There are very few great real estate blogs on the Web. But, what does "great" really mean? For most that use the term it probably refers to the appearance, traffic, or lively industry banter in the comments section. I challenge you to change your definition. Start making "great" mean I actually generate sales and closings.
It is really easy to get side tracked by false indicators of Web/Blog success. Let's make our metric really simple--generating the right traffic, traffic that generates sales leads. Here is my 5 step K.I.S.S formula:
1. Keep it local. By concentrating your blog content, pictures, and context local you will easily seize top ranking in search engines for your real estate market. This will feed you less traffic, but very targeted traffic.
2. Use local communities and cities you serve as categories. Categories in most blog software (like Wordpress) create a well optimized internal linking architecture. This puts great "link pressure" on your keywords--more well targeted Google love.
3. Add alt-tags to all your photos. This is simple, but often neglected step in maximizing your keyword search opportunities. Especially with the advent of Google images and other images searches--your local pictures and listings are potential back-links, again strengthening your local search.
4. Meet customer expectations. This is the biggest mistake I see in most real estate blogs (actually blogs in general) make--missing customer expectations. Think about what people expect when they arrive at your website. Here are a few basics that I think are critical and easy ways to get them on your website or blog:
- Local housing prices and trends
- Mortgage calculators and payment estimates
- Local demographics (haven't found a good widget here--if you see one let me know)
- Local listings (hopefully you are already doing that)
- Are there others you can think of, let me know...
5. Ask for the deal. This is certainly the second biggest mistake I see--ask them to call or contact you. And, make it easy. Your telephone number, email address, and contact form should be on every page.
5a. My traffic to lead conversion recommendation: Place your contact information in the upper right-hand corner of every page and at the end of every post. Both should be banner images with name, telephone, and email that clicks through to a contact form landing page--maximizing your conversion opportunity.
Give these tips a try on your website or blog. I would also love to hear feedback, more suggestions, and success stories. I would also love to have examples of blogs you consider great meeting customer expectations--either link to them in the comments or send them to me via Twitter. I would love to do a post on "great" Real Estate and Mortgage blogs and websites.
If you have any questions follow me on Twitter: @billrice and ask away.
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