Once you've built your plan and picked your blog platform, it's time to start adding content to your blog. You should make a list of topics that you think your audience would be interested. Keep adding to your list as new ideas come up. As you add the post to your blog follow these guidelines.
- Remember your theme - Remember who your audience is and what you are looking to accomplish
- Be informative - Readers will come to your blog because there is information that is relevant to them. Keep focused on what you think is your readers would be interested in. Advertising your new listings and open houses is OK but make sure that informational content outweighs the amount of self-promotional posts. Remember, by providing the information, you are identifying yourself as an expert in your real estate market.
- Keep it current - Talking about things that happened months ago may not interest your readers. Content should be fresh.
- Use keywords - Keywords are a critical part of the search engine ranking systems. Make sure you reference word that are pertinent to the topic of your post. For instance, if I were writing about a condo on the beach in Marco Island, I would make sure I included the words Marco Island, Florida, the condo name, beach, beachfront and Gulf of Mexico in the post. This way, the search engine can index these words when someone searches on these words.
- Be clear and concise - Spend some time putting some structure to what you post. Writing random thoughts may be good for some readers but will likely confuse most readers and sending them looking for somewhere else to find the information. Retaining your audience is key to success with your blogs.
- Correct errors - If your posts contain a lot of typo's or poorly worded sentences, it shows that you are not very concerned with what you are publishing. Not to mention, it's downright annoying. With technology today, it takes minutes to spell check and a another few minutes to proof read your post. Take the time to do these thing and you won't lose your audience because of carelessness.
There is a wealth of information available on the Internet. Here are some ideas to get you started on your real estate blog
From a consumer perspective, you can write about:
- market trends
- news/events affecting your market
- statistics (make sure you have proper disclaimers)
- tips to buyers or sellers
- new listings
- open houses
- events or activity
- your charity projects...
From a networking perspective, you can write about:
your real estate market
- your real estate market
- your area of expertise
- your marketing techniques
- how you solve a problem
- trends in the industry
- personal success stories...
One quick way to add content to your blog is to find something that someone else wrote and hyperlink to it in your post. It could be from another blog, website or an online news article. It could also something someone sent you via email but make sure that you have permission to use it. It's a good idea to get an email from the author confirming it's OK to use. Then, file it away with the rest of your blog information. When linking to another post/article, You should provide some brief commentary to let your readers know what your view is on the topic or at the very least introduce the topic.
Adding content to your blog is as easy as using a Microsoft Word (that is if you know how to use Word). Besides editing your blog from within your blog control panel, you can also post blog entries through email or even right from your Browser. The new Google Toolbar has a send to button that allows you to open a blog editor with a link to the page that your are browsing and publish your completed entry directly to your blog.
Now, your ready to get started blogging your way to success. Keep in mind, blogging is a journey, not a destination. It takes consistent and ongoing effort to reap the rewards of this new era in the real estate industry. Those who take the time to plan their blogging strategy and execute on that plan will help you get to the results that you wish.
Good Luck,
Joseph A. Bartos, P.A.
(239) 404-5068
Amerivest Realty
Marco Island Real Estate Forum
Marco Island Florida Real Estate
Naples Florida Real Estate
p.s. I have recieved a lot of requests about RSS and syndication. I'm working on a entry regarding the topics.
Great post and information. Lucky to have you in the Collier County Active Rain community.
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