When you’re handed two pre-written real estate blog posts every week, it’s easy to become complacent about your blog.
Blogging is one less thing you have to worry about, right?
It’s this complacency, however, that leads to a complaint we hear a lot: “how can I get more website visitors?”
If you’re promoting your blog posts intelligently and faithfully on social media and still not getting the social media traffic you’d like, it may be time to give the old blog a tune-up. Follow along with this real estate blog advice for some tips you can use.
On “paper,” the process looks lengthy and involved. But, if you break it down into steps and don’t try to eat the entire elephant in one sitting, before you know it, your blog will be back on track to being a lean, lead generating machine.
1. Tweak the format
Blogging best practices dictate that you don’t confront your visitors with a wall of text for them to wade through. They won’t bother.
So, break it up by keeping paragraphs short (no longer than five sentences) and using subheadings, numbered or bulleted lists, images and quotes.
No, it’s not what your English teacher taught you about writing, but this real estate blog advice is what works on the internet.
2. How are those keywords working?
This real estate blog advice takes a bit longer than the others but, again, you don’t need to do it all in one sitting. Check your posts’ keywords to see if they’re still pertinent or if they should be swapped out for better ones.
If another agent in town is outranking you with local keywords, do some sleuthing to find out which he or she is using and start adding them to your old posts.
3. If they’re broken, fix them
A broken link that leads to a 404 error is like an invitation to bail on your website. Check all the links in each blog post. Ensure that they’re still valid and then ensure that each one opens in a new tab.
There are several easy ways to check links:
- If you use the Chrome browser, install Check My Links, available in the webstore.
- The Xenu Web Sleuth involves downloading the software. Don’t let the weird website scare you off; many say it’s among the best (and free!) ways to check your blog for dead links.
- If your blog is on the WordPress platform, install the Broken Link Checker plugin.
4. Since we’re talking links. . .
It’s important to include at least one internal link (one that points to another page on your website) in each blog post.
There are a couple of reasons for this, but primarily the use of internal linking is encouraged because Google likes them.
As you go through each blog post, look for opportunities to link to either another blog post or to another page on your site.
5. Add some prettiness
Agents understand the importance of images in marketing. It’s why you hire professional photographers to photograph your listings.
Your blog is, basically, just another marketing tool. A compelling image is important not only to get the reader to actually read your posts, but to intrigue social media visitors when you share your posts.
Try using Canva.com to create overlays on your photos to give them that Pinterest look. It’s free and, once you get the hang of it, quite easy to use.
You can find free images online at:
- Morgue File
- Pixabay
- New Old Stock (vintage photos)
- SkitterPhoto (click on “Browse Free Photos)
- Pexels
6. Call them to action
It’s frustrating how something so tiny (just a few words) can be so critically important to conversion. The call to action (CTA) on your posts may just be one of the most important aspects.
Effective CTAs are enticing. Need help? You’ll find both real estate blog advice and examples of the good and the bad when it comes to CTAs in Vinny La Barbera’s post at realestatemarketing.org.
La Barbera suggests that if you’re confused about which CTA to use, test different variants to find the best. Although this piece is several years old, it’s still worth a read.
7. Check your post titles
Blog post titles are challenging. On one hand, we want to let our visitors know right away what they’re about to read. But, if the title is boring, they won’t read what’s below it.
It is possible to be descriptive and compelling, but it’s not easy. If you find it challenging, take a cue from magazine covers.
Change ho-hum blog titles to something more tantalizing (leave the URL alone, just change the title).
If you’re still stuck, HubSpot.com offers an informative infographic to help you out.
While it’s critical to get visitors to your website, converting them once they land is just as important. Anything you do to your website to improve user experience is a giant step toward conversion, so take this real estate blog advice to heart and give your blogs a tune-up.
Get more leads with these real estate website tricks
Looking for creative ways to get leads through your blog? Try these 2 tips: