If you've decided to start blogging about real estate, we congratulate you. A blog can go a long way to bringing visitors to your real estate site. It also can create for you the "brand" as the real estate expert in your selling area.
Some other things a blog can do:
- It will let people know that you are friendly and approachable, as well as knowledgeable.
- Readers will come to believe they "know" you. They'll come to trust you and, when they're in the market to buy or sell property, they'll want to work with someone they know -- you!
You can start blogging easily enough. Just go to Blogger.com or Wordpress.com, or even Typepad.com and sign up for a free blog. Be sure to have a link to your RE website on the blog. You also should make a prominent tab on your website that will lead visitors to your blog.
There is just one thing "wrong" with going this route: Your blog will have a Blogger or Wordpress url. For example, if you name your Blogger blog "Twin Valley Real Estate News," your url likely will be http://twinvalleyrealestatenews.blogspot.com." Instead, you want your blog to be http://www.twinvalleyrealestatenews.com."
You can do this by purchasing a domain and hosting at an inexpensive domain seller (GoDaddy.com is considered one of the best and least expensive for domains while HostGator.com is a good one for hosting). In fact, if you go with Wordpress (which many consider to be the best blogging platform, HostGator.com make the whole process very easy.
Your blog template can still remain free at Wordpress (although you can buy a "theme" for anywhere from $25 to $100 dollars). Yet we do highly recommend you purchase a domain and hosting. Your upfront cost -- excluding any Wordpress theme you may decide to buy -- should be no more than $25 and then your monthly hosting fee at HostGator.com could be as little as $4.95 a month.
We recommend you post frequently, at least in the beginning. Five days a week would be optimal, but you should post at least twice a week.
Blog about your local real estate market. Write about how to make your home more appealing to buyers. Offer tips for first-time home buyers. Write about your town's coming events. Discuss major new commercial developments coming in. The topics for your RE blog really are endless.
Allow comments from readers. If you don't, it makes you appear as if you don't want to hear feedback, critiques, or even praise. You want to "build community" with your blog. You can -- and should -- moderate comments of course so that obvious spam and/or readers who believe no blog post is complete without a nasty screed in its comments section will be kept at bay. However, so long as no commenter uses profanity or makes personal attacks on you, we recommend you allow comments.
Never argue online. It just comes across as some sort of pissing match and your reputation will suffer. If a commenter is routinely nasty, you can block his or her IP address and the commenter won't be able to post a comment at all.
RealtyTech.com can help you set up a blog and a blog plan. If you'd like us to write the posts for you, we can do that, as well. Just let us know how we can help. We look forward to hearing from you.
Don't forget to subscribe to our blog! Next week, we will be posting a blog every day, including: "Non web-based ways to drive traffic to your real estate website," and "How to write PPC ads that get results!"
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