How to OWN Your Real Estate Farm Online
There has been a trend with real estate agents, where they realize that owning their website is important. They are also figuring out that having a self-hosted WordPress website is the way to go. The functionality and SEO features make it a dream for agents looking to obtain ranking on search engines, such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing. As real estate agents are making this transition to WordPress, they have many questions. How do I navigate my website? What is a plugin, and which ones should I install to enhance my site? Don’t fear, these are valid questions, and often the same ones I hear when meeting with real estate agent new to using WordPress as their website platform.
What is a Plugin?
When I say plugin, think application from the App Store. Each application does something different that adds to what your phone can do. WordPress plugins function in a similar way for your website. As you download and install plugins, they create additional functionality features that increases your site’s abilities. Most WordPress plugins are free, though some do come at a cost if you wish to upgrade to the Pro versions. I want to preface by saying, don’t download too many WordPress plugins as doing so will cause your site to run slow or even crash. If that happens, a call has to be made to your developer to fix it and that is never a fun conversation. If you are new to WordPress or are looking for some additional plugins to install, here are some good ones to check out.
WordPress SEO Yoast
This is one of the “must have” WordPress Plugins for getting your online content ranked in an organic search. The difficult part of blogging or creating content is knowing if you are doing it correctly to get found by the search engines…most importantly Google. This plugin helps you do this the right way. It serves as a guide and lets you know when your content is “optimized” and ready to be published. The “Page Analysis” tab within this plugin allows you to take your content optimization to the next level. If you are new to SEO (Search Engine Optimization) this plugin will help shorten your learning curve. Content is good…Optimized content is great! Want to get your site found online? Download this plugin immediately.
Broken Link Checker
This plugin is probably not on most people’s radar, but what it does is pretty important. Most real estate websites have links on them to other websites or pages. Many times when agents are blogging they create “back-links” that takes the reader somewhere else for more information. The issue is you are telling the reader to leave your website, and at the mercy of that link remaining alive. If that link ever goes away, is changed, or dies you are notified immediately so it can be unlinked or fixed. A fast way to get a prospect off your website is to send them to a link that is no longer working and they get a “404 error message”. This simple plugin will avoid that from ever occurring.
Revive Old Post
This WordPress plugin is just as it sounds. As real estate agents are using social media more and more, they need a strategy that allows them to be in front of that audience without constantly being on social media. This plugin takes care of that. It allows you to take your past content and have it syndicated to Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. For example, you can set up parameters within this plugin that every 48hrs a blog or other content published in the last 365 days will be sent to those social networks on your behalf. The publishing intervals and dates can be altered at any time to fit your needs. If you want to keep your online content in front of your social networks and drive them back to your website, you will love this WordPress plugin.
Watch the Video!
Takeaway
These are a few of the many plugins that WordPress has to offer. The plugins I mentioned both help your content get ranked in Google searches or keep/drive people to your real estate website. This is the place where consumers go to educate themselves on your services and value before they reach out to do business. Take a moment and download these plugins, they will surely add value to your WordPress website.
Need help growing your real estate or mortgage business? You know what to do! Fill out the form below and tell me what you need or email me at wvander@stewart.com.
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Director of Sales/Marketing at Stewart Title
My name is Wade Vander Molen and I am the Director of Sales and Marketing for Stewart Title in Northern Virginia/Washington DC.I work with Real Estate agents and Mortgage Lenders helping them grow their business with Outbound and Inbound marketing strategies. If you wish to meet and set up an appointment call me at 480-203-6452 or email at wvander@stewart.com
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