In the real estate world, brokers tend to have their attention split across a million different things. When you add in another factor, it can feel like pulling a block out of a Jenga tower – it’ll either hold together, or it’ll all fall apart.
Blogging can be a great way to generate original content for your agency website. Not to mention that a blog can contribute to the marketing of your company, and may even help prevent that Jenga tower from falling over.
Think of your blog as the glue which holds that tower in place – yes I know that is technically cheating in Jenga, just don’t tell my friends. The key to blogging success is not in the actual writing as such, but by having a plan.
1. Why are you blogging?
Think of it like dating. Most people tend to date for months, years or even decades before they make that final commitment of getting married. You should think of real estate blogging in the same way. Think about the reasons why you want to start blogging, before you take the plunge.
What do you want to gain from blogging? Set your objectives before you get cracking. For example, do you want to build a brand reputation? Generate some traffic for your company website? Get potential clients to sign up to your newsletter?
Whatever the goals, set them out before you start blogging – it’ll give you some much needed direction.
2. In it for the long-run
Blogging is a long-term kind of thing. It won’t garner instant success for the company, so be patient and be ready to stick it out for a while. Even the most prolific industry influencers who receive thousands of hits per day, won’t be able to achieve instant blog success.
Get out that tin of elbow grease, apply it firmly and get ready to be patient. The followers will come eventually, but you need to be willing to stick it out for the meantime.
Think of it as a stand-up comedian playing at 4am. One guy is watching in the crowd, but one day you might headline and then you’ll be playing to packed out venue. So keep pounding those keys and don’t be tempted to bail.
3. Know your niche
Now that you’ve got an objective for the blog and are up for the challenge of sticking it out, it’s time to get into the nitty-gritty of a successful blog.
The best real estate blogs are those which have a niche. The spectrum of topics they cover will be narrow, with an intense focus on a particular segment of the industry – for example, Sydney mansions, or rural property on the east coast.
You really need to think about what your special area is, and how you can write about it. Once you know what your specialism is, think about how you can convey that to your audience.
Which social media platforms do they use and which is the best for your blog to be hosted on?
This is essential to the upcoming ‘content distribution plan’.
4. Select a blog host
Does your business already have its own website? If so then your content management solution might already have a blog as part of its repertoire. Get in touch with your webmaster, and see if adding a blog is as easy as activating a plugin or service.
If this isn’t the case then you’ll need to start researching blog providers. Not all of these providers will be appropriate, but it really depends upon the nature of content you will be posting.
Services such as Pinterest and Tumblr are great for photo blogs, but AgentPages.com.au will be more appropriate for people who want to blog with text, images & video.
AgentPages.com.au offers two different levels of subscription options, so there is something for everyone. These Agent Profile sites also come with a personalised domain name, which will make your blog look far more professional.
5. Brainstorm some potential topics
Now that you know your specialism, you’ll want to come up with some killer topics to get things off the ground. Before you put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard, brainstorm some ideas of what you will write about. Get several ideas in the pipeline before you write too.
Think about which topics are likely to really drive interest on the website, not content that will fade out of fashion as soon as it’s pushed out online.
Well written posts about interesting topics will attract organic traffic growth for years to come. Short-term trending and viral posts however, will get you a considerable amount of traffic very quickly.
You can turn to analytics to pick up information about readers in your niche too. If your website or blog has analytics built in then that’s fantastic. If not you can use Google Analytics to get this kind of information.
6. Create a schedule
Having a content calendar will help to keep your blog ticking from day one. Think about holidays and special events. Planning this ahead can save time when it gets to the busy periods of the year.
Scheduled posts means you can spend time doing other things towards your business. Scheduling also ensures that posts go out at the times when people are most likely to read them.
7. Distribution planning
Having a well-researched, keyword-based set of topics is not enough to truly drive traffic to your blog or website. You’ll need to draw up a distribution plan. A content distribution plan will address areas such as – how will you promote your content?
Think about the different channels at your disposal. Will you promote your blog via your website, social media, emails quarterly updates etc? Create some space in your schedule too, to note how these blog posts will be promoted.