WordPress Real Estate Websites And Real Estate Data Feeds Help You Win The Fresh Content Game

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wordpress real estate websites searchWordPress real estate websites are a game changer when it comes to fresh content.

This is the story with many brokers and agents. A few years ago he or she created a website. It looked nice at the time. A neat little package of home listings and information about the company.

The site ranked decently on Google and Bing for the neighborhoods they were farming. Not so much for the local market in general, but still showing up on the second or third page for searches.

Life seemed good. The agent felt good about their website and ready to move on to other projects.

Unfortunately, the internet does not work that way.

For one, there are quite a few people watching your website. Not only people, but robots (search bots as they are more commonly called).

Used to be in the old days, if you had content on your website that was relevant to certain keywords, say that neighborhood you are farming, your website would rank high in the search engines for those target keywords.

However, things have changed significantly from the old days of search.

Now Google and Bing have hundreds of factors they use to evaluate websites.

And one of those factors that continues to receive more emphasis is what’s called a “recency” factor.

In other words, how recent was your last update on the website?

How fresh is your content?

WordPress real estate websites offer advantages for fresh content

Web partners such as Home Junction Inc. offer several tools you can use when it comes to competing with others for the “freshness” factor.

Google and Bing know that consumers want to see new, updated and current content. These are consumers raised on finding quick answers to their questions. Those consumers will reward the most current sites with more visits and time spent on those sites.

The search engines know this. So they push those sites with fresher content closer to the top of the search rankings (although as we said, there are hundreds of other factors, including how many other websites link to a site and also the quality of those websites that link there).

In the past, many websites gamed the system by stuffing their pages with target keywords to gain ranking positions on Google or Bing. Many of those sites weren’t built by companies in the local market.

Then the owner of those websites moved on. Either to create similar sites in other markets for target keywords. Or to capture leads for businesses in those markets.

But how helpful are these sites to consumers?

Google and Bing determined that if these sites are not updating their content with fresh information, then they aren’t very relevant to consumers today. They don’t like stale websites.

Fresh content? Sounds easy. But like baking donuts, we all know that a baker has to get up early every day to keep his products fresh.

This is where Home Junction comes in. There are ways to make the process of creating fresh content easier.

WordPress websites for real estate

Let’s start with the website itself. How outdated is your web platform? Was the site created a few years ago? Is it clunky? Difficult to change?

Do you need to contact a web developer to add fresh content? Is there a long, cumbersome process involved in adding text, photos or videos?

If there is,  it’s time to ditch the platform. Switch to WordPress real estate websites.

WordPress is the leading content management software on the planet. It was designed for bloggers to make it easy for the average Joe and Jane to add text and images to their website. (As a side note, the website code was written for those bots to easily decipher the purpose of the website, which both search engines love. If a bot was capable of love).

The platform then evolved into creating full websites for businesses but with still all the efficacy and ease of the original blogging platform.

Many top brands use WordPress for their content. They include Bloomberg, Disney, Variety, The New Yorker and thousands of others.

With WordPress real estate websites, you can easily go into the administration panel, cut and paste some content into the text box, or write an article or blog directly on the website.

There are controls there to make the text bold, italic or underline it. You can easily add hyperlinks to other pages on your website or link to relevant outside websites as a resource for your readers (which by the way, is another factor Google and Bing use with their ranking algorithms).

Bottom line – WordPress is the fastest way to add fresh content to a website. A task of updating a website requires consistency, and a person certainly doesn’t want to jump through hoops to do it. In fact, it’s human nature. The more difficult it is to accomplish a task, the less likely that task will be repeated on a consistent basis.

But consistency with fresh content is a big factor for Google and Bing. They don’t just want to see you update your content every so often. They want to see a website that updates their content on a regular basis and will reward that website for their efforts (assuming of course, other ranking factors are being met).

Real estate data feeds provide reservoir of fresh content

Ease of updating is one of the keys to providing updates on your website.

The other is finding a source of new content.

That’s where Home Junction also makes this task easy.

Home Junction is a national and recognized provider of national real estate data that can be customized down to the local level.

That real estate data includes: Property Sales, Market Trends, School Data, Business Listings, Demographics, Crime Data, Cost of Living Indices, Boundaries and much more.

For brokers and agents, that data can be tailored to their specific markets – their counties, cities, zip codes and even further down to the neighborhood or subdivision level.

That content is constantly updated.

Talk about a resource for fresh content?

By just adding a few lines of code, a broker or agent can embed a feed of this hyper-local data onto any page of their website. Got listings in a certain neighborhood? You can order all this data, charts on recent sales, trends in prices, etc., just for that neighborhood.

A broker or agent can also use that updated content to blast out information on their social media sites – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn.

That relevant content will be liked and shared by people in those markets or seeking to move to those markets (social signals by the way, are yet ANOTHER factor that Google and Bing use in determining rankings. We told you things have changed dramatically).

Those Google and Bing bots are hard at work every day scanning millions of websites on the internet. Give them something fresh to report back when they come to your evaluating your website.

By switching to WordPress real estate websites with the right data and the latest plugins, brokers and agents can turn their old, outdated websites into powerhouses of fresh content.

 

 

 

Real Estate Plugins Can Help Home Buyers Who Need Roommates To Pay Their Mortgages

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real estate map tool

Real estate plugins can help young home buyers attract renters to help with their home loan payments.

Let’s face it, living in urban areas is incredibly expensive and the use of real estate plugins is one way to help home buyers get into a property with the idea of renting out part of it.

Yes, home prices and rental rates are going through the roof in some markets. San Francisco, New York, and Los Angeles are seeing record highs for prices. Ironically, Millennials want to move to urban areas more than ever. They are in essence, creating their own dilemma.

In addition, Millennials in most markets have held off the purchase of any property. They didn’t want to commit to a mortgage (even though, in another irony, mortgage rates are near record lows. A rate of 4% is still incredibly attractive compared to the 9% rates and higher we’ve seen).

One solution that is growing is a trend called “Co-Living.”

“What is co-living? It’s a concept that multi-family developers are now using to create “common” areas where several people can live together in one unit. Very similar to a dorm.

What does this have to do with a broker or agent?

Many home buyers today are looking at properties with the potential to rent part of the property out to help cover the mortgage.

It’s a smart strategy. The rental market is super-hot right now. If you own a home or condo in a decent location and can offer an attractive rate, you will get inquiries from renters.

This is where a real estate pro can paint a picture of how a property can be a good source of income.

And one of the best ways to paint that picture is with real estate plugins, such as the widgets offered by real estate data providers such as Home Junction.

Choose from a suite of real estate plugins

Sure, you can tell a home buyer this is a great location.

But why not SHOW them how that property is an ideal location on a map embedded on your website? Get the wheels spinning in the buyers head on how they can also use this information to attract renters.

For example, with the real estate map plugin, an agent or broker can point out a prospective property pulled from MLS data.

Then they can start displaying amenities within certain distances of that property.

Maybe it’s a coastal town and the property is located ten miles away from a beach.

Or perhaps it’s a hipster type town and the home is located three miles from downtown.

How about a plugin for local businesses in relation to a property? Alongside the listing, show a widget for businesses nearby. There’s a cool bookstore over here, just a mile away. Love Starbucks? Here’s a Starbucks and here’s a hip local coffee shop within a five-mile radius. A yoga enthusiast? Here’s a place where you can bend and twist within two miles. Sushi restaurants, clubs, book stores – point them all out in relative proximity to the home for sale.

That’s a powerful selling tool to attract renters…

 School data is a must for any real estate website

How about schools? There are quite a few single parents in society. They are all looking for inexpensive places to rent. Great schools would be an enormous draw and in fact, the main draw for them.

Provide a feed on your website with current school data plugin. Show buyers a comprehensive overview of schools in the area with student/teacher ratios, school demographics, etc. (Also provided by Home Junction).

What are trends for home prices in this area, a young home buyer might want to know. With a real estate plugin for Recent Property Sales, an agent can quickly give that consumer a sense of comfort that property prices have been trending upward in this market for the past few quarters.

Conversely, want to attract sellers in a hot market who have the perfect home that would appeal to renters? Offer the Home Junction Home Estimator widget. Sellers will continually use this plugin to check out the value of their property. One day they are going to decide to sell. Make sure they are on your website when they make this decision and have easy access to a lead form or a phone number.

The challenge of convincing consumers today to purchase a home might seem enormous in current conditions. Inventory is low. Prices are high. Millennials are still reluctant to take out a 30-year mortgage.

But real estate pros know challenges come with the territory.

What’s encouraging, is that today, with big data and geo-spatial technology, brokers and agents have an incredible array of inexpensive real estate plugins at their disposal. Tools they can display on their own website (and make sure they keep their clients on their website or generate their own leads).

Some consumers will want to consider adding renters as a home buying strategy. Maybe that’s the only way they can get in a home. That’s fine. You can help. And with key real estate plugins integrated into the local MLS, you will have the best tools to assist them.

 

 

 

How Property Data Can Make Those Critical Email Open Rates Take Off

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property data Property data is a must-have for any broker or agent who sends out email to customers.

Why?

Research shows that poor, unappealing content is the No. 1 reason why people ignore or even (oh no!) unsubscribe from emails lists.

Let’s face it. Every business person loves email. You can launch a message out to thousands of people with just the click of a mouse. For little to no cost. There are no stamps, no envelopes, and no post office.

Therein lies the problems. There are so many emails spewing forth onto the web that people have developed blinders on what’s coming into their inbox anymore.

Consumers have heightened filters for bad emails – they can pore over subject lines faster than an airport scanner and delete the trash quicker than the neighborhood garbage man.

And after all the work a broker or agent has to do to get those email subscribers, you certainly don’t want them hitting that dreaded “unsubscribe” button (a feature that is required by law by the way).

Sure emails are free. But it doesn’t mean a broker or agent does not have to invest both time and resources to make them effective.

Because if they don’t, their competitors will.

Take open rates for example.

Where are your open rates? According to MailChimp, an email delivery platform, the average open rate for real estate agents is 20.84%.

If your emails are not hitting that level, then you’ve got a problem. Not only that, you are leaving purchases and listings on the table. Your email is underperforming.

If you are hitting that level, why not make it better? After all, every increase in open percentages means more potential business.

The great benefit of email to brokers and agents is that you only need one response from an email blast, to make it more than worth the effort. Unlike someone who is selling a watch for $9.99. The price point you are dealing with is a bit higher, say 5,000 times higher.

But it goes even deeper.

Say you have successful open rates for your email blasts. That’s great.

But what’s the click-through rate? (See, we told you, the email landscape is a complex one).

The click-through rate is the number of people who open the email and then proceed to click on a link in the email to visit the website (and advance in that precious sales funnel.)

It’s a simple equation and frankly one that’s kind of fun to watch. The more a consumer advances, the more qualified they are as a buyer or seller. In other words, the more they move toward the site and around the site, the hotter they become as a leat).

According to MailChimp, the average real estate email has a clickthrough rate of 1.91%. Frankly, that’s not a great return for all that effort in building a list and sending out emails.

If your click-through rate is low, then again, you are leaving business on the table. But 2% is not much to rant about either. Plenty of opportunities there.

Property data adds power to your email content

How can you fix this?

The solution is a simple one – content. Interesting, relevant, hyper-local content.

Where do you get that content?

From property data providers such as Home Junction, Inc.

Home Junction is part of the new breed of BIG DATA providers who have the ability to amass a tremendous amount of real estate information from a number of different sources.

Those sources include government records on the county and city levels, information from schools, listings of businesses, etc. etc. etc.

One of the big advancements in BIG DATA has been the ability of these providers to feed that information to a local agent in Anytown, USA.

However, that agent doesn’t have to order giant bulky disks full of information. By implementing a few lines of code, that information is fed directly into an agent’s website on whatever page they want.

For example, if an agent is geo-farming That’s A Great Place to live community, the agent can insert hyper-local data about that community alongside listings.

That hyper-local data includes:

  • Recent Homes Sales
  • Trends for Property Prices
  • School Information including student-teacher ratios
  • Local Business listings based on distance
  • Demographics such as age and income
  • Crime Statistics
  • Cost of Living indices

And much more.

Add punch to those subject lines

Now’s that’s perfect content for an email blast.

Instead of just sending another listing, why not put something to this effect in the subject line?

“What You Should Know About The Local Housing Market”

“Prices Are Rising In Your Area. See Charts”

“See Latest Real Estate Data On Up And Coming Neighborhoods”

“Here Are Some Reasons Why You Might Buy In This Community”

Interested consumers will have an interest in this type of property data.

They know it’s not hype, it’s not salesy, it’s factual.

The beauty of email is that brokers or agents can experiment with different subject lines to see which ones get a maximum open rate.

Some systems even allow A/B split testing for email subscribers lists that have a large enough sample for a decent comparison of one subject line versus another.

They key point here is that you now have valuable data at your fingertips to promote – property data that is local, relevant, accurate and current.

Another beauty of finding great subject lines is that you can use them over and over again, with just a slight modification.

For example, with this subject line: “Check Out Latest Price Trends In My Favorite Neighborhood For July.” If you see this subject line works, all you have to do is change the month. Home Junction will supply a new bit of fresh data every month. It’s that simple.

Do the same type of experimentation to increase click-through rates.

You might not want to splash all that local property data directly on the email page.

Perhaps, just put in some teaser information with a link back to the real estate data on your website.

You could even experiment with putting a contact form someone on your page before the information, prompting people to fill out the form if they are interested in learning more about local listings or selling their property.

(But be careful with this, because any bit of friction before a user reaches their destination on a website might cause them to leave. Maybe put the pop-form after they visit the page. Home Junction can help with this as well).

There’s more to email marketing.

A broker or agent can segment their lists, for example. Just send certain emails to people interested I Want To Live There Neighborhood, for example.

The time and day are also important.

So is inserting the prospects name, etc.

