Why a Blog on Your Real Estate Website is SUPER Important
Are you new to blogging on WordPress? Have you finally dumped the “company website” that you don’t own and now you are using WordPress? Good! As I make my way in the Title Industry helping Realtors with their Real Estate marketing I find more and more agents are realizing the power of WordPress and that they should be using it as their Primary Real Estate Website. There is one small issue that I see over and over again when I meet with these agents. The problem is they are not well versed on how to USE their site and navigate it correctly. It’s kind of the saying…”I have this great tool…now what?” Yes, I fully understand…that was ME about 1.5yrs ago when I first started using WordPress in my business as a Title Sales Rep for Stewart Title in Northern Virginia and Washington DC. I had a learning curve when I started and I am still learning more and more as I go. So to help you out…here are some great beginner tips if you are new to blogging on WordPress.
Tip #1 Change your Username
Is your username “Admin?” If you are shaking your head YES change it to something else right after you get done reading this blog. The first username a hacker would try to use if they were trying to get into your site is “Admin.” I help agents with their WordPress sites all the time and this is the top thing I see right away. Make your site your own and make it hard for someone to hack. Change your username to something that is special to you.
Tip #2 Don’t get “Plugin Happy”
If you are new to blogging on WordPress you will find that there are thousands of WordPress plugins and they all sound awesome and they will make your site amazing! You don’t need them all. Everyone’s site is different and the plugins you use are just the ones necessary to get your site to do…what you want it to do. The more “active” plugins you have, the slower your site will run and that is bad. Always…Always…update your plugins when WordPress sends out updates. Neglecting this will only hurt your site in the long run. What if you never updated your iPhone or any of the apps? If you are no longer using a plugin and have “de-activated” it…DELETE it. If you don’t you are inviting spammers and it will also cause your site to run slow.
Tip #3 Don’t Create Too Many Real Estate Categories
On your WordPress site you can create categories to tell the search engines what your content is about. As a Real Estate agent you hopefully have broken down your marketing area and ideal client. Having 20 categories is not good especially if they are generic categories. For example “City Events” is not a category. “Arlington Home Buyers” is a category. See the difference? One is generic and one is hyper-local and to a demographic. 5-7 categories is enough. Mostly all of your content should fall into these categories.
Tip #4 Install Widgets on your Sidebar
My what? Yes, your sidebar. That is the column on the far right of your site/blog where there might currently be an empty space or it might say “Categories” or “Recent Posts.” Take advantage of that open space and install some good Widgets that will drive your more traffic and get consumers to “subscribe, follow or opt-in” to you. Here are few good ones:
- Facebook Like Box
- Good Plus Badge
- Easy Twitter Feed Widget
- Tube Press
- Newsletter Sign Up
- YouTube Subscribe Widget
There are a ton of them…these are just a few. Here are a few that will allow you to always be in front of people. As a Real Estate agent it is super important to always be “top of mind” with your past clients, sphere, and prospects. Not doing so will cost you business and money!
Tip #5 Implement Video!
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DCTitleGuy
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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