Since 2009, one of the fields I’ve seen the fastest growth of online marketing focus is real estate. It’s a natural fit and the technology has evolved rapidly to provide some of the most powerful tools we’ve yet seen for displaying organic home listings for local visitors.
If you are a real estate agent, broker, or someone in the real estate field, you can benefit greatly from having an authority presence for your brand in your local area.
Yes there are some very big sites out there like Zillow and Trulia that are nearly impossible to rank ahead of, but this is a field where local authority can often trump national recognition. While someone just starting to look may like the suite of tools and mobile apps from a big name like Trulia, they will eventually want a local expert who can guide them in their search.
That can (and should) be you.
Here’s how to do it.
Write Content that Shows You Know the Area
One of the most successful types of content for real estate agents is local-knowledge based content. In Staten Island, people like Holly Wiesner Olivieri stand out for showcasing expertise on a very specific part of the island – in her case the North Shore. Do the same for your area.
- Write neighborhood descriptions for your area
- Write blog posts about upcoming events in your area
- Create a database of local resources
- Create links to local businesses that your readers can benefit from
Most location based information is user curated or sterilized by a big site. You can stand out by showcasing the stuff people are actually looking for.
Showcase Your Success Stories
When you help someone sell a home, find the perfect first house, or navigate a particularly complicated transaction, tell the world about it.
This kind of content not only shows readers that you’re good at your job, but it can be insightful as they see what types of issues they might face and what they should expect from a good real estate agent.
Build a Following Socially
Use social tools liberally to build a following, generate word of mouth and connect with people in your neighborhood. Every real estate agent should have a Facebook Page, YouTube Channel, Twitter feed, and LinkedIn account. The rest are optional, but those four will always help you reach your audience wherever they happen to spend the most time.
Leverage Your Offline Connections Online
You probably spend a lot of time each week networking with people in your area – other professionals, service providers, and local business owners. Why not leverage those connections online by swapping links, sharing information about those businesses, and getting in front of their audiences?
When people start to trust you for information about a local area, you can stand out as an expert much more easily through leveraging that expertise.
If you use the resources you’ve already developed as a real estate agent with the power of online tools like Facebook, Twitter, and a WordPress-based blog, you can reach a much wider audience and grow your business fast.