Bottom line. Even with all those features, if you are not sending interesting content, you are not going to boost your open and click-through rates.

It’s that simple. All it takes is one phone call. Then you will give your email blasts a property data rocket to boost their marketing power.

 

 

 

 

School Boundaries On Your Website Will Get You High Marks For Local Knowledge

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school boundariesIf schools are one of the most important factors that buyers look for in a home, why don’t you have school boundaries showing prominently on your real estate website?

These simple lines on a map are one incredible selling tool for brokers and agents.

According to a study by the National Association of Realtors, the quality of school districts was the FOURTH most important factor for home buyers age 35 to 49. It was the SIXTH most critical factor overall. (As you know, every homeowner also knows the value of schools for property prices, even if they don’t have children).

School boundaries are extremely important to home buyers (and obviously to sellers in quality school districts as well).

A real estate data provider such as Home Junction can easily help a broker or agent integrate critical school boundaries onto their website.

Home Junction gathers giant geo-data sets of information on boundaries.

That data includes:

  • Neighborhoods
  • Subdivisions
  • School attendance boundaries
  • School districts
  • Zip codes

What’s important to note is that these datasets go down not to just the county or zip code level, but all the way to the neighborhoods and subdivisions in an area. This is crucial for school boundaries in particular.

By implementing a simple API (Application Programming Interface), which is basically a few bits of code, a broker or agent can make their website a powerhouse of this hyper-local boundary information.

Agents can feature school boundaries on their web pages

How is this accomplished?

Without getting too technical (Home Junction experts will be glad to explain the technical details if you want) those millions of bits of geo-data are organized to create points or coordinates. Those points are then translated into “shapefiles.”

A shapefile is basically a format for showing geo-metric locations when points are joined together into boundary lines. Those shapes basically look like geometric polygons or the outline of an area on a map.

As you can imagine, for a broker or agent to sit down and compile all this information and then draw all those maps would be, well, just about impossible.

And just when you think you may have completed such a monumental task, the cruel point is, boundaries frequently change.

Especially school boundaries.

Sometimes a school may have too many students and the school attendance zones need to be changed. Or perhaps a new school was recently built and a major shift will be required with all the boundaries in all surrounding neighborhoods.

On top of that, then you have those choice charter school and magnet schools that many parents covet for their children.

In addition to the school boundaries, Home Junction also provides details about schools in a text format showing addresses, contact information, principals name, etc.

They also have datasets on student/teachers ratios, etc.

Promote boundary data to buyers and sellers

Studies show owning a house in a popular school district will have a major impact on the price per square foot compared to homes in other areas.

These hyper-local school boundaries and information are hyper-important datasets.

When talking to potential buyers, are you just telling people about the school districts verbally by happenstance?

Or, are you the local broker or agent who has all these school boundaries laid out on a map integrated with a local MLS database into the website?

Which agent do you think house hunters will be more impressed with? Which agent do you think sellers in great school districts will want to list their homes with?

Which agent has a powerful feature they can promote on their home page? Which agent can promote these school boundaries on their social media sites?

At the end of the day, is your school information an A-plus or a D-minus?

When you display these valuable school boundaries on your website, you move to the head of the class for expertise on one of the most important questions posed by house hunters today.

 

 

 

How To Use Real Estate Map Plugins To Promote “Hang-out” Neighborhoods

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neighborhood artReal estate map plugins can boost the value of any neighborhood and when you look at how “hang-outs” are promoted in a place such as New York, there’s a strategy there for any area.

Whenever you see a TV show or read an article about listings in big cities like New York City, you always hear talk about “neighborhoods.”

In a market where a 900 sq. ft., condo with one bedroom, barely a living room and a tiny bit of sunlight is listed for $2.2 million, selling the neighborhood can be a critical factor.

In fact, the reason why that property is priced at that number, compared to a larger property on the other side of Manhattan, is because of that neighborhood.

In NYC, neighborhoods sell.

Different types of neighborhoods sell for different reasons.

For example, there are the “hang-out” areas. Places filled with cool, trendy bars and restaurants, where people do just that, hang out.

For Millenials, hanging out is important. While the property might be nice, at that small size, it’s also confining. Having a great place to go and get out with friends within a few blocks is a major, major selling point.

Conversely, some neighborhoods are known for their parks and places to relax, perhaps for an older couple. Throw in a relaxing coffee shop, library or bookstore as well.

These neighborhood factors are huge when it comes to major metro areas.

Buyers today want “hang out” places

For real estate professionals, why not use the same neighborhood factors when selling properties in Anytown USA?

Most brokers and agents do this. But how well do they portray the neighborhood as part of the entire property package?

Do they casually mention there is a cool sports bar around the corner?

Or do they utilize the right real estate map plugins to make a full court press and impress the heck out of buyers (and potential sellers) about the “hang-out” benefits of the area surrounding a property?

Home Junction offers one of the most popular real estate map plugins as a widget that takes neighborhood selling to a whole different level.

For one, the plugin is not just an ordinary map.

It’s integrated with MLS listings as well.

Therefore, an agent can pull up a property for sale on the SpatialMatch plug-in and then proceed to show the points of interest in the community surrounding that property.

For sports fans, they can show how that Buffalo Wings sports mega-bar is just a mile away. For music lovers, there’s that club around the corner that offers first-class local bands every Friday and Saturday night.

Who doesn’t love a cool coffee shop? A place where someone can sit down with a latte and a laptop and study for that nursing degree or write that must-see blog.

Studies show that neighborhoods with popular enterprises such as a Starbucks, Trader Joes, Whole Foods, have a higher value than neighborhoods that don’t.

Sure, many brokers and agents will say. I do tell prospects about those lifestyle amenities.

That’s the crux of the issue right there.

Do you tell….or do you show?

Real estate map plugins are visual hooks

Everybody knows most information is absorbed visually. Visual representations have a strong impact. A recent study conducted by a college professor found that when most people view properties, more than half hardly read any of the text.

In addition, the internet is the new real estate marketplace. And the internet is a visual medium by far. In fact, the populace is almost becoming attuned to visual information. Check out the growth of Instagram.

real estate map plugin

Home Junction’s real estate map plugin.

Visual information can be absorbed faster. It catches people attention. When you have a medium like the internet where people are clicking away faster than the speed of sound, brokers and agents would be wise to present their neighborhood pitch in a visual manner.

Therefore, don’t talk about hang-outs. Show them. Use Home Junction’s SpatialMatch real estate plugin to illustrate a home’s proximity to Starbucks, TGIFs and Urban Outfitters.

Those neighborhood amenities, especially for Millenials, are as appealing to them as a bedroom or a living room. In fact, one study found that close proximity to a cool neighborhood with hangouts was more important to young buyers than a backyard.

Backyards are for their moms and dads. These kids want a place to chill with their friends.

In addition, when a broker or agent has a somewhat drab listing, the neighborhood will probably end up being the main selling point.

Show sellers how you are going to boost the value of their bland property with your SpatialMatch geo-spatial tool. You are not going to present their home as just another “decent place to live”  but as a part of an appealing neighborhood package with all these other lifestyle amenities.

