I’ve seen several comments and questions here lately from folks asking about blogging. I started to respond and then thought it might be better done in a post all its own.

Warning, this will get lengthy…

What is a blog?  “Blog” is short for “web log”. It’s really just another kind of web site that’s structured differently than your typical web site. Most sites people are used to using have a Home page – the “main” page – that has some sort of navigation menu leading to other pages. A blog is simply a web page where the “pages” (blog posts) are in chronological order – the most recent blog post is first, followed by older posts in a most recent to oldest list. You’re reading a blog right now.

There are millions of blogs out there (tens of millions actually).  Some are business related, some are personal journals, and there are blogs on every subject you can imagine. Just try going to Technorati (sort of a Google for blogs) or to Google’s own blog search system and see how many blogs are out there and what they cover.

So don’t get too hung up on “what is a blog?” It’s really just another kind of web site that’s arranged a little differently than a typical web site.

Why blog?  There are lots of reasons to blog. Some blog simply as an outlet for their writing. Some blog to attract more business. Some blog to provide (and get) information. Personally, I blog for all those reasons. Blogs are *very good* for increasing your “web presence”. The basic nature of blogs – the fact they are updated frequently and often contain “keyword rich” text content – means search engines tend to love them. Bloggers also tend to link to other bloggers, which can result in a huge number of links coming in to your site – another big plus for the search engines. Want to see the search engine power of a real estate blog? Search Google for “Phoenix Real Estate”. That’s a *very* competitive search term that returns over 17 million pages. My blog will show up between #5 – 7. My main site will come in somewhere on page 2 or 3. That’s not bad, but it’s not #5 on Page 1…  and my blog has not been online as long as my main site.  It’s all due to the fresh content and the significantly larger number of links pointing back to the blog. Recently, my blog began getting more traffic than my main site.  Search engines love blogs. PEOPLE love blogs because they are very good at displaying personality. Real estate is a people business, and if you can effectively market your personality on the Internet, you WILL get business from it. (unless of course, you are a crass, arrogant ass. If that’s the case, blogging is probably not for you. But then again, real estate probably isn’t for you either…)

Where to blog?  This is the question that may get asked more often than the others, particularly in real estate blogging.  There are three basic types of blog platforms:  1) “Social networks” or group blogs such as ActiveRain, RELiberation, and RealTalk. 2) a “stand alone” blog – a blog site that is set up separately from your main web site, with its own domain name. My own main blog is a stand alone blog. It’s not connected to my main real estate site in any way (other than through linking). 3) an “integrated blog” – a blog that is set up under the domain name of an existing site. The blogging platform that Point2 Agent offers Professional and Premium members is such a blog. 

There are advantages and disadvantages to using each of these types of blog platforms. 

The social network blogs tend to get ranked very well in search engines because of the quantity of content they have. Take ActiveRain for instance. They have 30,000+ members that are constantly adding content to the AR site via blogging. Search engines love content and big sites, so they tend to love social networks.  Because of the participation of many others, these places are also fabulous sources of information. In addition, some networks are great places to “practice” your blogging. Note I said “some”..  AR tends to be very supportive of new bloggers.  RealTalk not so much.  The disadvantage to social network blogging is your personal blog posts can get lost in the shuffle, and you have no control over what other people say in their blogs. AR is a great place, but there is also a lot of junk on there.  Also, all the time you invest in social network blogging is spent adding content to someone else’s site, rather than your own.

Blogging on a stand alone blog is a great way to get yourself additional “web presence”.  By this I mean that it is possible to have pages for BOTH your main web site AND your blog posts show up in search engines, effectively doubling your chance at a web searcher selecting one of your sites.  For example, if you Google “Power Ranch Real Estate”, my main site is #1 and #2 on Google, and my blog is #6 and #7. So we show up on 40% of Page 1 results for that search term.  That’s powerful stuff.  A stand alone blog also provides you with the opportunity for additional branding. I am “The Phoenix Real Estate Guy” because of my blog presence. I am also “Thompsons Realty” because of my main site presence. Some will probably say you shouldn’t “dilute” your branding. And I wouldn’t try having more than 2 “brands”, but I like having two as it allows me to reach different types and segments of the market. The big disadvantage in a stand alone blog is it does not (directly) benefit your main site as a stand alone blog is on a completely different domain than the main site.

Blogging on an integrated platform really combines a lot of the best of all types. The really big advantage to using a blog that’s on the same domain as your main site is that every time you post to your blog you are building content on your own site as well. Adding a blog post to an integrated blog is like adding a new page to your main site. This is VERY powerful…. The only disadvantage I can see to using an integrated blog is it is not quite as customizable as a stand alone. I use software called WordPress to run my stand alone blog, as do millions of other people. And there are thousands of programmers out there working on customizations for WordPress every day.  It is *completely* customizable. That benefit won’t interest some folks. For a geek like me, it’s a big deal.

How to blog?  This is the hardest question to answer. To blog, you have to write. I love writing. Some people would rather slit their wrists than write. But I don’t know any way to blog without writing. So what do you write about? The short answer is… whatever you like to write about! The beauty of blogging is there really are no rules!  If you write about something you’re passionate about it will come across in your writing and people will like reading it.

One of the best things a new blogger can do is read other blogs. Get an idea of what is out there. See what others are writing about.  If you get a change, return to my blog (or check out my feed reader) and find the “blog roll” (in the middle of the right column).  It’s a list of other real estate blogs that all have something to offer – and the variety is amazing. Read around the “blogiverse” and get a feel for what others are doing. Then fire up your blog and get to posting!

That brings us to two questions that come up a lot – how do I get traffic to my blog and how do I get comments on my blog?  Since I’ve already probably bored your to tears with this War & Peace length tome, I’ll answer those two questions in the next post.  There are some tips I can share, but NO traffic tip will work if you don’t have a blog going. So get out there and do it!