Blogging isn’t just a hobby or something only writers do for fun. You actually need to know how to manage a blog. You may know a mommy blogger or a cool friend who always has so many exciting things to say, so she wrote a blog. But that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s right for a business.
What Is Blogging?
Blogging is a fundamental component to marketing for business and particularly the real estate industry. Put simply, it’s a marketing tool that gets your business noticed online. If you do not have a blog for your business, you may be missing out on the many benefits that blogging can offer.
Why Manage A Blog?
Knowing how to manage a blog can benefit just about any business, and there are many reasons why.
It helps drive traffic to your website.
You want more visitors to your website because this will generate leads that will hopefully generate more customers or clients and eventually lead to more income. The more blogs you write and publish on your website, the more opportunity you’ll have to get your pages indexed and generate more leads. Every time you publish a blog post, you create content that readers share on social media, exposing your business to a new audience that may not have otherwise discovered your brand.
It helps establish your authority as a credible resource.
When you write blog posts on topics in which you are an expert, readers will see you as a resource with a wealth of information. One of the top 3 reasons people read blogs is to learn something new, especially to learn about trends in a certain industry.
It helps develop and strengthen relationships with your new and existing customers and clients.
Your blog and your social media presence help build your brand and showcase who you are, what you do, and why customers need your services. You will develop their trust if you provide high-quality content that they find to be relevant. Customer engagement is a crucial element of your marketing and branding strategy. If you encourage comments on your blog, this will allow visitors to engage directly with you. You can answer their questions or reply to their comments to build a relationship with your visitors.
What Are The Benefits of Blogging For Real Estate Agents?
It is the easiest way to connect with homeowners planning to buy or sell a home.
If you are a real estate agent, you likely know how active your clients are online. People like to look at homes online and often do their research before calling a real estate agent. If you have a high ranking website with a blog section, potential clients will find your site sooner than other agents that do not utilize blogs on their website. Readers who read your blog will see you as a resource for those doing online research on real estate topics. Your readers will see you as an authority in the real estate business.
It will help increase traffic to your real estate website.
Studies show that Google rewards websites with fresh and relevant content by moving them further up in search rankings. Have a consistent blogging and content strategy to get the most results. Ideally, your business should publish at least one blog per week – two blogs per month to get noticed often.
It will help you be known as an expert in the real estate industry over those who do not provide a blog.
You can provide readers with relevant topics that they will likely be researching anyway. Refer them to your website to answer some of their most frequently asked questions. Some popular topics to consider blogging about are:
- How to prepare for their home sale.
- Tips on staging their home.
- Neighborhoods and schools in the local communities you serve.
- Tips on financing a mortgage.
- What to consider if buying a new or previously owned home.
- Updates on rising property value.
It will help you to build trust.
You are not just a real estate agent doing a business transaction. You are partnering with your clients to build their dreams. They will have many emotions tied into buying and selling a home, so they want a real estate agent that they can trust to have their best interest. Use your blog to show you understand your client’s needs. Showcase all of your team members and allow readers to get to know them better.
If you recognize the benefits of blogging but haven’t been posting blogs, what are your reasons? Is it because you don’t have time? Or maybe you don’t feel qualified to write them yourself? Not everyone is skilled at writing, and it takes a lot of expertise to write SEO-friendly blog posts that rank high on Google. There are many advantages to outsourcing your blog writing and publishing to a Virtual Expert® (VE).
A Real Estate Marketing Assistant
Hiring a VE specializing in the real estate industry is an asset to your agency as they know how to speak the real estate language. You can leave the writing to your VE and spend more time doing the work you love and are highly skilled at doing.
Contributing author: Melissa Momcilovich