This is how they do it in NYC. One condo in a 30-story building looks just like every other condo. In today’s real estate market in cities such as New York City, those condos ain’t cheap.

As you can see on shows such as Million Dollar Listing in NYC, property owners can be very demanding.

Add SpatialMatch real estate plugins to your tool box.  Use the colorful, integrated maps to convince owners you are the agent that can sell their bland property at the top dollar they want…and then use those mapped-based tools to convince buyers they can buy a piece of that hot “hang-out” neighborhood.

 

Real Estate WordPress Websites Help Maximize Those Precious Share Buttons

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real estate wordpress websitesSuccess is in the little details and that’s why real estate WordPress websites can easily help you maximize every little detail of your website.

Take social share buttons for example.

Those are the little icons that go at the bottom (or top) of a web page and encourage people to share or like the content on that page.

Seems like a simple matter at first.

But for a real estate broker or agent, these buttons can be extremely important. And that’s another reason why using a WordPress real estate WordPress website, developed by WordPress experts such as Home Junction, are incredibly important.

Here’s why.

Those social buttons are ubiquitous. They are everywhere on the web. Too many people take them for granted.

Their value depends on who is posting the content that is hoped to be shared.

For a mom who writes a blog about a recipe for pecan apple pie, someone hitting one of those buttons and sharing the recipe can be kind of fun. Gives that mom a satisfying feeling that someone cared enough about her recipe that they decided to share it with their friends.

That’s nice.

Real estate WordPress websites make it easy to optimize

Now, take a page of content on a real estate website.

Using a real estate WordPress website, an agent can easily post a chart about real estate data on their website about recent home sale trends in a particular neighborhood. The data shows property sales are heating up.

The agent posts information about that chart (with a link back to their website) on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter.

The post catches the attention of several people. They visit the site.

A few of those people like the information so much, they decide to hit the share and like buttons at the bottom of the page. The chart now appears on their Facebook page and is seen by all of their friends (on average there are about 155 friends per Facebook user).

One or two of their friends are interested in that chart. One of them lives in that neighborhood and is thinking of selling their home. They contact the agent who posted the chart.

Another Facebook user knows someone who has thought about moving to that neighborhood. They share the chart with that friend. That person views the chart and contacts that agent about purchasing a property in that neighborhood.

Here’s an important point most people don’t realize. Humans like to share.

According to research:

– 49% of people say they share to inform people about things they care about and to encourage some sort of action

– 78% share because it helps them stay connected to other people

– 68% say they share information because it gives them a better sense about themselves and what is important to them

– 69% share information because it gives them a sense of involvement

As anyone can see, there’s a big difference between a mom sharing pie recipes and people sharing real estate market trends that result in hot leads and contacts for an agent.

A gigantic difference.

Constantly test position of buttons to increase shares

So why just take those social media shares and like buttons for granted?

Optimize them.

And one of the best ways to optimize anything on the web is with the leading web platform in the webiverse – real estate WordPress websites.

WordPress has a super easy back-end for brokers and agents to manage.

In fact, WordPress was first created to be the easiest platform for people to start a simple blog.

The superior coding caught on so well, that the developers of WordPress decided to offer it to business people as a way to build out a full website as well.

That decision resulted in WordPress becoming the leading web platform in the world.

Many brokers and agents might think, “Well, I have a website now, that shows my listings and descriptions, why change?”

Let’s go back to those little social share buttons.

With WordPress real estate websites set up by Home Junction, a broker or agent has the ability to easily experiment with the placement of those buttons.

For some content, place them at the bottom of the article.

For other content, place the buttons at the top of the content.

Place the buttons at the top and bottom.

Experiment with the look of the social share buttons. (Most plugins for social share buttons offer several variations to choose from).

Add more social share buttons for social media sites like Tumblr.

Delete some of the social share buttons if you just want to focus on say Facebook and Instagram.

Add an email share button for someone to send that content by their personal email to a friend, or even to themselves as a reminder to read later.

Like any marketing program, monitor the progress. Measure the number of shares and likes (they are counted).

Did your chart on Property Sales in My Target Neighborhood generate five shares one month? But the next month when you posted the new chart on Property Sales and you moved the social share buttons to the top of the page, you generated 12 shares on Facebook.

Here’s the point of owning real estate WordPress websites.

All this moving around is easy to do. You don’t need to hire a coder to rewrite the HTML code on your page to make the change. You don’t need to wait two weeks for that coder to find the time to make the change. You don’t need to wait for your web developer to return your phone call a week later.

A broker or agent can experiment with these changes on their own.

People like to share photos and information with friends and family. They like to help out people they know.

Researchers report that psychologically when web users share something important, it gives them a positive feeling. They get a warm buzz from being a helpful resource for their friends or family. In their mind, it elevates their status in the minds of their acquaintances. That’s their emotional reward. And they relish that feeling.

And as we pointed out, unlike the mom’s recipe for apple pie, one move that generates more social shares that reach out on the web could result in a buyer for a $550,000 home with three beds and three-car garage or a listing for a $750,000 home on WeWantToBeThere golf community.

Any successful business person will admit, it’s the attention to the little details that make a big difference.

Fortunately for brokers and agents, those little details can result in a big payoff.

Get a WordPress real estate website that helps you maximize those little details.

Don’t Fall Into The Listings Trap On Social Media, Post Appealing Real Estate Data As Well

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spcial media artReal estate data can be a tremendous resource to help brokers and agents compete on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

Compete you might say? Aren’t sites like Facebook just a community of friends? Aren’t posts supposed to be a steady stream of cat photos, vacation snapshots and what people ate for lunch? Isn’t it a good idea for a broker or agent to just throw up a listing every once in a while to see what sticks?

When it comes to social media, real estate professionals might want to pay more attention to shares and likes.

Frankly, it’s competitive out there in social media land, and for a broker and agent to take advantage of these platforms, they need the right tools.

Listings alone don’t cut it. Most marketing experts will tell you that real estate professionals fall into the trap of mostly relying on listings for their social media posts.

Sure, they might get some hits on the listing. It certainly impresses the seller.

But here’s why you need to take a bigger and broader approach to your social media strategies.

Let’s look at some interesting Facebook statistics.

There are currently 1.7 billion monthly active users. Remember when that number was 1 million? Facebook is obviously on a roll.

About 82% of people 18-29 years of age use Facebook. For people 30-49, that number is 79%. Talk about reach. The average Facebook user will spend 20 minutes a day checking out their pages.

If you want to know where people are hanging out online, Facebook’s the place (although Instagram is gaining rapidly with younger folks tired of Facebook).

Now, think about the potential influence each Facebook user possesses. The average Facebook user has 155 friends.  Women tend to have more friends, about 166 on average, compared to men, 145 on average.

They say in most towns, Facebook users can be linked to others by just four degrees of separation.

The right post can have tremendous local reach

What does this mean? If you post something that’s interesting, funny or important, that post could spread rapidly to just about everybody in a particular neighborhood.

So what are you going to post? Just listings?

