Professional Web Studio

Web Development - Search Engine Optimization
Online Marketing

2011 Sep20

Blogging Ideas for REALTORS

Written by: Darlene

Today I want to talk about REALTORS® and blogging. Every REALTOR® knows that they have a ton of competition, both online and offline. But how many REALTORS® are taking the time to leverage the power of the Internet so that they can rank higher on Google and gain a significant advantage over their competition?

house for sale

While there are many online tools that a REALTOR® can use to attract a steady stream of business, blogging on a regular basis is easy to do, and it will do great things for your business, such as:

  • Attract organic search engine traffic through targeted keyword phrases
  • Build relationships with potential customers from across the globe
  • Attract new listings

People who are looking for help finding a house or who want to hire a REALTOR® to help them with selling their home will use the Internet. And if your site is optimized properly, they could find you.

REALTORS® that leverage the power of the Internet can attract more customers and listings and another significant benefit is that Internet customers cost a lot less to market to than you'll pay for local print advertising and marketing.

REALTOR® Blogging

realtor blog scheduleAs a REALTOR® blogging is a great way to bring new business your way. Every time you add a blog post to your website, you'll have the potential of reaching new customers.

One of the things that I've noticed is that many REALTORS® only blog about their new listings.

Yes, blogging about your listings is an excellent idea, especially if you include professional photos within the post. That is a great way to get the word out about a new listing because it allows you to tweet and facebook that blog post which will bring people back to your website instead of them going to the MLS®.

However, it is also very important that you do a variety of different types of posts to spice up your Real Estate blog and give your audience a reason to come back to your blog on a regular basis.

 

Create a Plan and a Posting Schedule

Creating a strategic blogging plan and a schedule of when you will blog before you begin posting can make a dramatic difference to your overall Internet marketing strategy. Note that you can also set aside time to write and upload several blog posts in one sitting and then postdate them to be published throughout the week.

Read on for some helpful blogging tips for REALTORS® that you can use when you create your plan:

Blogging Ideas to Help You Get Started

  • Curb Appeal - 5 Things You Can Do Outside to Help Your House Sell Quicker
  • First Time Home Buyers - 10 Things You Need to Know Before You Buy
  • Moving Checklist - 30 Things That Will Make Your Move Less Stressful
  • Tips for Packing
  • The Secret to Getting the Best Price for Your Home
  • 5 Things You Can Do to Increase the Value of Your Home

Talk About Your Community

As a local business you want to talk about your community and specifically mention your location on your blog whenever you can. This allows you to provide useful information to people interested in moving to the area and it will help the search engines match your site as highly relevant to your geographical area, too. This will also help you achieve high search engine rankings for your region.

Write regularly about a variety of things in your community such as:

  • local events
  • places to shop
  • why people move to your community – ie: jobs, resources, climate
  • fun places to take your children
  • new restaurant reviews
  • where you can go for a quick weekend getaway, etc.

Make sure that within your blog posts you link to other sections of your site and your blog. You can link to your MLS® listings, to your "about" page, and to helpful calculators, and resources. Linking helps to keep people on your site longer by encouraging them to read other pages and it will boost your SEO, too.

As I mentioned earlier, in amongst your different blog post topics, it is great to talk about the properties you represent. Not only will this give you easy information to blog about but it will also help you rank for words and phrases potential clients could be looking for. Mention that you've recently sold a "3-bedroom townhouse in Calgary" that went for $20K above the asking. Say that you've recently closed a large deal in a record-breaking short amount of time. Toot your own horn once in a while to demonstrate your level of expertise.

When you are creating your Real Estate blog posts try to remember to include nice professional pictures that are relevant to your post. This will make your blog posts visually appealing which in turm will attract more attention.

Things a REALTOR® Shouldn't Blog About

When scanning other Real Estate blogs I've also noticed that some of them simply copy articles from their local newspaper or other sites on the Internet into their own blog. Yes the articles are about Real Estate, but they are not adding any value to the blog at all. First of all because they are duplicate content and the search engines very much dislike duplicate content which means your post will probably not be found in any listings. Second because when people turn to your blog they want to read what you have to say on a subject and not what a writer at your local newspaper is saying about Real Estate. And thirdly copying online content from one website to another is plagiarism.

Promote Your Blog

Promote your blog on your website, on your business card, in your email signature block, via a Facebook fan page, and through social media sites, such as Twitter and Google+. A little bit of promotion will up your subscribers and draw attention to your blog.

Even a few blog posts a week, which is what I try to do, could do a lot for your exposure as a qualified REALTOR® in your area. If you need help designing, strategizing, or creating blog posts for your Real Estate blog, please contact us at Professional Web Studio. We look forward to helping you.


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Comments

  1. Dawn
    Dawn on 10/09/2011 10:29 p.m.

    Great article...hate when I go to any blog, regardless of industry, and find the story is a reprint, copied article. The idea of a schedule makes such sense..I should of already thought of it! Thanks again, great article..

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