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Can Anyone Help a Newbie Blogger Out?

Posted in Real Estate Bloggers By Christina Ward, Tuesday, March 4, 2008.

If you could offer just one and only one piece of wisdom to a fellow Newbie blogger that could help them with SEO, what would it be?

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Submitted by on March 4, 2008 - 8:10pm.

Blog more about the topics that you want people to find you for.
And don't fall into the trap of listening to SEO Experts that make your head spin... it will only hurt.

 
Submitted by on March 4, 2008 - 8:11pm.

I meant to say: Self Proclaimed SEO Experts.

 
Submitted by on March 4, 2008 - 8:13pm.

ooooh....getting catty already! I'm getting my mini diet coke and popcorn....parked

 
Submitted by on March 4, 2008 - 10:13pm.

Honestly? The last thing a newbie blogger needs to worry about is SEO. Write posts from your heart, about things you are passionate about and the SEO will happen. If you get too bogged down in "formulas" or worrying about keywords, meta-descriptions, keyword density, and all that SEOness, your writing will likely suffer.

I think the single best thing a new blogger can do is read other blogs. Not to take content (a *really* bad idea), but just to get an idea of different styles and methods.

Then write. The more you write, the easier it gets. Don't expect immediate results. Stick with it. And link OUT to other blog posts.

Sorry, that's more than one and only one... seriously though, I think too many focus on "SEO". Write for your readers, not the search engines.

What is your blog's URL Christina?

Jay Thompson
Broker / Owner
Thompson's Realty

Blog: www.PhoenixRealEstateGuy.com

 
Submitted by on March 4, 2008 - 10:15pm.

How much popcorn does Kevin Tomlinson eat? :)

Jay Thompson
Broker / Owner
Thompson's Realty

Blog: www.PhoenixRealEstateGuy.com

 
Submitted by on March 4, 2008 - 10:21pm.

Christina, do this:

1) Blog 3-5 times per week for a whole year about happenings in your local marketplace.

2) Be sure to include at least one monthly cornerstone detailed market report by price band.

3) Keep doing it religiously even if you think no one is reading.

4) Give your readers the inside scoop and absolute truth they can't get anywhere else.

There's more, but these are the basics. If you do all this, the business will follow...

Diane Cohn
Realtor, ABR
Chase International
www.renorealtyblog.com

 
Submitted by on March 4, 2008 - 10:22pm.

PS: Yeah, okay, that was more than one thing. But it takes more than one thing to succeed.

Diane Cohn
Realtor, ABR
Chase International
www.renorealtyblog.com

 
Submitted by REBloggirl on March 5, 2008 - 5:35am.

I totally disagree. You should concern yourself with some SEO if you want to get found by Google. These are 3 very easy things you can do:

1. Know your keywords (use keyworddiscovery.com to do full research - focus on one term that has ovr 1K searhces for example: your farm area + real estate)
2. Use your keywords in post titles and the body of posts
3. Start building some backlinks so Google will begin to trust you. Try high quality directories that do not require reciprocal links.

 
Submitted by on March 5, 2008 - 6:52am.

Mary -

I'm not surprised you disagree with me... After all, having agents pay you for SEO help is part of your business model, no?

I'm not sure what's so magical about a key word having over 1K searches. If I'm writing a post about a subdivision, isn't the keyword (and likely part of the title) going to be the subdivision name? So according to your rule, it's a waste of time to write about such a subdivision?

Huh, guess I better tell all the buyers and sellers and couple of hundred people I have on automatic listings that I made a mistake.

There's nothing wrong with using keywords in titles and posts. But using the same word 19 times in one post makes it practically unreadable and is completely unnecessary. (we've had this conversation, I know you agree.) But when someone comes onto a forum, blog, whatever and says "Use your keywords in post titles and the body of posts" then someone else, particularly a newbie, may just think "the more I can stuff a keyword in here the better". Is that sage advice?

Start building backlinks.... I've never set out to "build" links. Seems to me if you post regularly, link out to others and write half-way interesting articles, links happen. Last I looked, I had 2500ish Google links and 70,000ish Yahoo links. I don't know if that is good bad or indifferent. I just know I get a lot of traffic (to me), people find me in search engines, and the phone rings.

