Real estate marketing
Google Ads for
real estate.
Google Ads works for real estate agencies when the money goes on vendors and landlords, the people who give you the next listing or management. Searches like 'house for sale [suburb]' mostly lead to the portals, which buyers already use. Bid on appraisal, 'agent [suburb]' and property management searches, send each to a page built for it, and track every appraisal request through to a signed listing.
Written by Dan Picken, a marketer who checks the sources. Last checked 2 November 2026.Who's
searching?
A real estate search terms report is a mix: vendors wanting an appraisal, landlords looking for a manager, buyers and renters looking for listings, people looking up one address, and people looking for a job in real estate.
Only the first two usually make sense to pay for. Buyers and renters are better served by the portals, where your listings already are.
Who are your ads
really reaching?
Paste your search terms. It sorts them by who's searching.
Search term splitter
Who are your ads
really reaching?
Paste your search terms report, one search per line. It sorts them by who's searching, so you can see how much goes on people you can't win. The starting list is made up.
A first sort by wording. Check each group in your own search terms report.
What to
bid on.
'Property appraisal [suburb]', 'how much is my house worth [suburb]', 'real estate agent [suburb]', 'sell my house [suburb]' and 'property manager [suburb]'. Add your agency and agent names, so competitors don't take the searches you earned.
Send each to a page that matches it: an appraisal request page with recent local sales, or a property management page with fees and how you work.
Track it to
a listing.
An appraisal request isn't a listing. Record each one in your CRM and mark what happened: appraisal done, listing signed, sold. Then send that back to Google Ads using the click ID or hashed lead details, so it learns which searches bring listings, not just form fills.
Without that, the cheapest leads look best, and they're often the least likely to list.
Expect a lag. A listing can be signed weeks after the click, and Google reports conversions against the day of the click, so last month's numbers keep improving after the month ends. Judge a campaign on at least a quarter.
Pages that
match the search.
Someone searching 'property appraisal Erina' wants to know what their home is worth and who'd sell it. Send them to a page that shows recent Erina sales, explains how you estimate a price and makes requesting an appraisal easy.
A page that matches the search also helps what you pay. Google's Ad Rank looks at ad quality and the landing page, not just the bid.
Keep the form short: name, phone, address and when they're thinking of selling. Everything else can wait for the call.
Targeting
rules.
In the US and Canada, Google restricts housing ads from targeting by age, gender, postcode and similar. Those restrictions don't apply in Australia. Target on location and search intent anyway, not on who people are.
What I see most often
What I'd check first
in an agency ad account.
- 1
Paying for portal traffic
Budget on 'house for sale' searches that the portals win anyway.
- 2
Job seekers clicking
'Real estate jobs' and 'real estate course' searches with no negatives.
- 3
Leads counted, listings not
Form fills reported, with no link to which became signed listings.
The honest bit. Google Ads won't make up for a thin local track record. A vendor who clicks still checks your recent sales.
Questions
people ask.
Do Google Ads work for real estate agents?
For vendor and landlord searches, often yes. For buyer searches, the portals usually do the job better.
What keywords should real estate agents bid on?
Appraisal, 'agent [suburb]', 'sell my house [suburb]' and property management searches, plus your own names. Add negatives for jobs, courses and address lookups.
Can Australian real estate ads target by age or postcode?
Google's housing targeting restrictions apply in the US and Canada, not Australia. Target on location and intent, not on who people are.
What's a good cost per appraisal?
Whatever lets a signed listing pay for itself. Work it out from your commission and how many appraisals become listings. The lead value calculator does the sum.
Related
Keep
going.
Get a free
Google Ads audit.
Takes a minute. Audits come back within 1 to 2 business days. For anything else, I'll get back to you as soon as possible.
What happens next
- 1I'll ask for read-only access, or just your website for a search audit.
- 2I go through it and write up the 3 biggest fixes.
- 3A 20-minute call to walk you through it. No pitch unless you ask.