Mary's Blog

There is a formula to successful business blogging, but so often I see Realtors straying from it and basically, blogging to their own drummer with highly personal rants and cutesy posts. My first questions to these Realtors is “do you sit on top of the search engines for your prime keywords?” and “do you have quality consumer traffic and leads.” Typically, the answers to those simple questions are a big fat “NO.” So, if blogging is all about building business, if your real estate blog isn’t generating it, then you need to re-evaluate your blogging approach.

Improvisational blogging simply doesn’t work. 

I recently read an article by Brian Clark over at CopyBlogger comparing improvisational jazz to the improvisational blogger. I don’t know about you, but I am a huge fan of Jazz and LOVE Miles Davis. I consider Kind of Blue one of the greatest albums of all time. However, my man Miles went through an improv phase – you know that kind of scat music thing where he would use cacophony and basically confuse and slightly abuse the listener, even a devotee like myself. Not his best years. Well, the same goes for the improv real estate blogger.  If you forget to blog to your audience (buyers/sellers/investors/the commuity), then you will be abusing those that visit your real estate blog looking for focused real estate and community information. And the result will be that you will lose valued visitors and potential leads.

Read also: Jazz and the art of improvisational blogging

Write what people WANT to read on a real estate blog, not what you WANT to write.

Well, much like that kind of improvisational music, improvisational blogging simply doesn’t work and can often confuse the reader that has come to your real estate blog for focused, expected content on a given topic. You simply cannot expect the reader to catch up with your enlightened blogging style, you need to pander to the masses and give them what they want. They come to your real estate blog for specific information: real estate advice, home searches and community information. So, you need to be a responsible blogger and provide those essentials.

Make every post, personal, engaging and relevant to real estate or your community.

Now, that doesn’t mean you can’t share who you are in your posts. You should let your wit, wisdom and quirkiness spill out onto the computer screen. That is what attracts people to blogs- the ability to personally connect with the writer, but you should do that in each post, no matter what the topic. Make real estate and the educational side of your blogging just as interesting as you would a personal post. Or if you feel compelled to write a personal post about how your dog got ate a Christmas ornament and needed an emergency tinsel-ectomy - tie the post back to the community by including a list of 24 hr vets. You see how I mixed a personal story, the absurdly humorous and a bit of education, that is the ticket to creating emotionally engaging yet useful content that people and search engines will read and come back for.

Read also: How to humanize your real estate blog for intimacy

Use a proven strategy when writing posts.

Just like there is a proven method to cleaning a house- like vacuuming out of a room or cleaning the counters before you sweep the floor, there is a proven structure to writing a blog post. This proven structure will help you to gain traction in the search engines and write tight copy that helps people to scan the content quickly and find what they need easily.

1. Write a keyword rich title that expresses benefits
2. Open your real estate blog post with a keyword rich and benefit expressing sentence.
3. Use your prime keyword or key phrase at least 4 times in your post.
4. Link to at least 3 other websites that will offer readers more information on the given topic.
5. Link to at least 3 other posts on your own blog that will give more insight on the topic.
6. Format the post with heading tags, bolded text, numbered lists and/or bullet points
7. Close with a call to action asking readers to subscribe to your blog, contact you, fill out your lead generation tool or search for a home
8. Select 100% content relevant keywords for your meta data tag

Read also: Formula for a successful blog post

Select topics that will resonate with readers and will drive quality search traffic

With most markets steeped in foreclosures, posts about bank negotiations, short sales, market conditions and foreclosure options are HOT HOT HOT topics. But there are plenty of other topics that will engage readers and search engines, so check our list of 365 real estate blog ideas with explanations on how to best pen the post for readers and engine and then see links to Realtors that have used these ideas to drive traffic and interest in their own blogs.

Read also: Is writing quality content like pulling teeth?

Related Posts

The term “quality content” is so over used in the real estate blogosphere that I think we have actually become desensitized to exactly what it is. Quality content for the real estate consumer or potential consumer is more about providing them with useful, entertaining and relevant information than penning post after post of market reports. Remember, these are real people reading what you have to say, so you have to make it interesting while at the same time useful to both the human visitor and the search engine crawler. So, let’s break down the components of quality content and how your real estate blog can use them to build readership and leads.

The 6 Steps to Writing Quality Real Estate Blogs

1.  Cast a wide net. Target not just the visitor currently looking to buy or list a home today, but the visitor quietly residing in an apartment and dreaming of home ownership. Remember, the real estate visitor is a fleeting reader- as they are only going to buying/selling for a single moment in time (typically between 4-8 months). So, be sure to create content for the community as a whole to attract local visitors in mass as well as targeted content for the home buyer/seller. This helps to get your name out there and to connect with the community in general so when they are looking to buy or sell, they think of you first. So, write posts about local news, schools, businesses and even gossip. You want to attract as many local visitors as possible- not just the ones that are buying and selling today.  Think outside the box when it comes to creating content for your real estate blog!