Of course having people find you in Google (and other SEs) is important. I've just seen so many new bloggers get bogged down and overwhelmed and obsessed about SEO that their writing, hence their blog, suffers.

I'll stand by my feeling that a newbie would be far better off reading other blogs and putting fingers to the keyboard than worrying about SEO specifics. Your mileage will likely vary.

Jay Thompson
Broker / Owner
Thompson's Realty

Blog: www.PhoenixRealEstateGuy.com

 
Submitted by REBloggirl on March 5, 2008 - 8:03am.

Jay,

Oddly enough, I nor RSS Pieces charge for any SEO help. We sell blogs that's it. All the SEO help we offer is free. For example when Cyndee Haydon's WP blog went from a PR4 to a 0 and was bounced from the SERPs for linking and keyword spamming, etc. We were the ones who helped her regain her PR and get her to PR5. All for free. just helping out a Realtor that needed it.

So, there is no benefit to me saying to focus on SEO. I do believe that having it in mind is a very good idea when you start your blog. There are too many people that start their blog without considering what they want to eventually be searchable by. You need to know your keywords and their value. You also need to make sure your blog is listed in DMOZ and possibly the Yahoo Directory. Those are pretty basic things related to SEO that do not require a deep knowledge of the subject. I recommend any newbie blogger do those simple things and of course write good content focused on real estate. I look at it this way- you don't decide you want to win the Gold Medal in Swimming without knowing how to hold your breath underwater. It's not the bread and butter, but it sure helps. That's what SEO should be: some simple stuff that supports all your efforts to get your content seen.

I agree with you on one thing- people getting bogged down with SEO is ridiculous. I see a lot of Realtors worrying about higher level SEO stuff that really doesn't even apply to them. Just knowing your keywords and keeping them in your head when you write is good enough.

And Jay... as for backlinks, you were a champion commenter back when no one had the nofollow tag turned on comments... you built some serious backlinks back then, perhaps not with the intention of it, but you did it none the less. I think recommending people build backlinks naturally through commenting or directory listings, etc is a wise move. It paid off for you and I.

As far as you standing by your feelings: I would expect nothing less! You are always a pleasure to spar with.

 
Submitted by on March 5, 2008 - 10:14am.

MY first post on the Inman blog about a year ago is just a relevant today as it was then,

Quality of Content Trumps SEO Tactics.

http://www.inman.com/blog/2007/02/5/quality-content-trumps-seo-tactics

Christina,

As you can see in the responces, there's more than one way to skin a cat, and they all mostly work.

 
Submitted by on March 5, 2008 - 10:57am.

"As far as you standing by your feelings: I would expect nothing less! You are always a pleasure to spar with."

Right back at ya Mary!

Jay Thompson
Broker / Owner
Thompson's Realty

Blog: www.PhoenixRealEstateGuy.com

 
Submitted by Stacey Pfeifer on March 5, 2008 - 1:24pm.

Hi Folks--

I just joined you all and I'm liking it so far. Thank you for the info re SEO/newbie bloggers. Both sides make sense to me if you just apply some discriminative intelligence to it. I'm a wannabe blogger, working for a company that is still in consideration about our company blog.

Has anyone out there started a blog outside of their corporate environment but within the same topic field? Would love to know how that went for you. Thanks!

Stacey

 
Submitted by on March 5, 2008 - 2:01pm.

Stacey,

I think most real estate blogs are designed to be outside the "corporate environment" but still about real estate and the community. Not sure I understand your question.

 
Submitted by on March 5, 2008 - 4:08pm.

Since I just today finished my 10th and final RE Tomato class, I'm a fledgling and reading these comments is a vicarious thrill of sorts. I'm not as obsessed with SEO as much as I am determined to be good at what I do.

 
Submitted by Stacey Pfeifer on March 5, 2008 - 4:43pm.

Hi Jim,
I was being vague, here it is..
Bottom Line: I feel that I can't speak on my own without the approval/and voice of the corporation. Wanting to know if anyone else out there has navigated those waters....

