It seems everyone is blogging these days – there isn’t a subject that someone isn’t blogging about and for good reason.
Blogs aren’t just a trending subject. They can be a great source of information, drive traffic to your website, and generate leads for your business. Before you say, “I’m not a writer; I can’t blog,” or “Who has time for that?” consider this: an estimated 77 percent of internet users read blogs, and small businesses with active blogs generate 126 percent more leads. This means that with a well-written blog on your website, you have the power to attract attention to your site, build relationships, earn credibility and build your business. It’s also a great way for agents to increase business, and build rapport with potential clients and industry professionals. When done correctly, blogs can be thought of as a way to earn money – the planting of “income seeds” if you will.
Attracting an Audience
Be knowledgeable. Real estate is local, but clients want to work with agents who are knowledgeable about the industry as a whole. Show them this is you by blogging about local and national topics to maximize the scope of your audience.
Be relevant. Answer questions that people are asking. You want your blog to appear high up in search results when people go online for answers. By utilizing some of Google’s tools, you can see what the “most searched terms” are for the topic you want to write about. Not sure what to write about? Read other blogs to get content and style ideas, which will improve your blog.
Using Social Media to Promote Your Content
You spent time writing your content, but you want people to find it so it can be read. Every real estate blogger needs to be familiar with how to use social media to share their content on their business social pages.
Make your content interesting by using visuals such as pictures and video, and make it easy to share. How? Install a social-share plugin on your blog so that share buttons automatically appear on every post you write.
It is important to note that people are not participating on social media to be sold to. They are there to connect with people and to get information to read and share. One of the biggest ways to drive your audience away is to only post listings and links to what you are selling. You need to have a variety of useful and interesting content. Your blog can help you fuel that content.
Be authentic. This is what sets you apart and this is ultimately what will attract an audience to you. Discover what unique offering you have and stay focused on it.
Be patient. It takes time to find your voice and build an audience. Create share worthy content consistently and promote it across all of your social channels.
Be present. When you are blogging on topics that seek interaction and feedback, make sure you have the time to tend to your blog. You won’t incite conversation or engagement if you “blog and run.” Respond to questions and keep the conversation you start going.
Consider guest posts. Having someone else write a guest post for your blog will not only save you time, as you won’t have to write it, but you will gain access to the writer’s audience plus the likelihood they will share the post.
Length of content. The old rule of thumb to keep a blog at 300 words has gone out the window. Longer articles are garnering more search results and ranking higher in SEO. Don’t write words just to fill up space – aim for 750 - 1200 words of rich content per post.
Build an email list. One of the ingrained benefits of a blog is collecting email addresses. You can have a form on your site that requests these.
Be generous. Give away information such as free downloads, templates, and white papers that can be easily downloaded and saved by your readers. People will appreciate this and will return to your site to read more content.
A last thought as you build your blog is to focus on giving your audience a good and informative experience. Try not to jump on hot topics just to get noticed. If your readers aren’t inspired to come back, have not taken away what they were looking for, or have a bad experience, you’ve lost them.
So what are you waiting for? Start writing!