Blog About Local Real Estate Happenings

© 2010, Brandon Cornett. All rights reserved.

This post is part of my real estate blog alphabet -- 26 benefits and best practices of real estate blogging.

'H' is for Happening

Put yourself in the shoes of your audience for a moment. You're no longer a real estate agent - you're a home buyer researching the local real estate scene. While conducting some online research, you come across two websites.

• One is the website of a local real estate company. It has bios on the company's agents, a few articles on the home buying process, etc. But it's basically a "static" website. It doesn't appear to have any frequently updated information, so you have no way of knowing how old the information is.


• The other website is primarily a real estate blog. It also has a bio on the author, home buying articles and the like. But because it's a blog, it gets updated regularly. You scan the "recent posts" section and find that the author publishes new information about three times a week. The most recent blog post is only a day old, and it offers a current snapshot of the local real estate scene.

If you, the home buyer, could only bookmark one of these sites for future reference, which one would it be? Obviously, the second website is more valuable, and therefore it's worth saving in your Favorites.

This is what I mean by "H stands for happening." This entry of the real estate blog alphabet refers to the current nature of a good real estate blog. With their "click to publish" technology, blogs are easy to update. So you'll be more likely (and better able) to keep a real estate blog current -- more so than with a regular website.

Real estate is a timely business. Things happen fast. If your website is not "happening" enough to keep up with market trends, it offers little value to readers. But if it can keep pace with the market, it is a huge value to readers. A real estate blog can help you achieve this.

Real Estate Blogs and Search Engine Visibility

© 2010, Brandon Cornett. All rights reserved.

This post is an extension of the real estate blog alphabet -- 26 benefits and best practices of real estate blogging.

'G' is for Google Friendly

Real estate blogging is a great way to enhance your online visibility. In this context, "visibility" refers to the ease with which people can find your website online. Search engines are a major ingredient of online visibility, and this is another area where the real estate blog comes into its own.

The way I see it, real estate blogs and search engines are a match made in heaven. Here are three reasons why:

• Search engines like fresh content, and blogs make it easy to produce fresh content on a regular basis.


• Search engines like text links and good navigation structures. Blogs produce these things right "out of the box."


• Search engines like websites that are networked and linked with similar-themed websites. The active, social nature of real estate blogs actually encourages this kind of "neighborhood" networking.

But while search engines like many things about blogs, the burden of ranking still rests upon the blog's author (that would be you). By itself, a real estate blog will not propel you to the top of the search engines, the way some agents seem to think. You have to be a dedicated and active publisher to accomplish such feats. A blog just makes it much easier to accomplish.

P.S. — If you're really serious about blogging your way up the search engine ranks, check out my step-by-step guide on blogging for search engine visibility

Endless Options for Real Estate Blogging

© 2010, Brandon Cornett. All rights reserved.

This post is an extension of the real estate blogging alphabet -- 26 best practices and benefits of using a real estate blog.

'F' is for Flexibility

How can you use a real estate blog? Let me count the ways...

1. Provide market updates for local buyers or sellers.
2. Conduct ongoing seminars for home buyers or sellers.
3. Engage in two-way dialogue with your audience.
4. Become "The Source for Local Real Estate News."
5. Collaborate online with local mortgage professionals.
6. Manage projects internally with your team.
7. Increase your search engine visibility with keyword-rich content.
8. Publish online property listings, details, photos, etc.
9. Provide relocation advice for people moving into town.

This is just a partial list I came up with off the top of my head. The point is obvious -- a real estate blog can support just about any marketing or communication objective you can imagine. The technology is simple to work with. The platform is flexible and expandable. The possibilities are infinite.

Real Estate Blogs - The Power of Enthusiasm

© 2010, Brandon Cornett. All rights reserved.

This post is part of my real estate blog alphabet -- 26 benefits and best practices of using a real estate blog.

'E' is for Enthusiastic

If you are going to maintain a real estate blog, you will get much further and enjoy greater benefits if you blog with enthusiasm. There are two primary reasons for this:

1. If you blog about something you are enthusiastic about (a particular niche or aspect of real estate, for example), you will be more likely to blog often. As a result, your real estate blog will grow rapidly and thus provide more search engine visibility.

2. If you blog with enthusiasm and energy, people will find your real estate blog more interesting (than if you were half-hearted about your blogging). This will in turn help you grow your readership and foster interaction with your audience through the form of reader comments. So instead of having passive readers, you could enjoy the lead-producing benefits of active participation.

When it comes to real estate blogs, unenthusiastic commentary stands out like a purple elephant. Avoid this by choosing a topic that interests you, and blog about it with energy and passion. In time, this will help you improve your blog's readership, interaction, and general success.

Directness of the Real Estate Blog

© 2010, Brandon Cornett. All rights reserved.

This post is part of my real estate blogging alphabet -- 26 benefits and best practices of using a real estate blog.

