Adding community pages and blogging about the communities you serve will identify you as an expert. And what buyer or seller wouldn’t prefer to work with an expert in his or her chosen community?
Community pages serve two important purposes.
First, they help would-be buyers decide where they want to live!
When I write a community page, I include things such as:
- Location
- Notable aspect (ie: affluence; greening; golfing; school sports; waterfront)
- Real Estate market
- History
- Today – what the community is known for, events that changed the community
- Recreation and activities – places to go, things to see and do
- Annual events
- Night life
- Jobs – major employers – commute time
- Education, including colleges, universities, and trade schools within 100 miles.
- Shopping
- Dining
- Lodging
- Transportation – airports, both commercial and private
Second, they show prospective clients that you know your community!
Some agents declare that they “know this area inside out” when they really don’t. You can demonstrate that you do know the area simply by writing about it in a community page.
With that in mind – should you decide to hire someone like me to write those pages, do be sure to know what they say! You wouldn’t want a prospect to ask you a question you couldn’t answer.
Third, they help bring you generic search engine traffic.
While you can never compete with “the big guys” for a search term such as “homes for sale in (your 
town),” you can absolutely compete for terms such as “dog parks in (your town)” or “Christmas tree farms in (your town).” The same is true for almost any topic you choose to blog about. None of the huge internet portals is going to write about volunteer opportunities, annual neighborhood yard sales, or holiday events.
Think about any community detail a would-be future resident might want to learn about – and include it!
Blogging about the community adds to your expert status.
Once upon a time, blogging seemed like a nutty, narcissistic thing to do. Many of the early blog posts looked like poorly written diary entries, and I wondered why on earth anyone would post them.
But somewhere along the way, that changed. Or at least mostly. There are still a few people posting away about their private lives.
Today, blogging is an important marketing tool, and it is especially important when you’re trying to become known as THE agent in your community.
When you combine community pages and blogging, your status as an expert grows by leaps and bounds.
Your community pages give visitors a broad overview of life in the community. Now, your blog posts can bring them the details.
Blog about the recreational opportunities, the restaurants and cafes, the night life, the parks, the health clubs, the dog parks and dog groomers, the hairdressers, the mechanics, the boutique shops, the book clubs, the library services, the craft stores, the organic or ethnic food stores, the parades, the celebrations – and on and on.
Through blogging, you can bring the places and events to life, so would-be buyers can envision themselves living there.
Your online presence will also grow…
Your community pages will be picked up in searches for information about the community, and so will your blog posts, if you’ve optimized them correctly. And, when you link from your posts back to your page, it gets even better.
This is especially true if you are placing some of your posts on an authority site such as Active Rain.
Linking to your posts from your social media accounts add yet another layer.
You’ll meet new people and expand your sphere…
You never know what might come of being perceived as an expert. In this Active Rain post, Dick Betts relates how his constant blogging about The Villages recently brought him a inquiry about body shops. The lady who called reasoned that since he knew all about The Villages, he’d know the best body shop.
He didn’t gain her as a client – yet. But he did gain her as a person who has promised to refer would-be buyers and sellers to him, just because he was so helpful when she called.
The Villages, by the way, is no small community. It is a group of villages that spills out into 3 counties and has a combined population of about 125,000.
So, if your territory includes 2 or more small communities, post community pages about each of them and then blog about all of them. In addition to boosting your own image, you’ll be helping home buyers choose which community is right for them.
Once in a while, there are unexpected side benefits…
A few years ago an agent who was blogging about her community shared her experience in writing about a local Pumpkin Patch / Christmas Tree farm. The owner, who did not have a website, called to thank her and offer her a free tree.
It seems that her blog post had brought additional business to his pumpkin patch and he appreciated it!
Should you blog ONLY about the community?
I don’t think so. Buyers and sellers still need good advice and information about the buying and selling process. So mix it up a bit.
Just remember to be consistent. Don’t start off with a bang and post 3 or 4 good articles, then forget to come back for a month.
Instead, get your visitors in the habit of coming to your blog to find something new and interesting every few days.
By the way – if you are hit with inspiration to write 3 or 4 (or more) posts all in one day, by all means do write them. Just space them out when you post them.
Consistency counts, and I can help…
To make sure you have fresh content to offer, even when you don’t have time to write or can’t come up with even one idea, I offer pre-written blog posts. You can read all about them here.
What if your focus is primarily on a niche rather than a specific community?
Do write a community page for your overall area, because people do want information if they’re thinking of moving to your city. And most do want an agent who knows the territory.
Sellers also want an agent who knows the area. How else can they know how to properly price a home?
If you have a niche such as equestrian or waterfront properties, do focus on them when writing about the community. And then do blog about them regularly.
If your niche is unrelated to location, such as divorce, probate, etc. blog about the community, then focus much of your buyer and seller advice on topics related to your niche.
If you don’t want to write your own community pages, get in touch!
I love doing the research, learning about the communities, and writing these pages. Learn more about my service right here.
