3 Deadly Sins of Blogging
Many thanks to Jeff Dowler, CRS & Brian England for hosting this month's challenge. I've thoroughly enjoyed reading the articles - they are spot-on!
QUALITY OR QUANTITY?
Many small business owner/bloggers tend to pump out a lot of content, believing that constant exposure is what it takes to rank. Doing this, they often put quantity over quality and have the opposite end result - not ranking & disappointment in the eyes of the readers.
Readers want concrete answers to their search queries. If what they get is an article/blog, full of fluff, they’re going to ‘run’ from your site, leaving behind a ‘negative’ hit in the search engines. It will be only a matter of time before the fluff slips into Internet search oblivion.
It all boils down to adding value with each piece of content you create. Nobody said it was easy, though. For example, bloggers can often have Writer’s Block. What you should do to provide value is FIRST, identify the needs of your target audience by checking to see what terms are relevant in the search engines - the DAY you write the post. Then, try to address those needs as thoroughly as possible, including visual content as a wall of text alone simply does not cut it in the blogging world! Remember, it’s better to have ‘meat’ to the articles/blogs you write and have fewer of them than to have bombarded your readers with posts, just to be posting!
TOO MUCH SHOP TALK - YES, I SAY THIS ON A REAL ESTATE BLOGGING PLATFORM!!
Who are you speaking to in your posts? Are you speaking to a peer in your blog post, or talking to your target audience? Many of us use acronyms without even thinking about it; those are fine for articles written for our peers but, not the general public. Resist the urge to use too many industry terms - John Q Public views this as an attempt to show off your experience. It not only instantly makes you unrelatable to your reader but, also forms an air of distrust right out of the gate.
Some bloggers are all about shop talk. I learned many moons ago, right here in the Rain, that our readers do want to see a little about us. It’s not easy to come up with content about our business every single day and, really, who wants to read that much about real estate - especially when it’s not answering the consumer’s questions - it’s TMI (TOO much information)! HOWEVER, they may want to know a little about you. Reading how many homes you sold last year in every single post is not what I mean by that either!
They may want to know that you enjoy photography - as so do they. They may want to know if your a sports person or an arts person - or both. People are typically drawn to those to whom they can relate. They don’t want to know what brand of shoes you prefer but, adding a hint of something relatable is key in capturing the reader. Perhaps when writing about a local community, add something like, “My husband and I dined at Leah & Louise last night and it did NOT disappoint!” - a restaurant in or near the community featured in the post.
I also learned (right here in the Rain) that sharing a brief piece about us helps make us relatable as well. That’s why I love Speechless Sundays - they’re ‘fun’ reading/viewing but, I learn something about the writer in each very short post. There are a multitude of groups that you can feel comfortable sharing a little bit about you without being braggadocious!
BONUS #3 - TOO BRAGGADOCIOUS - IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU!
Yes, I know, this goes against my last point but, follow me here…
Some bloggers frequently post testimonials on their websites/blogs. It’s okay on your ‘about you’ page on your website but remember, the reader has already read about you there - that’s why they are digging for more information on your BLOG!
Seeing self-made, self-written testimonials (even though they may be copied directly from testimonials received) is another thing that creates distrust…especially if they are business owners. We all know we don’t receive feedback from every single buyer and seller in real estate as well! Readers also know how the public writes and it is very easy for the consumer to see when a blogger is writing their own testimonials or if they were written by ‘real’ clients.
Remember, the consumer is on your blog to learn something that THEY are in search of. As you write, ask yourself to whom you are writing the blog and what you are teaching your reader. We are writing blogs for results, not to brag about who we are (or who we want people to think we are), not for popularity and certainly not for fictitious story-telling!
Happy blogging!
© Debe Maxwell, CRS | The Maxwell House Group | Savvy + CO | SavvyBroker@me.com | 3 Deadly Sins of Blogging
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