How To Create PPC Campaigns For Real Estate Advertising

Ever feel frustrated seeing Zillow or Realtor.com dominate search results, pushing your listings into oblivion? With roughly 5 million homes sold each year in the U.S., competition in real estate is fierce. 

Real estate PPC (pay-per-click) advertising puts the power back in your hands. It allows you to bypass crowded third-party sites and drive motivated buyers directly to your website, where you’re in full control of the experience. 

Setting up PPC campaigns doesn’t have to be complicated. With targeted keywords, smart budgeting, and the right ad format, you can quickly attract high-quality traffic—people genuinely interested in the homes you offer. 

Ready to stop blending in and start standing out? Let’s get started.

Key Takeaways

• Real estate PPC campaigns let you bypass big competitors like Zillow by targeting highly specific, local keywords that directly match buyer intent.
• Successful PPC relies on aligning your keywords closely with landing page content—use precise local terms like “buy townhouse downtown Austin TX” to improve conversions.
• Setting clear PPC budgets based on current real estate averages (around $2.50 per click and a 2.4 percent conversion rate) helps you achieve predictable, profitable results.
• Choosing the right platform matters: Google Ads capture high-intent searchers, while visual platforms like Instagram and YouTube effectively showcase properties.
• The best PPC ad formats for real estate include search ads for precise targeting, local service ads for nearby buyers, and video ads for higher engagement.

Table of Contents

• Key Takeaways
• What is Real Estate PPC Marketing and What Makes It Unique?
• PPC Real Estate Marketing Trends
• Selecting Keywords For Your Real Estate Marketing PPC
  • Optimize Your Site For PPC Campaigns That Use Local Keyword Phrases
• Setting Max Budgets For Your PPC Campaign
  • Deciding Which Platform Is Right For Your Real Estate Marketing
• Deciding Which Real Estate Marketing Ad Format Is Best
• Conclusion

What is Real Estate PPC Marketing and What Makes It Unique?

Real estate PPC marketing means running pay-per-click ads specifically for real estate businesses. It lets you bid on keywords related to buying, selling, or renting properties. When someone searches those keywords on Google or other ad platforms, your ad appears at the top of the results, sending targeted traffic directly to your site.

Real estate PPC stands out because it’s uniquely hyper-local. People don’t just search for “homes for sale.” They search for “homes for sale in Naperville, IL.” Your ads have to focus closely on specific locations, neighborhoods, or even particular property types. Another key difference is high competition. 

You will be up against Zillow and Realtor.com and because of this, ads can help you because you will be able to further compete.

You’re competing against big players like Zillow and Realtor.com, who have massive budgets. Your ads must be highly targeted and perfectly aligned with buyer intent to succeed.

The visual nature of real estate is another factor. Unlike industries relying solely on text ads, real estate PPC often leverages images, videos, or virtual tours to immediately capture attention and convey property appeal. These specifics shape how you’ll build your campaigns and make your PPC strategy uniquely effective in real estate.

PPC Real Estate Marketing Trends

With about 5 million homes projected to be sold in the U.S. every year, competition among real estate professionals remains fierce. Staying ahead means leveraging current PPC marketing trends to attract and convert potential buyers.

Virtual staging and drone photography are still highly relevant, visually engaging trends. Listings with aerial drone images sell 68 percent faster than those without, showing how powerful visuals are still critical for conversions. Automation for lead generation and verification has also advanced, enabling quicker follow-up and higher close rates.

Source: Homejab

Inbound marketing continues to be essential. Providing educational content through targeted PPC ads helps establish your brand as trustworthy, improving conversions and loyalty. Newer trends include increased use of video ads across social platforms and offering immersive home walkthroughs directly in your prospects’ feeds. AI-driven audience targeting is also rising in importance, making your campaigns smarter and more cost-effective.

Despite changing trends, two constants remain: you need targeted traffic and a strong, visually compelling landing page. PPC delivers targeted visitors directly to your listings, turning clicks into closings faster.

Selecting Keywords For Your Real Estate Marketing PPC

Picking the right keywords for your PPC campaign is critical if you want to reach motivated buyers and drive conversions. While PPC can help you rank for nearly any keyword, it won’t benefit your business if your terms don’t match buyer intent.

First, deeply understand your audience. Who are they? What properties are they searching for? How do they phrase those searches? Build out customer profiles to clearly define these details.

Next, match your keywords to landing pages on your site. If someone searches for “luxury condos in Miami,” the landing page they visit must show exactly that. The tighter the alignment between search terms and your landing pages, the better your conversion rates will be.

Specific keywords convert better. Broad terms might bring traffic, but not leads. Instead, use detailed local keywords with high buyer intent—like “buy townhouse downtown Austin TX” rather than just “townhouses.”

Understanding your prospect’s buying stage also helps. Early-stage buyers might search “best neighborhoods in Austin,” while later-stage buyers will use terms like “buy home in Hyde Park Austin.” High-intent keywords usually cost more, but conversions also increase dramatically.

