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If you don’t already have a real estate blog, it’s time to consider creating one. How to you accomplish this most effective marketing strategy for real estate when time and energy are short? With so many options for blogging platforms, the biggest expense you’ll encounter when starting a blog is your time.
How to get started with real estate blogging?
Blogs gain more popularity as a marketing tool, and experts predict the number of bloggers will rise as small businesses with a blog experience have 126% higher lead growth than those without one. However, there are some steps to take when considering blogging.
Choose a blogging platform
Your real estate website is a “must” to compete in today’s market. To have your own website, you’ll need a platform, host, and domain name. Placester has it all: the support team and designers who will work with you to put together each of these elements and the features you need for a successful real estate website. Your web content can potentially exist online forever, so it’s best to choose a professional web provider.
Identify your audience
At its core, a successful blog considers the wants and needs of your audience and whether they would find your content interesting, informative, and original. Timeless topics for real estate content include breaking down complex vocabulary, answering common client questions, or local area-specific news. It helps to determine who you want to target with your blog: are you aiming for first-time homebuyers, luxury property sellers, property investors, or a different group? Maybe you wish to appeal to many different groups, but still remember to tailor content to their needs and interests.
Plan your content strategy
Consider market trends, home buying/selling tips, neighborhood profiles, property photography tips, and local real estate news. Before sitting down to write, you must consider what your schedule will allow for. Whether it’s daily, a couple of times a week, or weekly – once you decide, try not to deviate. If you want guidelines, consider these: you should post something on your blog no less than once a week. Twice a week is optimal because it gives you the best SEO results for the least effort. Consistency is as key as anything, so create an editorial calendar to schedule posts and stick to a schedule to keep your audience engaged.
Keyword research
The heart of search engine optimization is choosing the right keywords. Check out relevant keywords that potential clients might use in their online searches. Include these keywords in your blog posts to improve SEO. Read more about how to start with real estate website SEO.
High-quality content
Write well-researched, informative, and engaging content. Think about what information your clients would want to know and information that is of value to them. Inspiration can be easily found by following and reading industry-related news and trends. If you still don’t know where to begin, list the questions most often asked by your target clients and try to answer them simply yet helpfully. Avoid blabbering on in your blogs. Start with simple formulas like “how-tos,” listicles, or trend updates. However, remember to mix it up: if you produce 10 how-to articles in a row, your content will feel stale quickly, and you’ll witness a drop in interest and lead generation from your blog.
Outline your blog post
Most people only read 28% of the words on a webpage, and headlines are the easiest way to grab their attention, so start with a catchy title. The best titles tell readers what the content is about in a way that captures attention and sparks their interest (extra points if it’s 10 words or less). Next, ensure that you break your posts up under a few smaller subheadings. It will enable people to scan them for key phrases and valuable insights. If the subheadings include the specific keyword phrases people used to find your content in the first place, that’s even better. Typically, your blog post should be between 500-800 words. It’s okay to go over a bit, but if you have much more to say about a particular topic, consider writing a second (or third and fourth!) post. Breaking long posts up into series can help drive repeat visits to your site and encourage people to read more of your content – which, in turn, signals to search engines that your site is helpful and informative.
Add images and other media to your blog
Don’t forget to enhance your posts with images, videos, and infographics. Visual content can simplify complex topics, making them easier for readers to understand. Research shows that people tend to remember visual content better than text alone. Also, search engines consider multimedia elements when ranking web pages, so including images with descriptive alt text and appropriate keywords can improve your blog’s SEO and visibility in search results.
Take care of links
Links to and from your blog post can enhance the overall user experience by providing readers with additional resources and information. By including relevant links, you make accessing more in-depth content, further research, or related topics easier, which can increase the value of your blog post. If you link to external pages, ensure they are reputable information sources. Internal linking shows search engines how to map information on your site and tells search engines that your site is connected to a specific topic.
Optimize your blog post
Include keyword phrases in your post where it feels natural, but don’t overdo it. In addition to the headings and body of your posts, you’ll also want to incorporate your keywords in a few other places:
- Post URL: Your web address is an important signal of on-page content for search engines, so be sure to include your keywords in your post’s “slug” (i.e., the end portion of your URL). For example: “mywebsite.com/best-boston-real-estate-investments-2023”
- Title tags and meta description: While these elements won’t impact how search engines rank your content, they may change how users engage. Your post’s title tag and meta description tell search engines how to display your entry in search engine results and are your first opportunity to grab people’s attention.
Add a strong call to action
What do you hope your visitors do when they visit your site? Do you want them to fill out a form so you can collect their email address? Or do you want them to contact you and set an appointment to learn more about your services? Whatever you want your visitors to do, end your posts with a call to action (CTA) that matches. For example, they may need an agent to help them uncover investment opportunities in California. Go ahead and tell them to contact your business! Ensure your CTAs invite visitors to interact with your site by submitting a form or clicking a link whenever possible. Interactions with your content provide additional signals to search engines that you’re an expert in your field. Plus, they’re a great way to collect leads.
Proofread your content
Error correction helps identify and fix grammar, spelling, punctuation, and syntax errors. It ensures that your content is free of distracting mistakes that can undermine your professionalism and credibility. Well-proofread content demonstrates professionalism. It shows that you have taken the time and care to present your ideas in a polished and error-free manner, which can enhance your reputation as a competent and reliable communicator.
Promote your blog
Share your blog posts on social media, in newsletters, and with your professional network. Promote your blog through various channels to reach a broader audience. Engage with comments and encourage comments and questions from your readers. Respond to comments promptly and engage in discussions. This can build a loyal readership.
Analyze results
Use website analytics tools to track the performance of your blog. Understand which posts are popular and what your audience enjoys. Use this data to refine your content strategy.
Evolve your strategy
As you gain experience, adjust your content strategy based on the performance and feedback. Always be open to refining your approach.
The blogging done for you with Placester
Many agents turn a blind eye to blogging because they already feel overwhelmed with work or don’t believe they have the skills to write high-performing content. Blogging can also be time-consuming. Initially, it seems like you’re spending time behind a desk researching and battling writer’s block when you should be using your time more wisely, i.e., meeting with clients. Successful blogging indeed takes time, so getting the desired results might take a few months. That’s why, when in doubt, hire a professional. Placester has a solution: DIFM (Do It for Me) + Content Pro. Apart from a custom IDX website with unlimited updates and maintenance done for you, the subscription offers unique blog and social media content written and published for you, a Google Analytics setup, and paid advertising of 4 monthly posts to supercharge your Facebook/Instagram presence. This will help to widen your outreach, drive more traffic to your real estate website, and build trust with searched-for, localized articles and comprehensive downloadable guides. Placester experts provide one piece of engaging real estate content per week, thoroughly researched and written for you, to ensure things are published regularly on your website.
