Mailers, print ads and other traditional advertising methods might bring new clients to your door, but the high cost of these paid advertising methods can eat into the profitability of your real estate business. Content marketing on your website and promoting it online is typically a much cheaper way to land new leads, and many real estate agents find it to be highly effective.
Here are three content marketing tactics you can use to bring more visitors — and potential clients — to your website using content.
1. Create high-quality content
Churning out keyword-stuffed blog posts doesn’t cut it anymore. Instead, focusing on top-quality, relevant content on your website signals to search engines that you deserve to rank for certain keywords, which helps deliver traffic.
[Tweet “Churning out keyword-stuffed blog posts doesn’t cut it anymore.”]
Sam DeBord, managing broker of Seattle Homes Group and president-elect of Seattle King County Realtors, said his business has found that trying to generate content with true value is more successful than search engine optimization (SEO), tricks and gimmicks.
“People are looking for personal information in stories by real people who understand the neighborhood,” DeBord said.
His real estate business writes content about different property types, what’s happening in local neighborhoods and other topics that might interest homebuyers or sellers in his area but likely aren’t covered by the big portals.
The large industry sites already have robust data profiles and statistics, so DeBord says he doesn’t try to match that — instead, he fills in the gaps to help potential clients better understand the local market.
“That not only drives additional visitors, but repeat traffic, and it keeps users on the website longer because they’re getting information they don’t get elsewhere,” DeBord said.
Kendyl Young, owner and founder of DIGGS, a residential real estate company in Glendale, California, also focuses on producing community-based content on her website to drive traffic.
“Zillow doesn’t live here,” she said. “I’m the ambassador of my community. My job is to give a fully rounded picture of what it’s like to live here in all aspects.”
Young’s content highlights local businesses, gives the backstory on market reports and features notable local houses, among other topics.
“That’s what drives my authority, as a person, to do real estate sales,” she said. She also writes educational content for homebuyers and sellers, in addition to thought leadership pieces to give people an idea of whom they might be doing business with, she said.
Although she doesn’t write this content explicitly for SEO — she prefers to write from the heart and share it where it will make the most impact — this relevant, high-quality coverage naturally helps drive the right people to her website.
2. Publish compelling content on other outlets
Acquiring external links that point to your website is important for SEO and traffic, but trying to get just any link from as many websites as possible can hurt your standing with search engines.
[Tweet “Acquiring valuable external links that point to your website is important for SEO and traffic.”]
DeBord says he provides valuable content to reputable sources and asks for a reciprocal link back to his website. “It’s a recognition from the people we’re giving quality content to that they have respect for us,” he said.
These relevant links in well-written content not only help give your site more cred with Google, but it can also lead to clicks from interested readers.
DeBord writes content for about a dozen outlets, including Inman, Realtor Magazine and MarketWatch. He finds that some of his readers do follow the link back to his website.
3. Share your content on the right social platforms
Strategically sharing your content on social media drives visitors to your site. With so many platforms available and having to juggle a packed schedule, it might be tempting to save time and splatter the same message everywhere, but this often isn’t effective.
[Tweet “Strategically sharing your content on social media drives visitors to your site.”]
“Each platform has a different reason for existence,” Young said. “That means the people who are engaged on that platform are different, and the way the message plays out will resonate differently.”
Because of this, put careful thought into where you post your content and how you craft the message.
For example, on Instagram, Young focuses on a slice of life in her area, such as architectural details and other visual elements appropriate for the photo-based medium.
On LinkedIn, a site geared toward professionals, she typically shares only articles focused on thought leadership or entrepreneurship. On Facebook, Young aims to engage and entertain, and she is involved in many Facebook community groups to foster offline relationships.
She said that posting new listings on your Facebook page generally isn’t appropriate, but if you’re in a community group and people are talking about homes in the area, it might make sense to post a link to a listing — as long as there is a relevant message, so you don’t look spammy.
Creating and promoting content on your website using these three tactics will boost your traffic, and potentially, your client base.
Chris Ling is the head of real estate for NerdWallet. Follow him on Twitter or follow NerdWallet on Twitter.