It has long been a topic of debate of whether or not having keywords in your website domain impacts your organic ranking on Google. According to Google Webmaster Trends Analyst, John Mueller, "Just because a website has a keyword in its domain name, doesn't mean that it's more relevant than others for that keyword." The true ranking factor for your property websites' organic search results are content and functionality.
While this is important to know from a digital marketing standpoint for new multifamily developments or rebrands, multifamily has a whole other thing to consider when selecting names for their apartment communities: location. At the end of the day, Google, SEO, and SEM best practices don't always directly translate to multifamily. A significant amount of Google's digital marketing recommendations apply only to e-commerce for more immediate purchasing decisions and online behavior. Even with COVID, real estate is a more significant and longer purchasing decision than buying a new dress or tennis shoes online. Most of the "conversions" in our industry still happen in-person. Real estate is hyper-local. It matters what your residents can walk to from your community, where they can shop, and what neighborhood your property is located in. For that reason, the naming of your property and the keywords within your property's name are extremely important from a local search results standpoint. Take a look at the example below for "Westside Atlanta Apartments"Google search for reference.
While these three communities are not the newest, flashiest, or likely have the highest PPC budgets in the market, they all have one thing in common that contributes to their placement in the local pack of Google's organic results- Westside is in their brand name. Even though Google says having "westside" in the domain name won't be ranking factor, you can see that the physical location of these communities and having "westside" in their brand name significantly contribute to their organic presence on Google Maps. When considering naming your lease ups and rebrands, it is important to consider including the name of the property's neighborhood in your brand name. Once you verify your local listing with Google and consistently add content to your GMB, your local presence will surely benefit.