Launching a new real estate blog can feel insanely overwhelming!
Especially if this is your first blog ever.
With so much real estate stuff in your plate, you may be thinking that you must have been batshit crazy to add your blog to your eternally growing to-do list.
First of all, I want you to know it is okay to feel that way…
BUT…
You are NOT crazy and launching your real estate blog IS THE BEST FUCKING THING YOU COULD BE DOING FOR YOUR BUSINESS!
So take a minute and pat yourself on the back, pop a bottle, do a little happy dance and know that you are on the right path at this moment.
When done correctly, a real estate blog can completely eliminate all of your other lead generation needs and expenses, generate passive income for you, and allow you to spend more time doing the things you love instead of cold-calling or door-knocking - bleh.
However, before all of the clients and cash can start pouring in from your blog, you need to take care of some of that tedious admin stuff.
Today, I’m sharing with you 8 of the most vital admin tasks you need to tackle to help your real estate blog start reaching its full potential. If you get confused or hit a roadblock along the way, I urge you to reach out to me for help. That’s what I am here for!
1. Delete Your Intro Post
I hate to break this one to you because you have probably already done it but your real estate blog should not have a “Hi everybody my name is Joe and this is my blog” post.
These posts are not only redundant, they tend to be long-winded posts in which I’ve noticed many real estate agents drone on forever about who they are and why they got into real estate.
I hate to break it to you but nobody cares.
The entire point of a real estate blog is to entertain, solve problems, and attract your ideal clients on auto-pilot.
A long bio about how you like horses and classic novels doesn’t accomplish any of that so skip the intro post and leave that stuff for your personal conversations with clients.
2. Set Up Your Subscriber Opt-In
One of the main purposes of your real estate blog will be to grow your email list.
You can’t do that if you don’t have an obvious place where people can subscribe and join your weekly newsletter (yes, I suggest you send a weekly newsletter).
There are tons of email marketing software programs out there for all budgets and personal preferences and many of them will integrate with your website to allow your readers to opt-in.
Since your email list is one of the most valuable assets in your entire business, I highly recommend you read my article about how to properly craft your opt-in before you complete this step.
3. Set Up Social Media & Sharing Links
Since you (or your real estate ghostwriter - ahem maybe me?) are going to be creating very valuable and hyperlocal content, your readers are going to be eager to share your blog with their network right?
It is your responsibility to make this as easy as possible for them to do!
Make sure that you provide links to all of your social media accounts in a very obvious position on your blog and add social sharing buttons for them as well.
You would be surprised at how many real estate blogs fail to do this but it can seriously make a significant impact on your success.
4. Set Up Your Contact Form
In many cases, your readers may have questions, comments, or concerns that they will want to share with you in response to articles on your real estate blog.
Furthermore, you should often include calls to action to have your readers get in touch with you to build out your relationships and convert subscribers into clients.
This means that you need to include a working contact form on your blog. The footer is usually the best place for this.
Once you have set up your contact form, be sure that you test it is working correctly by submitting a message of your own.
If it is at all possible, try to set up a process that you will be immediately notified via email or otherwise when someone contacts you through the blog.
If the sender is an interested buyer or seller, statistics show you need to respond to them within four minutes before your chances of converting them practically disappear forever.
5. Get Going WIth Google Analytics
As a brand new real estate blogger without an established website, it is unlikely that you have implemented Google Analytics yet, but you sure do need to.
By setting up your Google Analytics from the beginning, you can track which posts and pages of your real estate blog are popular, see how people are finding your site, how they are navigating through your site, and so much more.
Many of my clients have noticed dramatic shifts and improvements in their Google Analytics traffic and results from the first days and weeks of starting their real estate blog and I would love to have you enjoy those same results. This is a fantastic way of tracking some of the ROI of your content and deciding on which topics you might want to attack on your blog next.
Don’t worry you won’t need to be a techie to set up your account because Google has made it simple enough for a toddler to follow.
6. Activate Commenting
Allowing people to leave comments on your real estate blog is a great idea because it will allow you to begin building your relationships with your readers, answer questions to further demonstrate your knowledge, and gain insight into the questions your subscribers have.
As an added bonus, comments on your blog are read by Google as content updates to your website which means that you will receive a tiny but true boost in your SEO.
In the beginning, it is unlikely that you will receive a ton of comments on your blog but don’t be discouraged. This is one of those things that often just takes time.
I also don’t want to see you become obsessed with checking for and responding to comments. While it is definitely important to respond to every comment, you don’t need to do it right away. Checking and responding to comments once a day is sufficient enough.
If you are concerned about keeping up with comments, you can (and probably should) outsource the task to your assistant.
7. Create A Content Calendar
I can’t stress enough to you how important it is that you create a content calendar for your real estate blog and stick to it.
Personally, I plan out my content one quarter at a time. This means that four times a year, I sit down to brainstorm, write, and schedule all of the upcoming articles for this blog.
By time-blocking, my set-it-and-forget-it approach allows me the peace of mind of knowing for months at a time that there will be fresh content posted to my site, sent out through my newsletter, and share to all of my social media.
Let’s be honest here, life gets in the way and if you try to go day-by-day or week-by-week things will distract you and destroy your VERY IMPORTANT posting consistency.
Just like going to the gym, it can be all too easy to skip one post and fall off the wagon altogether.
Eliminate excuses and create a strategic content calendar.
8. Start A Real Estate Blog Post Spreadsheet
When you are first starting out and just have a handful of posts, it might feel like forever before you will amass a true library of custom content.
However, take it from me that your library can grow very quickly and constantly digging up those older articles can become time-consuming and tedious.
In the first year of this blog, I found that I was spending hours tracking down old articles to answer people’s questions on social or share in relevant conversations.
That’s when I decided to create an easy grab-and-go spreadsheet where I now keep all of my articles, videos, podcasts, landing pages etc.
To create the spreadsheet, I added a tab for each type of content (blog, podcast, etc.). Then on each tab, I put the title of the content in the left column and the link in the one right next to it. Even though I have nearly 200 pieces of content now, it only takes me seconds to find relevant articles, videos, and podcasts because I can search by topic or title.
Want More Help With Your Real Estate Blog?
I have so many ways to help you make the most of your real estate blog.
The first and most obvious is that I would love to write it for you! If you would like to get a free consultation with me, you can do that here.
In addition to providing custom real estate blog writing services, I offer oodles of free content for you on this blog, through my weekly newsletter, on all of my social, YouTube and my podcast.
I even host a Blogging For Real Estate Leads FB Group and I would love to have you join us in there to share ideas, solve your blogging blunders, and discuss this insanely profitable craft.
