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AR Blog versus Outside Blog - My list of Pro's and Con's

Janie Coffey asked a question today about blogs and whether participating in a large real estate professionals community like Active Rain (AR) was the best way to go or should people consider another blog that was just theirs alone. From my experience these are things I considered...

Pros for Active Rain Real Estate Blogs

It gets great SEO & Google ranking almost immediately
Majority of my leads have come from here
It's a Great referral source from other agents too
It's Easy to use
It's a very easy place to "begin" blogging
It's a very Supportive Community

Active Rain Real Estate Blogging Risks

If it's your ONLY blog you have the risk of putting all your eggs in 1 basket - especially one you don't control

Pros for Your own Outisde Real Estate blog

Google typically allows 2 spots from a site so you could have 2 but with other blogs you have "more presence" potential;
It is driving my personal website up on the internet;
It ranks well already and I have 100% control;
Since I started now it will have"age" on it's side in the future - even if I don't do as much on it as I do here.
I like sending clients there to read and it's branded ALL us.
If you're active in AR and reciprocate you can have your friends here help build your outside blog and vice versa - we have great networking and learning abilities now that may not always exist - I hope so though.

Con's for Outside Real Estate blog

There aren't enough hours in a day (LOL) - It's definitely more work
It's a great place to "grow" to but I'm glad I didn't start there - I learned so much from all my AR buddies.

Ultimately, we did create an outside blog - Tampa Bay Real Estate Resource - Sandbars to Sunsetsand are enjoying them both. It is a commitment but then isn't anything worthwhile?

What Pro's and Con's would you say should be added to my list?

UPDATED:

To answer Irene's question: Help - Does Google Penalize Posting on Your Outside Blog and on AR - UPDATED

Posted by Clearwater Real Estate Pinellas Florida Condos & Homes for Sale- Cyndee Haydon on 08/18/2007 07:27 PM

Comments (91)

real estate blog, sandbars to sunsets, tampa bay real estate

Post is included in group: Clearwater Beach Real Estate

91 Comments on AR Blog versus Outside Blog - My list of Pro's and Con's

AUG

2007

Cyndee - it's funny you did a blog about the answer - once I looked an mine, I thought the same thing. I think you mention really important factors here.

One thing I would add is that knowing the difference between your blog and Active Rain - you can utilize both for your advantage. Localism is an incredible tool and the agent knowledge in AR is as well.

Once you learn how to manage all 3, then your presence in The Internet should be amazing.

Cyndee, I've only been here at AR for a few weeks but I've learned quite a bit. I've signed up for a Wordpress Blog but I'm wondering how much duplicate information I should post or do I need to have all unique content on both sites for it to actually have any SEO advantages? I think I'll just play with the Wordpress for now as I don't want to get overwhelmed. You're right - not enough hours in the day. How long did you wait before you started an outside blog?

Cyndee, Great job setting the pros and cons. I am yet to see the benefit of my outside blog, it is relatively new and I have to add that I have to work harder on my outside blog for Google to notice it vs. my Active Rain Blog.

Cyndee - I think you did a great job covering both Pros and Cons for the Activerain blog and the outside blog. I can see why you would want to have a blog that you have more control over. I am certainly looking foward to winter when I will have time to put all my technology goals in place.

I think you covered the majority although I still am learning. One day I would like to incorporate some of my stories that I have done here on my own website page ....I tried doing that although I knocked out my old website (I already had the new one in the works) so just goes to show I need to learn more.

Very good information, I am new to blogging and AR so I am "acting like a sponge" and absorbing as much information as possible currently. I will certainly look at getting a blog together outside of AR. I appreciate the list of pro's and con's very much.

Cyndee, if you can swing your own personal "outside blog" then you will benefit more in the long run. Right now AR will benefit the most over time and become a presence to contend with. We are all feeding the 800 pound gorilla.

Cyndee, I think you pretty much covered all the pros & cons. I agree with what Inez added, in that cross-linking all 4 (AR, Localism, website, blog) really empowers our personal blog and websites. The leads I've received have been from my web site and WP blog, but I know they wouldn't have had the Google Juice were it not for AR.

