Running a real estate blog is a great way to generate and nurture leads, give virtual tours, and educate people about the home buying process. All of these things are an essential part of running a real estate business, and if you have yet to launch a blog, now is a good time to get started.
Whether you’re new to blogging or just new to blogging about real estate, here are some tips to make it work for you.
1. Create a platform for tenant communication
Having an informative blog will be helpful for your tenants, but you also need to supplement that blog with additional features that specifically benefit your tenants and prospective tenants.
Keep in mind that your entire website will become your digital identity. A professional digital identity will encourage trust from prospective tenants and will help you maintain trust with existing tenants. A great way to earn this trust is by creating a platform for your tenants to interact with you. This will work with residential or commercial tenants.
Your tenants need a platform where they can submit maintenance and repair requests, pay rent online, and otherwise communicate with you. This will prove to be an invaluable tool throughout your real estate career.
2. Focus on paid ads
Have you ever considered running ads on Facebook or Google? Pay-per-click (PPC) ads are popular for a reason – they work. If you’re a real estate investor, you need to take advantage of paid ads to bring your business to the next level.
However, PPC ads are more than just ads. Each ad also needs a landing page, and your landing pages need to be relevant and specific to your ad. For instance, instead of sending people to your home page when they click on your ad, send them to relevant blog articles.
You can use PPC ads to educate people or capture leads, but it’s important to always have a lead capture form on every landing page. This way, you’ll grow your email list faster.
3. Launch an SEO campaign
Having an SEO campaign is essential in the real estate industry. Search engine optimization is the only way to get your real estate blog found in the search engines for keywords and phrases related to your industry.
A strong SEO campaign will help you bring in more business because more people will see your site come up in search results. You want to get as much targeted traffic as possible, and this is how you’ll accomplish that task.
SEO in the real estate industry is highly competitive, so to compete, you’ll want to focus on local SEO for the best results. Local SEO will give you access to a smaller pool of your target market based on their location. For instance, if you own property in Seattle, WA, you can optimize your website for searches performed by people who live in or near Seattle.
Part of local SEO involves setting up a Google Business listing, formally known as Google Business Profile. When optimized correctly, your listing will show up above search results, giving you the advantage even when your blog doesn’t show up on the first page.
4. Step up your marketing game
When you blog about your properties, don’t get stuck describing the features. Focus on selling experiences rather than buildings or spaces.
There’s an old marketing saying that someone selling a nail isn’t selling a nail – they’re selling a hole in the wall. Whoever can convince people that their nail makes a better hole in the wall wins the sale. The point is that people are after the end result, and when you’re selling something, you’ll sell it better by selling that end result. When it comes to real estate properties, you’re not selling a property, you’re selling an experience.
For residential properties, you’re not selling a 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom farmhouse; you’re selling a space where a family will make memories for many years to come. For commercial properties, you’re not selling a nice space to run a business; you’re selling a prime location that will attract plenty of customers and bring your tenants massive revenue.
Selling people on experiences is the best way to reach them emotionally with topics they can relate to. If you can reach people emotionally, you’ll have an easier time converting them.
Blog with intention
The final piece of advice for real estate bloggers is to blog with intention. No matter what your goals are, be intentional when creating and marketing your content and you’ll be more likely to meet those goals.