Posts Tagged ‘real estate marketing’

To blog or not to blog...I think it's pretty clear, BLOG!

Still not blogging? Well, we’re not going to rest until you are. Are you blogging, but not really sure why?

Here’s yet another reason why it is such a good thing. It might get a little geeky here, but we’ll insulate you from the worst of it.

Ok, on a fundamental level websites and blogs are typically constructed using different frameworks. This is essentially because historically speaking they have been built of different purposes.

The Typical Website Model

Generally speaking websites, at worst, are rather like pretty fleshed out yellow pages ads. A series of pages who’s content seldom changes, (disclaimer: this is not the approach we approve of ), how many times does a Contact Us, or About Us page really have to change. So whenever a page changes or new pages are added, its wise to update your sitemap.

In short, a sitemap is a file that features all the links to pages on your website. When you have an updated site map, you notify the search engines that it’s updated and at some point they’ll pop over to take a look.

There is often a delay, of days if not weeks for search engines to come by and check out the changes. Frustratingly there’s not much that can be done to encourage them to by any sooner.

The Blog Model

Blogs are about being current, what’s happening now, or what’s just happened. Their MO is to get news out there.

The whole point of news is that it’s…that’s right, NEW.

When you write a new blog post and hit ‘publish’ something amazing (you might have to be a geek to use ‘amazing’ in this context) happens. Hitting publish, not only publishes your content to your blog but, importantly it sends out a ‘ping’ to the search engines to notify them that some news has just been reported.

Newness is what search engines crave.

By writing content on your blog you are giving search engines what they are looking for. Is it starting to become clear?

The Difference is Remarkable

Whereas it can be days if not weeks for search engines to find your new page on your website, you can get them to see (or index) your new blog post in minutes, which is frankly, astounding. Simply give search engines what they want and be rewarded.

See For Yourself

Click to enlarge

The blog post you are reading was published to the web at 9.15am this morning. It’s now 9.25am and google has already indexed or seen the post and this can only help our relevance in search results… That took 7 minutes.

Most Realtors call us to complain that they can’t be found at search engines. I think we both know what you can do to change that.

We can help you design and configure your real estate blog and coach you in your blog-craft.

"Extra Extra read all about it..."

The irony of Twitter’s Biz Stone sending an email newsletter over the weekend was not lost on me.

Could it be that perhaps the single most efficient tool for disseminating information, the micro-blogging phenomenon, Twitter, really sent out a newsletter by email???

Well, it did, and I, as uncharacteristically, read it.

Ultimately, I think it depends on who’s it from, when Biz Stone sends me and email which begins, “Dear limeyboy..” my interest is piqued.

However, I think that an email newsletter is today, at best, a bi-product of time better spent elsewhere.

Meaning , create a blog post, write to the point, original content, feature it on the homepage of your website, tweet to it, and link to it from your facebook business page, ooh and while you are at it send an email out to your contact list.

A lawyer we know each month sends us a ‘company’ update via email with a pdf attached. We never read it…

Increasingly I think your news is more likely to be read on your facebook business page, where it’s already opened and paraphrased. You don’t have to rely on people opening an email. (It is true that email still works for the “old-timers”)

I would also say that if you are going to send a newsletter make it relevant, which essentially means write it yourself and also don’t send it as a pdf, which is a good format for legal contract but a dreadful format for some warm and fuzzies.

We see lots of very generic content on real estate websites, such as:

• cupboard organizing ideas
• window treatments
• green decorating

Let’s face it, this is NOT why you are being hired, and not what people are looking for. Stay on point and always be relevant to real estate information in your town.