Your point on having total control is a big reason I like having my own blog.

Cyndee, Thanks for the helpful blog. Do you have an opinion on where it makes the most sense to blog ( here on AR ) : on the open board or " Localism " ?

A great summary Cyndee. I agree with them all! As Ines suggested, I need to learn how to manage them better to leverage AR and my outside blog. Ines- care to write a blog about that? :o )

Cyndee, I am just getting started on trying to optimize my outside blog. But, AR will still be home and my favorite because of all the feedback and the community at large.

Your right about needing more time. I subcribe to so many here, I'm always trying to catch up and not miss a great post.

Ines - I know - I felt bad I started writing and realized I'd be hijacking Janie's post - LOL;

Irene, I did it about 2 months ago - I wasn't ready before that but I wish I had started earlier so it was more "aged" for Google.

A lot has been written on duplicate content and so far the consensus as I understand it is that if it's yours it's like "syndication" - I always put a note on the bottom of where the original is found. Ideally your outside blog then to AR. So your outside blog is seen as the authority

I'll try to post the link to the post that addresses this.

Mana - I have found that my outside blog has done very well very quickly especially when writing in niche areas - that's where I'd focus.

Jennifer - There are easy solutions like GoDaddy Quikblog for @$3.00/mo and it's turnkey like AR but your loose some of the customization options. People seem to like Wordpress and Typepad. We have a typepad blog that we need to work looking forward to seeing yours when you get done. Keep me posted please,

Sally - have you kept a back up of all your stories - someone asked me that once and I realized I hadn't - just something to consider with all our work.

Joe - Welcome - being a sponge is the way to go - you can get amazing knowledge here that you would pay thousands for somewhere else. I hope you'll visit again and if I can ever help just let me know.

Larry - I agree, I love the 800 lbs gorilla - but it's good to have you're own piece of the blogosphere.

Elaine - Glad to hear you're getting leads from your outside blog. We get leads on our outside website via pay per click and some searches but you're right it's a 4-prong strategy to where everything works together to be found on the internet - blogs, websites, localism, etc. - Ines is a PRO - so when she speaks - I listen..

Bill - if you're just starting out you'll see the quickest results here - I can actually PROVE how to get a Page 1 Google article in @24 hrs - but remember CONTENT is king - if they find you and you have nothing worthwhile say they'll be gone - the POWER is here but you have to supply the ORIGINAL CONTENT!

My best advice is read and learn from successful bloggers here like many that have responded here.

Can I get an AMEN about "not enough time!" It really does make a difference to have both...I had NO IDEA!! Thank you for the FYI and UPDATES on this...and so much more!! You are my AR-Mama!!

Ginger - thanks for your thoughts - I agree Localism is the "sleeping giant" since it's in beta it's not showing as well as AR right now but I've seen it moving up. That's where I try to focus - Consumer Content - that's always a winner!!

I sure have...now that you reminded me...this week has to get backed up...thanks for the reminder!

For those interested - Susie Roscoe would be a great one to ask - she just set up an outside blog less than a month ago and is getting great results in an area where pay-per-clicks go for $5-$10/click - with the sweat equity she's investing she's getting great positioning on GOOGLE for FREE!

Her blog is The Brandon Real Estate Chatter - Check it out. It was set up on GoDaddy quick blogs in 1 night over a large pizza (story for another blog LOL)

Sally - you are one smart cookie - good for you!!

Missy - I've with you sister - I need more time!!! Luckily I love blogging and so it doesn't seem like "work" but I still have to sleep (ha ha) a little anyway.

Cyndee I think you covered the all the bases. For me I find that with my outside blog, AR, Localism, my website, and with a listing on Craigslists, Alibi (a local site), Youtube, and Veoh I can DOMINATE page 1 and 2 of Google for the neighborhood.

Ashley - You just gave the Real estate recipe for SUCCESS - local neighborhoods are a great way to be found and find buyers ready to act in the next 3-6 months! I love Youtube too!

