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My business partner and I recently disagreed about what is the best style/tone for our real estate website with integrated blog. My philosophy is that the website should contain 80-90% real estate content and 10-20% general interest topics. Reasons: 1. People want more than facts, they also want to be entertained. 2. A mixed-content website best expresses our business and individual personalities and facilitates building relationships with prospective clients.
Partner’s stance is that the website and blog should have 100% real estate content. Reason: Including non-real estate stuff detracts from the professional feel of the website, making it less likely we will attract new clients.
I think both positions have merit. What do you think?
Would you be more or less likely to hire a firm whose website had mixed content, including some light-hearted-but-not-about-real-estate stories? Or does the website "style" make no difference? Thanks for your input!
I say mix it up a little, that you should show real estate acumen, but also a personal side.
Too many bloggers show a crude or ignorant personal side, and I recommend against that, but showing your readers that you enjoy life in your community is only a plus, I think.
And GOOG and MSFT will like you better with more local keywords that are not strictly real estate.
I suggest you offer clear categories for your blog, so readers can separate local/personal from real estate.
My business partner and I recently disagreed about what is the best style/tone for our real estate website with integrated blog. My philosophy is that the website should contain 80-90% real estate content and 10-20% general interest topics. Reasons: 1. People want more than facts, they also want to be entertained. 2. A mixed-content website best expresses our business and individual personalities and facilitates building relationships with prospective clients.
Partner’s stance is that the website and blog should have 100% real estate content. Reason: Including non-real estate stuff detracts from the professional feel of the website, making it less likely we will attract new clients.
I think both positions have merit. What do you think?
Would you be more or less likely to hire a firm whose website had mixed content, including some light-hearted-but-not-about-real-estate stories? Or does the website "style" make no difference? Thanks for your input!
Personally, I'm with your partner. I would prefer real estate information on a site where I am looking for real estate information. There's enough "entertainment" out there on the Internet. I don't want to wade through it when I'm trying to do something serious.
I agree with Mighty.....I know where to go for the other content. There's so much that can be done to set your site apart from others.....going outside of the parameters probably is not necessary........I see Mike's point, but think there is a way to make the site less sterile.
That said, I would recommned you only add outside content and personalize the site on your individual bio pages showing your personal interests with links to your favorites sites. That way, prospects can identify with you based on content they read. But remember, talking up your participation in local politics could also turn some away, just as personal opinion pieces and blogs can attract and detract. But keep the "other" content off the main pages.
Thanks Mighty, Smart, Mike for the feedback! It helped us reach a compromise. I will publish occasional non-real estate stuff on the blog but those items will all be grouped under a "Life Beyond Real Estate" category. The hope is that this method will make the "extra" content easy to avoid for those who don't want it, and easy to find for those who do. And yes, I promise to steer clear of politics and anything else that might startle the horses, so to speak.
Would you be more or less likely to hire a firm whose website had mixed content, including some light-hearted-but-not-about-real-estate stories? Or does the website "style" make no difference? Thanks for your input!
I agree with your partner. You aren't in the entertainment business, and you are making a very common mistake. I promise you that nobody will end up there "by accident" and decide they want to be entertained.
Think of your website as having two sides: a front and a back.
The front is what people see. It is the overall collection of words, links, and pictures that you, the web designer, are forcing them to sort through in order to find the specific information that you are holding hostage from them.
The back is what people cannot see. It is the analysis, the database, the tool, the map, the picture, or the expertise involved, and it is the fundamental reason why you have a website in the first place.
Look at the world's most successful website as an example. Its front is nothing but a box, and the word "Google". Its back is the most robust search algorithm on earth.
Work on having a robust "back" to the website, because that is where success is made. Nobody wants to go to a website and see puffery and fluff and somebody else's idea of "entertainment." They want to see your expertise, and they want it unencumbered by irrelevant text.
Or to use a different metaphor: You're using the "Cow model" of the web user, who stands still and happily chews on whatever text you feed it. The reality is the "Shark Model", where web users never "read" websites -- they scan them like sharks, always moving until they find what they want.
I think you can write entertaining real estate posts. 34% of my closings in 2010 are from people who read my blog and contacted me. 26% contacted me from my website.
If you are passionate about something in your community by all means write about it. Remember your website is your static real estate content for the consumer. Your blog is your voice, your conversation about real estate and whatever else you are passionate about.
Your website and blog, in order to be successful business tools for you, have to offer information that no one else offers. If you have "general interest" topics on there, then you might just be too bland. Real estate topics can be entertaining, thought provoking, and written in an interesting way. Read Kris Berg's blog if you want to see how real estate can be entertaining. Gwen Banta's real estate posts are highly entertaining. Paul Slaybaugh is highly entertaining. There are a lot of really good real estate bloggers out there. You can also read MikeJ and FalconheadWest on ActiveRain to see how to combine these together.
I think you can write entertaining real estate posts. 34% of my closings in 2010 are from people who read my blog and contacted me. 26% contacted me from my website.
If you are passionate about something in your community by all means write about it. Remember your website is your static real estate content for the consumer. Your blog is your voice, your conversation about real estate and whatever else you are passionate about.
Your website and blog, in order to be successful business tools for you, have to offer information that no one else offers. If you have "general interest" topics on there, then you might just be too bland. Real estate topics can be entertaining, thought provoking, and written in an interesting way. Read Kris Berg's blog if you want to see how real estate can be entertaining. Gwen Banta's real estate posts are highly entertaining. Paul Slaybaugh is highly entertaining. There are a lot of really good real estate bloggers out there. You can also read MikeJ and FalconheadWest on ActiveRain to see how to combine these together.
Whatever you do, don't be dull and unremarkable.
Geee, I wouldn't recommend Mike J's blog...
Best to disregard people who don't want to be entertained. Sour people can't give you enough money to make spending time with them worthwhile.
Best to disregard people who want only to be entertained. They will make you yearn for sour people.
Best to disregard people who do not agree with me. Who the heck knows what's going on under their hoods?
Seriously, I liked your 10%--20% thinking. And if you love real estate, it will be difficult to categorize good writing with real estate themes.
And NEVER swipe photos from Silverfall's blog. Never. Ever.
Last edited by MikeJaquish; 12-28-2010 at 05:58 PM..
Reason: Cuz I wanted to.
Best to disregard people who don't want to be entertained. Sour people can't give you enough money to make spending time with them worthwhile.
Best to disregard people who want only to be entertained. They will make you yearn for sour people.
Best to disregard people who do not agree with me. Who the heck knows what's going on under their hoods?
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