As we said, listings are fine. But they are limited.

For example, not everybody on Facebook is going to be interested in a 5/4 home in the Too Ritzy Golf Community with a listing price of $995,000. And, if they are not interested in a property like that, they certainly won’t pass it on to their friends.

Conversely, not many 50-year-old professionals care about a 2/1 bungalow in a foreclosure sale (unless of course, they are investors).

Here’s the point. Most real estate professionals say they use social media to build awareness.

So why not post information from time to time that is universal in interest and has a high probability of getting shared and liked in the Facebook community?

Real estate data provides materials for better posts

That’s where real estate data can be a powerful tool.

Brokers and agents can easily partner with a real estate data provider such as Home Junction Inc. to gain access to an accurate, reliable and current database of hyper-local information.

By embedding a simple real estate data api (basically integrating a few lines of code into a website) a broker or agent will have a supply of information at their fingertips for attractive Facebook posts.

That data includes:

  • Recent Home Sales
  • Market Trends
  • School Information
  • Business listings
  • Demographics
  • Cost of Living Indices
  • Boundaries

Instead of posting a listing for a 6/4 house with a barn on 200 acres for $4.1 million that will appeal to very few Facebook users, why not post a chart showing the latest market trends?

Maybe that chart shows the number of property sales increasing in XYZ neighborhood. Any XYZ resident or person thinking about moving there is certainly going to be interested in that bit of information.

If they know someone who is interested in moving into that area they are very likely to share that chart with them as well. If they live there, they might just share that news with their neighbors at the next backyard barbecue (and mention where they saw that information).

The fantastic benefit of embedding this real estate data on your website, is that you can include a link so these Facebook users have to come back to your website to view it.

At the end of the day, attracting visitors to your website is what it’s all about. With the help of real estate web developers such as Home Junction, a broker or agent can set up lead capture functionality to gather these contacts.

Perhaps post a way for visitors to sign up for your email newsletter. Or provide a contact form for people to fill out if they are interested in a CMA about their property. Or post a number to call if they want more detailed real estate data about homes in a particular neighborhood.

Most Realtors include Facebook in their marketing

Real estate data separates the pros from the amateurs.

Because here’s another shot of reality about virtual media.

In a recent survey of Realtors, nearly 95% of them said they plan to use Facebook as a major part of their marketing strategy. That’s a lot of people on the same bus.

In fact, those surveyed said they plan to invest more time and money on social media.

In other words, the competition for Facebook users is intense. And it’s only going to get more intense in the future.

Sure, the platform is free. But like anything that is free, everybody’s going to want to use it.

More and more agents are also allocating ad dollars for Facebook. Why not? For a measly $5 to $10 an agent can boost a post to a target neighborhood, at a targeted age group with targeted interest (advertise a listing on a golf course for golfers, for example).

Again, there are plenty of other agents out there willing to spend their $5-$10 to boost their posts.

Listings are great. But in general, they don’t engage users who are not interested in that property.

Broaden your social media strategy. Post real estate data that engages a large number of users. Mix it up. Show market trends, home sale price trends, demographics, school information, etc.

Establish your brand as the real estate resource for the local community.

Show your local market knowledge. Point out to users how your site features comprehensive, in-depth real estate data tools to give them a true picture of the local market.

Even embed a “Home Value Estimator” tool on your website, also provided by Home Junction Inc. This tool is a no-brainer.

Everybody loves to look up the value of their own property, their neighbors, or one they are thinking of purchasing.

Don’t just paint yourself into a “listings box” on Facebook and other sites.

It’s a big world wide web out there. Be sure to provide a wide variety of local content and real estate data to be successful in that world.

 

 

How Agents Can Emulate Waiters And Use Real Estate Data To Gain The Trust Of Consumers

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real estate data menuThere’s a correlation between real estate data and the menu at a ritzy restaurant if you pay close attention to what is being said.

Let’s say one day you sit at a fine dining establishment, poring over a very complex menu, not sure what to order.

Should you ask the waiter for a recommendation? Naturally, you think, they will suggest the most expensive item in the joint and will probably never tell you if a particular dish is tasty or not, especially the priciest plates.

However, every so often you come across a waiter who is willing to tell it like it is. You might ask about a particular dish and they will tell you, maybe it’s not a good idea. They might note, that personally, they really don’t like that item.

A gutsy move. Certainly, one that the guy wearing the chef’s hat in the back and holding a meat cleaver would not want to hear.

Something special happens at that exact moment. The customer begins to trust the waiter. The waiter is not just giving the “all’s great” sales pitch. He is being honest and giving the consumer the negative as well.

So you order something else. And then perhaps you order the expensive wine he recommends. And the desert he brings by later.

This is a technique that many people in the restaurant use today. Who would think honesty would be a technique? But it this day and age of the constant hustle, a bit of honesty goes a long way.

Real estate data provides the facts, not the fluff

Think about how a home buyer or seller views a real estate agent. As they listen to a sales presentation, in many instances, they know they are being sold.

This property is fantastic. This property is a perfect fit for this couple and their family. The schools are great. The neighborhood is fantastic.

Sure, as a broker or agent, you want to instill enthusiasm for a property. You want to get the seller pumped up. Certainly, nobody wants to buy anything from a Debbie Downer-type person.

But what if you also brought up some possible negatives about a home in question?

With real estate data from national providers such as Home Junction, Inc., brokers and agents have access to an incredible range of information about a particular property and a particular neighborhood.

home price trends

Some of that information might be positive. Some might be negative. It’s data. Data doesn’t lie.

For example, there’s a couple who are interested in buying property in the Sunshine Groves neighborhood.

When the agent pulls up a comprehensive data set of information about that neighborhood, they learn several things.

That data set shows the trends in home sales, trends in prices, schools info, demographics, crime statistics, weather, etc.

When using the Home Value Estimator Tool also available from Home Junction, an agent can present a snapshot of where that property lies in relation to the general marketplace.

The home value tool shows the percentile ranking how a home might be positioned compared to other homes in terms of Size, Price, Price Per Sq. Foot and Age.

The couple is very interested in a home located at 123 Maple Lane. Perhaps the home is priced a little bit more than they budgeted. But it’s the right size with the right number of bedrooms with exceptional schools located nearby.

However, they do own a home now and have expressed a reluctance to move. Taking on a bigger mortgage is a big decision for them.

The agent walks them through the real estate data they pulled from Home Junction’s massive national database.

The home sales chart shows home sales are increasing in that neighborhood.

So are prices.

The schools in that area have exceptional ratings and a nice ratio of teachers to students.

The two buyers have college degrees and the demographics show there are a large number of residents in that neighborhood with bachelor degrees or higher.

All the data looks very appealing.

However, when the agent shows the results from the home value estimator tool, the couple notices that the size of the home is in the small percentile compared to other homes in the area.

Not exactly a plus.

They decide to make the move, put their home up for sale and buy the new home anyway.

One possible reason why? Trust.

Consumers will reward those who provide reliable information

By showing the home buyers the complete picture created by the real estate data, the agent was able to elevate his or her level of trustworthiness with the couple.