'D' is for Direct

Imagine having a direct, web-based communication channel with thousands of home buyers / sellers in your market area. Now imagine being able to publish information through this channel as easily and as quickly as typing an email message.

That's what you get with a real estate blog, a direct-to-consumer communication mechanism.

Granted, in the early days of your real estate blog, you may be writing to an audience of one. It takes time to build an audience. But if you stick with it and acquire a good base of readers over time, you can achieve the "dream scenario" I opened this article with -- you could communicate directly with hundreds or thousands of people in your market area.

This directness is a key benefit of using a real estate blog, and as a marketer I can tell you it's priceless. With a blog, there is nobody to filter your message. No middle-men or intermediaries. It's just you and your readers.

What's the benefit of this directness? For one thing, it helps you break through the traditional barrier of corporate communications. As consumers, we naturally distrust marketing messages. But when somebody speaks to us directly, honestly, and consistently over time, we are much more inclined to trust that person.

If used properly, a real estate blog can help you achieve these things.

Blogging With Candor and Sincerity - It Works

© 2010, Brandon Cornett. All rights reserved.

This post is part of my A-to-Z of real estate blogs -- 26 benefits and best practices of real estate blogging.

'C' is for Candid

It's refreshing to speak to your readers in an honest, open manner. In fact, if you do this, they'll be more inclined to speak to you in response. This is the beauty of using a real estate blog -- you can set it up to function as an online conversation rather than a lecture, simply by engaging your readers and allowing their comments.

In this way, the real estate blog can achieve a level of candid and sincere interaction that's just not possible with a regular "static" website.

You could also recycle all of your email communications (with permission from the person on the other end) and use that for blogging material. This gives people a candid look at who you are, what you know, and how you help people. Once again, you won't get that kind of "real life" interaction from a regular website.

In their marketing messages, a lot of real estate agents say the same things about themselves -- integrity, dedication, client care, etc. These adjectives might be fitting, but they're only words in the minds of your audience. On the other hand, when you can show people these qualities (in person and online), you won't have to tell them you possess them. They'll already know.

If you are candid, sincere and professional in the way you use your real estate blog, you can achieve these things and much more.

Truth in Marketing vs. Real Estate Blog

© 2010, Brandon Cornett. All rights reserved.

This post is part of the real estate blog alphabet -- 26 benefits and best practices of real estate blogging.

'B' is for Believable

When was the last time you believed a marketing message? I mean really believed it, upon first read and without doing any further research or investigation?

If you're like most American consumers, you have a natural distrust for marketing messages. Email marketing, TV commercials, magazine ads ... they all say what the company wants you to believe, but do you believe them?

Now let me ask you a tougher question. If you naturally distrust most marketing messages upon first read, what makes your marketing message any different? What have you done to achieve believability (which is the first step to trust, which in turn leads to action)?

Here's another question. If you are relying on traditional marketing to persuade people in your city / town that you're different from other agents -- but those other agents are all using the same tactics -- how can you possibly stand out as being different? Or better? Or more capable of helping?

In other words, what is there in your marketing to give people the first reason to trust you?

Okay. Enough interrogation. Let me offer some helpful advice...

About once a week, someone will contact me about my services, either from reading this blog or my other SEO blog. They will say something to the effect of: "You know, I've been reading your blog for some time, and I wanted to ask about the services you provide..."

Sometimes this leads to clients. Other times, just a friendly conversation. But after many months of receiving these calls, I've learned one thing. People who read my blogs have a certain level of trust toward me before they even pick up the phone and call. That is not something I could achieve through traditional (distrusted) marketing channels.

Here's how it relates to you, and to real estate blogs in general.

If used properly, a real estate blog can make you more believable as both a person and a professional. If you consistently publish quality information to your blog over a period of time, it demonstrates your knowledge, your dedication, and even your personality. It helps people get to know you, even if they only do a quick perusal of your most recent posts. It shows you care about your profession, and about sharing it with others.

Most people do not believe traditional marketing messages. We've been lied to for too long and from too many companies about their products and services. But ... people will be much more inclined to trust a candid, sincere and prolonged conversation. And that's what a real estate blog can help you achieve.

Use Your Blog to Establish Authority

© 2010, Brandon Cornett. All rights reserved.

This post is part of the real estate blog alphabet -- 26 benefits and best practices of real estate blogging.

'A' is for Authority

Writing about a topic (and doing it well) helps you demonstrate your expertise on that subject. This is true in the real estate industry, and a real estate blog can help you put this idea into practice.

If you use your blog to keep people in your area informed about local real estate happenings (market updates, neighborhood development, etc.), you can position yourself as the authority on local real estate matters. And who better to call when you need help buying or selling than the "town guru"?

Of course, you have to do an exceptional job. There will surely be other real estate blogs in your city or town, so you have to work hard to make yours stand out. For tips on doing that, read the rest of the Real Estate Blog Alphabet below...

The Real Estate Blog - 26 Benefits and Best Practices

© 2010, Brandon Cornett. All rights reserved.

