, where a broad topic (pillar content) is supported by multiple related clusters.
Each piece of content within a cluster is interlinked to create a network that enhances the overall authority and relevance of the main topic. This structure helps search engines understand the relationship between the content pieces, thereby improving the site’s search engine visibility and ranking for the core topics.
IMPLEMENTATION AND FOCUS AREAS
In our work with the client, we initially covered multiple topics, including sustainability, investment, and workplace strategy. However, to align with growing trends and business priorities, we shifted our focus more towards investment and workplace strategy. This adjustment allowed us to concentrate our efforts and resources on topics with higher potential for engagement and impact.
CLUSTER PERFORMANCE AND SYNERGY
Our topic clusters often demonstrated increased performance when an initial piece of content within the cluster gained traction, which was then supported by other related articles or research. This synergistic effect amplified the visibility.
PERFORMANCE INDEX ANALYSIS
Focusing on the 2024 performance index, we observed a clear increase in the performance of clusters within the workplace strategy topic. Our clusters for workplace strategy included office design/layout, office types, new office trends, and workstyle reform. The targeted approach and comprehensive coverage of these clusters resulted in an overall performance index increase of 72.2% for the workplace strategy clusters.
By strategically focusing on these key areas and continuously optimizing our content clusters, we were able to drive significant improvements in our client’s search engine performance and establish a stronger online presence within the real estate sector.
Project Highlight 3
Rich Media Strategy That Works
In our SEO strategy, we have consistently leveraged rich media elements such as videos and infographics to enhance the performance of our articles, as tested successfully internally.
Rich media not only makes the content more engaging and visually appealing but also aids in delivering complex information more effectively. By basing the information on the company’s primary resources, such as reports and firsthand data, we can also align with Google’s E-E-A-T guidelines, which value expertise.
An example of rich media developed by us in the article “Office Type and Layout More Suitable for Venture Office,” where we included a branded infographic that outlined an office relocation schedule. This infographic used client’s branded colors and provided a clear, visual timeline for office relocation, which we identified as a relevant and valuable addition for readers interested in office types and layouts.
The inclusion of this infographic not only enriched the content but also provided additional value to the readers, potentially addressing their related needs and queries.
Most importantly, the strategic use of rich media has proven to be effective in improving article performance, as the article “Office Type and Layout More Suitable for Venture Office” is ranking in the 1st position for its targeted keyword as of July 2024.
Our Content Creation and Quality Assurance Process
Our content creation process ensures high-quality, SEO-optimized content that stands out, adhering to our internal quality assurance checklist and Google’s E-E-A-T standards.
We begin with a keyword recommendation phase, suggesting four keywords based on performance, recent resources, hot topics, and the client’s initiatives. After selecting “the right keywords for the right time”, we create detailed content outlines that help us see that our content fulfills the requirements to win against the competitors’ content and rank on the 1st page.
Each stage includes strict quality assurance checks for accuracy, relevance, and alignment with Google’s algorithms and best practices. Client feedback confirms that our articles not only rank but also maintain their rankings, reflecting our strategic approach to ensure long-term success and resilience against future competition.
For a more in-depth look at our reporting process, check out our SEO services page!
Before You Go, We’ve Got Some Ideas For Your SEO Projects
Here are a couple of quick discoveries we’ve pulled from the data of our latest SEO projects. Why? To help you make the changes you need to gain traction in the Japanese market! As an agency, we are always digging deeper and searching for those little yet significant tweaks that will push our clients to the next level of success.