Cyndee,

As usual girl, you're right on again, especially about not enough hours in the day. For me personally AR has also moved me to Google page one (most days that is) and has also helped my website too. My outside blog is still pretty basic, yet up and running for a few months. Content is becoming a real priority at this time to give it a boost.

Thanks for sharing!

Hi Cyndee, I've had my outside blog since Febuary. I use it mostly to send info to my sellers. It's not as much fun as AR but I do like having it. It's good to have both.

Cyndee - It is a LOT of work! Thanks for the info and educating us all!

This is a great list, Cyndee. Guess at the moment I have nothing to add. I have 3 outside blogs in addition to AR and am now writing one on REALTOR.com to test it out. The more the merrier, I guess but it is a lot of work...and each focuses on a different market.

Jeff

Blogs are a great way to learn, share and get to know others.

Hi Cyndee, thank you for taking the time to detail this out so much, I am off to visit your "other" blog now! Thanks again for taking the time to do this!

This is a great crowd to be lost in and many of us have had contact from our public readers. However, I want more from a blog and see the outside ones as the answer to that. If nothing else, I get a rush from successfully setting up a WordPress blog!

my outside blog on my website is easy to maintain as yahoo hosting makes it EZ!!! I do duplicate content and have never been penalized. I like driving traffic to something that is my own.

Cross linking is good. Having more than one blog is nice when you show the google results for a local search term and you have 4 of the 6 top spots, noting that the different blogsites are both/all yours.

Cyndee, I think your pros and cons are good, but in general I think it is wise to have blogs in AR and outside, The more visibility you have the better. I agree with Sharon that having 4 or 5 spots on the first page of Google is great.

Cyndee.......Thanks alot for the info. I have also heard that it is now OK to copy a blog entry from one blog and place it in another blog. The widely held misconception is that your google rating will go down if they notice the same content in 2 locations. I have heard from a VERY RELIABLE SOURCE that it does not matter and does not affect your google rating or placement on the internet. It actually helps in your situation where you are trying to have 2 blogs at the same time. Now you can do 3 or 4.......LOL

duane hosek in the black hills of south dakota

HI Cyndee, I like that my outside blog is a PART OF my website. Instead of just linking to my website, it is in it, so I get the benefit of the traffic to it. That has only been live for several months but I am seeing #1 ranking in some really good search terms in Yahoo, and Google is coming along nicely. AR and localism give me traffic into my site. I like to use each, but for two different audiences. AR has wonderful networking and friendship benefits, so you don't feel like you are blogging in the dark.

I started a blog outside of AR too. But I don't think I would have or even could have if I hadn't started with Active Rain and gotten so much help from the great folks in this community.

Cyndee- I use my local blog to reach my market and my AR one for localism and to rant now and then about things that I wouldn't post on my other blog. That said I do believe that I may start another local blog that will focus on something slightly different..but can't see how Jeff D is doing so many and still has time for business..

I started with my "other" blog and it was a little more intensive to learn. I recommend to all NEWBIES that will listen to me to start with AR. Get good at that and then move on, if you choose. I blog a lot. So I'm on three different blogs for three different reasons. It suits me. But it's not for the feint of heart.

Cyndee--Your answer to the original question is very well thought out. We learn so much here on Active Rain...I actually started my other blog first but learned much more from the AR network. Good post...Congrats on the feature.

CYNDEE--THANKS--I ACTUALLY DID NOT KNOW THE AFFECT THE BLOGS CAN HAVE ON GOOGLE--MIKE

I'm all for having 2. I love AR, but I like the creative control of my outside blog.

Nice job Cyndee - a well deserved star - and you are so right there are only so many hours in a day :o)

I think the ability to tie in an outside personal blog or webpage into localism, really highlights why having a presence in Active Rain could be helpful.

Cyndee,

You make some great points. I started my outside blog about a month ago and moved it to its own domain a few weeks back. I am already seeing it show up in the search results. I agree that an outside blog helps prevent you from having all your blogging eggs in one basket. The extra control over the content is also nice.

I would have never been able to understand how to do an outside blog without the help from a bunch of folks on Active Rain.

If someone could invent a way to put more hours in the day everything would be great.

