Co-Hosts: Ronn Ruiz and Martin Canchola

Guest: Robert Watson, Digital Marketing for iZone Marketing/ApartmentSEO 

Martin: Welcome to The Multifamily Podcast with Ronn and Martin. Today’s episode is definitely going to be a special one for all of us on the podcast today. Not only do we have Robert Watson back on the show, our director of digital marketing for iZone Marketing, Apartment SEO’s sister company, but we will also be talking about our latest product innovation, websites with smart SEO. In today’s episode, we will share what inspired us to create this new product, cover the key features, and how it will help prepare your communities for the future of local search. Welcome back to the Multifamily Podcast, Robert Watson.

Robert: Thanks for having me, guys. It’s great to be here.

Martin: Oh yeah, always.

Ronn: Yeah, I’m so excited whenever our group or our listeners get to hear from the, you know, the Wizard of Oz behind the curtain. And that’s Mr. Robert Watson. Really excited about what we’re talking about today. Very inspired just what the industry is going through and I’m really excited for them to hear from Robert. So let’s begin, Robert, what inspired the creation of SmartSEO and how long has it been in development?

Robert: Well, Ronn, SmartSEO was inspired by our work at iZone Marketing. We handle SEO for a wide range of clients, everything from hair salons to mobile medical imaging services. So we saw a clear need for a versatile, efficient tool that’s going to help us manage that diverse SEO need.  Development began about two years ago, and our goal with SmartSEO was to streamline our SEO process and provide ourselves with a robust toolset to help handle the dynamic nature of apartment marketing.

Martin: Yeah, and I think we can all agree that apartment marketing, you know, with everything going on with the search generative experience and the rise of AI overviews and just overall everything going on in SEO in the world, that I think there’s a big need for this product in today’s environment overall.  So we’re definitely excited to share more as we dive deeper into how the product works. So what are the key features of SmartSEO that set it apart from traditional SEO management tools?

Robert: Yeah, great question, Martin. SmartSEO has several standout features. First Smart Fusion, this is our secret sauce. It uses dynamic data sources to create SEO optimized on brand content that seamlessly integrates with your existing marketing. Then we have the targeted SEO prioritization, this utilizes advanced analytics to prioritize tasks that will have the most impact on our visibility. We also have an automated blog content management, this takes care of the content creation and maintenance, ensuring fresh, relevant content is always available. We also have scalable solutions for portfolios of all size from one property website, for example, we have a client right now that we’re working with over 200 websites. And part of this, we focus on having internal linking optimization and also image all text optimization for ADA compliance, to boost search engine rankings and enhance the user experience.

Martin: Yeah, I think that’s totally important to kind of call out, you know, a lot of our clients, they want a website and they want it fast, they don’t want to be waiting 30 plus days to get a website from inception to launch. So I think with this technology, whether we have one website, we need to put up or 200. This technology really helps scale that up and be able to launch the website very efficiently and very quickly.

Ronn: Want it fast and want it now.  So Rob, I have a question. How does smart SEOs, rapid SEO enhancements work and what kind of improvements can property managers expect to see?

Robert: Yeah. So smart SEO leverages AI driven algorithms and real time data analysis to make quick SEO improvements. These include optimizing keywords, improving Meta tags, and ensuring that your website structure aligns with SEO best practices.  Property managers can expect to see improvements in website traffic, higher search engine rankings, and of course, increased organic feed generation.

Martin: And the biggest part is that we’re going to be able to manage the website on their behalf, push these search engine rankings and updates more efficiently, like really quickly, and really help move the needle, because we are keeping tabs on your Google And being rankings, and that could be for organic and maps. And so we need to be able to see that full story and really have the program work on its own month over month, to make sure we keep moving that Google ranking in the right direction.  So Rob, can you elaborate on the smart infusion and how it utilizes advanced analytics to improve visibility overall?