First of all, the buyers were able to review an incredible array of information about that property, not just a sales sheet from an open house and a few subjective comments from an agent.

This is hard data. True facts. Not conjecture or vague references.

Secondly, they could see the good and the bad. The agent did not try to sugarcoat ALL the information about the property.

By showing the buyers that the size comparison information, in the mind of the buyers, the agent became someone they could trust.

That agent was transformed from just a salesperson in their mind initially, to a consultant. An adviser. Someone who could give the buyers real and complete information to help them make one of the most difficult decisions they will ever make in their lives.

(Conversely, when approaching sellers, you could point out any negatives about their property…and how you plan to overcome them if they should come up.)

It’s the waiter with the recommendations all over again.

When reaching that tipping point of trust with that agent, consumers will want to do more with that agent . Perhaps they will list their home with that person. Or, they will call them again in five years when they are considering another move.

You can also be sure they will refer that agent to their friends and family.

In this day and age of hucksters and scams, people have their guard up. They are skeptical.

Savvy businesspeople will not focus on the sale, but on the relationship. On providing solutions and answers.

It’s amazing how far a person can go with just a little bit of honesty (and a comprehensive real estate dataset).

For the waiter, the payoff could be an order of cheesecake and a big tip.

For a broker or agent, the reward could be the sale of a $450,000 home with three referrals.

That’s the power of trust. That’s something that can easily be achieved with a full menu of real estate data in the hands of a trustworthy broker or agent.

 

 

 

 

Enhancing The Open House Handout With Real Estate Databases

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open house artReal estate databases can turn a golden opportunity into a platinum opportunity when it comes to open houses.

For years, meeting potential buyers at an open house has always been one of most reliable, time-tested ways to generate leads and new customers.

There are not too many instances in real estate, in fact in any aspect of business, where a potential customer takes the time on a Sunday to drive across town to see you.

There is a debate going on about this practice. In this digital age where buyers now don’t want to get in their cars, a huge percentage look for homes online from their living room.

But for many agents, open houses still work. Very well indeed.

In fact, according to the National Association of Realtors, sellers that were surveyed said in 2009 about 59% of the agents they used held an open house. In 2004, that number was 49%.

And of course, sellers do love to see those open houses as well.

So why do so many agents still use the same old one-page sheet printed out from the MLS listing to give to visitors? The one with the basic MLS info – square footage, key attributes like wood floors, types of utilities, etc.

Add real estate databases to impress and persuade

In 2017, with the resources that are available out there, why not step up your game?

Integrate real estate databases and a home value estimator tool. There’s a big opportunity here.

Let’s start with the real estate databases.

By teaming up with national and credible real estate database providers such as Home Junction Inc., a broker or agent can add a widget to their website which gives them access to an enormous bank of hyper-local information.

That information includes school data, recent home sales, home price trends, demographics, cost of living indices, crime ratings and local business listings.

Here’s a simple idea.

Print a second page for any open house handouts. Heck, just use the other side. Include key info from your hyper-local real estate databases.

Now, let’s take Mr. and Mrs. Aloof Buyer. They walk into the open house. They do their best to appear disinterested and display their look that says “we’re just curious and don’t bother us.”

They might be serious buyers. They might be semi-serious. Or, they might just have nothing to do that day and decided to stop by on their Sunday drive around town.

Doesn’t matter. You got something that could just tip any one of them into becoming buyer (and a seller).

Give these visitors the handout. The serious ones have probably already reviewed the basic information on the website.

Now, here’s the kicker, show them Page 2 with real estate databases provided by Home Junction.

For example, recent home sale trends. Point out, for example, home sales in this neighborhood or marketplace are booming. It’s a hot area. If you are truly interested in a property around here, you better move fast.

It’s the law of scarcity. A powerful law that can turn a looker into a buyer, a reluctant shopper into someone who is certainly very interested in making a move, not only to live there, but perhaps as an investment property.

Do the same with home prices. Show the charts for home prices in the area. Point out how those prices are trending upward.

Gee, this home is priced slightly LOWER than other properties in the area, a visitor might realize.

Better grab it.

Home Junction also provides a valuable Home Value Estimator tool, just like those available on the national real estate sites.

Included in that tool is a percentile comparison (shown below).

home value estimator

For example, the home estimation tool crunches the real estate data and spits out how that property compares to other homes in the market for several critical factors – Size, Price, Price per Square Foot, and Age.

Show the results to visitors. Perhaps this home is in the lower percentile for prices per square foot. That’s a bargain.

Or, maybe this is a relatively new home compared to others in the area. That’s a big selling point.

Promote the home estimator tool to all visitors.

Optimize return on investment in open house

You are the local agent. They are going to trust your insight into the local market. They are also going to trust the information and tools you provide about that market on your website.

Let’s recap what happens when those visitors leave.

For one, they will have a two-page handout with in-depth analysis of that property. If they visited other open houses and other agents, they will be impressed with the information you provide compared to the others.

That will go far in looking for properties…and selling their property if they already own in the neighborhood and are looking to upgrade or purchase investment properties.

Secondly, every visitor will now realize that your local real estate website has a home value estimate tool just like the national sites.

Why bother going to those sites anymore to check out the value of their home or other properties or other relevant data such as property sales? This local agent has the same features on THEIR SITE.

Consumers would rather deal with a local agent, someone who LIVES in the area, then a national site based thousands of miles away in another part of the country.

Brokers and agents invest quite a bit of time and money in preparing for open houses. There’s the printing, marketing, advertisements, e-mail blasts, social media posts, signage, balloons, snacks, etc. etc.

Make sure you maximize that opportunity to get a return on that investment. Stack up the info. All it takes is one customer.

When it comes to open houses and frankly any home presentation, for buyers and sellers, real estate databases on your website can make a difference, an effective, hyper-local difference.

 

 

What Can a Real Estate SEO Audit Reveal

What Can a Real Estate Website SEO Audit Reveal?

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Real estate websites provide essential local market data to potential home buyers by displaying MLS data in the form of listings.  While real estate websites can have the same SEO issues that other websites have, they tend to have a significantly larger amount of SEO issues due to the large amounts of data they process through MLS feeds.

Pagination And Large Data Sets

One of the largest SEO issues that occurs is Pagination.  Pagination can happen in a significant way on real estate websites with big data sets.

Example:

You are displaying MLS listings on a Geo farm page, that is well optimized for SEO.

Elements this page has:

  • Page title
  • Static content
  • Heading tag (h1 tag)
  • Sub-Topic heading tags (h2 tags)
  • Call to action heading tag (h3 tag)
  • Internal links to other Geo Farm Pages
  • Displays up to (12) MLS Listings
  • Meta Description

Pagination and Duplicate Content

As we can see above, the properties of the page look great.  Where things can get confusing is when there are more properties in the MLS feed then can be displayed on one page.  As stated above, the page will display up to 12 MLS listings. If there were 120 MLS listings in this Geo farm and the MLS feed, there would be 10 pages of content, with each page sharing the same page elements listed above.

