5 Ways Writing Can Improve Your Online Real Estate Presence

Being a real estate agent is a weird mix of entrepreneur/marketer/psychic. As a freelance writer, I have provided services to both giants like ZipRealty.com and local agents, and have gained some insights on how writing can help your business.

Get a Web Site

Even when current or former clients recommend you to their friends, the first way most new clients will actually come in contact with you is online. That Web site will create the image for your business. Remember, no one knows if you are working from a strip mall or in a corner office, so by keeping a great Web site you can stand back and let your expertise and know-how make a great first impression. No Glamour shot needed!

Part of that impression will rely on how you convey information. Ready-made real estate sites may provide you with tons of pages of content, but how good is it? Is it anything you don’t already know? Rather than pay for a cut-and-paste site that is poorly done, get a free Wordpress or Blogger site, have a local developer personalize it for you or choose from thousands of different themes, and write the content yourself.

Blog

If you think blogging can’t help your business, just by your being on this site I am proving you wrong. Blogging isn’t just about posting poems and pictures of your kids/cats, it’s a business strategy. You can show your knowledge of the area, give helpful tips to home buyers, predict trends, show current properties and more, and being active on a blog can help you get new clients because you will always be relevant. Include keywords in blog posts and articles, keep your site current (a post every few days is plenty, you’re not CNN) and capitalize on search engine traffic with sites like Google Trends and Google Insight.

If you aren’t a writer, don’t sweat it. Write what you know, polish it as much as you can, and post it. You’ll get better with time as all writers do, and before long, you’ll have another very marketable skill. Of course, if you still aren’t sure about writing, you can always hire someone like me to help you get started.

Become a Resource

Why should you provide information for free? Because if you are an independent contractor competing with thousands of other equally qualified people for work like me, you have to show—not tell—people that you know your stuff. When you provide information that people can act on, you are already providing a service, and someone you may have never even met might refer you based on that service.

Include links on your site to landscapers, insurance agents, lenders, inspectors and other service providers you trust. When other people find you to be a source of information, you’ll get to touch more people and have a chance to turn those touches into sales.

Make SEO work for You

Of course, if no one can find your site, no one can find you. So aside from searching for you directly, how do you get people to stumble across your site? SEO, or search engine optimization. Although there is no foolproof way to make your site come up in Internet searches, there are things you can do to help.

Google Trends tells you what people are searching. If a celebrity is buying a house, give your take on the transaction. Any celebrity’s name will rank higher than yours, which means more people are likely to see your site if the name is in it. Use Google Insights to determine the best words and phrases to use in titles. You can compare phrases like “housing crash” versus “housing bubble” to see which term is searched more often so you can use that term and get more hits. Also, exchange links with Realtors in other areas and service providers in your area, because search engines rank you higher if you have links out there.

Location, location, location!

It’s tempting to be general on the Web to try to make everything apply to everyone out there, but don’t. Local news is an endangered species, which makes your knowledge of your area worth a lot. I didn’t realize this until I began writing neighborhood summaries for ZipRealty.com. Then I realized I knew WAY more about my area than anyone moving here could ever hope to know.

A great way to get started blogging is to write out a list of topics and then start covering them. Start with local neighborhoods, and include all the details new families need. Don’t try to paint a rosy picture; some people like places you may hate. If you are truthful but unbiased, it will come across and you’ll build trust with potential clients. Getting the local dirt will also mean you talk to more people in your area, which will increase your network and local presence.

Using these tips can give you a stronger local presence and make you stand out in your market.

Tags: BurtCreative, Century 21, Coldwell Banker, improving your writing, Keller Williams, Realty Executives, ReMax, The Basics, writing tips