Why start a real estate blog?

Real estate blogging can be a valuable addition to your marketing toolkit, allowing you to share your expertise and build relationships with potential clients. Many industry experts run their blogs - just take a look at Mike DelPrete's or Ryan Serhant’s blogs. They have hundreds of entries every day.

Blogging is among the least expensive and most efficient ways to pull curious leads online. Maintaining an engaging blog helps to deliver quality content and flaunt your real estate expertise. But most importantly, blogging is easy enough, so you can start your own blog in no time. So, why is blogging worth your while?

Benefits of real estate blogging:

• Boosts online visibility: Blogging can improve your search engine ranking. When you create quality, keyword-rich content, your blog posts are more likely to appear in search results, making it easier for potential clients to find you. Mind you, it takes time, so don’t expect instant results. Nevertheless, online search is an agent’s best friend, especially if you’re trying to attract new clients. 
• Engages potential clients: Connect with potential buyers, sellers, and renters by addressing their questions and concerns. You will build trust and credibility if they can turn to your blog for answers. 
• Demonstrates expertise: Position yourself as an industry expert by sharing your real estate market knowledge. This can be particularly helpful for real estate agents looking to attract investors who want to work with skilled professionals. It can be a mutually beneficial relationship. 
• Raises brand awareness: Blogs give your brand a voice and are a perfect place to share professional opinions casually. It’s also about creating shareable content to expand your brand visibility. Maybe your post will go viral because of the spot-on comments or the choice of a blogging topic.
• Helps lead generation: When readers subscribe to your blogs, download your manuals and guides, or even simply visit your site, you can acquire their contact information by subscription form or installing a pixel on your website.
• Allows to showcase listings: Use your blog to add listings as illustrations and examples to your posts, then write engaging stories and enrich them with quality photos.
• Educate your audience: Blog posts can educate clients about various aspects of real estate, such as buying, selling, home inspections, property management, and more. Informed clients are more likely to make confident decisions and trust you enough to make a deal. 
• Keeps your website fresh: Regularly updating your blog with new content keeps your website fresh and engaging. This can improve user experience and encourage visitors to return.

PRO TIP: A good blog post can be “ever-green,” have years' worth of value online, and generate thousands of visits to your website.

Blog content “Don’ts”

When creating blog content, it's essential to focus on what to do and be aware of what to avoid.

Invest in original content

Plagiarism is a “no-go”: never copy content from other sources without proper attribution or permission. Don’t publish things you haven’t checked - dubious statistics or incorrect numbers will irritate your readers, and you will lose credibility. 

It’s also easy to fall victim to over-optimization, especially when just starting or overusing keywords in your content. This can make writing sound unnatural and harm any efforts. Focus on creating high-quality, informative content instead where keywords are naturally included. 

Don’t blow your own trumpet

Avoid creating blog posts that are purely promotional or sales-driven. Readers may be curious about your journey and background, but the bulk of that can be put in “About Page.” Visitors look for specific, timely content that answers their questions in your blog. Leave credentials and mind-blowing sales numbers to your other landing pages or social media. While promoting your services or products is okay, provide value to your readers first and foremost.

Double-check your posts

Don’t publish content without proofreading for errors: typos and grammatical mistakes can make it look unprofessional. So are misleading titles and excessive use of professional jargon. 

Make it visually appealing

The lack of visuals can be a blog killer, too. A wall of text is daunting for readers. Don't neglect using images, infographics, and other visuals to break up content and make it more engaging. Alternatively, use bullet points, graphs, or tables - they are easy enough to prepare.

Consistency is crucial for building an audience, so don't publish sporadically. It is recommended to establish a posting schedule and stick to it. 

Include a strong CTA

Every blog post should have a purpose. Remember to include a clear CTA (Call to Action), whether it's encouraging readers to subscribe, contact you, or explore your services. Refer your readers to the home valuation page or direct form (so you can add new leads to an e-mail drip campaign). 

PRO TIP: After publishing a blog post, don't assume readers will automatically find it. Share your content on social media, email newsletters, and other marketing channels to reach a wider audience.

Blog content “Dos”

Publication schedule

There are some good practices regarding blogging. For instance, you should decide how often you will post, as quality and consistency are key. It could be once a week or twice a month, but you have to follow through. The nice idea is to work in sprints or create a publications calendar. It could be in Google Sheets (they’re great for their shareability and ease of access across devices), but Excel works well, too.

Creative ideas

Next, write a list of blog post ideas. As a real estate professional, you have many options to write about. Anything related to the housing industry can provide value to your clients and establish your company as an industry expert. Whether trying to reach sellers or buyers, discussing trends in home sales, mortgage rates, and lending restrictions is a good place to start writing, as housing trends are super interesting. Another blog topic is local events and activities, from festivals to community projects and estate sales to charity 5Ks, whether it’s the best gym to get in shape or the ideal place for that hike with the dog. Providing inspiration is a fabulous idea for blog content. Tell readers about upcoming, notable events and possible activities in your real estate market.

You can also feature a local business. Do you have a favorite hamburger joint or the ultimate place to get a latte? Not only will your audience appreciate your insight about cool places to check out, but chances are the business will provide a link to your website, helping the SEO of your real estate blog.

Home maintenance is another all-favorite topic, but you can even take it one step further by diving into topics such as staging a home you’re planning to sell or how to avoid many of the common challenges associated with buying/selling a home. If you have any experience with interior design, it will make a great subject for a series of blog posts on the dos and don’ts of decorating your home. 

Among the best real estate blog topics is information on moving to a new place. Relocation to a new geographic region can be stressful for even the most prepared individuals. By providing resources and information that help folks moving to a new region, you can reach people who are likely to be looking to either buy or sell a property.

Alternatively, you can provide helpful content about property listings in your area, i.e., put together some lists of the cheapest, most luxurious, or best-valued property. Debating renting vs. buying is an excellent subject real estate content idea. Talk about the pros and cons for both sides and how they differ depending on your financial situation and goals. Share stories about when you chose to rent or buy, why, and how the housing market plays into this decision.

Start writing your real estate blog

Once you have a list of topics, you can start writing your blog posts. Compelling blog content can win you leads, so write valuable posts that answer readers’ questions. Remember about short, catchy headlines, paragraphs, spacing, and keywords, and include infographics or images to break down the text. This helps to create a more visually appealing look for blogs. (If you want to know how to optimize your blog post better, we have an article about it).

Stay true to the topic and deliver on your promise so your readers won't feel disappointed and want to return to your blog more often. Always put your audience first, and invest time into quality blogging. Your efforts will be rewarded when people trust you, they will return regularly or finally convert into clients. 

If you recognize the value of blogging but have no time, you can delegate that task. 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 you 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.