How to Get More Real Estate Listings From Sellers, With Blogging & SEO
There are many ways agents can get more real estate listings from sellers. In this article, we will look at blogging and search engine optimization (SEO). SEO and blogging help you “pull” sellers to your website, to get listings.
When it comes to real estate marketing, there are “push” methods as well as “pull” methods.
The push approach is when you … well, push your message onto people who haven’t asked for it. Cold calling is one example. Unsolicited direct mail is another mail. You get the idea.
“Pull” marketing, on the other hand, is when you attract potential clients to your services at a time when they are looking for them. Real estate blogging and search engine optimization fall into this category.
For instance, if a person who is planning to sell a home Googles the local real estate market and finds one of your blog articles, you have “pulled” that person to your site.
How to Get More Listings by Blogging
You don’t need a master’s degree in marketing to know that the “pull” people will be more receptive to your message, compared to those who’ve had it shoved in their face. To state it differently: You have a better chance of converting prospects into clients when they come to you first.
And that’s where blogging and search engine optimization (SEO) come into the picture.
By publishing blog content that is geared toward home sellers in your local area, you can attract them online. This is especially true if your real estate website enjoys good search engine rankings. It’s a web-based approach to getting more listings.
Home sellers frequently conduct internet searches relating to the local real estate market. (I have years worth of website analytics to back this up.) They’ll Google all kinds of topics to prepare for the process ahead. And this gives you a chance to “pull” them to your website.
Of course, you have to have content on your site that reflects those common searches. And that’s where blogging comes in.
Search Engine Queries Used by Sellers
If you downloaded my guide to real estate SEO, you already have a comprehensive list of common search phrases and keywords. (And if you haven’t downloaded it yet, there’s no better time like the present!)
I’m not going to repeat all of that information here. Instead, I’ll offer an abbreviated list of phrases that are commonly searched by sellers.
The screenshot above shows Google’s “autocomplete” feature in action. You can see how it suggested common search phrases, before I even finished typing my query. These kinds of topics are a good place to start, if you want to get more real estate listings through blogging and SEO. Here are some more tips for keyword research.
When you create website content that matches the search queries of a particular audience (like sellers), you can pull those people to your site via the search engines. And they’ll be more receptive to your message, compared to someone at the other end of a cold call.
For instance, a listing agent in San Diego could benefit from creating blog articles like these:
- Why 2019 is a good time to sell a home in San Diego
- What the San Diego housing market is like in summer 2019?
- Is San Diego a buyer’s or seller’s market right now?
- Here’s how long it takes to sell a home in San Diego
- Cost of selling a home in San Diego, California
- The closing process for sellers in San Diego
- Which closing costs do sellers pay in San Diego?
Home sellers research these kinds of topics frequently. But in many cases, there’s not a lot of good content out there that focuses on these local matters. The mainstream media tend to focus on broader national real estate trends. Aside from local news affiliates, few people are blogging about these topics.
If you fill this information void with your own content, you could get more real estate listings from sellers by bringing them to your website.
Real estate agents who are serious about generating web traffic and leads from local sellers should focus on producing this kind of content. Over time, you could create a virtual library of content geared toward this audience.
Lead Generation Takes Over from There
Okay. You’ve started a blog campaign, and your articles are beginning to show up in search engines for relevant keyword phrases. You look at your website analytics program and find that people are actually finding your site, when researching those topics.
So now what? What do you do with all of that website traffic?
Next, you’ll want to make sure your real estate blog or website invites the reader to take the next step. You want to encourage them to contact you in some way. This is how you get more listings via the internet.
Sure, most people know how to click on the “contact” link to find your email address and phone number. But it never hurts (and usually helps) to come right out and ask for that first contact.
Here’s one example that’s easy to implement. At the top of your housing-related blog articles, you might include a hyperlink that says: “Send me your housing market questions.” The link opens up an email, or takes the visitor to a contact form. The idea is to encourage people to ask you about the very topic they are reading — when they’re in the zone, so to speak.
Or maybe you encourage visitors to sign up your “market monitor” — a monthly email newsletter packed with local housing market insights.
Those are just two examples of lead-generation techniques you could implement across your site. There are many other methods as well. The point is, you want to make sure your website encourages people to connect with you in some way. Or multiple ways.
It’s a Marketing Marathon, Not a Sprint
It’s important to realize that search engine optimization and blogging are primarily long-term strategies. They’re a marathon — not a sprint. But the seeds you plant today could help you get more real estate listings in the months and years ahead. So it’s definitely a worthwhile investment.
Here’s what I mean:
Let’s say you publish an extensive, in-depth guide to selling a home in your city. Then you optimize it for key phrases like “Selling a home in [City].” Over time, that article could “pull” dozens of visitors to your website each week, via the search engines — or even hundreds of visitors per week.
And that’s a regular occurrence. It happens repeatedly over time, and without any ongoing effort from you. The website content you create today could help you get more real estate listings over the long term. And so it goes. Rinse and repeat. Publish more content … attract more visitors.
You could still use the “push” marketing techniques, if you wanted to. The difference is that you now have a stream of visitors and inquiries coming from your website, as a result of your “pull” efforts. And that’s a good position to be in.
Content Services to Help You Get Listings
Some agents choose to write their own blog content. Others struggle with it. That’s where I come in. I produce high-quality, highly optimized content for my clients, to help them get more listings, clients, traffic and exposure.
Granted, blogging and search engine optimization won’t transform your business overnight. It’s a long-term investment. But in time, it could help you pull local home buyers and sellers to your site, day after day. And that’s a good starting point for a web-based lead generation effort.
