« Our first post-publication contribution: “But Does All That Blogging Get You CLIENTS?!?” | Home | Making the connection: The objective of real estate weblogging is visceral and viral, not rape and run »
The goal of real estate blogging is not SEO results but making enduring connections with your client base
June 25, 2007
Marketer non pariel Brian Brady contributes a brand new article today: Building an audience: Using blogging, social networks, email newsletters and viral marketing instead of SEO. If we assume that the RE.net is only going to get more crowded, then SEO results could prove to be a diminishing return. On the other hand, making direct contact with clients by means of viral marketing promises bountiful results:
If you are a commercial weblogger (and you are if you intend to get leads from your writing), you must stay ahead of everyone else. Right now, the world believes that if you write it, they will come. Today, that may be the case. Tomorrow, however, the field will be crowded with every two-month licensee with an English degree, gumming up the blogosphere. Your SEO results will be skewed as soon as one of us presents at the NAR convention, explaining the benefits of blogging as a marketing communication.Weblogging is cheap, easy, and fun. Writing a weblog can be a tremendous way to introduce your service offering to thousands of people in a very short time span. Do it right, today, and you won’t be caught in the gummed blogosphere tomorrow.
Brian relates his own experiences using net-based viral marketing tools and lays out a five-point strategy you can put into action in your own business.
Topics: Weblogging 101 |
July 1st, 2007 at 6:09 am
Is there any empirical data to suggest that most of our real estate blog subscribers are non- REALTORS?
Just curious and a bit skeptical.
Thanks.
July 1st, 2007 at 7:03 am
I don’t know of any empirical evidence, but my expectation, at least for now, would be just the opposite: That most readers of and subscribers to real estate weblogs are real estate professionals. It’s not too wide of the mark to say that this site is devoted to correcting that situation for consumer-focused blogs.
July 12th, 2007 at 7:25 am
I think something is missing here… of course the goal is to make new connections and acquire new clients! But one of the reasons blogging is so effective is because of search engine traffic. That can’t be denied!
Done properly, SEO can bring traffic, and therefore new clients. But I do think there is something to be said for the RE agent that is blogging ONLY for the SEO results… many times it can be a distraction.
July 16th, 2007 at 5:01 pm
You’ll need either SEO or other marketing strategies to get visitors to your site.
But either way you need to figure out what your customers are looking for in order to connect with potential clients.
Just throwing up some non-value-add verbiage isn’t enough. It never really was. You need to provide value to generate clients - no matter what the medium you elect to use.
Even if you fool people to your website with SEO blackhat strategies, if you don’t have value on your site visitors will leave as soon as they find you!
April 18th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
You would need to focus on marketing to drive people to your local blog. SEO changes constantly and this is a people business in a geographic area and leads are easier to obtain through marketing and having referral partners and clients send you traffic. If you are set on SEO you should talk to one of the companies that specialize in local seo rankings.
June 5th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
While we should all blog for our clients and future clients, SEO can not be denied. But that being said, if you blog for your clients your SEO bennefits will come without trying. It’s a matter of balancing out SEO and client value. I’ve seen spammy “SEO only” blogs out there that I’d never take the time to read, but on the other hand I’ve seen great blogs out there that are missing the SEO bennefits.
Great post. Value is key in our business.
July 17th, 2008 at 11:18 am
I think it is very important as realtors to remember the point of our blogs isn’t SEO its to connect personally with our clients.
August 19th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
For me SEO help making enduring connections with your client base or should I say start the connection. If SEO done correctly, you will be on the top of the search engine. When client searched for services related to yours, your site will be the priority to visit. Then it’s your turn how you will value your client. Make them stay or push them away.
August 21st, 2008 at 8:11 am
I think most people who initially get “into” web blogging do it for the SEO traffic but after awhile that sole motivation can not sustain quality blogging. The writer eventually needs the feedback and community involvement that comes from developing a destination site that people go to read, learn and share with other folks. If you are in it only for the SEO, it gets pretty old and lonesome pretty quick.
August 27th, 2008 at 9:03 am
I always suggest that agents develop compelling content on their site first. Once they figure out exactly what their site is about - and develop the “personality” of their site - then they do SEO. That way, the people that you want to have find your blog will find it.
September 10th, 2008 at 8:56 am
I think the purpose of the blog is to bring a personality to a website through information.Any benefits will follow.
September 17th, 2008 at 2:03 am
I think a blog low on seo but with quality content can work.
A blog with junk content in my opinion will never be truely successful.
September 30th, 2008 at 4:54 am
I believe quality will always be valued by Google. Be it Google’s quality raters or their alogorithms. If the content is unique and well written, people will link to it and Google will follow suit.
October 23rd, 2008 at 9:50 pm
I agree that it should be a connection with clients but unless you have done SEO how can we expect our blog to be visible to clients?
November 4th, 2008 at 10:35 am
I agree. I know it is important to blog often. But it takes time to do a well thought out post. A well thought out post establishes you as an authority. The reader feels like they know you.
I guess there is a balanced to strike.
November 12th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
I would agree-SEO can be tricky. While usually high ranks and such can be a sign of a great blog, occasionally you’ll run across a blog that has somehow climbed the SEO ranks but has little to offer. Sometimes some of the best blogs out there have mediocre SEO ratings. For traffic though, it does help to have a great SEO going for you, as that will bring in more readers and thus make some new friends and committed fans.
November 25th, 2008 at 1:55 am
SEO can be tricky but it is bring relevant and targeted visitors. SEO is helpful for both visitor and service providers.
December 11th, 2008 at 3:55 am
That’s great, I never thought about real estate blogging is not SEO results but making enduring connections with your client base like that before.
December 16th, 2008 at 9:46 am
Google may change on you… but loyal readers will be there even when google won’t.