By Max Milano (Tech Writer)
Spain has always been a magnet for sunseekers and second-home buyers. But in recent years, the digital landscape for real estate and expat-focused businesses has changed dramatically. English-speaking agents in Spain now face more competition than ever. The old methods of relying on word-of-mouth are no longer enough. If your clients can’t find you on Google, you’re invisible. That’s where local SEO comes in.
Let’s explore exactly how English-speaking real estate agents and expat-focused small businesses across Spain need to double down on geo-targeted SEO to rank higher, get found faster, and double their leads in order to increase sales.
The Real Estate Boom Needs a Smarter Strategy
Since 2021, Spain’s real estate market has been heating up. British, Dutch, German, and Scandinavian buyers are returning, remote workers from the USA are relocating, and local buyers are also in play. This sounds great for real estate agents, but it also means the market is saturated with listings, portals, and agencies all trying to reach the same audience.
English-speaking agents in regions like Costa del Sol, Costa Blanca, or the Balearic Islands often think that simply having an English website or posting on Idealista will do the trick. But it won’t. To stand out in today’s search-first environment, you need a localized, bilingual, and SEO-optimized presence.
What Is Local SEO and Why Should You Care?
Local SEO is a subset of search engine optimization that focuses on improving visibility in location-based searches. For example, when someone types “English-speaking real estate agent in Valencia” or “buy apartment Costa Blanca,” Google tries to serve the most relevant and geographically close results. If your business doesn’t show up for these searches, your competition will.
Google Business Profile, formerly known as Google My Business, is one of the most important tools in your local SEO toolbox. If you haven’t claimed or optimized your listing, you’re missing out on a huge number of leads. But a listing alone isn’t enough. You need to make sure your website, your blog content, your reviews, and your backlinks all speak the same local SEO language, both figuratively and literally.
Why English-Speaking Businesses Need to Think Bilingual
Most English-speaking real estate agents and service providers in Spain overlook a critical SEO factor: bilingual optimization. Spain is a multilingual country, and Google rewards websites that serve content in both English and Spanish, especially when you’re targeting international buyers who are Googling in English while sitting in Spain.
A well-optimized site should have dedicated English and Spanish pages, using correct hreflang tags so Google knows which version to serve. This not only improves your rankings but also boosts your credibility. If a Dutch couple sees your site in English, and then a Spanish notary views it in Castilian, everyone feels like they’re in the right place.
Translating content is not enough. You also need to think about keyword intent. Spanish buyers might search for “comprar casa en Jávea,” while your British leads are typing “buy villa Javea.” They’re looking for the same thing, but the SEO strategy to capture each one is different.
Real Estate SEO Isn’t Just for Portals
You might be tempted to put all your listings on Idealista, Kyero, or Rightmove and call it a day. But those platforms own the customer experience. When someone inquires, you’re just one of many agents they message. Your brand gets lost in the crowd.
Your goal should be to own your traffic. That means having your own site, optimized for organic search, with clear calls to action and lead capture forms using tools like HubSpot that elevate your forms with automated email marketing sequences that make the customers feel special and help you qualify customers on the back end. A smart local SEO strategy helps you show up when buyers are searching for specific terms like “sea view apartments Denia English agent” or “retire in Alicante property.”
By targeting long-tail keywords, geo modifiers, and English-language queries, you can pull in high-intent leads who are more likely to contact you directly, not just browse through hundreds of listings.
Localized Content That Answers Real Questions
The best way to get Google’s attention is to create content that helps people. That means writing blog posts, guides, and neighborhood spotlights that answer the exact questions your audience is typing into the search bar. You have to think like your customer and be ready to answer their top questions with your content. That sets your real estate agency as the subject matter expert in your area.
Think about your client’s journey. Before they call an agent, they’re probably Googling things like “is it safe to buy property in Malaga as a foreigner” or “best towns to live in Costa Blanca for retirees.” These are golden opportunities to rank with helpful blog content, especially if it’s in natural English with good formatting, relevant images, and internal links to your services.
Your homepage is for converting. Your blog is for attracting. Both need to be optimized to work together. An article about “Buying Property in Jávea: What Expats Need to Know” could bring in traffic for years if written well and updated regularly. We’ve even seen real estate agents charm potential new customers by reviewing the local Chinese restaurants in the area on their blog.
Don’t Forget the Tools That Give You an Edge
You don’t need to be a technical wizard to get started. There are plenty of tools that can help you optimize your site, monitor rankings, and generate ideas. Free tools like Google Search Console can show you how your current pages are performing. Screaming Frog has a free version that can audit your site for technical SEO issues like broken links or missing titles.
Reviews and Trust Signals Matter More Than Ever
Google loves reviews. So do your potential clients. Having real, recent reviews on your Google profile, Facebook page, and even third-party sites like Trustpilot can boost your rankings and improve click-through rates. Better yet, translate those reviews into both English and Spanish. Use them in your site copy. Record short testimonial videos if possible. These trust signals help both humans and search engines decide that you’re worth paying attention to.
Another overlooked opportunity is backlinks from relevant sites. If a local blog in Valencia features your agency or an expat influencer links to your relocation services, Google sees that as a signal of trust and relevance. You can’t buy your way into this kind of authority, but you can build it through smart outreach and content collaboration.
Paid Ads Can Fuel Organic Growth
While SEO is a long-term play, you will get faster results by combining it with targeted paid ads. Facebook, Instagram, and Google Ads all allow you to target English-speaking users living in Spain or in their home countries. That means you can promote your blog content, property listings, or lead magnets directly to your ideal audience even before they set foot in Spain, while your SEO foundation builds over time.
The best approach is to use paid ads to get qualified leads ASAP and then use the learnings from the paid campaigns to optimize your website’s relevant pages for organic search. This hybrid approach helps you grow faster and smarter.
A Real Estate Agent’s Traffic Doubled in 3 Months
One of our CalienteContent customers, an English-speaking real estate agent based in Torrevieja, came to us with a beautiful website that no one was visiting. After running a technical SEO audit, we found duplicate content issues, unoptimized titles, and no geo-targeted landing pages.
We rebuilt the site structure to target key areas in the Torrevieja area, and we created blog content that answered common questions about the local areas as well as about real estate taxes and navigating notary services in Spain. We optimized their Google Business Profile and translated key pages to Spanish. We also launched geo-targeted Meta and Google Ads campaigns to drive traffic and leads ASAP.
Within three months, organic traffic had increased, leads doubled, and so did their sales.
CalienteContent experts use many of these smart strategies daily to audit, optimize, and grow traffic for English-speaking businesses across Spain. We take the guesswork out of SEM and SEO so you can focus on what you do best, closing deals and managing your properties.
Your Website Needs To Work While You Sleep
Think of SEO as your silent salesperson. It doesn’t take breaks. It doesn’t get tired. When done correctly, your website becomes a lead-generation engine that works 24/7, especially for a mobile-first audience that’s Googling from their phones late at night in Madrid, Málaga, or Manchester.
CalienteContent specializes in helping English-speaking businesses in Spain get found, get traffic, and get leads. Whether you’re a real estate agent or a tax accountant helping expats navigate taxes, your website should be doing more than just looking pretty. It should be working hard for you.
Ready to Get Found?
If you’re tired of crickets and ready for clicks, it’s time to take your SEM and SEO seriously. Start with a free technical SEO audit from our team. We’ll identify the exact issues holding your site back and show you how to fix them with the right SEM and SEO strategy, especially tailored to your business needs. No fluff, no jargon, just results.
Your audience is already searching. Let’s make sure they find you first.
