Archive for Real Estate Blogs
Personally, I think what happened was that someone wrote a post one day about something having to do with real estate websites and social media. In the post, they coined the phrase “integrating your website and social media”, or “integrating social media into your real estate website”.
And lots of us were off to the races. I’m now talking to a lot of people who want to integrate social media into their websites, although they really have no idea what that means.
From what I can tell doing some Google searches, people are talking about displaying little social media graphics on your website and linking them to your social media pages. If you look near the top of this blog page in the right hand column, you’ll see three of these little icons; one each for Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter.
And, I agree. It’s only logical to promote other ways for people to stay in touch with you besides your website. However, I really don’t think of that as any type of integration.
Here’s what integration within your online presence means to me:
- Links from your blog to your website using effective anchor text
- Posts from your blog automatically showing up on Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter
- The ability to post any note, comment or Internet page to your social media sites using one click (see the last post on this blog about social media for real estate).
And, there may be a few other things that aren’t coming to mind right now. If you want to set up social media sites, get your Internet presence integrated and learn a quick way to update almost everything with one click, call me at 888-716-2418, or visit our main website to learn more about social media for real estate professionals.
Every real estate professional I talk to wants to find ways to make their real estate website work harder for them. A few years ago, some professionals wanted their website to be a lead generation source. Now, I could almost stop asking about objectives, because almost everyone I talk to does want their website to generate leads.
Finding 8 ways to use video is good news. Studies have shown that videos do improve sales conversions. Here are some ideas about content that comes from an article on a website called MarketingProfs.com.
If you don’t follow some non-real estate related information, you might be missing something. Every so often it seems to me that I’m reading the same information over and over on real estate publications. It can be refreshing to look outside our industry to find new ideas.
I don’t intend to repeat that article here (that, of course, would be Internet theft), but I do want to highlight some things that can bring the article into clear focus for the real estate industry.
Eight Ways to Create Enough Video Content to Last 18 Months
Introduction – In the article, Pete Savage talks about B2B (business-to-business) marketing. His ideas also apply very well to the B2C (business-to-consumer) marketing that you do as part of y0ur real estate practice.
1. Repurpose - Mr. Savage talks about reusing information that has previously been published in a white paper. I don’t know of any real estate professionals who publish white papers, but I do know many who provide reports that can be downloaded from their websites. We are all in search of the compelling proposition that will motivate a visitor to indicate their interest (along with some contact information).
So, when you read #1 in the article think about the information that you have on your website now. If you’re not getting lots of reaction to it, a video explanation might be just the teaser visitors will need to want more.
2. Whitepapers: Create Video Executive Summaries- Again, you’re probably not writing whitepapers, but you do have a lot of information to share. So, think of this approach as part of summarizing the information you offer on your website.
3. Case Studies: Create Video Versions – Have you ever thought of creating case studies of interesting or unusual transactions you have been a part of? Let’s say that your niche is helping homeowners avoid foreclosure. You know there is a right way and a wrong way to go about that. And, you have probably run into people who used both those ways. Why not make a video describing those scenarios?
You may not be able to get your clients to participate, but there may be other less sensitive situations where a client would be pleased to be asked to share their experience.
4. Webinars- If you’ve done webinars or given talks to local community groups on real estate topics, this idea on how to use those things is for you.
5. Give a Sneak Peek at Upcoming Content – Are you planning a series of blog posts on a timely real estate issue? Give a sneak peek through a video.
6. Tradeshows and Conferences- You probably don’t attend a lot of tradeshows, but you can apply these tips to any place you meet and greet people – perhaps the local chamber of commerce meetings.
7. Create a Content-Rich Microsite – These tips are easily applied to the real estate industry.
8. Get Personal with a Q&A Session - These tips are easily applied to the real estate industry.
When I talk to prospective clients about establishing a real estate website, or improving the return on a site they already have, one of the most difficult things to explain is the difference between on-page and off-page SEO.
Establish a Strategy for Driving Traffic to Your Website
One of the most critical questions you need to answer about a real estate website is: how will you get people to visit your website? There are a number of things that need to come together to make a real estate website effective, so don’t assume I’m saying the only thing you need to so is drive traffic to your site!
But, if you have set up your site well, with good optimized information, good tools and effective calls to action, all that work will do you absolutely no good unless someone sees the site. Driving traffic to your website is a critical piece of the puzzle.
On-Page & Off-Page SEO – Get Found on the Search Engines
to Drive Traffic to Your Website
That’s what gets my conversations around to Search Engine Optimization and on-page and off-page SEO. As part of our services for creating or updating a real estate website, such as a Point2 Agent website, we assist clients by creating original content that is optimized for their keyword phrases.
Here’s an example of the kind of content we create. The links you see on the Charlottetown real estate website Community Guide page are pages we have written. The topics range from community pages to details of the legalities of buying property in the area, and everything in between!
But, adding original optimized content is only the on-page part of SEO. I would prefer to call it on-site because it makes more sense to me. But, of course no one asked me before they named the things.
The other thing that needs to be done is the off-page (or off-site) SEO. And, that focuses to a great extent on building incoming links to your website. The natural question I am asked next is: “How do you build links to your site?”
How Can You Build Incoming Links for Your Off-Page SEO?
There are lots of ways to do that. You can add links from your blog to your website. You can write articles and post them to article websites, and the list goes on. One of my favorite places to review ways to get incoming links s is on the SEOBook website, and that list includes 101 ways to get incoming links.
If you want assistance in getting found in the search engines, take advantage of our cost effective real estate SEO services. If not, don’t forget to work on the two parts of SEO!
Margaret Woda wrote a very interesting post on Active Rain about her blog. If you’re blogging, how can you be sure that you’re getting the most from the time you invest?
Margaret started to take a look at the posts she has published recently, and came up with some interesting information. The most interesting was that she discovered she had only published one post about military relocation, her main target market.
It’s easy to get a bit lost in the day-to-day flow of activities — you can end up writing a good number of blog posts, but they might not be targeted where they need to be. Or, you might overlook opportunities to do some interlinking with your main website.
In honor of this wakeup call, if you don’t have a blog set up yet, or if you don’t have time to keep up with the blog you have, learn more about our social media real estate marketing services. 
The Secret to Writing Great Headlines
· Comments
If you are reading this post because of the headline, then you know the secret is working! When you write a blog post, you want something to attract attention so that people will actually read it. When you’re writing a landing page on your website, you want the same thing. So, you wanna know the secret?
It’s really pretty simple – you just need to know where to look!
If you’re not familiar with a website called Copyblogger, you’re missing out on a wealth of information. And, for writing headlines, you’ll find some very helpful information that has been written in simple English. The authors also include examples, which I find to be extremely helpful when you’re learning a new concept.
So, to find the secret to writing great headlines, visit this page at Copyblogger. You’ll find a list of 11 articles, all of which are great resources. Some of these will help you to understand why you need great headlines. But, if you look at numbers 7, 8, 9 and 10, you’ll find many ways to write effective headlines along with examples of how to make them work for you.
Enjoy!
