For many agents, writing for real estate online is anything but “simple.” It’s time consuming, it’s a struggle to come up with ideas and far too easy to put off.
Your online presence depends on content and, if you follow just a few simple rules, it can not only steer visitors to your website, but carry your brand far and wide.
Tell your inner critic to shush and follow the five simple rules of writing for real estate online and you’ll be the rockstar of content creation.
1. Who is your audience?
We talk about this a lot here at Easy Agent PRO. Knowing who you’re addressing – getting crystal clear on your audience – is the only way to create engagement.
And, each post may have a different audience, For instance, when writing a piece about selling a home, your audience is most likely:
- In their 50s
- Married
- They earn slightly less than $100,000 per year
- A repeat seller
- They’ve lived in their home about 9 years
- They have about $55,000 in equity in their home
Now, create a picture of this person and focus on that image as you set your fingers to the keyboard.
2. Laser focus on the topic
“If you over-hype in the headline and use thin, invaluable weak solutions, you’ll tick people off,” we said in Real Estate Blog Under-Performing? Maybe You’re Ticking People Off.
Nothing will anger readers more than being lured into reading your content by an alluring title only to find that the post veers off in a different direction.
An easy way to avoid this is to come up with a topic, but determine the title last.
3. Short and simple
Everything in every piece you write for the web should be short and simple:
- Words
- Sentences
- Paragraphs
Everyday English is far easier to digest, so toss out “purchase a home,” and opt for “buy a home.” Recommend that readers “get a home loan” instead of “obtain a mortgage.”
Keep your sentences short and your paragraphs to no longer than five sentences.
4. Make it pretty when writing for real estate online
Years ago, researchers learned that “people scan web pages and phone screens in various patterns, one of them being the shape of the letter F,” according to Kara Pernice with the Nielsen Norman Group.
So, readers start at the left, read to the right, skip down a bit and read again to the right. They then read straight down.
These same researchers repeated this eye-tracking study recently, and found that this pattern is still quite common, but not the only one. You can read about the others at nngroup.com.
The most significant takeaway from this is that you should always “Assume that most users will be scanning” your content.
The first scan determines if they’ll remain on the page or leave to find the information they need in an easier-to-read format.
Invite them to stay by including plenty of white space in your web content, employing numbered lists, bullet points and bold quotes.
When writing for real estate online, those items, combined with the short sentences and paragraphs, should present them with an eye-pleasing piece of content that seems like a quick read.
5. Proof and edit – a couple of times
Yay! Your piece of content is finished. Well, actually, the first draft of your content is finished. Keep in mind that
“the purpose of the first draft is to figure out what story you are telling”
according to author Darcy Pattison.
Now, you need to polish it for your reader. The first pass is an inspection for punctuation, spelling and grammar mistakes. Get those fixed first. Otherwise, they’ll be distractions as you proofread.
If you’ve included facts ensure that they truly are facts and not anecdotal stuff you’ve read or hear about.
Then, read your work again, paying close attention to how it flows. Does each thought lead logically to the next? You may need to rearrange paragraphs to get the piece where it needs to be.
Now, forget about it. Go do something fun or move on to another project. Return to the piece later for a final read-through. It’s amazing the number of mistakes you’ll find with fresh eyes on the page.
Post that work of art – and don’t forget to share it!
What do the top real estate websites know that you don’t? Take a look at these stats and figures that explain how they stay on top.
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