As you all know, business blogging can be a very effective online niche marketing tool. However, all really good real estate blogs have disciplined administrators behind them. Spinning your wheels blogging? Take a look at four of the major pitfalls to avoid!
Poorly Targeted Blog Content
This is the number one thing I notice about an unhealthy real estate blog – content that is not targeted to resonate with a specific audience. Business blogging is labeled that for a reason. In theory, you operate a business blog with very specific goals in mind – mainly to generate online real estate leads. If you don’t approach content creation with some discipline then you can’t hope to have a successful real estate business blog. I’m not saying scrap your personality, but what I am saying is focus!
Put yourself in the shoes of your target client, what kind of questions are they asking Google? Don’t be afraid to step outside of the box – not all people are typing things like “Detroit Real Estate” into the search engines, you’d be surprised to know that many people know exactly what they want. Spend some time with your team in a blog brainstorming session. What kind of clients do you want to resonate with? What questions are those folks asking in search? Once you have a list, strive to make at least 80% of your content focused on answering these questions! You can’t connect with someone interested in a certain subject matter unless you write about it! Use that other 20% to develop your flare. In the long run, you will thank yourself for introducing a plan!
Titles and/or Subtitles Are Too Generic
Your blog title and subtitle (if you have one), should be considered top-level connecting mechanisms. Use them wisely! Many Realtors have a tendency to be overly generic in titling their posts. You want to think about your reader AND the search engine. Give those search spiders something good to digest!
Imagine that you create a post entitled, “Real Estate Market Report”, how many other Realtors in the world do you think you just stepped into competition with? Google is smart, but you want to make their job easy. Don’t force the search engine to guess where you are located. Get specific! These areas are the best place to begin targeting those key phrases that are important to you. “Real Estate Market Report” becomes “Aspen Real Estate Market Report from the Joe Public Team”. One thing to watch out for – don’t be overly blatant about your quest to target top-level terms (in this case Aspen Real Estate). Use things keenly in sentences and make sure what you say is of value and makes sense! Your best bet is to get those phrases into sentences that target a bit more than just your phrase.
Low Posting Frequency
Ok, I think this one speaks for itself. If you can’t handle the writing, either get someone to help you or get rid of your blog. It’s just not going to work if you don’t participate! There is a good help to be found out there – use it! On the other hand, real-time technologies are not going away – only getting more advanced. Don’t let the revolution pass you by!
A Poor Linking Strategy
Number four here is very important. This is the key to making your blog into a lead-generating machine. Once you connect with those visitors on specific and unique levels – what are you doing to turn them into a lead? Yes, perhaps your content is really good and they like it so much that they call or send an email. Don’t count on this though.
People will take the path of least resistance. What are they really looking for? Probably an MLS search, a home valuation, sign up for an email listings alert – give it to them! Make it so easy for your reader to use these tools that they just can’t resist. Provide links from every blog post you can where it makes sense to do so. Make your navigation easy to use. Add graphics to your site that target the eye. Use those lead-generating tools on your website that you’ve already paid for!
Take the reigns and turn your real estate blog into the marketing vehicle that it can be!