Read also: A year’s worth of real estate blog ideas for the busy Realtor Blogger

2.  Use a Human Voice: A real estate blog is not the place to use the industry lingo or mortgage jargon. A blog is the place for you to let your hair down and talk to your customers in the same conversational tone you do with your closest friends. Use some slang, get creative with your grammar, spell with an accent if the story permits. Get gregarious on your blog!

Read also: Humanizing a real estate blog

3.  Engage readers emotionally:  People want to be emotionally engaged by your post. That means that your post has to either answer an urgent need in a readers life or generate strong feelings on a particular issue. So, creating controversy or penning a great tutorial post are the best ways to engage a reader.   Every town has a “hot button” issue or person. Press that button and you will be amazed at how traffic and participation skyrocket. Say things on your blog designed to interest the local press and incite controversy. Look at what is making the front page of your local paper and spin-off a few posts. You can even seed your blog back to the press by shooting them an email about your blog covering the topic.

Read also: Plan a blog war to increase traffic and participation

4.  SEO your content:  What a search engine wants: All search engines really care about in your posts are keywords and links. So, pepper each post with the keywords you want it to be searchable by and link out to other resource sites that would provide further information on the topic you are writing about. You also want to link to other posts on your own site that might add further value to the topic and keep visitors on your site longer.

Read also:  How to boost search engine rankings by using keywords in the body text of your blog post

5.  Answers WIFM (What’s in it for me?): Good blog posts not only provide quality information but they clearly spell out what the benefits of reading the post are. Many newbie bloggers forget to remind readers why they would want to read their posts in the first place.  Explicit benefits far outweigh implied ones. So, remind the reader throughout your post how what the article will help them achieve the promise you made in the post’s title. The word “because” is always valuable when expressing benefits.

Read also: Killing me softly with your blog

Read also: Common rookie blogger mistakes and how to fix them

6.  Close with a call to action and direct people to your lead generation tools:  People like to be told what to do on the web. It creates comfort and a sense of purpose. So, at the end of each post, guide readers to your lead generation tool, RSS subscription page or back to your website where they can contact you or search for a home. Simply create a 3-5 sentence call to action for each of your target readers. Generally, those will be buyers, sellers and investors. Then place a link to your applicable lead generation tool. You'll be amazed how this will improve lead generation on your site.

• Buyers: Ready to start your dream home search? Contact me and I can guide you on finding the perfect home in Cape Coral to suit your lifestyle and needs.
• Sellers: Ready to sell your home? Get started by finding out what your home is worth by clicking here.
• Investors: Like what you've read here? Well, subscribe and get all the latest news from this blog delivered direct to you RSS reader or email.

Read also: Formula for a successful real estate blog post

Related Posts

Ever wonder how you generate leads from your real estate blog or your website for that matter? Well, it ain’t rocket science, it’s simple strategy involving quality blog design that leads visitors right to your most useful content, tools and lead generators coupled with quality content that will interest search engines and provide useful information to consumers. 

What can you reasonably expect in terms of lead generation from your real estate blog?

Laurie Manny’s 6 month old blog, www.longbeachrealestatehome.com,  generates qualified leads daily. Why? Because she writes content people want to read, SEOs content so it is easily found by search engines, sits at the top of search engines for all her major keywords and uses tools that not only capture leads effectively but are useful to real estate consumers. Laurie’s average daily lead generation from her blog is between 1-5 leads per day. Why? Because she uses the proper lead capture tools and makes them easy to find from every page of her blog.

Lead generation on your real estate blog or website takes a multi-pronged approach:

1. Design your real estate blog so your most interesting content and useful lead generator tools are easy to find from every page of your blog, like in a top menu or side column towards the top.

• Place Lead Generators in Easy to Find Locations: Always start with a solid layout that directs visitors to your lead generators and includes the following:
• Your phone number and/or address on each page of your site
• An easy to find contact form
• An easy to find lead generating CMA and Property Search tool

See Laurie’s lead generating Contact Form, CMA and Property Search tools. (Notice that those tools are easy to find from any page within the site.)

1. SEO all your blog titles and content so each post is easy to find on the major search engines: You want to be able to drive quality new traffic from people searching for real estate in your farm areas. 

• Use descriptive blog titles laced with your keywords
• Use your keywords at least 3 times in each post

Read also: How to write great real estate blog titles

1. Quality Content – to build trust with search engines and visitors

• Write keyword rich content that search engines can latch onto
• Write emotionally engaging content that readers can get into
• End with a call to action that directs the reader to fill out your lead capture forms, calls you or subscribe to your blog

Read also: How to write a real estate blog that generates leads

Read also: Recipe for a successful real estate blog

• Your blog needs more than a contact form to attract leads (see a quality contact form)
• Buyers need a registration for listing searches (see a lead generating listing search)
• Sellers need a registration for comparative analysis or appraisals (see a lead generating CMA form)

Not only do these tools help you generate leads, but they can help you qualify leads as they come in. The tool we recommend most, 1ParkPlace. Nothing beats it and if you want it on a blog, you need to have an RSS Pieces blog.  The quality of leads generated by this tool averages around 82% according to 1ParkPlace and Laurie Manny reports to have generated 33 quality leads (many of which she was able to send to mortgage consultant, Brian Brady) in the first month she placed this lead generating tool on her blog.

