An apartment website is like a building.
If the foundation isn't strong, repainting the exteriors of the property or adding modern features might improve curb appeal—but it still will be frustrating to live in.
The same is true with the website.
It may look attractive and have all of the content renters are looking for, but without a strong technical foundation, Google, AI, and other search tools may not see or rank the website properly. And that means lost leads and fewer conversions.
Technical SEO strengthens the website's foundation—ensuring its indexable, crawlable, secure, and fast. Those are all of the essential ingredients for higher search rankings in Google and better renter engagement.
That means apartment websites need:
1. A mobile-first experience.
Designing for mobile isn't just what renters want—it's what Google requires.
Google indexes websites by their mobile performance. The more mobile-friendly and usable a site is, the better it ranks in search results.
2. Fast load times.
Google uses its Core Web Vitals to evaluate website performance and speed—because nothing frustrates users more than a site that takes forever to load.
Apartment websites usually contain many high-resolution images, videos, third-party applications and portals. If not optimized correctly, any one of those things can cause the website to slow down.
And that just won't cause more good-fit renters to bounce—it'll also be seen as a low-quality site by Google. That's why your apartment website's load speed is something you can't ignore.
3. Valid HTTPS and SSL certificates.
A secure website with valid HTTPS and SSL certificates is both a ranking factor and a trust factor.
Renters use apartment websites to submit personal information when filling out a contact form, scheduling a tour, or applying for a lease. If there's not a padlock icon in the URL indicating the website is safe, they'll hesitate and abandon the process out of fear.Google prefers secure websites. HTTPS/SSL certification also protects renters.
Google also favors secure websites in its search algorithm.
4. Clean URL structures.
The URL of each page of an apartment website should be easily understood by both human eyes and search engines.
A bad example: www.northshoreapts.com/page?id=floorplan1=type&soho=unitA
A clean example: www.northshoreapts.com/floorplan/1-bedroom/soho
The cleaner URL feels more natural, organized, and it also features a keyword-rich term.
5. Structured data and schema markup.
Structured data is built into the code of websites to organize its content. Schema is the format or language in which the structured data is written to define the content.
Together, they help AI and search engines:
- Understand what a page represents
- Display richer, more accurate search results to renters
- Match an apartment website's content to high-intent renter queries
Apartments benefit most from:
- LocalBusiness schema (name, address, phone, hours)
- Apartment schema (floorplans, amenities, contact info)
6. Crawlable, indexable content.
A clean URL structure and structured data with relevant schema markups are the first steps to ensuring an apartment website is crawlable and indexable in Google.
Other steps that help:
- Submitting an XML sitemap to Google Search Console
- Having a robots.txt file in the code that tells search engines and AI know what to crawl
- Avoiding orphaned pages (i.e. a floorplan page not linked to the main navigation)
- Eliminating website pages with duplicate content (especially true for large portfolios under the same brand
Conclusion
Technical SEO involves behind-the-scenes work renters don’t see—but they absolutely feel the effects. From how your community appears in search, to how fast and helpful the site is, it all impacts whether or not a renter converts.
If the foundation is shaky, no amount of visual design or advertising can save it.
RentVision’s Community Websites are built on solid ground—with mobile-first design, fast speeds, and the technical SEO foundations needed to rank in search and convert leads.
Want to make sure your website meets the standard? Schedule a demo to learn how we can help.