Neil Schwartz has been in the real estate industry for over 30 years. He is the broker of Century 21 Masters, the #2 Century 21 office in the Nation. He blogs on neilschwartz.net, providing valuable information to agents regarding sales training, real estate marketing, social media, and technology.
We create and maintain real estate blogs to attract and retain clients, however I’ve noticed that many people’s blogs aren’t as effective as they could be. That is because many blogs aren’t motivating people to stick or remain on your website.
When considering if people are sticking to your website, you want to focus on the length of time someone visits your website and the number of pages they circulate through. In order to figure out your level of stickiness right now, take a look at your Google Analytics account or sign up for one (it’s free).
You want to focus on two things here, pages visited and Avg. time on site. If the pages visited are 1 or less, you need to make some changes because this means that people are only viewing one page and then leaving without clicking any other links. The same thing goes if the average time on the site is less than 1 minute.
4 Ways to Increase the “Stickiness” of Your Blog
1. Fresh Blog Design
Using a fresh blog design goes a long way.. The more visually appealing your blog is, the more convincing it will be for someone to stay on your site and click around.
2. Create A Lot of Inner Links
If you’re an experienced blogger, you’ve probably posted a ton of content throughout your site. Unfortunately, most people can’t see it because it’s buried away. A great way to increase pages visited and average time on the site is to add links in your new article that are applicable to topics you discussed in the past. For instance, if you’re writing about interest rates being at an all time low, you can link a word or phrase in the article to an article you previously wrote about now being a great time to buy.
3. Encourage Comments
Sometimes the comments of a blog are more interesting and engaging than the articles themselves. End each blog post with an open-ended question that gets your visitors to think and comment. You should also reply to every single comment you get. When visitors see this, they know writing a comment isn’t a waste of time because you’ll actually respond. This creates a discussion, which again encourages even more comments.
4. Law of Reciprocity
Give some valuable and useful content away for free in exchange for their name and email address. “How to stage your home to sell within 30 days.” “How to chose the best Realtor for you and family” “A guide to moving” “Check list – things you need do before and after you sell your home”. If you provide your readers with something valuable, they’ll view you differently from other realtors. You’ll also capture their email address/phone numbers for lead follow up.
Implementing these techniques will increase the stickiness of your blog, which should produce more leads. What are some things you have done or are going to do to make your website “sticky”? Let me know if any of my suggestions work for you!