Does A Duplicate Content Penalty Apply?

In this instance the content is not maliciously being duplicated, so there should be no penalty, however, Google can become confused as to what page to rank, as there are ten pages sharing the same information.

What different duplicate content signals does this send?

  • Duplicate page titles
  • Duplicate static content
  • Duplicate h1 tags
  • Duplicate h2 tags
  • Duplicate h3 tags
  • Duplicate internal links
  • The MLS listings are the only unique content on the page
  • Duplicate meta descriptions

What Other Pages Can Be Seen As Duplicate Content?

  • Category Pages
  • Tag Pages
  • Agent Pages
  • Author Pages
  • Archives
  • Archives by Date
  • Sub-Archive Pages

Basically, any page that displays content that has been published elsewhere on the website is considered duplicate content!

Typically these pages do not provide any static content, and serve more as an internal search result.

In the end, the functionality may be great for web visitors to find content they are looking for on the site, however these pages should be set as NOINDEX and their sitemaps should be excluded from the site, as they provide little to no value to Google.

Keyword Cannibalization

Sometimes when Google gets confused on which piece of your content to rank, it affects your content from ranking well in Google. This can lead to lower rankings, the wrong content ranking, or no rankings at all!

A perfect example of this is when categories and tags on a blog post compete for the optimization of a Geo Farm page that is displaying MLS listings.

This is called: keyword cannibalization

 What Other Issues Can An SEO Audit Reveal?

  • A lack of a keyword strategy targeting Geo based keywords with search volume for Geo farm pages. Geo farm pages can reveal good local search volume:

Geo Farm Pages, Keyword Search Volume Opportunities

Keyword research is key to forming a topical keyword strategy.  Search volume is a part of this strategy as Geo farm pages with poor focus keywords may rank, but not provide a substantial amount of incoming leads.

Start your keyword research strategies with the below formulas:

{Geo} Real Estate

{Geo} Homes For Sale

Of course there are variations when you start looking for search volume around communities in a Geo.

  • Lack of a local Geo based keyword strategy for sub-topics in content
    • The use of Geo based sub-topics can help sell the location by demonstrating attractions, amenities and resources.
    • The use of Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) keywords helps Google to better understand what the page is about.
    • Having your hyperlocal content be strategically written, so that it links to neighboring Geo farm pages, that border the current Geo farm page helps indexation, and is a good strategy for showing related local communities.

On Page SEO Issues:

  • Duplicate page titles
  • Missing page titles
  • Geo based keywords in title with search volume?
  • Page title character limit issues
  • Duplicate meta descriptions
  • Missing meta descriptions
  • Meta description character limit issues
  • Duplicate h tags
  • H tags found in navigation as a class
  • H tags found in design instead of CSS
  • H tags not utilized within copy as sub-topics
  • Hierarchal h tag issues
  • No self-referencing canonical URLS
  • Google mobile friendly test issues
  • And more…..

Off Page SEO Issues:

  • Is the website’s link profile made up primarily of business citation websites?
  • Are the linking websites selling links as a link scheme, or providing easy access through automation?
  • Are links built only to the home page?
  • Are links built to the Geo farm pages?
  • Are the linking websites topically relevant sites?
  • Do the websites who link have a relevant link profile to the real estate market?
  • Are there spam websites and websites that do not conform to Google’s webmaster guidelines?
  • Does it appear that link manipulation is taking place?
  • Who is linking to the competition?
  • What link opportunities are being missed based upon content on the site?

Want to learn more on what you can discover in a SEO audit for a real estate website?

Home Junction’s Next Webinar:

10 Steps to Discover SEO Issues in a Real Estate Website

During this free LIVE webinar you will learn…

  • How Google Crawls and Indexes Your Content.
  • What Google Sees as Duplicate Content
  • How Duplicate Content Affects Your Content Rankings
  • Why Relevant Content is Critical to Local, Organic Rankings
  • How Off Page SEO Helps Push Rankings
  • Plus Live Q&A and much more….

Webinar Times & Reservation

Register today space is limited to 500 seats

Thursday, October 5th at 3:00 PM Pacific, 6:00 PM, Eastern – Register Here

To Create Web Appeal You Need Real Estate WordPress Themes

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wordpress real estate websitesIn this internet age, real estate professionals should spend more time working on the web appeal of their listings instead of focusing on the actual curb appeal.

A professor from Old Dominion University discovered some interesting observations of consumers in a study titled “Toward An Understanding of Real Estate Home Buyer Internet Search Behavior.”

Prof. John Seiler study used a device called “ocular tracking technology” to find out what buyers looked at when they viewed a real estate page on the internet. He also cited the importance of “eye-tracking” in getting to the true behavior of subjects in the study, as opposed to conducting surveys or focus groups.

Bottom line: eyes don’t lie.

Seiler reported that the main photograph for a home listing, the curb appeal shot, was viewed TWO TIMES LONGER than any other photograph in the mix. Consumers spent on average, more than 20 seconds staring at that main photograph.

Their eyes wandered all over the photo, checking out every aspect of the property. It’s as if the subject tried to absorb as much information as they could while waiting for some sort of emotional lever to click to see if they liked the home.

Some people might scoff at 20 seconds. Think it’s not much time. But understand, on the web, if you get anybody to look at anything for more than 3 seconds, you’ve hit a digital home run.

An agent might think, well, I did work with the seller on making their home look nice and tidy.

But what about the photograph? Who shot the photograph? Did they get the right lighting? Did they pick the best angle? Is it composed properly? Does the photo “pop” on the page?

And then this is key, you can help a homeowner get their house ready as best as possible. You can shoot or arrange for spectacular photographs of the property.

But if your website is not maximized for displaying those photographs, then all that effort will be for naught.

Today’s home buyer looks for web appeal as much as for curb appeal. As we know, the majority of home searches start on a couch, not driving around in a car as once was the case.

Those listing photos on a website have to sing. They have to jump off the page. Grab someone’s attention.

Not only do web visitors spend time looking the main photo, but Prof. Seiler’s study shows more than 60% of their time was spent just looking at photos. Not the text.

Sorry to report this. But he said more than 41% of visitors in the study never bothered to read the agent’s comments.

Photos dominate.

Real estate WordPress themes provide more photo options

This begs the question. What sort of web platform as your using to display those photos?

Are you using an old and clunky internet website where the photos are small and don’t jump off the page and grab the visitor? Are you using a website theme designed specifically for real estate?

Are you using a web platform where you have to ask a developer to load your photographs for you?

If you can load the photographs yourself, does it take forever? Is it easy to add captions?

Can you maximize those photos for the search engines by adding target keywords? Is it easy to add a link from that photo to another page? Can the photograph be resized easily?

When was the last time you revised or upgraded your website? How do you go about giving your real estate website a fresh, exciting new look?

What’s the best answer to all those questions?

Real estate WordPress themes.

That’s the answer. This easy to use content management software is used by nearly 30% of website owners today and it continues to grow as people abandon outdated and awkward platforms. (The second leading web platform is used by only 6% of web owners).

display real estate photographs

Real estate WordPress themes are considered the best platform to optimize the display of homes for sale photographs.

