While blogging has been popular since the early 2000s, it’s still a relatively new venture for many in the real estate industry. As real estate professionals continue experimenting with digital and traditional marketing methods to generate more leads and close deals, blogging has become increasingly popular.
In Virtuance’s latest webinar, I joined my colleague and real estate marketing expert Rachel Gombosch to discuss why blogging for real estate is important, how to get started, and additional tips and tricks—including a handy checklist!
Continue reading to learn more and check out an on-demand recording of our webinar below:
What is blogging?
Blogging allows you to write short articles or posts on any topic you desire. You can have a website devoted solely to your blog or add a blog page to your current website.
Why does blogging matter in real estate marketing?
You may be wondering why you should blog as a real estate professional. Although optional, it’s a great way to reach your target audience.
When potential leads visit your website, you provide them with even more value beyond helping them sell or buy a home. This only increases your value and brand, generating more leads and referrals.
Real estate professionals are natural marketers, and blogging is an easy way to show your expertise. Instead of relying on in-person events, you can use your blog to reach a wider audience—most of whom start their search online anyways!
3 ways blogging elevates your brand
1. Increases your value
A crucial part of being a successful real estate professional is demonstrating the value you provide buyers and sellers.
While you can present a client with your knowledge in a meeting, listing presentation, or showing, you may not have the opportunity to show them all of what you offer.
You are increasing your value and brand by having a dedicated page to your knowledge and real estate market expertise. Instead of only appealing to those directly interested in your services, you’ve grown your sphere of influence, increasing the value you provide to your target audience.
2. Generates more leads
A critical part of blogging is SEO. SEO stands for search engine optimization and helps search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing find your website easier.
By researching what your target audience commonly searches and creating content around that, you will rank higher on search engines, guaranteeing your blog and website are seen by the right people.
For example, if you work as a real estate professional in Denver, you’ll want to ensure anyone interested in the real estate services you offer sees your blogs.
Consider writing a blog article showing your expertise in the Denver real estate market. This could include neighborhood insights, real estate market trends, or home buyer tips and tricks. SEO keywords you’ll want to target may be things like:
- Denver real estate agent
- Denver real estate market
- Denver real estate trends
- Best neighborhoods to buy a house in Denver
SEO is similar to word of mouth. When you can target your ideal audience, you’ll gain more leads as you present them with exactly what they want, and they can easily find your blog.
3. Generates more referrals
As previously mentioned, SEO is like word of mouth. If someone in your area is searching for “real estate agent near me,” and your blog or website pops up, you could easily gain a new client!
Similarly, as you gain popularity in your target market, those you have helped will begin to refer you to those they know.
How to get started blogging
Adding another task to your week may seem overwhelming, especially as we enter the holidays. But, creating a consistent blog schedule that fits your routine can enhance your marketing efforts.
Even if you’re only blogging once a week, you can generate more leads for free! Blog posts don’t need to be essays; they can simply present the information you already know, like neighborhoods you work in or your local market.
Where to start blogging
It’s rather easy to get started blogging! You can add a page to your current site for a blog, or you can create an all-new site for blogging. If you already have a website, it’s usually easier to add a page for blogging, but you can do what works best for you.
Some sites like WordPress and Squarespace make it easy to create a website or blog without knowing how to actually build a site.
Another option is a site dedicated to real estate professionals like ActiveRain. To get the benefits of SEO, you’ll need to have a paid membership—but if you’d like to start working on blogging consistently, it’s a great option. It’s also a great way to connect and network with other agents in your area and potentially get referrals.
Blog topic ideas
Once you decide where you’d like to start blogging, you may wonder what to write about. Thankfully, there are sites to help you determine the best target keywords and topics to write about for your target audience.
Free tools like SEMRush, Keyword Surfer, or Ahrefs allow you to see what people are searching for in relation to real estate or your market.
In general, some great topics to consider are:
- Your real estate market
- Popular areas to buy
- Great areas for families
- Top features for home buyers
- How much homes sell for on average
- Whether it’s a buyers’ or sellers’ market
- Areas you’re an expert in
- General real estate processes
- How to apply for a mortgage
- Steps in buying or selling a home
- How open houses work
- Helping homeowners increase value
- Curb appeal ideas
- Showing ideas
- Staging
If you’d like more ideas, check out our 30 Real Estate Blog Ideas blog post.
Blogging tools
There are several tools available to help make blogging easier. While it can seem intimidating to start blogging, especially if you aren’t an avid writer, there are plenty of tools to assist you!
Consider checking out:
- Grammarly: Grammarly is a great tool for checking your spelling and grammar. It’s free to use and can help tighten up your writing—without needing an editor!
- Hemingway App: Hemingway App is similar in helping you write more clearly. It can make your writing more accessible and easier to read.
- AI tools: AI tools like Jasper and Copy.ai are great as they use artificial intelligence to write blog posts for you. You simply put in what you want to write about or a general outline of the post and the tone you’re looking for, and the AI tool generates a unique post.
Blogging Checklist
If you’re still wary of undertaking blogging, we’ve created an easy checklist to get you started!
Our checklist covers everything in this article and gives you the steps before and after publishing your blog post.
Use Virtuance for professional real estate photos and free marketing resources
A great way to make your blog post stand out? Using professional real estate photos of your listings!
At Virtuance, we offer professional real estate photography for all your listing needs, including 3D tours, aerial photography, and a free single listing website with every order!
And if you’re looking for more real estate marketing resources, be sure to check out our blog, Curb Appeal Podcast, and our on-demand webinars!
FAQ
How consistently you blog is up to you—whether that’s a few times a week, once a week, or once a month. Creating content is key to ranking higher on search engines and having more people see your posts.
Promoting your posts on social media—like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram—are great ways to have your target audience see your posts.