Robert: Sure, Martin. So smart fusion is pretty sophisticated. It integrates multiple data sources to create content that’s not only SEO optimized, but also perfectly on brand these data sources include real time seo rankings, property details, nearby points of interest and many more. This ensures that every piece of content enhances your visibility while staying true to your brand. The exact workings are a bit of our secret. But it is an advanced approach that significantly boosts search engine rankings.

Martin: Yeah, we want to make sure we’re generating fresh content. We want to make sure we’re talking about the local area, going deeper on the amenities and features, even the floor plans. So with this generative content on top of like the rich media, the videos and the floor plans, we really hope to create a really robust experience to make the conversion journey just so much easier and more fluid so we can make sure to get you that qualified traffic overall.

Ronn: Well, that’s exactly what consumers are demanding today, right? Just getting a deeper dive, especially with the road of everything being virtual and, you know, kind of self qualifying inside on the scene, you know, they just, they need all that data at their fingertips. So we’re really excited to provide it. I know this may be a good question to ask because I’m sure clients, you know, we have clients from all over the spectrum from small to large. But how does the scalability of smart SEO cater to both small properties and, or large portfolios?

Robert: Yeah. So smart SEO is designed to be flexible and scalable from our approach from iZone, of course. So for small properties, it offers us a straightforward setup, easy to use interface. Our team is trained on it. They can get it set up and operating the same day, one day set up.  And then for larger portfolios, we can provide more robust management features like bulk updates and advanced analytics, making it easier to handle multiple properties efficiently. And that is something that will be a little bit different for us is looking at a portfolio’s SEO and saying, okay, let’s look at each property and say, these are the properties that we want to build our SEO rankings in for this specific reason. And we can help with their internal marketing strategies, making sure we’re bringing those to the website efficiently.

Martin: So we know the keywords and the intent behind them matter so much. You know, we know the type of keywords that get high search volume and the kind that convert. Can you explain how the ranking optimization feature works to boost search engine rankings?

Robert: Yes, absolutely. The ranking optimization feature continuously monitors our search engine algorithms and your website’s performance. It identifies areas of improvement such as keyword optimization, internal linking strategy and content quality. Implementing these improvements help boost your search engine ranking and drive more organic traffic to your properties website.

Martin: Yeah, and these websites in themselves, you know, they’ll pull rank in Google and Ming. And I feel like there’s just so much potential with the amount of content and the blog strategy to just go deeper than ever before, so there is a big opportunity here for our clients.

Ronn: So speaking of blogs, I know that around 77 percent of internet users still report using blogs regularly, reading them. So how does the blog content management feature automate the creation and obviously the maintenance of the contents?

Robert: Yeah, Smart SEO blog content management feature uses our smart fusion engine to generate the topic ideas, create high quality content and schedule blog posts for our internal QA team to approve each post, so it’ll meet our internal high standards. It also ensures the content is optimized for SEO and is relevant to the target audience, maintaining a steady flow of fresh content. And this is the most critical part for SEO performance when we’re looking to improve our long tail keyword strategy, fresh new content that is on point to the target audience google. That’s all google wants us to do. Provide good quality content that the actual end user wants.

Martin: Yeah, and I want to definitely reiterate what Robert said about having still the human component in an AI frenzy world where everything’s all about AI, you know. We’ve heard our own little horror stories outside of, you know, things going on with other products and companies where, you know, the AI kind of goes off the rails and no one’s, you know, kind of watching shop. So we still believe AI still has some way to go before it can be 100 percent solely trusted. So we still believe fully that we need to use AI, use the technology, but also still have the human component to be able to enhance, add value. And just, we know as apartment marketers what we need to promote, what we need to highlight their unique selling proposition and I still feel the human element will still be very Important, at least for the next year or two. So moving on, Robert, what are the customizable integration options available with smart SEO and how can property managers seamlessly incorporate it into their existing systems?

Robert: Yeah, SmartSEO offers a variety of integration options with popular property management systems, CRMs and website platforms. These integrations are seamless from your side, allowing the property managers to incorporate Smart SEO into their existing workflows without disruption. Custom API support and third party plugin support ensures capabilities with a wide range of systems.

