We’re breaking our format a little bit with this post. In the course of writing articles for the blog on our main site, we end up answering a lot of questions that are probably also of interest to our readers over here. So below are some of the questions that we answer over there:
What’s the best way to go about updating your website?
- various real estate professionals
This question kept cropping up in various forms at a presentation given to real estate professionals. We decided it would be a good idea to tackle it here. Since this is a very broad question, the answer is going to be broad, as well.
Have a CMS
CMS stands for content management system. It allows you to make updates to your site and add content without needing to know a lot about web design and HTML code. With your special password, you can make edits to your site.
Have a Plan
The technical capability to update your site is only half the battle. Now you need to actually put some new content up. So what can you write about? Here’s a short list of ideas to get you started:
special events you are putting on
awards you’ve received
industry news
photos of the company holiday party
case studies of how you’ve solved problems for your clients
new products or services you’re rolling out
a video from the head of the company
recommendations on a tool your customers should be using
a book review
a testimonial from one of your clients
a guest post from one of your industry partners
a trivia quiz about the history of your company
a spotlight article on one of your clients
secret uses people never thought of for your product
a tool or service you wish someone would create
review of how the last year (or quarter or month) has gone
warning signs that someone may need your product or service
recognize an outstanding employee
publicly apologize for a mistake
preview of what’s in store over the next year
interview someone famous
You can’t say you don’t have any ideas. Now get to work!
What is the best marketing option for the money?
- realtor
The answer to this could vary based on your industry and audience, but in general we feel that you get the most value for your marketing dollar with a blog. A blog is a website (or part of your existing website) where you regularly post new articles, images, and even videos. It can be very inexpensive to create a blog, and the software is designed so that you can make the updates yourself instead of hiring a web developer for each change.
A blog does require a commitment on your part. While you won’t be spending a lot of money to keep the blog chugging along, you need to be adding new content regularly. That could be daily, and should definitely be at least weekly.
So that’s what you need to put into a blog, but what are you going to be getting out of it?
Home base for your social media – on Facebook, Twitter, and your other social networks you can direct people to your recent blog posts
SEO - search engines will rank your site higher (resulting in more web traffic) if you are frequently posting fresh, relevant content
Position yourself as the expert - regular blog posts will teach your followers to turn to you for the latest news in your industry
Dialogue with your visitors – the commenting dynamic of blogs allow you to get valuable feedback and make connections with your visitors
Ongoing contact - regular updates to your blog keep you in front of your audience
Ease of sharing media – photos, audio files, and videos are easy to share through your blog
Not quite convinced, yet? Check out what Seth Godin and Tom Peters have to say on blogging.
If you have a blog, what are you getting out of it? Is it worth the time you’re putting in?
You've landed at Get Back on the Road - a great community for business owners to throw out their marketing questions and get answers from seasoned professionals. Go ahead and get your ask on!
