Despite what you might have heard, blogging is not just for angsty teenagers. It’s for businesses, too. Not only can blogs help you attract new customers through content marketing, but they can also help you improve your website’s presence in search results. If there’s one area you should invest more time in online, it’s your blog.
If you don’t have a blog, they’re easy to set up. I always recommend using WordPress because it’s affordable and easy to work with for beginners. All you have to do is find a mobile-responsive theme and start writing.
If you already have a blog set up on your website, great. I’m going to walk you through what you need to do to run it successfully and how to create a strategy that will attract a large audience in your area.
I want to stress that there are three types of blog content for you to consider. I’m going to outline how to create each type of content successfully and what percentage of your posts should be from each category.
1. Viral content
Don’t let the title of this content fool you — by no means will all of your posts in this category go viral. However, this type of content is the most likely to get big shares and plenty of likes.
What you’ll be aiming to do with this content is reach as many people in your service areas as possible. You’ll want to assume that your target audience has never heard of you and that this will be their first interaction with your brand. Think of broad topics that you would be likely to click on.
This type should make up about 60 percent of your articles.
Here are some sample topics for an agent based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
- 10 restaurants in South Florida you must visit
- The 5 most popular places to retire in Florida
- The happiest cities in South Florida
None of these topics are specific to real estate or are overly specific in location, and they cast a broad net. You want to introduce yourself to as many people as possible with these posts.
One great trick is to message every small business, restaurant or city tourism board you mention on Facebook and tell them that you’ve included them in your article.
Having just one restaurant share your article on their Facebook page can bring you thousands of visitors.
2. Discovery content
The second type of content you’ll want to be creating is discovery content. These are posts that focus in a bit further on real estate and on your local service areas.
Try to write on topics that affect your local community — neighborhood updates, what to look for when buying a property, first-time homebuyer tips. These are all types of content that your potential clients will be searching for when it comes time to buy property.
This type should make up about 30 percent of your articles.
Here are some topics for an agent based in Seattle, Washington.
- The safest housing investments in West Seattle
- The 5 best public schools in Renton
- What to expect from the Seattle housing market in 2016
These topics are all local, more specific than the viral phase and provide valuable insight.
Approximately 30 percent of your posts should focus on discovery content, which leaves 10 percent for our the third type of content we’ll be discussing.
3. Consideration content
This is where you present yourself as the local expert. Consideration content leaves room for everything, including client testimonials and new listings you’d like to promote.
Be sure to save room talking about your past successes, what you’ve learned and anything that you think that a client who knows you would want to read.
You should expect these posts to be read by people who have already worked with you or are very close to working with you and write with that audience in mind.
This type should make up about 10 percent of your articles.
Here are some topic ideas.
- Client testimonials
- Personal stories (what you’ve learned)
- New listings you’d like to feature
This content should only represent about 10 percent of your blog content, and you should share it sparingly (no more than once per week on social media).
You’ll inevitably get much lower views on this content, but remember, it’s the bottom of the funnel. Just because there are fewer people reading does not make this type of content less important. If anything, it’s the most important part of your blog.
If you’ve already started a blog — awesome. Tweet me @CaveJustin and let me know where to find your blog, or if you have any questions about your content strategy.
If you don’t have a blog, don’t fret. Although the best time to start a blog might have been 20 years ago, the second-best time is right now.
Justin Kerby is the co-founder of CAVE Social.