How Ryan Fitzgerald Generated 1M+ Organic Sessions and Closed $200M in Real Estate Sales

Welcome to Market Movers: Building Brands and Links with Linkifi!
Your go-to podcast for transforming your business into an unforgettable brand where branding meets SEO and link-building. I’m Chris Panteli, Co-Founder and CEO of Linkifi, and I’m joined by my co-host and Co-Founder, Nick Biggs.

 

In this episode, we’re joined by Ryan Fitzgerald, founder of Raleigh Realty and the SEO mastermind behind Agent Loft. Ryan has built one of the most successful real estate brokerages in North Carolina using SEO—not cold calls—to generate over 20+ organic leads per day. He’s grown his team to 30 agents, closed 500 homes last year, and is actively outranking Zillow and Realtor.com in competitive search markets.

 

We dive deep into his full-funnel SEO strategy, neighborhood landing pages, AI use cases in real estate, and the power of brand trust in search. If you’re in real estate or building a service-based business, this episode is a masterclass in long-term SEO growth.

Key Talking Points:
✅ From Cold Calls to SEO Domination – How Ryan used content and Google rankings to go from zero contacts to $200M in real estate sales.
✅ Why 100% of Early Leads Were Organic – And how that figure still drives 50% of the business today.
✅ Neighborhood SEO Strategy – How ranking for hyper-specific terms like "Oak Park Garner NC Homes for Sale" converts better than high-volume keywords.
✅ Creating Content that Converts – Differentiating between branding blog posts (e.g., best restaurants in Raleigh) vs. direct lead magnets (e.g., moving to Raleigh).
✅ Agent Loft and the Zillow Alternative – Why Ryan built a fully SEO-optimized real estate platform after finding no solutions that met his standards.
✅ The Power of Branded Search – How name recognition and Google trust helped them recover fast after a risky domain migration.
✅ Using AI in Real Estate – From Claude-generated emails to neighborhood content automation and virtual staging concepts.

Quotes from Ryan Fitzgerald:
📢 “I didn’t want to cold call—I wanted people calling me. That’s what SEO did.”
📢 “We just closed a home from an SEO lead who found us on Saturday and was under contract by Tuesday.”
📢 “People trust Google more than their friends. When Google sends them to us, the trust is already built.”
📢 “We switched domains, changed URLs, made mistakes—and still bounced back. That’s the power of brand authority.”
📢 “Claude writes my Slack messages better than I do, emojis and all.”

Actionable Insights for Listeners:
🚀 Build Neighborhood Pages – Use specific location + intent-based keywords to rank and convert better than generic listings.
🔗 Automate the Long Tail – With tools like Agent Loft, build pages for basements, swimming pools, and first-floor master bedrooms.
📥 Retarget SEO Visitors – Don’t let your organic traffic disappear. Use newsletters, remarketing, and saved searches to keep them in the funnel.
🤖 Use AI for Smart Touchpoints – Personalize lead engagement with AI-generated emails that feel thoughtful and human.
💡 SEO > Paid Leads – If Zillow’s leads are micromanaged and low quality, building your own pipeline creates freedom and trust.

About Ryan Fitzgerald:
Ryan Fitzgerald is the founder of Raleigh Realty, a real estate agency built entirely on SEO-driven inbound marketing. He also created Agent Loft, a new platform helping realtors build SEO-optimized websites with turnkey MLS pages and neighborhood-level automation. Ryan’s approach to real estate SEO is one of the most successful in the industry, consistently beating out national platforms with focused, local content.

 

📍 Visit: raleighrealty.com
🏗 Explore: agentloft.com

🚀 Build Your Brand with Real Links
At Linkifi, we help ambitious brands scale organic visibility through digital PR, brand storytelling, and SEO strategy. Book your FREE strategy session today:
🔗 https://calendly.com/linkifi/pr

 

👋 Connect with your hosts:
👉 Chris Panteli on LinkedIn
👉 Nick Biggs on LinkedIn

 

🎧 Listen to more Market Movers episodes:
🌍 https://marketmoverspod.com