Tips and Topics for a Successful Real Estate Blog

Consumers trust that real estate professionals have their best interests at heart and possess the knowledge needed to be successful in the home buying or selling process.

According to the 2015 NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, Realtors were viewed as a useful information source by 98 percent of buyers searching for a home. Real estate professionals have the connections, are equipped with a wealth of local market knowledge, can price a home the right way, and are general experts within the industry.

To effectively promote your expertise and attract more buyers and sellers, one of the best online tools you can leverage is a real estate blog. In fact, blogs are considered the fifth most trustworthy source of information on the web. While you may already have a great business website, a website without a blog will seldom attract organic traffic—and websites without traffic don't generate as many leads. Research shows that companies that blog actually receive 97 percent more inbound links.

A real estate blog is great way to not only attract new clients but also keep in touch with old ones. You just need to make sure you're providing content that is timely, relevant, and interesting to your audience.

Not sure where to start? Below are our top tips for creating a blog that will spark interest with your target audience, helping you to demonstrate your expertise and generate more online leads.

• Answer Frequently Asked Questions: You get all sorts of questions from consumers. Start writing them down so you can answer them more broadly in a blog post. How's the market? How do I prepare for my home inspection? If these are frequently asked questions in your local area, you have a better chance of popping up in the search results.
• Highlight the Local Market: You know your local market like the back of your hand. People interested in moving to that area love to read about the community from a local expert. Demonstrate your expertise with local tips and knowledge to build trust and establish yourself as a go-to local resource.

• Enlist Guest Authors: You may not be able to hire freelance writers to help you with content, but you can reach out to guest writers to contribute to your blog. This is not only a great opportunity to provide fresh perspective on an area that may be outside of your expertise, but also a good way to create a relationship with that writer and possibly gain some new referrals!
• Don't Forget the Subscribe Button: Make sure you have a place where readers can sign up to receive new posts via email. This is a simple way to make sure your blog stays top-of-mind!

Results from blogging may take time, but stick with it and research shows that the leads will come. Creating an editorial calendar may help you stay on track and stick to a schedule for writing new posts. Make sure you add time for writing posts to your calendar and keep a list of topics handy in case you run into writer's block. We want to help you get started, so below are 10 real estate topics sure to interest your readers!

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