Looking for advice on getting readers to my blog
Posted in Real Estate Bloggers By Nancy S. Karp, Sunday, March 30, 2008.I've been blogging for several months, but I haven't had many readers or comments. My intended audience is prospective buyers and sellers of residential real estate . What is best way to promote my blog and build readership?
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Submitted by Linda Hutchinson on March 30, 2008 - 8:22pm.
Nancy,
I can honestly say I have been doing this for quite some time and everything I advertise, everything I do, my business cards, my listing packages...absolutely everything has a one page insert about my blog. My business cards feature my blog. I have a lot of readers but not many comments. That is an on-going issue. I think people are afraid to write a response as they are not confident in their writing ability. I do know people are reading it though. I would stay the course, write your blog and encourage people to respond. Don't give up. Blogging is a great way to show your personality to your prospective clients! Cheers from Orlando,
Linda Hutchinson – Stirling Sotheby’s International Realty
www.OrlandoNest.com
Submitted by G Dewald | Union Street Media on March 31, 2008 - 7:15am.
Nancy,
Here are a couple of ways to approach this question.
Content generation:
It might be helpful to know more about your audience. What sort of residential real estate are they buying? What sort of interests are they likely to have in your service area? If you know these things, then you can write content on your blog that your audience finds useful/fun/informative/engaging.
The theory is that if you have content that is relevant and engaging, then more people will find you organically (search engines, friend of a friend etc). Also, they will be more likely to return whether they find you organically or via other marketing efforts.
Marketing:
As Linda says, above, put your blog on all your business cards and link out from your main site.
It's also a good idea to participate in other related blogs where your audience might already be going. Make useful comments and participate in conversations.
What sort of things are you measuring and tracking about the use of your blog? I notice you have Quantcast installed, which reports are you watching closest?
Submitted by Jay Thompson on April 1, 2008 - 8:48am.
One of the best ways to build a readership to your blog is to link out to other bloggers. This is difficult for some to do as it feels like "if I link to someone else, a reader will follow that link and I'll lose them".
But linking out puts your blog on the map. other bloggers will read you, link to you and your readership will grow.
Comments can take a LONG time. There are some tips -- open neded questions, comment on other blogs, etc.
You may want to read a post I wrote on GeekEstate blog --
http://www.geekestateblog.com/no-readers-no-comments-my-blog-must-suck/
Jay Thompson
Broker / Owner
Thompson's Realty
Blog: www.PhoenixRealEstateGuy.com
.
Submitted by Jay Thompson on April 1, 2008 - 9:02am.
Sorry, that should have been "open ended" questions.
I just took a peek at OrlandoNest Linda (great name BTW!). If I might offer some constructive criticism..
Watch your tags. You've got a lot, and adding a post to multiple categories/tags can dilute the SEO benefit and confuse readers. Best (in my opinion) to have no more than 1 - 2 per post.
Posting frequency - you're averaging about a post a week for this year. That's pretty low to build and maintain readership. Daily would be better, but try for at least 2 - 3 times weekly.
See the comment above about linking. A quick scan didn't turn up many links in your blog, and those that I saw were to mainstream media sites (and that's OK, good in fact, but won't help build readership).
Jay Thompson
Broker / Owner
Thompson's Realty
Blog: www.PhoenixRealEstateGuy.com
.
Submitted by Jay Thompson on April 1, 2008 - 9:40am.
Hey Linda - I just linked to one of your blog posts. Maybe it'll send you a little traffic!
http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/is-it-a-porch-or-a-patio/860
Jay Thompson
Broker / Owner
Thompson's Realty
Blog: www.PhoenixRealEstateGuy.com
.
Submitted by Rogan McGillis on April 1, 2008 - 10:38am.
The best way to build traffic is to just keep posting!! blog, blog blog... Send out press releases to free press release places. Submit articles to article directories. Comment on other blogs with your info on it, don't spam. join networks like this, activerain, blog catalog, technorati, and many others... it's a numbers game, just keep working at it and traffic will show up.
good luck!
Rogan McGillis
Founder, ReverseMortgageCity.com
www.reversemortgagecity.com
Submitted by Heather Rankin on April 2, 2008 - 5:52pm.
Gee Jay, you want to link to one of mine too??
There is so much that goes on here at Lake Powell that affects Phoenix. Water ~ Water ~ Water. Without water, what's location?? (grins)
Heather Rankin, Realtor
ERA Utah Properties
928-691-6444
Submitted by Mary Pope-Handy, CRS, ABR, E-Pro, SRES on January 4, 2009 - 6:58pm.
There's great advice above about linking and putting your blog URL on everything. The one that counts the most, though, is Google. Write so that Google can find you and so that people asking questions can find you.
-forget the comments (I have lots of clients from blogging and NONE of them ever left a single comment)
-you need lots of great content - once you have a hundred or two hundred posts that have "substance" you will start to get leads, if not have clients and sales
-answer QUESTIONS in your posts. What are your most common questions, your FAQs? Do a post on each. BE DETAILED.
-the gurus often say to keep your posts at 300 words or less. Forget that. Do long posts with excellent content. More is better.
-Write posts that will not be obsolete in a week (posts on neighborhoods, for instance). My blog mentor, Frances Flynn Thorsen, taught me about the value of these "evergreen" posts.
-write about community events. During the Christmas holidays, my readership triples because I write about the happenings. It is an easy way to introduce people to your blog.
-do market reports. They want the numbers and the data.
-finally, be patient. From the time you have 100 or more good posts up 'til you start getting leads, it might take 6 months. But keep blogging and you will see the leads continue to flow in.
-write good, LOCAL stuff...keep writing...keep writing...don't give up!
Mary Pope-Handy
Byron & Associates
Co-Author, "Get the Best Deal When Selling Your Home in Silicon Valley"
www.PopeHandy.com (site)
www.ValleyOfHeartsDelight.com (site & blog)
www.LiveInLosGatos.com (blog)
Submitted by Richard Silver on January 5, 2009 - 1:27am.
That is great advice...I'm blogging as fast as I can and am just passing the first 50 today!! I keep waiting for that bell to ring!
Richard Silver, Sales Representative
BOSLEY REAL ESTATE LTD. BROKERAGE
mail@richardsilver.com
416-322-8000
Cell 416-587-3300
www.RichardSilver.com
www.DowntownTorontoBlog.com
Director-at-Large, Toronto Real Estate Board
Submitted by Ed and Cindy Knight on January 5, 2009 - 6:45am.
Thanks Mary for the great information and encouragement to continue.
Submitted by Eliese Pivarnik on January 5, 2009 - 8:43am.
Go to Google Webmasters and study their top tips for SEO. You'll learn directly from Google what to do to make your site stand out without getting bad information that will get you penalized.
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