AUG

2007

I have a couple of outside blogs...

my main site is a wordpress.org self hosted blog

if you do it right, you do benefit from the outside blog.

I agree with the branding. I don't think that you really gain a lot by sending your clients to a site where they can easily find someone else working in your market and decide they like that person better.

no matter how you slice it... you have to get the google rank, get the hits, capture the leads and turn them.. .whichever works for you

I think you hit the nail on the head with the comment "there are not enough hours in the day". This pretty much says it all.

I've gone full circle - Outside blog, ActiveRain, and back to Outside blog. Through ActiveRain, I've learned a LOT about how to blog, so my new Outside blog will be much more effective now. It does not have the social network element which makes ActiveRain enjoyable, and therefore I'll probably try to run them simultaneously.

Cyndee- I like how easy you make it all sound for the newbees. This should encourage more people to start blogging. I like your outside blog by the way. Your photos did not load this morning on your outside blog. Thank you for taking the time to write this post in answer to Janie's post. Katerina

And Congratulations on being featured! Getting back to everyone is the best part, all these comments are wonderful. Katerina

A few of us wanted to say CONGRATS on your latest FEATURE!! Well deserved!! You're always giving up the secrets and best advice.

Way to go Clearwater, FL!!

Cyndee-Great post, having enough hours in the day...you are so right. Love your outside blog. Too embarrassed to promote mine just yet. It's getting there.

Awesome information and thank you for posting it. I've been following the other thread that prompted this one very closely. Every time an e-mail comes in...I've been reading it. Just came to AR home page a bit ago and saw yours. I will follow this one as well.

GREAT STUFF!!!!!!!!

Good Morning all - Wow - came back from celebrating Birthdays yesterday and found my response is FEATURED - thank you to the moderator who featured it and thank you to Janie Coffey for starting the conversation. :-)

Lynda - thanks for your kind words;

Bryant - I have to agree AR is just tons of fun - that's the "addiction factor" - LOL

Paula - we're all learning as we go :-) - Congrats on having you're outside blog Posh'd - IndyTalk is hot!

Jeff D - Please keep us posted on the Realtor.com blog - I signed up but haven't done much with it yet.

Yvette - AR is such an awesome community - I can't tell you how great everyone's been to me:-)

Great information. From what I'm reading and seeing in the Real Estate market as a whole- Blogging is the wave of the future. I'm looking into a second blogging spot . The way I see it is -You better get on the boat now before it gets too crowded! Get the best seats.

Yeah -Its a lot of work, but shift your daily workload slightly to find the time. Maybe use the time that you used to write newspaper ads!

Janie - I owe you a big thanks for generating a thought-provoking question that allowed me to share my thoughts on the subject (and get featured as a bonus) - appreciate it!! Great question!

JudyAnn - your passion shows - keep me posted on how it goes - we're all learning together :-)

Renee - You say YAHOO does the hosting - what type of blog is it - a yahoo blog or a wordpress type - see I'm still learning :-) Also when you do duplicate content to you do it identically title and all or do you change some of it - my thought has always been if it has the same title exactly you're back to the 2 spot issue. - any insights would be greatly appreciated.

Sharon - I was thinking of you when I spent the evening in Downtown St Pete last night at Cerviches and Tastings. You're so right about the power of having "tangible proof" when meeting with home buyers or sellers.

Brian - I'm with you too - I agree with Sharon - it's just a BIG job to get and stay there (LOL)

Duane - glad to hear your thoughts - love to see South Dakota represented here. I've done duplicate content and I guess the great part about a network like this is when things change someone here lets everyone know.

Joanne - I'm like you - I actually started a blog before AR and didn't know what to do, what to write, etc. Then I came here and learned from so many others that if you look at early posts to now you can see quite an improvement - I owe that all to Active Rain.

P.S. Joanne's outside blog was just POSH'd so check it out if you want to see a great outside blog :-)

Donna - I'm with you - having all the great ideas, ispiration and support here makes a great difference.

