Anyone who thinks they have to be tech savvy to succeed as a blogger had better wise up… or go stand in the corner. Blogging is about building relationships. And, as you all know, the best and strongest relationships are built on personal interaction. So, how do you build personal relationships when you are busy typing blog posts?

The answer is USE THE TELEPHONE. Yes, that age old piece of technology that some folks think disappeared with the advent of the internet is a blogger’s secret weapon.

Here’s why. Folks will talk to reporters and journalists easier than they will talk to real estate brokers and agents. One is perceived as an objective information gatherer, the other as a biased salesman. Use the telephone to reach out to folks to build relationships by focusing on them. Remember, your blog takes you into the space traditionally owned by reporters and journalists. You are the new reporters and journalists. Use this new power to your advantage. Use your blog to open doors that are otherwise difficult to open.

Blogging Tip courtesy of the HomeGain Blogging School Professor, Joseph Ferrara. To receive the weekly real estate blogging newsletters, sign up for AgentView and the HomeGain Blogging School.

What better way to learn how to improve your own blog than reading other agent’s blogs! Here are a few great examples of agents who are successful with their HomeGain Agent Blogs:

Heather Lawson not only gives consumers a link to useful home improvement tips, she offers readers a free newsletter. Give to get.

Aimee Freeman’s post can be found because it has a question consumers are likely search “How do I choose a builder? Aimee also has links to her content on other websites. Just add you market keywords in the title, Aimee “in North Carolina”

Marcy Moyer appeals to the pet lover in all of us. You’d be surprised how many people make real estate decisions considering their pet needs.

Blogging Tip courtesy of the HomeGain Blogging School Professor, Joseph Ferrara. To receive the weekly real estate blogging newsletters, sign up for AgentView and the HomeGain Blogging School.

10 Ways to Use Links to Convert Your Blog Readers to Clients:

1. Link to your website at the end of your post. Even though your contact information is at the top of your blog posts, when a reader gets to the end of your post (a good sign), it helps to have a link to your website there because readers may not scroll back to the top of the post.
2. Link to your Bio or About page whenever you talk about yourself or your company.
3. Link to your property search page when you write a buyer post.
4. Include keywords in the link. For example, instead of hyperlinking the words ‘Click here’ to see all the homes for sale in Greenwich Village, hyperlink the entire phrase ‘Click here to see all the homes for sale in Greenwich Village’.
5. Link to related blog posts. Don’t rely on readers clicking to look in the archives.
6. Link to a registration page whenever you make a free offer.
7. Offer property alerts. Offer readers “Sign up for New Property/Price Reduction Alerts Now” and link to a registration page. Serious buyers will register for property alerts.
8. Use call to action trigger words & phrases to encourage clicking.
9. Make sure your link takes the reader to the specific place you say the link is going—DO NOT take them to a general page where they can get lost or confused—they will click away
10. Use links that will motivate buyers and sellers to click to get more information they want. If you do a seller tip post, link to “ read more seller tips here” on your website.

Blogging Tip courtesy of the HomeGain Blogging School Professor, Joseph Ferrara. To receive the weekly real estate blogging newsletters, sign up for AgentView and the HomeGain Blogging School.

PageRank (PR) is Google’s way of identifying and classifying web pages. Google assigns PageRank between 0-10. Web pages with a higher PageRank are regarded as more authoritative than those with a lower PR — and, here’s the best part — the higher your PR, the more likely you are to appear at the top of Google’s search results.

While PageRank is not a magic bullet or guarantee of success, it is a factor to help your real estate blog content ranking on Google.

7 Tips to Improve Your Search Engine Placement and PageRank:

1. Keep writing market specific content for consumers looking to buy, sell, improve, invest, or rent real estate in your local market. 
2. Use market keywords in the title of your posts and throughout the body.
3. Use synonyms for greater search coverage—instead of always using the word “house”, mix it up with home, single family house, real estate, property. 
4. Use abbreviations for your market—folks looking to buy in Long Beach Island usually refer to it as LBI. Use state abbreviations too.

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You are a blogger — a publisher in your own right — and you have the ability to cover all types of local stories. Your goal as a blogger is to involve your community in your blog so that they are encouraged to visit regularly.  Think of yourself as a reporter, out to cover a story.  This provides a wonderful opportunity to connect with people in a non-Realtor way.  

Here are 6 practical tips for “going local” on your real estate blog:

1. Attend community events.
2. Take a lot of photographs.  (Remember to ask permission to take and publish anyone’s photograph.)
3. Hand out your blog/ business card to everyone you meet, tell them about your blog and encourage them to visit to read about your coverage (yes, they will also see all the other content).

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One way to stay ahead of the competition is to be the first one out with the news. Yes, you can read the local newspaper or watch television to get the latest news in your market… but there is another way— let the news come to you by using email ALERTS.

Set up Google Alerts

Sample Alerts

Here are alerts you may find helpful. The idea is to catch the latest news ahead of the pack. And be informed for your clients.

• Neighborhoods
• New developments and buildings
• Builders
• Property types (include your market keywords to narrow results): “St. Paul Victorian” “Brooklyn historic homes” “ Miami Beach condos”
• Real estate issues: “short sales”
• Your niche or specialty: “green housing”