When I first visit with a potential client for Positive Real Estate Professionals or R & D Art, the first and foremost thing that I explain to them is content is king. No matter how powerful our network is or how well the website or blogsite that we would build for you is optimized, the bottom line always comes back to the content that you produce. Pardon the bluntness, but if your content is crap then your website will quickly follow; maybe not in the beginning, but it will over time. If you read yesterday’s article entitled Putting the Cart Before the Horse, then you will recall that I stated that people in the social media realm will bury you if they think your posts stink. Grammar, spelling, and factual content is key when it comes to blogging. Believe it or not, there are people that sit around and wait for people to make mistakes just so that they can punish them brutally.

Let me say this before we go any further; if you have thin skin or do not take criticism well, then blogging might not be for you. What these “grammar police” do is not necessarily right, but the blogging world has pounded out on some of newspapers biggest journalist because they made one mistake. With that said, there can be “safe havens” found in groups like Positive Real Estate Professionals, but when the article hits the social media world, bad grammar, spelling, and unchecked assertions can come crashing down on you. Tools like “Word” and spell check are great to use when writing posts, but the best tool that I personally like is Live Writer. It has all the bells and whistles built  in to help you. The last thing that I will tell you before I delve deeper into content is this: If you are blogging to create a journal, a diary, or just some ramblings, then quit reading this article and move on. This does not pertain to you.

OK, now that the serious bloggers are the ones left, let’s get down to the nitty gritty. The biggest question that I am asked is “What do you mean by ‘Content is King’?” That is a great question. The first thing that comes to mind is relevancy. Is the content that you are writing relevant to your site’s topic? If your site is an online sports network, you would not want to be writing about how to change a baby’s diaper. You can write about sports, you can write about common surgeries that sports players encounter, you can write about sports movies, you can write about sports events, and the list can go on and on. When we started Athletic Alley, one of the things that we sat out to do is write great sports content and we apparently are doing something right. The site is less than a year old and it holds a Google PR4 and boasts an Alexa of fewer than 110,000. At one time, it was under 100,000 in Alexa. The site talks about many different sporting events as well as other relevant content on things that pertain to sports. Bottom line is, it is the content that keeps the people coming back time and time again. This is what drives the success to this particular site.

In the Real Estate world, people are going to visit your site because they want to know about the products that you offer. But it does not end there. 87% of all home searches begin on the Internet. People want to know about the area that they are picking to buy a home in. Therefore, when they come to your site, they will stick around if you offer the information that they are looking for. One of the big issues that I have seen with most Realtor® sites is the lack of articles about their area. Above anyone, a Realtor® has to be an expert on their area. The schools, churches, and other amenities in your area give you so much to write about. This helps to open an dialogue with your readers and that is what turns them into potential clients. This can be said of loan officers as well. You have many products to offer and there are many things that are going on in the financial sector. The same can be said for insurance agents, appraisers, home inspectors, and many other professions who fall under the umbrella of real estate industry. This means that there is always something available for you to write about today. Taking 30 minutes out of your day to write a 200 to 500 word article should not be a chore.

I could go on and on about what you should or could be writing about. Bottom line is that CONTENT IS KING ! I cannot emphasize this anymore than I have. Think before you hit that submit or publish button as this is going to go out to the world. Use this thought pattern: Is this something that I would find interesting?