 
Submitted by on March 5, 2008 - 4:51pm.

Stacey -

That makes more sense now that I realize you aren't a real estate agent.

You should read The Notorious R.O.B. blog. He's the VP of Marketing at OnBoard. NROB is his personal blog. He's *really* good.

http://robhahn.wordpress.com/

Lots of real estate bloggers have concerns over their broker having (or wanting) influence over their blog. That was one of the factors in my decision to leave a C21 brokerage and open my own shop. Now my broker sure won't be telling me what I can and can't blog!

Jay Thompson
Broker / Owner
Thompson's Realty

Blog: www.PhoenixRealEstateGuy.com

 
Submitted by on March 5, 2008 - 4:53pm.

Susie wrote: I'm not as obsessed with SEO as much as I am determined to be good at what I do.

Good for you Susie! That determination will serve you well

Is your Tomato blog up yet? Leave us the link!

Jay Thompson
Broker / Owner
Thompson's Realty

Blog: www.PhoenixRealEstateGuy.com

 
Submitted by on March 5, 2008 - 4:57pm.

Never mind Susie, I found your URL on your profile (you may want to add it to your Inman signature).

It's looking great!

Jay Thompson
Broker / Owner
Thompson's Realty

Blog: www.PhoenixRealEstateGuy.com

 
Submitted by on March 5, 2008 - 5:12pm.

Like Susie & Stacey, I'm a fairly new blogger, a not yet ripe "Tomato" and I'm also a Realtor and just joined this group. So forgive me in advance if I step on anyone's toes - that's certainly not my intent. I'm here to learn. My blog is 100% separate from my brokerage and from my real estate sales. I know that's unusual but I firmly believe that it's better (at least in my market) to keep the sales stuff apart from the informational content of my blog. I think it gives me tons more credibility with my readers because I'm no longer just another Realtor trying to get their listing or sell them something. Sort of like Mary doing (thankfully) free SEO for us. My approach is that if I provide valuable information, interesting content and a unique viewpoint the blog readers will come to me when they are ready. So far, it's been working.

Additionally, keeping the sale of any real estate out of my blog means I'm blogging as an individual - not a realtor. My broker, my local RE board and the NAR no longer have any say in what I say. Our board has a page long list of requirements as soon as we 'advertise' as an agent. I don't like big brother telling me what to do. Still a child of the '60s I guess.

Now if only Jay would explain to me how I get my URL into my Inman profile (in addition to my real estate website url, that is) I'd be eternally greatful.

Thanks & I look forward to contributing and learning from you all.

 
Submitted by on March 5, 2008 - 5:21pm.

Yes, I looked at the options for my URL in my signature, but the link was not 'apparent' when I typed it in so I deleted it until I have the time to figure it out.

Jay, thanks for looking at my website. We are working on cosmetics at the moment, so I'll nudge you to check back in a few days when things aren't askew.

 
Submitted by Stacey Pfeifer on March 5, 2008 - 5:53pm.

Jay-- thank you! Yes, I should've mentioned that I work with agents vs being one.

I read your blog, among the other re blog giants out there! I'm turned on by the paradigm shift that blogging and social networking has stimulated... very much want to get our agents excited about it all, but as I often see mentioned online, many are slow to adopt.

Anyway, I will immediately check out NROB and take any cues I can--excellent thanks!

My goal with our clients is to get their toes in the water and float all the resources I can their way. [secretly, I also just want to join the party! You all seem to be such great people...and so alive with your work/life!] I've been wathcing & reading in the shadows...

Really appreciate your reply.

 
Submitted by Stacey Pfeifer on March 5, 2008 - 6:02pm.

Jay...just clicked on the Cluster Map on your blog--very interesting to see the overwhelming # of visits from folks back east. is it loosely relevant to the ratio of people relocating to Phoenix through your brokerage? just curious. or maybe you just have a big family back there!

 
Submitted by Joseph Ferrara on March 5, 2008 - 11:47pm.

As for SEO advice--simple-- just contact REBlogGirl.