What are Backlinks?

Backlinks, links from other sites to your real estate blog, help to improve your credibility with search engines, online visibility, content reach and traffic. Therefore, building quality backlinks is just as important to the health and well being of your real estate blog as the content that you write. So, let’s take a good hard look at not only why and how search engines value backlinks but now you go about building quality backlinks through an easy to follow link campaign.

Why do search engines measure backlinks?

In simple terms, search engines consider each backlink a “vote’ for your site. It is a way for Google to determine the overall authority and popularity of your site.

Tool: See how many backlinks your real estate blog has

Read also: Ultimate Guide to Building Backlinks

Not all backlinks are created equal

Here is a simple example of how Google does not value all links the same. One of my competitors has around 10K backlinks pointing to their site. RSS Pieces, on the other hand, only has 3.5K. However, both sites have a PageRank 5 and both sites show up well in the search results for our prime keywords. While, my competitor, should have greater authority with Google based on the volume of backlinks, the quality of most of those backlinks is so low (multiple sitewide links from client sites with PR 3 or below with low quality anchor text) that Google de-weights the overall value of those links to the point where they are meaningless. So, the lesson to take away from this is that it is not the quantity of the backlinks that matter- it is the quality. Shoot for fewer backlinks from quality sites (PR 4 or above within the same industry or geographic area) with solid anchor text.

How does Google determine the value or quality of a backlink to your real estate blog?

Authority. Search Engines weigh the value of backlinks by the authority (PageRank) that the site linking to you has. In simple terms, just as you probably weigh Simon Cowl’s vote greater than that of the wild, wacky and possibly drunk Paula Abdul on American Idol, a backlink from a PageRank 5 or above site will be considered more valuable and authoritative than one from a PageRank 3 of 4. 

Anchor Text. Anchor text is the textual content in a link. The more descriptive and keyword rich the anchor text, the more relevancy and value that backlink. For example, a link that reads: real estate blogs and real estate training to RSS Pieces is actually more valuable than a link that reads RSS Pieces or Click Here. 

Deep Links. Links that reference that your inner pages or actual real estate blog articles are also valued more highly than those that just reference your home page. This shows Google that your site is NOT superficial and does contain highly relevant and useful content. This is where providing quality content and staying off of people’s blogrolls really pays off. 

Read also: Why Google Hates Your Blogroll

On page relevance. This one is self explanatory. A link on a page about Cape Coral Real Estate to a Cape Coral Realtor has greater relevance than a link on a page about Seattle Mortgages/Real Estate to a Cape Coral Realtor. Again, can I say “I told you so” about blogrolls linking hundreds of geographically diverse real estate agents… (sorry pregnancy makes me very saucy).

Read also: Google Slaps Real Estate Blogs in Latest PageRank Update

How many other links on the page. Now, just because you get a link from a PageRank 6 site doesn’t mean you get the entire possible value of that link. The value of the link-votes is divided among all the outbound links on a page. Think about it: a highly Pageranked page with 50 links on a blogroll just isn’t as valuable a backlink as a lower PageRanked site with only a handful of outbund links on it.

Here is the breakdown on the actual algorithm used to determine PageRank and how the backlinks are weighted into that algorithm:

Read also: Google’s Algorithm Explained

Simplified PageRank algorithm that shows how Google weights backlinks into PageRank

Assume a small universe of four web pages: A, B, C and D. The initial approximation of PageRank would be evenly divided between these four documents. Hence, each document would begin with an estimated PageRank of 0.25.

If pages B, C, and D each only link to A, they would each confer 0.25 PageRank to A. All PageRank PR( ) in this simplistic system would thus gather to A because all links would be pointing to A.

But then suppose page B also has a link to page C, and page D has links to all three pages. The value of the link-votes is divided among all the outbound links on a page. Thus, page B gives a vote worth 0.125 to page A and a vote worth 0.125 to page C. Only one third of D's PageRank is counted for A's PageRank (approximately 0.083).

In other words, the PageRank conferred by an outbound link L( ) is equal to the document's own PageRank score divided by the normalized number of outbound links (it is assumed that links to specific URLs only count once per document).

In the general case, the PageRank value for any page u can be expressed as:

,

i.e. the PageRank value for a page u is dependent on the PageRank values for each page v out of the set B_u (this set contains all pages linking to page u), divided by the number L(v) of links from page v.

Read more: PageRank Algo Explained by Wikipedia

Read also: How the Google PageRank Algorithm Works

Stay tuned for the next installment in this series where we start talking about how to build a quality backlink campaign that will boost PageRank (your authority with Google), traffic and search engine positioning.