Having a blog is not mandatory for any business, but the benefits of having one are vast. With a blog, you can create growth, client connection, and future profits. Blogs are misunderstood and undervalued because they can be time-consuming if you already have a hectic schedule, but before writing off, having a blog, read on.
What a blog can do for your brand
Knowing your ideal customer is as key as knowing your niche, and a blog can help you extend your social reach to clients that would be good for your business. While new listings hitting your site count as fresh content to Google, original blog posts regularly are great to have during listing downtimes. Blog posts can ensure that Google sees your site, and your rank does not drop because of a high bounce rate (stale content will do this).
Support and grow your brand
All businesses want to grow brand awareness and gain new clients. It’s the main factor in success. If you’re going to do it organically, using a blog can help you get there.
Website SEO
Having new content on a blog will help position your website as a reliable source of information, especially if your posts are littered with rich keyword usage. Blogging keeps your website fresh and current, gives people a reason to stay on your site longer, offers content visibility with target keywords, and gives readers something to share, which links back to your site. Posting content curated for other REALTORS® is not going to help your website. You need to post original content consistently.
Relationship building
Your expertise in the area of real estate is what you can offer your audience. When you share what you know, you grow existing relationships and give yourself a chance to build new ones by building trust within the community.
Establishes you as an industry leader
What sets you apart from other REALTORS® is your individual experience. By blogging, you can share valuable information online that you can refer to clients or potential clients. You can set yourself apart from the competition, educate, empower, and share the knowledge others don’t have.
Connects people to your brand through the story
Every brand has information and a voice that they use to speak to their ideal audience. Using blogging, you can connect with your audience and let them see who you are, what you have to offer, and how you can make their lives easier by getting them more money for their house, helping them transition from a family home to a condo, and so much more.
What information should I provide, and who is going to read it?
Knowing who your ideal client is will help you decide what information will be the most useful to your audience. If you have an idea of who you’re writing to but not what you want to tell them, we have some ideas.
Depending on who your target audience is, you can write about:
- Real estate investing tips
- How to save your down payment
- Homebuyer mistakes to avoid
- How to buy a home when you have a student loan
- Ways to speed up the sale of your home without sacrificing on price
- Budgeting
- Ways to live in a tiny house or small space
- Downsizing
- Ways to improve your credit score and what can ruin it
- Neighbourhood spotlights
- How to hire the right agent for you
- Buying in a recession
- Why staging is so important
Ways to repurpose your blog posts
There are multiple ways to repurpose or pull apart your posts to use over and over again. Once you get a few posts under your belt, you can try some of these:
- Turn your posts into videos
- Pull out topics and expand on them
- Transform posts into guides or e-books
- Create infographics
- Use posts in your newsletters linking back to your blog
- Create a podcast
- Create social media posts
- Publish on Pinterest
If you struggle to develop content for your social channels, a blog can help with that. For every post you write (350-500 words minimum), you can create:
- 5 Facebook Posts
- 5 Instagram Posts
- 5 Tweets
- 5 Pinterest Posts
- 5 Videos
How to get blogging
If you have decided that you have time and would like to write your content, here are some ways to keep you on track:
Decide how often you are going to post
You’ll want to post consistently. You should find the time to dedicate to a monthly post, so ironing out the time to do so will make it easier to tackle. Consistency is key.
Sit down and brain dump topics
Coming up with a variety of issues all at once will take the guesswork out of figuring that detail out later on.
Choose your social channels
It doesn’t matter which one you like best, whether it be Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, or Pinterest, but knowing which ones you want to utilize best will be a great jumping-off point when sharing your blogs.
Create a schedule
Consider your blog as part of your overall business and schedule a time for it. If you look at it as an essential piece of growing your business, you’ll want to pencil it in.
Know your keywords
Some keywords are better than others, and knowing the most powerful ones for your blog post is crucial. You’ll also want to learn how to incorporate them naturally into each post.
Suppose you don’t have the time to write or don’t see yourself as capable of creating written content; hiring a writer can be a great tool in blog creation and engaging your audience. Before you hire, be sure to have a good grasp on your brand voice and provide as much information as possible so they can capture it.
If you have any questions on how to get blogging or are looking for a writer, we have a few on our team who can help you out. Contact us for more tips and tricks.