To simplify keyword research, use tools like Ubersuggest. You can easily see each keyword’s competition level and cost-per-click estimates. This data helps you pick the most cost-effective, relevant keywords to target.

Optimize Your Site For PPC Campaigns That Use Local Keyword Phrases

Every example I’ve shared so far includes what’s called a “location modifier.” When someone searches “buy houses Naperville IL,” they’re clearly looking for homes specifically in Naperville—not Miami or New York.

You could target broader terms like “buy houses,” and you might see clicks. But if you’re selling homes only in Naperville, someone looking for houses in Ft. Lauderdale won’t convert. Local keywords are essential because location drives nearly every real estate decision.

Your landing pages need to match local keyword intent exactly. If your ad promises “homes for sale in Naperville,” your landing page has to immediately show those homes. If visitors see properties for rent or listings outside Naperville, they’ll quickly leave your site—and you’ll waste money on that click. Keeping your PPC campaigns locally targeted and landing pages precise will dramatically improve conversions.

Setting Max Budgets For Your PPC Campaign

When you launch a PPC campaign, you set your total budget and decide your maximum cost-per-click (CPC) for each keyword. Not sure where to start? That’s fine—your budget can be adjusted as you go.

Start by defining your goals. Let’s say you want to generate an additional $5,000 monthly, and each home you sell earns you around $1,000 in commissions. You’ll need about five sales a month from your PPC traffic.

Currently, real estate keywords have an average CPC around $2.37, and industry-standard conversion rates hover near 2.47%. Keep in mind, these figures can shift based on your specific market and competition level.

Also, quality matters as much as budget. Google prioritizes ads that deliver high relevance and great landing pages, rewarding them with better placement and potentially lower CPC. Writing strong, engaging ad copy can significantly boost your click-through rate (CTR). Right now, the average CTR for real estate PPC ads is about 3.7%. Good copywriting could push that number higher, stretching your budget further.

Source: Hawksem

Deciding Which Platform Is Right For Your Real Estate Marketing

Google is usually the first platform that comes to mind, handling roughly 16.4 billion searches per day. But your ideal PPC platform depends heavily on your target audience and goals. Here’s a quick breakdown to help you choose wisely:

• Google Ads: Ideal for capturing search intent directly. Best suited for immediate leads looking specifically for homes (“buy home in Austin TX”).
• Facebook: Great for reaching a broader demographic, especially adults aged 30-49, with 78% of this group active daily. Excellent for retargeting ads to visitors who’ve interacted with your site.
• Instagram: Perfect for younger demographics—about 76% of users are between ages 18-29. Highly visual ads (think stunning property photos and videos) perform exceptionally well here.
• LinkedIn: Best for reaching professionals, investors, or people interested in commercial real estate or luxury properties. Users tend to have higher average incomes.
• YouTube: Excellent for video walkthroughs, virtual tours, and educational content. In fact, 63% of homebuyers felt virtual showings with video tours were sufficient.
• Pinterest: Strong with home design enthusiasts or those researching home improvements. Roughly 70% of Pinterest users are women, and it’s effective for visually appealing listings.

Picking the right platform depends entirely on matching your ads with the right audience. Choose platforms aligned with your target buyer to maximize your PPC results.

Deciding Which Real Estate Marketing Ad Format Is Best

Google gives you several PPC ad formats to choose from, each suited to different goals. Here’s a quick breakdown tailored specifically for real estate:

• Search Ads: These are the standard ads you see at the top of Google’s results pages. They work especially well for real estate because they match highly targeted buyer searches with your ads. If someone types “buy house in Seattle,” your Seattle listings show up instantly.
• Display Ads: These appear across millions of websites partnered with Google. Display ads expand your reach and build brand awareness, but they’re less precise for buyer intent since people viewing them aren’t necessarily searching for real estate right now.
• Video Ads: Perfect for real estate, these ads appear on YouTube and within partner sites, showcasing virtual tours or property walkthroughs. Since so many homebuyers watch property videos before making decisions, video ads provide high engagement.
• Discovery Ads: These newer ads appear on Google’s Discover feed, YouTube’s homepage, and Gmail. They blend visual appeal with targeted interest, effective for branding and retargeting past visitors who previously showed interest.
• Local Services Ads: Specifically valuable for realtors and brokers, these ads highlight your business at the top of Google when someone searches for real estate services nearby. They display reviews, your location, and direct contact options.

For most real estate businesses, search and local service ads offer the clearest ROI because they match your ads directly with high-intent searches.

Pro tip: Pair Search Ads with Local Service Ads to cover both intent and location-based traffic.

Conclusion

PPC advertising is essential if you want to drive serious traffic and leads to your real estate site. It puts your listings ahead of massive platforms like Zillow and Realtor.com, bringing motivated buyers directly to you. With PPC, you control your online presence without depending entirely on third-party sites.

To get even more out of your marketing, combine PPC with effective strategies like real estate social media marketing and local SEO techniques. This powerful combination can significantly boost your visibility, leads, and ultimately, your sales.

If you’d like professional help optimizing your real estate PPC campaigns, my team is here to guide you every step of the way.