Yo, yo, yo, it’s time to pimp your real estate blog. Bling out the content with linkbait posts that drive traffic like gossip and controversy. Pump up the volume with podcasts that engage visitors. Create rivalries with blog wars that spike commenting participation. Basically, make your blog a must stop spot for your readers. Now, as a real estate blog, you can’t be a daily guilty pleasure but, you can provide a guilty little treat once in a while without impacting your overall credibility.

What makes a blog a guilty pleasure?

My single guiltiest blog pleasure is a site called, theSuperficial. I have never truly gotten working in the movie biz out of my bones and this site satisfies the inner Star Magazine reader in me. Now, what makes this site such a great guilty pleasure? Is it the topic? Well, gossip is always popular, but there are about a million gossip sites out there that just don’t capture my discriminating tabloid tastes. What set’s this site apart from the rest? theSuperficial is well written and really really funny. The author also invites visitor participation by asking people to submit their star gossip and photos. Needless to say- this site gets tons of traffic, subscriptions and reader participation.

How would a real estate blog become a guilty pleasure?

Get local. Your potential clients are more than likely already living in your farm areas. So, target them with local information, gossip, controversy and a little local color. Even if some of your readers aren’t looking for a home right now, building the trust through your blog today will mean you have them as a client tomorrow. The idea is to build a community for your blog within your community by providing content that connects with local readers. It doesn’t always have to completely about real estate. It can sometimes just be about local events or local celebrities.

Rules to pimping your real estate blog:

1. Write a catchy title

First impressions are important. So, make a splash with a flashy title. Something clever that still clearly conveys the topic and includes your primo keywords. Not quite as easy as you thought, right?

Read also: Traffic driving blog titles

2. Gossip a little

There has to be something going on in your town that is gossip worthy. Does the PGA stop at a golf course in your town? Are there a couple of local celebrities causing a ruckus? Is a big build threatening to devalue homes in a neighborhood? You can gte this kind of info from either Google news or you local paper. Basically, if something interesting is happening in your community- talk about it. 

Examples:

I live in Cape Coral, FL. Recently, we had an onslaught of monitor lizard sightings. I tell agents in the area to start penning articles about monitor lizards because people are both fascinated an terrified by these wild reptiles that will eat Scruffy. 

Fort Myers goes baseball bonkers during spring training because it is home to the Red Sox training camp. I recommend our local Realtors cover the pre-season games and which players are buying and selling in the area on their blogs.   Surprisingly, those types of posts drive considerable local and national traffic. While it might not be completely real estate related- it is local and it does engage readers, so go for the gossip- people love that guilty pleasure. It will definitely help to build community and drive participation on your blog.

Read also: Real estate blog writing 101

Read also: What Madonna can teach you about blogging

Read also: Top 5 secrets of highly successful blogs

3. Lash out at something

Look for local hot buttons. Are property taxes on the rise? Is a local act that would pass a downtown restoration evicting existing residents? Has home owners insurance become increasingly harder to find? Figure out what types of local events are affecting home owners and blog about it. Always take the position of the home owner (people like professionals that stand up for their interests) and keep it real. Be sure to promote your controversial post- tell, friends, family, neighbors, even call the press if it is a hot enough issue.

Read also: Plan a blog war for increased traffic

Read also: Guerrilla Blogging

4. Interview a local-ebrity

Ready to blow the roof off your blog traffic. Write a couple controversial posts, get people engaged on your blog, then schedule a podcast interview with one of the major players on the issue you have tackled. Publishing that type of podcast will bring you local celebrity and isn’t that what you ultimately want? Free press?

Read also: Ideas for real estate podcasts

Read also: How to start your own podcast show

5. Go old school with public and media relations

Just because you are increasing your web presence doesn’t mean you have to stick to the web to leave your mark. Your blog is about building a community, so let the community know you are talking about them and that they are welcome to join in. 

• Paper an affected neighborhood: If you pen a controversial post on a new stadium build that may impact local home owners or a shopping center that may cause flooding, put flyers about your blog and the build in the mail boxes of people that live where the proposed build will take place. Neighbors talk!



• Call or email your local TV stations or newspapers: Let your local media channel know about your blog and what hot topic you are discussing. Better yet, get your publicist (i.e. husband, sister, son… to call and say- “I just read about such and such on www.yourblog.com and I am shocked.” Typically, if the story is interesting enough and shows that the community is engaged and outraged, a TV station or newspaper will cover the story of your blog covering the story! What a crazy web, the web can weave, huh? Fact is, blogs are still a new enough technology that when a paper or local TV station hears that a blog was started over an issue, they’ll likely mention your blog in their coverage of the story. Free press, babe, you can't beat that.
  

Related Posts