Martin: Yeah. And this includes all the big boys as well. You know who you are.

Ronn: So I have a fun question. This is like looking into the future. How do you envision Smart SEO transforming the SEO landscape for the multifamily industry in the coming years?

Robert: Yeah, I think Smart SEO is set to revolutionize the multifamily industry. I think this is going to be the first time that somebody is providing that tailored SEO solution at scale to address specific property needs.  And as more property managers adopt Smart SEO, we’ll see more efficient SEO practices throughout the industry, higher occupancy rates, and even stronger online presence. The continuous evolution of AI and machine learning with smart SEO will keep properties competitive in the digital landscape. And that’s why we’re really excited because we’re building for the future and our goal is to continuously evolve and make the product better over time.

Martin: And this is just the beginning. We’re just getting started here. So be ready y’all. So we’re down to our last question here. And I still, I think this is a pretty important one to speak on, you know, in regards to long term SEO and your brand identity. I think we all know that Google has their standard for double EAT, expertise, experience, authority, and trust. And I feel like the way we design websites with SmartSEO, we are doing just that. So Rob, what are the long term benefits of using SmartSEO for building brand identity and kind of building upon that long term SEO equity over time?

Robert: Yeah. The long term benefits of using smart SEO include establishing a strong brand identity through consistent online visibility and improving search engine rankings, by continuously optimizing, maintaining SEO best practices, properties can grow their long term SEO equity, leading to sustainable organic traffic and higher engagement rates. This kind of result is better for organic lead generation, increasing occupancy, less dependency on ILSs or paid ads and has a more robust online reputation.

Martin: Yeah, I like that last part right there. I think there’s been a big trend within our own clients trying to have less dependency on the ILSs. Just, you know, the cost of, you know, some of the packages are astronomical. And when you think about the cost per conversion now for those packages, the return on investment isn’t always there. So we’re seeing some of our clients definitely put more focus on the SEO organic strategy to try to build that up. Maybe have a lower ILS package and maybe, you know, have a really moderate digital ad spend, but as we build up that organic growth, we’re able to help them kind of scale that back just a little bit more. So, Rob or Ronn, any final thoughts before we wrap this up?

Ronn: The only thing I want to say is I’m just really excited, obviously, apartment SEO being our namesake. You know, having been at it for well over 10 years, just to celebrate our 11th year in May. I think it’s time. I think, you know, the world is evolving, the digital world is evolving in particular, and I’m really proud that we were able to put our heads down, you know, put a pen to paper, look at what we’ve been doing behind the scenes, many of which was manual and you know, with good intention, now being able to leverage, you know, technology and automation, I think it makes us work smarter, not harder, but it definitely, again, I’m going to use the word intentional. It’s very intentional to deliver the best results. And so that’s what I’m really excited about. We aren’t going away from that human element as martin mentioned, elaborated on and the best is yet to come. So for those of you out there, thanks for listening. And if you want to know more, please reach out.

Martin: Robert.

Robert: Yeah, I’m going to do a cheap plug for iZone Marketing. If anybody is interested in getting similar features for your non multifamily business, please reach out to iZoneMarketing.com. And we’ll be happy to take a look and see what we can do to help.

Martin: Cool. Well, thank you again, Robert, for your time today. We are definitely thrilled to be able to bring our latest innovation, websites with SmartSEO, to the multifamily industry when they really need it most. Make sure to check out iZone Marketing. com again. And again, if you are a multifamily vendor or outside of the apartment industry, Izone marketing is the place you want to go. So, you know the drill, make sure to subscribe to the multifamily podcast at multifamilypodcast.com and be sure to get your free marketing analysis from ApartmentSEO.com. We look forward to connecting more about our new websites with SmartSEO and preparing your communities for the future of search. Until next time, bye everyone. Bye y’all.

Ronn: Cheers.