OK so you can't possible think of something to put on your real estate blog. How about statistics? There isn't a home owner or home buyer out there who doesn't want to know what the real estate market is doing yet statistics is one of the hardest things to find on the Internet. I know that some MLS systems even have built in reports and if you are allowed to use graphs or charts from them even better. Even if you can't use their charts you can quickly create your own using Microsoft Excel or another spreed sheet program. So we thought we would give you:

1. Statistics are hard to find - Try seeing what sold last month in an area without using the MLS. It is so difficult it is unfair. Think how home owners and home buyers would view your knowledge if you let them know about what is going on.
2. They are valuable - Everyone needs to know what is happening. Tired of losing a listing presentation because someone said the market is doing better than it is. What if you became the source?
3. Consumers want them - Home buyers and sellers need to know what is going on and they are searching for it. They are just having a hard time locating it.
4. Others aren't doing it - It is always better to be first rather than last. Just because everyone has access to the data(Realtors(R)) doesn't mean they are letting people know about it. Let consumers know.
5. They always change so it is always something new to write - One of the hardest things to do sometimes is come up with something new to write. Thankfully someone is always buying or selling so numbers will change. Even if no one is buying or selling you can still show that as well!
6. It makes for great charts & Graphs - Having visuals is great because it makes your blog different and more interesting to your readers. You can create charts in literally minutes with Microsoft Excel.

So go forth and add stats to your blog or website and become the source for information.

Labels: real estate agent website, real estate blog, real estate internet marketing, real estate marketing

So are you tired of just writing sentence after sentence in your blog? If you are your readers might be as well. After all we are in the new era of the web were bandwith is high and people have high speed access at home and at work so why would we only just write text? The answer is you probably shouldn't be just writing. So we thought we would give you 5 great resons to use multi media in your blog.

1. It adds a visual impact - nothing adds impact like a great picture. After all a picture is worth a 1,000 words right? So why not throw up a picture of what you are talking about. If you are talking about the benefits of improving a kitchen maybe a nice before and after picture.


2. Video says it for you - That's right a little video never hurt anyone. In fact you can upload your video to http://www.youtube.com/ and they will host it for you and give you the html to put in your page. We put up video on our Long Beach Home Blog so you can see a sample of what to do. That clip took about 40 seconds to record, 2 minutes to upload to youtube, and another 60 seconds to copy and paste the HTML they gave me into the blog. So for under 5 minutes I think it is worth it.


3. Sound is a great way to introduce your blog - we put sound on our blog as well using some easy to use software by in InstantAudio.Com. This software is great and is easy to use. By the way we use it to describe our properties on our regular websites as well.


4. Others aren't doing it - Want to be first? That's right many people aren't yet adding pictures, sound, and video to their blog. This makes you stand out among all of the other blogs that are available for a user to select. After all you are competing for readers and what better way to improve your blog by adding something that no one else will do.


5. Your readers want it - so if all of the other reasons don't convince you to do it your readers do want it. People want more out of websites and blogs than just plain text. They want entertainment with their information so give it to them!

In case you also are thinking we don't practice what we are asking you to do we have some video for you as well!

We hope that convinces you to add some multimedia to your blog. You can always check out ours for ideas at http://www.homeofthequeenmary.com/ and another great one we like is http://www.raincityguide.com/.

Labels: BLOG, internet marketing solutions for real estate agents, real estate agent website, real estate blog, real estate internet marketing, real estate internet marketing solution

Now hopefully you have a real estate blog that is either integrated with your website or is separate from your website and marketed differently. One of the things that we find is hardest for agents to do is to come up with new topics to write on and because they don't have new topics they stop writing and their blogs aren't updated on a regular basis. Here are 5 content ideas you can use for your blog and the great part is you can keep reuse them every single month!

1. Monthly Sales Statistics - This is one that you make sure to report every first of the month. Keep it consistent and you will have a regular following that checks to see what the figures were at. Let agents know you will be posting it so they can check it as well.
2. Loan Products - Banks are continually offering new products so that buyers can buy or builders can build. Get your favorite lending partner to post every month on what is new out there.
3. Loan Rates - A great resource to reference is www.bankrate.com. They always post the latest available rates from different lenders. If you had a few lenders send you what the latest rates where one a week or once a month you would have a regular topic that people are always interested in.
4. New Construction - Most areas have some form of new development occurring on an ongoing basis. Blogging on it and reporting it are key to more great content.
5. Fun Events - It doesn't always have to be about real estate. You can mention a carnival or fair that is going on and mention what area of town it is in. Since it has to take place somewhere it is related to real estate and people always like to have a source for information.

Have fun with this 5 Blog Topics for your Real Estate Blog. It is more important to keep posting than to not post at all so good luck with your blog!

Labels: marketing real estate web site, real estate agent website, real estate blog, real estate internet marketing solution, real estate marketing

Choosing a company to help you with your real estate agent website shouldn't be difficult. Although there are many different vendors out there to decide from, the best part to decide first is what you will want out of the company. Here are 5 quick checklist items that you should think about when deciding on who to choose for your real estate agent website.

1. Will you upload new content pages for FREE? - Some vendors like Advanced Access will post up new pages for you if you send them the content for no charge. As you will want to stay up to date this is a good question to ask!


2. What features are must have on my website? - Items like MLS Search and a form for Sellers to give their address for a CMA are must haves, but you may not need the FSBO listing tool. Write down which features you want on your website so you can see which vendor has all of the items you are looking for.


3. What type of customer support is available? - Are they available only on week days or on weekends too?


4. How long is the contract for? - Is it a set-up fee and the month to month? Am I locked in for a year? Find a vendor that is flexible for you and meets your budget constraints.


5. Do they offer additional services? - Do you want to company that offers Search Engine Optimization services or search engine marketing services? Will they explain what they are doing and how will they be held accountable for the results?

Consider these 5 questions before you decide on the vendor to host your website. You will more than likely be with that vendor for quite some time so it is ok to take time to decide which will be the best fit for you.

Labels: real estate agent website, real estate search engine optimization, search engine optimization strategy