Kaye - I guess I need to visit your outside blog because I don't understand what you mean when you say you use your outside one to "reach your local market" and then talk about "localism" - what do you post differently - to me localism are posts about my local market - thanks for the insights. Am I missing an opportunity here - hope you'll expound :-)

Chris - I'm with you - I think ALL NEWBIES benefit from starting here - for me it allowed me to find my voice, get my confidence, hone my skills and narrow my focus to Clearwater Beach and Clearwater, to create a much better outside blog for consumers looking for vacation homes and beach condos.

Now Chris - I'm curious about all your blogs - are they focus on differnent geographies, markets, - inquiring minds want to know :-)

Teri - thanks for your kind words :-)

Michael - oh - there's incredible Google power here if harnessed correctly - Write great content and you will be amazed. Good luck

Lisa - My hearts with AR but my head says I need to build an outside blog too. Thanks for sharing :-)

Carolyn - I agree Localism is a great way to get leads and make it easy for them to get to our website or outside blog. Great point.

Rita - you should be proud of all the progess you've made - great job on your new blog

David - I had no idea you were doing so many - you're a machine my friend - good for you!!

Bob & Carolin - Yep, I want more time in each day (LOL)

Margaret - I can see that happening and I am learning I get different things from different sites (ex. AR vs my outside blog) thanks for sharing since you've been at it a while.

Katerina - I really appreciate the compliment - nothing pleases me more than "empowering" others with knowledge and support - thank you!!

Susie - you are my biggest fan - thank you for that!! - Keep the real estate chatter going in Valrico and Brandon FL :-)

Midori - thank you for letting me know you like my outside blog - it's a work in progress too -Now Ms. Inspiration... what about progress not perfection missy - don't ever be embarassed to share it with your friends here (like me) - the ideal world is when we can take the social network here and help each other out in the blogosphere.

That's what so many like Colleen and Laurie Manny are showing us with the challenges and info on other sources. I hope to see your new blog soon :-)

Jessica - glad it was helpful - AR is a great place to learn, grow and share!

Paul - I acutally love it that it takes that 4 letter word - W- O - R - k - that alone narrows the playing field tremendously (LOL) Now I'm off to right another blog.....ha ha

Thank you so much for your post...I'm new to both AR and blogging and your post answered some of the particular questions I had. I'd planned to begin my own blog but had just been referred to AR so, I thought that would be a great place to start and I've not been disappointed! What service did you decide to go with to start your personal blog...Wordpress or one of the others?

I think I am one of the few, based upon the comments above, that started in ActiveRain after deciding to create my own blog. I had heard Adelle on an Inman teleconference talk about how many leads she gets from her Seattle Rain site and that inspired me! I use RSS Pieces and they make the set up and maintenance easy. My local blog is focused on reaching my target market of relocating clients and is full of local updates that I wouldn't put on ActiveRain. I am able to tract the hits on each post and learn what topics get the most hits. I even have a number of subscribers so I know it is working. Plus, my domain name captures my target audience. Yes, it does take more time but I consider it part of my work day routine. ActiveRain, just as you wrote, is a great support group and training ground as there are so many incredibly talented and tech-savy members. I wouldn't do business without either one. I also try to blog on other sites as well.

Hi Cyndee, very nice list of pros and cons! In fact it is very easy to get an outside blog. You can start one here.

Regardless of the field, but most particularly real estate, since this is a real estate group. Blogging gives real estate professionals an amazing opportunity to 'beat their own drum on the marketing street corners'. A blog post can be community information -- here is the opportunity to convince readers why they should look at your community with you and know they would like to live there. Another topic resource is a listing.

Yes, it takes time, but so does doing the layout and production for other more expensive marketing tools which do not have the potential for reaching someone you don't know is looking for property. Sure, there are the 'open listing' risks--you may promote the living daylights out of your community and have someone else sell the property, but that can happen with that slick brochure you mailed out as well.

Bloggers gain in another aspect. Whwn we write about a topic, we reinforce what we know or believe about the topic.

