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How to Create a Blog Post for Customers and Search Engines

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Education & Training with Retired Executive Director of Education at eXp Non-Licensed
How to Create a Blog Post for Customers and Search Engines. 

There are three important audiences to be writing for: 1. Other members and friends of your Social Networks. 2. Consumers, Subscribers, and a Target Audience of readers.  3. Search Engines.  I'm sure this is preaching to the choir, but this is important information to be shared if you want to get maximum exposure and results from your Blog posts with consumers, visitors, and with Google. Google Juice? I'll drink to that! :-)

Blogging for Customers and Search Engines correctly is a key component to a successful Blog.

Using these effective strategies and time tested methods when creating your post can make a huge difference.  The first thing when writing a post is to determine the audience you are writing for, the product or concept you're promoting, and the geographic market you are targeting.  In this scenario, we are creating a Blog post to drive readers, consumers, and search engines to your Blog which is All About Your Area.  Things like "Vacant Land", "Open Houses", "Loan Modifications", "Tax Credit", "Pest Control", "Relocation", "Market Statistics", "Short Sales", "Condos" etc.


1.  How to title a blog post: Use a title that a customer would type into Google. example: "Open Houses in Mesquite NevadaTargeting Neighborhoods and focusing on Communities are best, but you can also use City/State. Most searches by consumers always include a geographic area. example: "Vacant Land For Sale in Bend, Oregon" Don't just title your post "Vacant Land For Sale" as it probably won't get indexed to a specific location and will likely get lost in the Search Engine Abyss. (SEO abyss = page 24 of Google)


2.  Repeat the title in BOLD in the first sentence of your blog post. example: "Vacant Land For Sale in Bend, Oregon" and now priced better than ever! Build your dream home in Bend, Oregon!"  By creating the first sentence of your post to include the title and BOLD key search words, terms, or phrases, you'll increase the potential of being found and then read.  That first sentence is typically the first sentence that shows up under your TITLE within the Google search results.  It's an important part of getting the search engines to recognize your topic and see it's relative content.  It's also what will help a consumer decide if they want to click on your link or NOT!


3.  Write your blog posts to the title...then add in good content that a customer would want to know about.  It takes a bit more time to think this strategy through, but the results and rewards will be tremendous.  This in NOT the only way to gain SEO and more exposure, but it's a great place to start if you're new to Blogging and are wanting quicker results from your time and efforts here.


Creating posts and Understanding Long tail and Short tail search terms:  Short tail searches are just that, very short keyword searches. example: "Homes for sale" or "Homes For Sale Austin, Texas".  This is where most searches begin during the early stages of research by consumers.  The Long tail search comes into play the closer consumers get to making a final purchase decision. example: "Gated Community Homes For Sale With a Pool in Austin Texas"  Justin Smith explains more about Long tail/ Short tail searches in his post.  You can also find more details by searching Google for "Long tail and Short tail searches."  Here's a video that might help make heads or "tails" about this.


4.  Go through your blog post and make sure that the words of your title are repeated a minimum of at least three or four times.  At least one time every other paragraph or so.  You should also bold those keywords so they stand out to the reader and to the search engines.  You need to be somewhat creative in doing this and remember, don't over do it.


5.  Tag your blog posts with other keywords and phrases the customer may type into Google.  These should be topic related and relevant to your post. Do not try to game the search engines by packing in keywords that have nothing to do with the post, this will do more harm than good in most if not all cases.  Also make sure to include images and links to relative sites, this will create more stickiness and add value to your posts. 

Creating a Blog Post for Customers and Search engines is not that difficult once you understand some of these basic concepts and then practice and apply them on a regular basis.  This is not to say you shouldn't write about other topics both personal and business, even those can be tailored to get you better results with customers and search engines.  We tested this theory on the Fourth of July Weekend and you should see some of the results ActiveRain members experienced. It really does work.  

I hope you can use these tips on "How to Create a Blog Post for Customers and Search Engines."
VERY IMPORTANT:  If your post on ActiveRain is (MEMBERS ONLY) then none of the above applies.

Comments(375)

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Brad Andersohn
Retired Executive Director of Education at eXp - Boulder Creek, CA
ActiveBrad - 707.646.1876

Hey Fred - always great to have you stop by my friend!!  :-)

Apr 23, 2012 02:25 AM
Katherine Rasch
LoKation Real Estate - Melbourne, FL
I don't think outside the box; I build a new one!

Fantastic article! Bookmarked so I can refer back to it again and again. Thank you. 

May 03, 2012 02:48 AM
Brad Andersohn
Retired Executive Director of Education at eXp - Boulder Creek, CA
ActiveBrad - 707.646.1876

Thanks Katherine -

This one has definitely stood the test of time, appreciate you stopping by and thanks for your comment.

