Tuesday, March 4, 2014

How to Create a Real Estate Blog





By now you probably know the advantages of having a blog for your real estate business but very few people know how to create a real estate blog. The good news is that creating a a real estate blog is very easy. There are many different blogging platforms out there (some free!) including Google's Blogger. I recommend creating a blog using the WordPress platform. Here's why:
  1. WordPress blogs are easy to use
  2. Typically WordPress blogs are cheaper to build
  3. WordPress is the most popular platform which means there are more themes and plugins to integrate with your blog
  4. WordPress SEO tools are easy to use and perform great
One of the first steps is to purchase a domain name for your new real estate blog. If you already have a website, I'd suggest using a version of that (e.g. - realestatecompanyname.com so use blog.realestatecompanyname.com for your blog). Otherwise choose a blog domain name that is representative of how you want to be found in search engines.

http://www.socaldigitalmarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/wordpress-blogger-300x231.jpgOnce you've decided to create a WordPress blog, you'll need to decide where to host your real estate blog. Wordpress.com offers free hosting and software. However you'll be severely limited with designs, themes and functionality. I strongly recommend finding a hosting company that offers specialized hosting like BlueHost, Weebly or DreamHost. There are many others to choose from as well. These companies offer hosting and a wide variety of themes, designs and functionality. Best of all, it's so simple to use that you should be able to create your new blog in less than a half-hour. Step-by-step instructions vary depending on which hosting company you select so we won't touch on those directions here.

Earlier I mentioned a wider variety of plugins for your WordPress real estate blog. One of the most important plugins for a real estate blog is the ability to allow consumers to search for listings in your local MLS. There are several companies that offer IDX WordPress plugins.

Also make sure your real estate blog has calls to action (contact forms and other ways for potential clients to reach you) along with the ability to share your blog posts on other forms of social media.

We'll talk about the various ways to promote your real estate blog and what to write about in a separate article.



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