Having a hard time selling a home in Coral Gables, FL. - Is blogging the right way to go?

Blogging has to be part of the recipe, but not the whole enchilada.  Your buyers are most likely local.  Other media will expose it faster too and you are in a hurry.

Blogging is not a panacea. It is often mis-understood, in the sense that blogging itself is attributed with magical powers. Site owners that do not blog can and do rank well, all the time. Without links, not amount of blogging will matter. It comes down to how you use a blog, and if you can use it to get links, in some way.

Thank you Fabio for sharing this good information with us. I will say that blogging is a powerfull tool for the Real estate industry.

Jean Arias

Fabio,

You read me wrong. I have nothing against blogging. Nothing. To all agents, I say have at it. Just use your blogging time wisely.

However, if the goal is to get search rankings, then there are ways to do it that are far more effective than others. First, by generating focused, non-blog pages that are specifically built to attract specific search terms, and second, actively establishing links to those pages, in large quantity.  

Simply posting to a blog on a regular basis, with unfocused, but otherwise interesting content, then waiting for someone somewhere to find and reference it (i.e link to it), is just not a effective search optimization strategy in a competitve market.

When I see agents claim that blogging alone, with no link development to go with it, put them to the top of the rankings, I often go out and look at their local market. I invariably find it to be one that is not at all competitive.

In places like Phoenix, San Diego, Las Vegas, Seattle and others, passive optimization, based on casual blogging and no link promotion, will never put a site on the first page of results. It just does not happen when many of the other local competitors are far more focused on their specific on-page optimization and link building.

Advising other agents that it will is simply setting them up for disappointment.

Again, it is not "blogging" itself that search engines reward. A blog is simply another page of content. The engines do not differntiate between "blog" postings and any other textual content. They take it all at face value.

But blogging CAN lead to good rankings, if it is well-planned and well promoted to get links. At that point, you are optimizing, more than "blogging".

 

Fabio,

Thanks. I really try to avoid toe-to-toe battles with other SEO advisors. Been there done that, and it's a waste of time. I usually just walk away now.

So, I am glad to find that we have real common ground, after sorting through it. I was hesitant to post in the first place, but tired to be informative, instead of combative.  

Blogging certainly has it's place. For someone seeking search rankings, I suggest that they first get their on site optimization in order, then get links, and then blog away. It can only help, if it done with some forethought.

A blog is powerful tool. It can be easily misused, and it allows for easy "stream of conciousness" publication on the part of the author. That can often deteriorate into self-indulgent babble.

Blogging about the weather today and what vegetables have ripend in your garden and other such nonsense is NOT the right way to go about it, and it can turn real people away quickly, and dilute your real message.

For real estate agents, blog about your market, in a way that informs your visitor, and edit yourself mercilessly while doing it. If you then also inform other local people and site owners about your blog, you stand a very good chance of being cited.  

 

Blogging is esential these days.  I still find specific things that I want to learn about that I cannot track down.  If one person took the time to blog about the item, I'd at least have a chance.

Blogging is great, I think it is a big help. Depending on what you blog about. You need to blog about your area and market.