User-friendly WordPress content management software is used by nearly 30% of website owners today and it continues to grow as people abandon outdated and awkward platforms. (The second leading web platform is used by only 6% of web owners).

The usage is so intense that there are reportedly 88,888 blogs posted every hour (which as you know, includes a bunch of images) and more than 2.13 million per day. How’s that for an endorsement?

WordPress was first designed by developers at Automattic to provide a simple platform for novice bloggers. It was also designed to be easily scanned by Google and Bing robots to determine relevance and rankings.

It became so popular, that eventually a full website version was created. Companies such as Home Junction now use this efficient software to build custom WordPress real estate websites for brokers and agents.

Sure, WordPress is incredible when it comes to adding textual content. There’s a simple box in the middle of the screen where you can type or paste text. There are WYSWIG commands so that a person can easily make the text “bold” or “italic” or even a different color.

It’s easy to insert a link. Add tags. Create sub-heads.

As you can imagine, WordPress applies the same simple controls to add images as well.

A broker or agent can easily insert a photograph into a blog or onto a page.

There are controls to resize the photograph, add a caption, add a link or add some tags.

What’s even better, is that WordPress is an open-source platform, which means developers have been busy for years created thousands of useful plugins for web owners.

There are dozens upon dozens of plugins for photographs. Use these plugins to create brilliant Photo Galleries. Or to make photographs leap off the screen.

A WordPress real estate website company such as Home Junction can help you build a website that enhances how your listing photos will appear on a page.

Web appeal is the new curb appeal. Get the best tool to display photographs out there.

Seriously consider switching to a WordPress real estate website, your buyers will spend more time there and your sellers will certainly be impressed.

 

 

 

 

 

How To Use Real Estate Data To Write A Blog When You Don’t Feel Like It

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real estate data for blogsIt’s okay for real estate professionals who write a blog to admit sometimes it’s just a big pain and that’s when real estate data can come to the rescue.

Let’s face it. For busy brokers and agents who manage everything from open houses to newspaper ads to home stagings, finding the time and motivation to write can be difficult.

Of course, that’s putting it mildly. Writing a blog on certain days can be downright agonizing.

Follow these simple tips from pro bloggers

Don’t fret. Here are a few tips to help you get something down on a page even when you find it difficult to write.

  1. Write as though you are talking to a friend

First off, this is the blogosphere, not a Nobel prize contest. Don’t try to be Ernest Hemingway or JK Rowling.

In fact, don’t even think of your blog as any type of fine writing.

Think of it more as a conversation.

Pick a topic and then write about it as though you were telling a story to a friend.

Don’t worry about finding the perfect word, or the right descriptive sentence. Frankly, your readers don’t care.

They just want to get to the essence of what you are trying to say. So talk to them by writing the way you speak.

  1. Make just one or two points

People are busy. The attention-span for web users is beyond limited. Think in terms of seconds, not minutes.

Don’t try to write a dissertation on all aspects of real estate in modern-day America.

Just pick one or two key points. That’s all you will have time to present and all readers will want to know.

If you have multiple topics in mind, pick one or two and save the rest for the next blog. You will always need ideas for blogs. Just don’t use them all at once.

Real estate data will provide plenty of topics

  1. Use real estate data to add credibility to your blog

Here’s where real estate data can make your blogging life much easier.

By partnering with a reliable real estate data provider such as Home Junction, you will have access to a wealth of data about the communities in your marketplace.

Data on Recent Homes Sales, Sales Trends, Demographics, Crime Stats, Cost of Living Indices, etc.

Pick one and write about it.

Use the data you get from Home Junction to back up your commentary.

Point out how home prices in XYZ community are starting to rise. Or, let people know that homes are selling like hot cakes in ABC town over here.

Maybe there are some interesting demographics about a particular community. For example, you may notice that many people in the P&J subdivision have doctorates. Perhaps a bunch of professors from the local college are all flocking to one area.

Another item to point out are what types of homes are selling. Perhaps high-end homes are selling in one area as opposed to home sales in the county overall. Compare one community to another.

(By the way, you can point out how consumers can visit your website and use your Home Valuation Tool to see find their own estimate on the value of their home. This will give them tremendous insight into the status of properties surrounding that home and their particular marketplace. People love this functionality. Why not? It provides credible real estate data on the most expensive thing they own.)

  1. Show, don’t tell

Are the words still not coming to you? That’s fine. Add pictures.

Use screenshots of charts to provide images that elaborate on the real estate data you are discussing.

People love images. That’s why Instagram has a gazillion followers. Instead of trying to think of how you can add more paragraphs to the page, think of adding screenshots of different data charts.

Show the trend line for recent sales in one community. Or the direction of home prices in another community.

An image says a lot. And that’s a lot of words you don’t need to add in your blog.

real estate data charts

  1. Get the content on the page, then take a break

Here’s something that might surprise you – not even Ernest Hemingway could write a great page of text on the first try. In fact, he’s famous for admitting “First drafts are ____________.” (You fill in the blank).

Rather than squeeze your brain hoping for the right words to get out, just start typing something. Anything.

Eventually, things will start to flow.

After you write your first draft, go take a break. Do something else.

Then come back and edit what you’ve written. The second draft will be much better.

Rewrite again if necessary. Read the text out loud. Proofread what you’ve written one more time and you are probably ready to publish.

(If you use a WordPress real estate website, all of this writing, rewriting and posting images is much easier to do. With WordPress, you can also add plugins that will help you optimize that page for the search engines like Google and Bing. WordPress provides so much versatility for real estate professionals in this day and age that it really should be the platform of choice).

Bonus tip: Be passionate

This tip should really be number one but we made it last because we want it to be the icing on your content.

As a blogger, you don’t necessarily need to be a wordsmith. Especially if you are a broker or agent.

People don’t expect you to be a whiz with a keyboard. In fact, if your writing is too lofty or verbose with big fancy words, you will turn people off.

But what you can do to put zing into your prose is to be passionate. Show enthusiasm.

Get excited about a new subdivision opening up in your area.

Use a real estate map plugin to show where a new school is being added to the neighborhood.

Let your feelings jump up and down on the page (figuratively, of course).

For example, perhaps your local real estate data plugin indicates home prices in one particular neighborhood are finally starting to rise after years of being stagnant.

Maybe you know a bunch of homeowners who live there. You know they have been waiting anxiously for their properties to appreciate like other neighborhoods. Get psyched up. Be the provider of good news (positive real estate data). Act like a cheerleader for their properties.

As you can see writing a real estate blog does not have to be a big chore. Follow these tips.

Remember to:

  • Make your writing seem more like a conversation with a friend
  • Get the words down on paper, no matter if they don’t totally make sense or the writing is sloppy
  • Provide some images or screenshots
  • Show enthusiasm about properties, neighborhoods and recent data updates
  • Refer to that bank of hyper-local real estate data offered by providers such as Home Junction to make the whole endeavor a whole lot easier