May 03, 2012 04:40 AM
Brad Andersohn
Retired Executive Director of Education at eXp - Boulder Creek, CA
ActiveBrad - 707.646.1876

Thanks CeCe - that 30 day challenge is a lifelong endeavor, some of us are still going!!  :-)

May 31, 2012 03:35 PM
Carla Freund
Keller Williams Legacy - Apex NC - Apex, NC
NC Real Estate Transition & Relocation 919-602-848

Checking it out now for today's post. Thank you for sharing!

May 31, 2012 11:56 PM
Bob Miller
Keller Williams Cornerstone Realty - Ocala, FL
The Ocala Dream Team

Hi Brad, great post and some excellent SEO tips that I need to implement.

Jun 02, 2012 02:27 AM
Lloyd Binen
Certified Realty Services - Saratoga, CA
Silicon Valley Realtor since 1976; 408-373-4411

Thanks Brad.  I've Bookmarked this and I'm ready to try to apply it to my next post.

Jun 04, 2012 04:08 AM
John Handschuh ABR SRES
RE/MAX Legacy - Chalfont, PA
Bucks County Real Estate

Thanks Brad for some great information.

 

 

 

Make it a great day !!

Jun 29, 2012 09:43 PM
Brad Andersohn
Retired Executive Director of Education at eXp - Boulder Creek, CA
ActiveBrad - 707.646.1876

Sure John, anytime. Hope it will be useful in getting you more contacts and clients.

Jun 30, 2012 12:18 AM
Jacque Howard
Keller Williams Premier Realty - Hudson, WI
Team Howard

Great info. I've heard recently that bolding terms isn't necessary anymore? Anybody know if this is true?

Jul 26, 2012 11:18 AM
Jacque Howard
Keller Williams Premier Realty - Hudson, WI
Team Howard

Also, I've been doing my blogs in specialty font because it looks better. Will this affect anything when it comes to getting my blog post recognized?

Jul 26, 2012 11:23 AM
Brad Andersohn
Retired Executive Director of Education at eXp - Boulder Creek, CA
ActiveBrad - 707.646.1876
Reid and Jacque - Bolding terms or words merely makes them stand out and at times easier to read. I don't think they affect the SEO of a blog post. The font shouldn't have any impact either.
Jul 26, 2012 03:34 PM
Brad MacKenzie
Brad MacKenzie - Duxbury, MA
Turning Houses into Homes on the South Shore

Practicing what you preach!

Jan 27, 2013 09:14 PM
Brad Andersohn
Retired Executive Director of Education at eXp - Boulder Creek, CA
ActiveBrad - 707.646.1876

Brad - great to hear that, I hope it provides you great rewards and prosperity :)

Jan 27, 2013 09:48 PM
Bryan Beckstead, KOmKards, Care-Connect-Communicate, on auto pilot, 24/7.
Start MAXIMIZING the Internet.... Kommunicon.com - Priceville, ON
Become a KOmKard owner today,

Brad,

Good information.

I am Blogging for the purpose of interacting with the members on Active Rain, ONLY at this stage.

As you said at the end of your post here, if it s for members only, most of this post is not applicable.

Do you have any advice for the bloggers here that are interested in reaching and interacting ONLY with the members on Active Rain? 

Thanks

Bryan

Mar 29, 2013 12:25 AM
Brad Andersohn
Retired Executive Director of Education at eXp - Boulder Creek, CA
ActiveBrad - 707.646.1876

Bryan - I do. Engage.  Just like you're doing now...   :)

Mar 29, 2013 12:27 AM
Gijs Van Breugel
TERRA FRANCE | International Estate Agents for France
TERRA FRANCE | International Estate Agents

Perfect overview of a step by step plan to attack blog writing and always break your head if the blogpost will be set in the right spot on the search machines. This overview makes me stay a happy blogger and not a frustrated searchengine fighter ! Thanks from France.

Apr 09, 2013 08:17 AM
Brad Andersohn
Retired Executive Director of Education at eXp - Boulder Creek, CA
ActiveBrad - 707.646.1876

Thanks Gijs, I'm glad you found this post. I appreciate your comment and hope you'll stop by to read some of the other posts I have here. :)

Apr 09, 2013 08:43 AM
Brien Berard
Remax Professionals Laurel MD - Laurel, MD
Maryland Real Estate Agents - Laurel Real Estate

Great stuff!  Going to my blog right now to make some edits that are consistent with what I saw on the video.

Jul 03, 2013 06:25 AM
Brad Andersohn
Retired Executive Director of Education at eXp - Boulder Creek, CA
ActiveBrad - 707.646.1876

Brien - glad you found this post and the information here useful, thanks.

Jul 03, 2013 06:31 AM