Other than SEO:
Write about what you are passionate about, experiment with different types of content, and use the distribution channels-- on and offline.

Joseph Ferrara, Esq.
Sellsius
NY, NY
646-714-2720

 
Submitted by on March 6, 2008 - 11:37am.

Stacey wrote: "Jay...just clicked on the Cluster Map on your blog--very interesting to see the overwhelming # of visits from folks back east..."

The two states that I get most of my blog visitors from (by far) are Arizona and California. Not coincidently, that's where the bulk of our clients come from as well. The next three highest count states are New York, Texas and Florida (sort of makes sense given the population of those states.

The ClustrMap does seem to show an inordinate amount of visits from the east coast. While we do get many from the eastern US, I think it's more a function of how ClustrMap plots the visits. The population is much more dense on the east coast (vs the wild west), I think that has something to do with it.

Also a factor is the biggest "dot" represents "1000+" visits. So Phoenix for example may have 8,000 visits reflected as one dot, and NYC may have 1,000 -- with the same size dot.

Make sense?

We're just over 53,000 visits this year from 132 different countries/territories. Never ceases to amaze me that someone in Zambia, Africa or 14 people in Estonia would visit a Phoenix real estate blog. Canada sends more visitors than any country outside the US -- just over 7% of our traffic is from Canada. Interestingly, the last three homes we sold were to Canadian buyers. They are huge down here...

Jay Thompson
Broker / Owner
Thompson's Realty

Blog: www.PhoenixRealEstateGuy.com

.

 
Submitted by Stacey Pfeifer on March 6, 2008 - 12:09pm.

Jay- makes total sense, yes. I love it that this medium is so global, but so personal. kind of makes me feel hopeful about the planet actually. I should visit Phoenix someday, since all the smart ones seem to be relocating there! Is there a big green building movement where you are?

-and thanks for answering my questions.. no rush, I know you're busy.

--Stacey

 
Submitted by on March 6, 2008 - 4:13pm.

"I should visit Phoenix someday, since all the smart ones seem to be relocating there!"

I know a couple of great real estate agents that can fix you right up Stacey. ;)

"Going Green" is pretty big here. Not what it seems to be in some places (CA comes immediately to mind). Energy efficiency is a big deal here. I central southern AZ it's expensive to cool homes in the summer. In northern AZ, it's expensive to heat them in the winter.

Jay Thompson
Broker / Owner
Thompson's Realty

Blog: www.PhoenixRealEstateGuy.com

.

 
Submitted by Eric Bouler on March 10, 2008 - 4:45pm.

Eric Bouler
Prudential Gardner
New Orleans,La.
www.neworleanscondotrends.com

 
Submitted by Eric Bouler on March 10, 2008 - 4:49pm.

Before you blog I guess you need to know how to post correctly. Blogging is all about the local market and things people would want to know about the areas that you work. Its Ok to let you opinion known, just learn to keep it cool. I am not an expert but kow it will work for me because I do it everyday. I learn more than my readers about the various subjects that i write about. Great to be able to bring in things like photos and lifestyles of your area. A picture says a lot.

Eric Bouler
Prudential Gardner
New Orleans,La.
www.neworleanscondotrends.com

 
Submitted by G Dewald | Union Street Media on March 11, 2008 - 1:24pm.

Great bunch of suggestions!

I'm going to second everyone who says not to get too caught up in the SEO. Take all the "Best practice" stuff and do that, but focus on writing consistently and your SEO juice will come naturally.

My real tip:

Take advantage of your blogging platform's ability to save drafts. Start a draft stub whenever you get an idea, even if it's vague or just a headline (or a link from something you read). Then, when you have the time/energy, finish the post. I use this constantly for my own blogging efforts and it keeps me from being a full-time writer.

Bonus tip:
If your blogging platform let's you set the "publish date" in the future, then finish a post or two and have them auto-publish later in the week/month. It's like taking a vacation. In combination with the "lots of drafts" method outlined above, your life won't be consumed by blogging.

Good luck!

 
Submitted by on March 11, 2008 - 3:54pm.

