Wondering how to get leads from blogging in your real estate business? Here’s one insanely easy tactic you can start using today (FREE templates included)
This is so well established and proven that it’s no longer even up for debate: Blogging works. It’s one of the best ways to get free, organic traffic to your site from search engines. Thing is… You still need a way to turn that traffic into real leads. That’s what today’s post is all about: How to get leads from blogging.
Let’s dive in.
Get Leads From Blogging, Step #1: Get Traffic To Your Blog
The first step required to get leads from blogging is to create blog posts that your target client will actually want to read.
This will help you get organic traffic through search engines, and help you get more clicks when you share your blog posts on social media.
To build any kind of following on your blog, you’ll need to create blog posts that go beyond “the steps to buying your first home” or “The July Real Estate Market Report.”
You need to create JUICY articles that get people’s attention, even if they’re not ready to buy a house right now.
The best way to do this is with community news and creative listicles.
Because one of the biggest challenges in real estate is that there are so many bad agents out there, and the average person doesn’t know how to spot the good ones.
So it’s not enough to say you know the area, or say you’re a “trusted” agent in the community.
You need to prove it.
And offering good blog content is a great way to do that.
So first, community news. Here are some examples:
“The Downtown Expansion Controversy: Why The Expansion Is Good, And How You Can Support It”
“Top 5 New Spokane Businesses: Say Hello To These New Local Entrepreneurs”
“Farmington Public Schools Just Took a Major Hit – Will Your Kids’ School Be Affected?”
The goal with these articles is to establish yourself as a credible authority for what’s going in the community. Because people buy an area or neighborhood before they choose a specific home. If they trust YOU when it comes to all things local, chances are good that they’ll reach out to you when they’re ready to buy or sell a house.
The next category of article is “Listicles”
A listicle is, according to Google, “a piece of writing or other content presented wholly or partly in the form of a list.”
People LOVE to skim through lists about interesting topics. Check out sites like BuzzFeed.com and almost all of their articles are in listicle format (“21 Pictures That Will Restore Your Faith in Humanity”).
These are the types of articles that get clicked and shared like crazy on Facebook. Examples you might consider creating are:
“27 Shady Grove Interior Designs That Will Make Your Jaw Drop”
“14 Dallas Kitchens That Make Foodies Crazy Jealous”
“12 Historical Places You Didn’t Know Existed In Salt Lake City”
The possibilities with listicles are endless. People love clicking them, reading them, and sharing them.
Plus, they’re easy and fun to write.
So…
START MAKING LISTICLES!
After you create a few, share them to Facebook, and see which ones get a positive response, you’ll get a feel for what kinds of content your followers like the most.
The fastest way to get more traffic is to make stuff people actually want to read!
Get Leads From Blogging, Step #2: Hook Your Blog Traffic With A “Lead Magnet”
Okay. So you’ve started creating some juicy content that your ideal client would like to read. That solves the first challenge: Getting traffic to your site.
The second challenge that must be solved to get leads from bloggingis to capture the information of your blog readers with something marketers call a “lead magnet.”
You can experiment with a variety of lead magnets, but they are typically some kind of ebook download.
Don’t have an ebook? Download a free, customizable ebook here (via Easy Agent Pro):
FREE EBOOKS!
To keep it simple, it’s often best to pick one squeeze page and link to it in all of your relevant blogs.
For example, if you focus more on first time buyers, you may want to try the “Buying Your First Home” ebook.
In any of your blogs that are relevant to first time home buyers, you can insert a simple text link at the top of your blog post, like this:
And at the bottom of your blog post, like this:
Or if you have some graphic design ability, or know someone who does, or you don’t mind paying for it, you can also try inserting a “banner ad” into these posts. Like this:
Think about it. There are ads on most articles people read online. Those are there to capture some of the traffic that flows to that article…
You can (and should) do the exact same thing to get leads from blogging!
If you’re not using “ads” on your own articles to get leads from blogging, you are missing out on free leads!
Get Leads From Blogging, Step #3: Use a Squeeze Page to Capture Leads
Once someone clicks one of the “ads” you’ve placed in your blog post, where do they go?
The best thing to do to get leads from blogging is send them to a squeeze page dedicated to capturing their information. Like this:
The nice part about this is that you only have to make ONE landing page.
You can then use the same link across any of your blog posts that would be relevant to first-time home buyers.
Just point all of your “ad” links to this same landing page.
Get Leads From Blogging, Step #4: Convert Your Leads With Automatic Email Sequences
The basic gist is that once someone gives you their information in exchange for the download, the easiest thing to do is put them into an automatic email sequence.
This strategy sparks conversations with leads who are ready to talk now, and nurtures those leads who aren’t ready to talk to an agent just yet.
An Important Reminder…
This simple strategy will help transform your website from a passive traffic generator into a lead capturing machine.
As your site traffic grows, using Calls To Action and Lead Magnets will capture a certain percentage of that traffic.
BUT…
It’s important to keep in mind that blogging is a long-term strategy. The longer you do it, the better it works.
So don’t publish one blog with a link to a squeeze page and expect leads to start flooding in.
This is a strategy you execute over time with your regular blogging schedule and, over time, you’ll start to capture a steady flow of leads.
Not the sexiest strategy ever. Agreed.
But if you’re consistent with it, this strategy gives you a steady flow of leads… without cold calling… and without spending money on paid ads.
That’s powerful.
But if you need leads NOW, then the best course of action…
Is to pair this long-term lead generation strategy with a more immediate lead generation strategy like running Facebook ads.
MASSIVE Shortcut…
If you don’t have the time or interest to blog yourself, check out LeadSites. (via Easy Agent)
We give you two blog posts per week that post automatically to your site. With the blogs done for you, all you have to do is add your custom links to your Squeeze page.
It really couldn’t be easier.
Owner & Operator,
Chad Hett
The Elite Group
Largest Home Inspection Company in North America
Best Selling Author “Secrets Of Top Producing Real Estate Agents: And How To Duplicate Their Success.”