For platforms, after reading this thread and thinking more about it, I wrote a post about my platform experience. Platforms I've known for Exterior Blogs There are choices available at every level of effort, time and expertise. Sometimes, I have just wanted something that gets the writing going. Sometimes, we need some extra tech tools that can be available through excellent services. Check your MLS to see if you have any space. There is one in Missouri and Arkansas (plus a few other places) Show Me Missouri or Show Me Arkansas http://www.morealestate.net Members of this group can get a blog platform as part of their site. I think this option is available with a Point2Agent site too. There are no doubt others.

Activity helps -- more than sitting around waiting.

OnAR you are blogging right along side your competitors. On your own blog you are not. Also consider branding. When you google your name do you want AR to come up?

Cyndee... No I post things on my local blo g ... the MB newsletter from thhe rec department .. special trash days and some blogs specific to the market that I don't always post on localism.. I posted one today that I probably won't post to active rain..

Cyndee, great post. I can't think of anything else to add. I think everyone covered it. :) I'm a little late to the party.

Sarah - I did GoDaddy because it was quick and easy like AR but I'm thinking about RSS pieces - I've seen nothing but great things from them. We've also done Typepad. It's a challenge - the easy ones are easy to get up and do by yourself - but long term may not be the best choice. Still learning myself.

Diane - I visited your outside blog today - nice job. You are probably one of the few that went from the outside..in (LOL) - Glad to have you here now.

Ken - thanks for your post - I checked it out - will visit again later. Thanks.

Teresa - excellent point and you're right I hesitate to send prospects to Active Rain - I like the personal branding our own website/blog give us. Thanks for sharing your expertise.

Kaye - thanks for clarifying it for me and giving me more ideas - thank you for helping me out.

Stephanie - thanks for stopping by - appreciate it!

AUG

2007

Question; are you talking about writing a whole new postings or just putting your blog somewhere else?

Cyndee~ Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts on this whole thing. It's bringing me much needed clarification on the "outside blog" issue. Even though I primarily blog on AR for networking...this conversation is forcing me to look at other advantages as well;) You are too cool!

I will be starting my own outside blog soon. I think there are probably benefits to both finding the time is the challenge. Activerain will probably have a bigger presence on "google" but slowly you can gather support from you peers and clients for your outside blog.

I have a blogger site, too. It isn't getting the total traffic that I get here, but it is getting more prospect traffic. I think most of my traffic here are other real estate people.

I keep wondering if I need to just shift everything over to my own site.

Lane, I think you should do both. I have only had my blog for several months but the hits and subscriptions are growing. Look at Laurie Manny or Adelle's Seattle sites and how successful they are yet they are very active on ActiveRain too. Just my 2 cents worth!

AUG

2007

Sooner or later you'll be called "GOOGLE Queen" by more than 'just me', you really rock on with this SEO stuff!

If they think this is good... they should see you in action as real estate agent!!

Katrina

Cyndee - WOW took a long time to get to the bottom! Well deserved STAR! I need to get an outside blog started! Thank you for all the great information.

Malika - Much has been tossed back and forth on that question - to duplicate post or not - today it seems it's ok to duplicate post - check the link above - we're all still learning together. :-)

Laura - you so made my day - I've been sick for the last day and your comments just made me glow - thank you!!

Scott - I find working on my outside blog with friends I've made here is the best of both worlds - love the relationships here. Let me know when you get the S. FLorida Blog going.

Lane - that's interesting - I am getting great prospect business from here and referral from other Realtors - I say work at both if you can. Good luck and thanks for taking time to comment.

Diane - great feedback and I checked out your blog - great job.

Katrina thanks for you kind words :-)

Kim - thanks for stopping by - it is a good idea to start an outside blog - you should check out Leah's Mortgage one.

AUG

2007

Great post and very well laid out pros and cons. I do also run a Blogger blog as well but it has yet to get half the traffic I do on AR. i must be doing something wrong on it, lol. But you are so right when you say that there is just not enough time in the day to do it all.

You are spot on......Simply not enough time.

Joe - the key is where your posts are posting on Google - why aren't your Bloggers placing well - keep using great SEO and you can double your internet "Real Estate"

Christopher - if you figure it out - let me know - that is the 64,000 quesiton (LOL) - thanks for associating too!!