True, it is helpful to bank posts for the busier times, but I haven't found this to be terribly practical. First is the issue of the potential for the post to be dated once it comes off the shelf. Second, you need to remember when your articles are scheduled to publish. You can't really take that "little vacation," because you are (hopefully) going to generate comments which shouldn't be left unattended. Anyway you slice it, effective blogging is a second full-time job.

 
Submitted by Toby Boyce on March 11, 2008 - 10:05pm.

I bank stories all the time, but I also have a different presence on my blog - a lot of local events - that can simply be written in the present tense and posted to go up in a month or so when they become relevant.

That said, good writers can post in advance and it really does make for a much nicer writing environment. I'm a little behind and it is killing me because I haven't been able to get a new post up since Sunday.

 
Submitted by on March 12, 2008 - 2:33pm.

If you don't begin seeing immediate results (comments) on your blogs when you first start, don't let it discourage you! It takes time for people to get to know you, through your blogs. There are more people listening than you really think! Just keep it up and keep posting. And be sure to comment on others posts. If you give great answers, people will want to find out who you are and what they can learn from you. GOOD LUCK!

 
Submitted by on April 26, 2008 - 11:21am.

Eliese Pivarnik, Steamboat Springs Real Estate Broker Associate

SteamboatHomeSales.com

I agree with the comments about just writing relevant content. I've been trying to master the SEO game and thought I was doing well. My site was on page 1 of Google for one of my main keywords.

Two weeks later, I've dropped to page 9 and can't figure out what happened.

It's too hard to try to keep up with what Google is looking for. I'm just going back to writing posts I want to write.

http://www.steamboatHomeSales.com

 
Submitted by on April 27, 2008 - 5:54am.

Diane Aurit www.BestRealEstateLakeNorman

Great discussion going on here. You have heard from some of the best out there. Now, take all of this good information and use it as the foundation of your efforts but above all else, be yourself and follow your gut and passion. You will stand out as unique only if you let the world get to know you!

 
Submitted by on April 29, 2008 - 5:46pm.

We try to accomplish a couple of different things with our Blog. The 1st is to set ourselves up as a credible source for real estate information
http://www.johnsonteamrealestate.com/blog/index.php/category/bellingham-...

The 2nd is to develope dialog with community events
http://www.johnsonteamrealestate.com/blog/index.php/2008/04/06/bellingha...

And lastly to provide a forum where the community can come to share their thoughts
http://www.johnsonteamrealestate.com/blog/index.php/2008/01/23/rememberi...

The main thing is to have fun with it.

Rich Johnson
360-319-3267
http://www.johnsonteamrealestate.com
http://www.johnsonteamrealestate.com/blog/

 
Submitted by Ken Horst on April 29, 2008 - 7:10pm.

I totally agree with Mary, blogging without knowing your keywords is great if you want to be is a journalist. (no offense to journalists) As I understand it, most of us real estate and mortgage bloggers are blogging for business or leads.

I think the most important thing a new blogger can do, besides read lots of other peoples blogs, is pay attention to the hot local and national real estate topics that affect home buyers and sellers in your market, and write about these current issues making sure to use them in your title, your content, and your tags.

Nothing feels better than getting a phone call from someone who read your post after finding it on the first page of Google for the keywords you optimized for!

 
Submitted by G Dewald | Union Street Media on April 30, 2008 - 6:40am.

I skimmed this article the other day about blogging for lead gen. It's not completely a one-to-one map for many of the real estate bloggers out there, but I think there's something to be gained from checking it out. The source, Court Tuttle, ranks 5 on Google for the term: internet marketing. He also tends to have interesting stuff in general. I was going to do my own review post on this but I'm a bit swamped right now. Maybe later or maybe not.

Introduction to Lead Blogging. The tone is a little sales-motivationy which isn't my cup of tea so be warned.

G. Dewald | Union Street Media | USM Blog

 
Submitted by on April 30, 2008 - 3:27pm.

Don't be a slave to the SEO.

 
Submitted by on April 30, 2008 - 3:32pm.

Daniel

I agree.

"Writing For Google" just doesn't sit right with me.

I thought one wrote for one's readers...

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