Don’t Be An I’m-a-realtor-too Site - Stand Out! Market Your Website With Quality Content
October 24, 2007
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What makes you stand out as a realtor from the dime-a-dozen me-too sites that abound in the real estate industry? Is it the cool graphics? Usability? Layout? These are all important factors, but people tend to pay more attention to them and less to simple components like good content, which can make a big difference in how successful your site is online.
For example, take a look at some of our local authors, especially prolific writers like Legacy Real Estate and Gitta. These clients have gotten tons of leads and traffic. Why? Because they consistently provide good content that is totally relevant to their readers.
In a competitive industry like real estate, everyone is searching for the best way to stand out and creating a steady flow of good content, from video and text to podcasts, is integral to gaining a strong presence online. People searching for real estate in your area WANT to know about it. They’re searching for the best location for themselves or their family; they want to know everything: where to find the best schools, markets, neighborhoods and more.
And who better to help them than you?
With years of experience as a real estate professional, you can help your readers and potential clients find what they need, when they need it, just as you do in every-day interactions offline. Approach any creation of content the same way you would approach a potential client and keep in mind the audience for which you’re writing. There is goldmine of information inside your mind, you just need to sit down and start typing. If you don’t want to write, record yourself talking and upload it as a podcast or create a video blog; there are numerous options available.
Text Specific Content:
The most common form content takes currently is text, but this is gradually changing. “But I’m not a writer” you might say. However, think about the accumulated knowledge in your head and how much you know about the areas you service and the real estate industry in general.
Before you start writing, take a moment and pick two or three target keywords. For example, a target keyword phrase if you’re a realtor in Orlando Florida might be “Finding Homes for Sale in Orlando, Florida” or “Real Estate in Orlando Florida.” Just think about what you’re going to write about and choose the keywords based off your topic. If you’re writing about home mortgages, make sure you include home mortgages once per paragraph. Simple elements like this will make your articles seo-friendly.
Here are a couple forms of common, highly effective article formats:
The Top Ten List
10 (or 5 or 7) Tips for Finding a Home in (City, State)
Intro paragraph - give a little background and stats about the city and state here.
1) Consider where you want to be in City, State
Always look at the areas in and around City, State. Decide which are is ideal for you and your family…
2) Find the right realtor
Find a realtor who really knows their stuff…
Tip 3
….
Tip 4
….
Tip 5
Tip 6
Tip 7
Tip 9
Tip 10
Conclusion- tell the reader why this area is great and why they should think about buying a home here, e.g. neighborhoods to see and things to keep in mind.
The Topic List
Buying Your First Home
Selling Your Home
Getting Your First Mortgage
Topics like those above can take any format you want, but the most effective are short paragraphs with headers:
Selling Your Home
Intro - Introduce and reiterate topic, then follow with something like ” If you’re thinking about selling your home in somewhere, here are some things to keep in mind:”
Get an experienced real estate agent.
An experienced real estate agent can make all the difference in getting a great price for your home…
Take your family’s home needs into account.
Think about the type of neighborhood or home that is best suited for your family…
Conclusion-why, when, how and where.
IMHO, the list of things to write about mentioned in this post are pretty mundane. If you can’t break out of the “how to buy your first house” or “how to find the right realtor” boxes, you’re blog is going to be flat. If you write about interesting topics, the readers will know that they have found the right realtor.
thx, k.
Kevin Warmath
Alpharetta Real Estate
Engaging material that piques a readers interest is ideal. However, if you’re not used to writing or think that you can’t do it, the templates above are solid formats that will help you on your way to creating more interesting articles.
They’re also formats that potential readers often click on and are easy for anyone to write.