We Analyzed 50+ Google Ads Accounts: Here Are The Best PPC Keywords for Motivated Seller Leads [DATA]

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When you spend money on Google Ads, you want those ads to drive motivated sellers to your website consistently. But what are the best PPC keywords for motivated seller leads?

Well, that’s what we’re going to show you. We just compiled 5 years’ worth of Google Ads keyword data — 29,000 keywords and 217,416 clicks from over 50 Google Ads accounts.

Of course, there are a lot of different keywords that can drive leads, so as a part of our criteria for this report, we are only sharing keywords that:

  • Had at least an 8.15% conversion rate
  • And a cost per lead of $250 or less

Is Google Ads Worth It?

Google Ads can still be very well worth it for real estate investors. Google Ads offers many benefits, including the ability to reach targeted and motivated leads, a pay-for-performance pricing model, and an easy-to-track ROI. While there are disadvantages you can find ways to work around them.

If your budget is a factor, you can avoid competing with larger competitors by using more long-tail or localized keywords that could help bring down the cost of bidding on highly competitive motivated seller keywords.

The keywords below may or may not be as highly demanded as the others in your market but will effectively drive higher conversion traffic to your website.

Robert manages his campaign. He’s successful because he uses the right keywords within his account. He doesn’t need 1000s of keywords but sticks with a small batch of the most effective.

A Testimonial w/ Pertinent Advice

“In 2017 we wanted to shift our real estate business from a standard brokerage model to an investments model that flips homes. We didn’t know quite where to start. After some research, we found Carrot and got our websites up and running.

We needed to start bringing in leads and had Brendan set up our Google PPC. Our business skyrocketed inside of just a few months.

Google PPC has provided us with consistently high-quality leads. Inside of just 2 years, we doubled our business revenue. We couldn’t have done it without the Carrot team and especially Brendan setting up our Google ads. Thank You!”

– Robert Grand

What Helps Increase Conversion Rates?

First, what is a conversion rate?

The conversion rate for a certain keyword is the number of people who click through an ad via a specific keyword and convert divided by the total number of people who click through.

Calculating conversion is fairly easy. All you need to do is divide the number of conversions you get in a given time frame by the total number of people who visited your site and multiply it by 100%.

Conversion rate = (conversions / total visitors) * 100%

For example, if your motivated seller site had 292 visitors and 21 conversions last month, your conversion rate is 7.19%

The good news: you can take plenty of actions to boost your conversion rates.

One of the best ways to turn more clicks into leads is to differentiate yourself from the pack.

Everybody and their brother offers similar messages in exchange for names, addresses, and emails on their landing pages.

You can do better than that!

Recognize what your prospects are looking for and provide it. For instance, if you specialize in buying distressed properties, you should use your landing pages to communicate this with copy and distressed house images easily.

That way, the prospect gets value from their initial interaction with your company, and you get the information you need to turn them into a lead. It’s a win-win recipe for more conversions.

Check out these 13 ways to stand out from the competition and increase conversion rates.

Once you get Google Ads and your website dialed in, you can achieve a steady flow of quality leads…

consistent Google Ads motivated seller leads

What Are The Best PPC Keywords for Motivated Seller Leads?


If nailing keyword bids were easy, many of us here at Carrot would be out of work.

Three of the trickiest things about keywords are volume, cost, and quality. Of course, you want your keywords to drive high search volume because that means they’ll put a lot of eyeballs on your ads and, thus, give you many opportunities to capture leads.

However, with high search volume comes many people with no interest in your service. Attracting clicks from people who will never convert is not ideal when paying for each click. This is precisely why search advertisers must beware of broad keywords and take advantage of long-tail keywords.

Even though it’s common for broad match keywords to have a lower cost-per-click, most Google Ads members want to spend their money on what works.

This is exactly what it sounds like. A more specific keyword that attracts a smaller, super-relevant audience of people further along the intent scale. Bidding on these keywords is essential for any advertiser looking to minimize waste.

Don’t forget negative keywords. Negative keywords are fantastic! These allow you to identify searchers who are demonstrably uninterested in your company and whose clicks will drain your budget.

For example, if you are looking for motivated sellers with no interest in retail, it makes no sense to show your ads when someone searches “what’s my house worth.” So, bid on this term as a negative keyword, and you’ll notice the difference immediately.

Understanding the Google Ads Auction Process

It helps to understand how Google Ads determines which ads should show during an auction, which takes place every time someone searches on Google or visits a site that shows ads.

3 main factors in the ad auction determine which ads appear and in what order:

  1. Your bid. When you set your bid, you’re telling Google Ads the maximum amount you’ll pay for a click on your ad. How much you’re paying is often less, and you can change your bid at any time if you use the manual bidding strategy.
  2. The quality of your ads. Google Ads also looks at how relevant and useful your ad and the website it links to are to the searcher. The quality of your ad is summarized in your Quality Score. You can monitor and work to improve your Google Ads account.
  3. The expected impact from your ad extensions and other ad formats. When you create your ad, you can add additional information, such as a phone number or more links to specific pages on your site. These are called ad extensions. Google Ads estimates how extensions and other ad formats you use will impact your ad’s performance. So even if your competition has higher bids than yours, you can still win a higher position at a lower price by using highly relevant keywords, ads, and extensions.

