Blog

We have gone over what to post on your blog and possible ideas of where to get content.

Are there things you shouldn’t post on your blog?

I have mentioned several times –

DO NOT POST YOUR REAL ESTATE LISTINGS TO YOUR BLOG.

That is NOT what your blog is for. You have your listings on your website, MLS and Realtor.com ®. And it is FINE to point them to your listing web pages. However, Blogs are used to show your human side and your expertise. Facebook has a way to have a listings tab on your Business Page (which is different than your personal page). But don’t inundate your audience with your listings, price reductions, solds or new lists on your blog. There are better places than your blog.

Don’t post other people’s content or articles without their permission. That is Copyright infringement. As I mentioned before, do a “book report” of an article you read and give credit to the source of your book report. Don’t forget to hyperlink their article back to where you found it.

I know this seems OBVIOUS, but sometimes it seems you have an audience and get a little familiar with them and you start spouting about something that happened either with another agent or client. STOP. What goes on the world wide web stays on the world wide web – FOREVER. And as a Realtor® you cannot say anything inflammatory or degrading or erroneous about a fellow Realtor®. Also, if you post about a client (even if you don’t blatantly identify them), do you want your clients or potential clients fear they may show up on your blog sometime? That is not what you want your blog to be about. You have much more useful and interesting content to post about.

Have fun with your blog! It’s a great tool to add to your real estate marketing.

When you are organizing your blog post, you have the option to insert “Tags”.

Tags are short labels that group posts together by key phrases or single words. If used consistently readers can find similar articles. However, you do need your blog theme actually displays your posts’ tags at the end of each post. Depending on how you post your tags, tagging blog posts can also boost your blog’s search engine optimization (SEO).

WordPress has a great article about Tags, “MetaTags in WordPress”. Many blog sites have a place to insert your tags. Take the key words out of your article and insert as a tag. This is not a category, but lists more topics of what your content is about.

After you write your blog, pick out some topics and key ideas, inserting them into the tags section of your post. And that’s all there is to it. So not only is your content optimized for SEO, but your tags are as well.

You have posted on your blog. It’s all ready to go. Now what?

You need your blog seen. Post on your Twitter, Facebook Business Page, LinkedIn and ActiveRain accounts.

If you haven’t done so yet, you need to sign up for all of them. They are free (on the most part). ALL will point back to your website. And that is a very very good thing.

Once you have set up your Social Media Accounts, you will need the icons and their links inserted on your website, email signature, blog and pretty much anything you send out showing they can find you there and either follow you, join you, link to you or like you. These are people who now will be FOLLOWING YOU and what you write. Oh, sure there will be people you have never met before and out of your area who start following you, but they are just there for the number count. You do not have to acknowledge them – you don’t have to follow back…. they will get lost in your numbers. But there are some who will start following who you will want to follow. Tip: Write a quick thank you note for them following.

I suggest creating an igoogle home page for your computer desktop. This is a WONDERFUL and is an action packed home page in which you can have your Twitter and Facebook feeds go right onto your home page. You are constantly and instantly updated. You can also have these stream into your smart phone, but sometimes you can get a bit overwhelmed by what streams in. FOLLOW influential, knowledgeable people and companies with rss feeds.

Who should you follow on your igoogle home page?

The National and your Local Realtor(r) Association

Jeffrey Gitomer

Seth Godin

ThinkBigWorkSmall

BildaBetterBusiness

Your Coaching Matters

for just a few ideas ….

And any other organization who has good interesting and relevant content.

To follow them, type their name in the Twitter or Facebook search bar. Go to their page, click on “Follow” or “Like”. And that’s it. You’ll be following them and their information will start streaming into your feeds.

If you do land on a site where the information is quite interesting, look for the rss feed. Click on this icon and it will direct you to a page which asks if you want it on your igoogle page or google reader. Opt for your igoogle. Then whenever the content on that (blog posts usually) are updated, it will immediately stream on your igoogle page. I like to rss feed from different news sources especially in the area of where my clients are.  You can also stream locally.

By following several on FaceBook and Twitter, you’ll be up to date with what is going on and have great ideas for your posts. You can also post comments and get into conversations, linking back to your website for even more Search Engine Optimization.

Invite your database to follow you. SUPER easy way to keep them updated. DO NOT POST LISTINGS TO THEM USING YOUR BLOG OR SOCIAL MEDIA!!! That is a SURE way to have them leave you. They want information. If they wanted listings, they can go to your website and search the MLS.

Why should you write (post) on your blog?  One of the goals is providing valuable/useful content which attracts a following who  bookmarks, links to or subscribes to your blog. By creating content your readers like to read and find useful, they get to know you – see you as a friend; as an expert in your real estate business. There may be the one thing you have posted on your blog which sets you apart from the rest of the agents. That one thing may have a website visitor become your client.

The other goal is Organic Search Engine Optimization for your WEBSITE. Optimizing is not only for your blog – your blog should be either WITHIN your website pages or pointing to it. The goal of all this posting and pointing is to provide a visible presence on the world wide web. These links send visitors to your blog and/or website (or squeeze page/s) which introduces your visitors to your real estate business. Ultimately they will become leads and see value of what you offer to them. Ultimately, they use YOU for their resource for their real estate questions ( or best yet? ) use YOU as their agent.

Your website continually needs fresh content. Posting on your blog within your website, allows the Search Engines to see you have fresh content. They really like that – you will be seen and found!

Tomorrow – What to do after your blog is written.