Top 5 Blogging Tips, and What to Avoid!
At this time and age, blogging is one of the most convenient ways of increasing your online presence in addition to helping repute you as an expert. Its a great way to get what you need to say out there, have your opinion matter, and network with regular readers. Take advantage of the feature, but do so effectively by following the 5 tips listed below.
- Maintain a consistent posting schedule!
Aim to post 2-3 times a week. Don’t neglect your blog, make it part of your weekly routine. Failure to update content can give your blog an outdated, unimpressive feel.
- Target particular keywords!
Whenever you are posting a blog, it asks you to enter some keywords. Your keywords should pertain to your blog and its content. You want to be outstanding in your area of expertise, which in this case should be real estate related. Avoid being known as the jack of all trades and master of none as that will not drive readers to your blog who are looking specifically for information you claim to specialize in. Be consistent when using keywords throughout all your blog posts as that increases your search engine optimization (SEO) ranking.
- Engage your readers!
Take the time to engage in discussions and interact with your readers, most importantly by responding to all comments and feedback received on your blog. For example, posting a question at the end of your blog will surely start up a discussion. However, as a side note, unless you take nothing to heart – I recommend you set the comments preferences to be proofed and approved by you before actually displaying publicly on your blog, you can never know what someone will comment.
- Sharing is everything!
You don’t want it to seem like you are talking to yourself, which is a sure way to lose motivation to continue posting blogs. Get the word out there on your latest post whether you Tweet it, Facebook it, or use the timeless method of word-of-mouth.
- Be original!
Research for an up-coming blog post is more than okay, but keep it original! Taking content from another blog or website is not only plagiarism if not cited properly, but is boring and redundant. Post something original by posing good advice for your readers, or reiterating information that you find useful or interesting based on your findings, or strive to be the first to provide unique information based on your experience or knowledge! For example, if you will be using the TREB MarketWatch to base your blog on, use a twist on it that is not used in the MarketWatch itself but is rather your own analysis of the statistics they provide.
Best to Avoid
- Avoid tacky, so-called SEO tactics like overcrowding your blog with keywords to increase SEO – this does not work! In fact, it causes more harm than good. Instead, subtly include your specific keywords within the content of your blog post rather than posting a list of keywords at the end of your blog, which only looks disorganized and cluttered.
- I cannot stress this enough, avoid trying to rank in SEO by using every keyword that comes to mind – stick to your original keywords as they pertain to your blog and will generate more readers!
- I can’t think of any topic that requires a post every single day, do not post on a daily basis! Your content and ideas will run dry, as will the spunk in your writing. You will overwhelm your readers and receive fewer comments thus decreasing reader interaction. Even if you like to mass-write blog posts, save them for a rainy day when you are experiencing writer’s block or have no time to write up a new post, rather than posting 3 blogs at once.
- At the end of the day, it is quality over quantity! Your blog post should not feel like a university paper, there is no need to fill it with useless information just to rank up the number of words. Write as much as is necessary for the topic you are writing about.
Having said all that, to post a blog to your website – simply log in to your account with us, click on ‘Website’ and then ‘Blog’. Click on ‘Create new post’ and enter the information there once the Rich Text Box loads. Keep in mind you can also insert pictures and links in your blog to add some spice!
Authored by: Sevi, Client Relations