These three factors determine when and if your ad will appear to potential motivated sellers.

You can learn more about how bidding on keywords can help you create a cost-effective campaign.

Before We Dive In…

There are some items worth mentioning that define these keywords a little more.

All campaigns used the Google Ads Search Network using manual bidding.

Even though these keywords have performed in over 50 different markets across the United States and Canada, results can vary. It’s a good idea to have a variety of other keywords and match types within your Google Ads account, as many other keywords can also drive more motivated seller leads.

You’ll also need to take into account the shifting markets. What might have been a good keyword last year might have different results this year.

We also relied on conversion tracking to be implemented on all sites. To our knowledge, all accounts had the correct conversion tracking on their Carrot sites. Don’t know if conversion tracking is correct? Read our conversion tracking blog post to learn how.

So without further adieu, here are the 20 best PPC keywords for motivated seller leads based on conversion rates and cost per lead.


Three Keyword Types

What’s a keyword?

Regarding Google Ads, a keyword is a word or phrase that tells Google which phrases, ideas, or topics you want to target with your advertisements. The keywords you choose will have a direct impact on the effectiveness of your ads.

Google ads allow for keyword entries with three parameters: phrase match, exact matchm, and broad match. Here’s a reference list to help you understand each of these different types.

“Keyword” = Phrase Match — This means that the exact phrase must be within your target audience’s search, but other words and terms can also come before and after it.

[Keyword] = Exact Match — The keyword phrase must match your target audience’s search.

Keyword = Broad Match — This means that the audience’s search matches the idea/intent of the keyword phrase you selected.


Top 20 Motivated Seller Keywords

  1. “sell my house” – phrase match
  2. [we buy ugly houses] – exact match
  3. “sell my house” – phrase match
  4. “we buy houses” – phrase match
  5. how to sell the house fast – broad match
  6. need to sell house quickly – broad match
  7. [we buy houses] – exact match
  8. [sell my house] – exact match
  9. sell house for cash – broad match
  10. “sell my home” – phrase match
  11. “sell your house for cash” – phrase match
  12. “sell your house” – phrase match
  13. “home investors” – phrase match
  14. “sell house online” – phrase match
  15. “ugly houses” – phrase match
  16. “opendoor – phrase match
  17. “sell my home for cash” – phrase match
  18. “sell my house ” – phrase match
  19. “we buy ugly houses” – phrase match
  20. “we buy homes” – phrase match

Note About Conversion Rate

It’s important to remember that while Google Ads will drive traffic to your website, that doesn’t guarantee conversion or a consistent lead-flow. You’ll also need to ensure that your website or landing page (wherever you send people after they click on your ad) is set up to convert. Carrot websites are built with the highest conversion rates in the industry and you can try us risk-free for 30 days.


Pertinent Google Ads Testimonial

“Hey Trevor, Just wanted to let you know what a great program you have set up for me. My web page went live the first week of July this Year. I received 5 leads after the 2nd week with a Little PPC campaign on Google.

I spoke and met with 3 Motivated Homeowners that week. I put 2 Homes under contract that week. I sold both homes to a local investor at $30k profit on each home. I also will resell the renovated home at 3% of the sell price of about $700k each.

Thank You for a great program In just over a Month I put under contract 2 Homes with over $100k profit. Can’t wait to see what the next few months brings.

Thank You Again”

– Roy Franklin

How To Find More Motivated Seller Keywords

Want to find your keywords? We recommend at least trying some of the keywords within this post, but if you’re deadset on doing your research, you can use Google’s Keyword Planner and Google Ads Search Terms Reports.


Is Google Ads Worth Your Time and Money?

Google Ads turns off many real estate investors because they deem it “too expensive.”

Sure, it has risks, and the monetary investment can be significant. Some markets require monthly budgets of $5,000 to $10,000. In addition, the average cost of each Google Ads click is $10-$20.

Now, I’m not saying you should have that budget. However, I’d recommend investing at least $1,000 per month (in small markets) – $3000 per month and at least 2-3 months to expect tangible results.

With this, you know up front that it’s a bit of a gamble if the campaign fails. However, if your campaign succeeds, you’ve got everything to gain.

If you are worried about learning how to use Google Ads effectively, you can stop. You don’t need to be an expert. Let us help you with our Google Ads QuickStart service.

You’ll get…

  • Google Ads Certified Professionals to set up your account
  • Lead tracking, so you know exactly how many leads have been generated for your business
  • Keyword research with match types
  • Conversion tracking
  • Retargeting tag installation
  • Mobile optimized ads
  • Geo-targeting
  • Ad extensions: Sitelinks, Callouts, Call, Structured Snippets
  • Negative keywords lists
  • Initial keyword bid optimization

Learn more about this service and how it might benefit you today!

Brendan Holmes

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