Over the past couple of years, the real estate blog has become the marketing tool of choice among real estate agents. It's easy to see why. Blogs are incredibly easy to publish, they can help you grow your web presence, and they can put you "on the map" with major search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN. This can lead to more web traffic, more web leads, and more clients.

But there's a lot more to the real estate blog than meets the eye. When done well, the benefits of real estate blogging can go far beyond search engine visibility. To further explain the subject, I've created an A-to-Z list of benefits and best practices of the real estate blog.

Aptly, it's called the Real Estate Blog Alphabet.

I hope you find it informative and eye-opening.

Usage Data and Search Engine Ranking

© 2010, Brandon Cornett. All rights reserved.

Lately, there has been much conversation (argument?) in SEO circles about a website's usage data, and how that data affects the website's search engine ranking. Here's my take on the matter. Sure, it's important to understand usage data for search engine optimization purposes. But it's more important to realize that usage data is a tool for measuring your website's overall usefulness -- which in turn will determine your website's success.

So what is usage data, and what does it have to do with your website and search engine ranking? I've just added a new tutorial to the SEO Learning Center at my Austin SEO website, explaining usage data as it pertains to website success (in general) and search engine success (in particular).

Read the article:
How Usage Data Affects Your Search Engine Rankings

Caution: You may not want to read this article while operating heavy machinery. It's somewhat technical.

~Brandon

Real Estate SEO Book - Now Available

© 2010, Brandon Cornett. All rights reserved.

In my last post, I offered the introduction to my new book on real estate search engine optimization (SEO), called Top Ten Agent. I'm excited to let you know that the SEO book is now available for purchase and download.

As usual, the new e-book is in PDF format, which means you can download it today and begin applying the lessons tomorrow. What kind of lessons?

• How to improve search engine ranking the right way
• How to avoid search engine penalties (that are so common these days)
• How to get better results with less effort
• How to apply proven techniques and avoid time-wasting techniques
• And more ... 100 pages more

This book is being sold exclusively through this website:
www.TopTenAgent.com

There's plenty of information about the book available on the website above. But if you have a questions that's not answered on the book's website, please let me know.

~Brandon

Just Finished the New SEO Book

© 2010, Brandon Cornett. All rights reserved.

I just did the final edit on my new book, which is a road map to success with search engine optimization (SEO). I'm very excited, because this will be the most helpful book on real estate SEO ever to be published.

Am I biased? Of course I am. But I've taken measures to ensure this book lives up to its promise (to help you significantly improve your search engine rankings). To learn more about what makes this book different, I've copied and pasted the book's introduction below:

Introduction to New Book, Top Ten Agent

Why I wrote this book:

There are a lot of books out there on the subject of search engine optimization (SEO). In fact, I've even written an "Agent's Guide to Search Engine Visibility" that provides an excellent overview of how search engines work, how you can increase your rankings, etc. So I won't repeat what's already been written.

This book will be different.

You see, I believe that too much information can actually be a bad thing -- at least when it comes to technical guidance and instructions. This is especially true when the bits and pieces of information you read contradict one another, as is the case with books and articles about SEO (and real estate SEO in particular). I refer to this condition as "analysis paralysis." An over-abundance of conflicting information requires so much analysis that it leads to operational paralysis. In other words, it's a scenario where people spend more time and energy figuring out what to do than actually doing anything.

That's where this book comes into the picture.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is not really difficult. It's time-consuming, sure. But it's not rocket science. Or, as my shop teacher used to say back in high school, "It ain't rocket surgery." Once you understand the basics of key phrase research, quality content, networking and things like that, you understand 90% of real estate SEO.

But then something like this happens:

You hear about a technique that John is using to improve his website traffic, and you prepare to emulate his success. Then Sally tells you about a content strategy that has helped her increase her search engine ranking, and you prepare to emulate her success. Before long, you've done plenty of preparing but not much doing. In short, you've become yet another victim of analysis paralysis.

I'm here to free you from that trap, and I'll begin by telling you this. There are hundreds of ways to improve your search engine ranking, online visibility and website traffic. The real problem is choosing a strategy and moving forward with it. So to help you get out of the starting blocks, I'm going to share my own personal strategy for real estate SEO success.

The techniques contained in this book represent one of many possible strategies for website growth and search engine optimization. This is just how I've done things in the past. And let me tell you, it has certainly worked for me. I have nearly a dozen websites that top the search engines for hundreds of high-traffic phrases. For example, my main website (ArmingYourFarming.com) is almost always in the top three Google results for dozens of competitive phrases, such as "real estate marketing."

So here's the bottom line. You can spend all your time comparing one real estate SEO strategy to another, which won't produce any results. Or you can choose a proven strategy and run with it, which will produce great results. Here's the strategy I've been running with for more than five years.

This book will be actually be sold through a new website I am developing. But as a reader of this blog, you'll be the first to hear about it. I will blog about the new book / website when they are ready for you!

~Brandon

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