Do you ever tick boxes for things, despite them not sitting quite right with you? But because it is a common step and a universally acknowledged and sensible thing to do, you just run with something anyhow.
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again. It seems like today, more than ever before, people have less and less free time and more things demanding time and attention.
Having a Facebook business page was a box that we ticked for some time. We had a page, it had our credentials on it, contact information, you know the rest.
We know that it is deemed to be a crucial, essential presence for a business.
We know that Facebook is a powerhouse and owns many apps that we love and use, such as Instagram.
We know that Facebook folk may find out that we removed our neat, friendly little business from its community and give us a big digital thumbs down (read: limit our reach on other apps!).
We know that it can be a phenomenal online space and community for businesses, groups and people to communicate from all corners of the globe to drum up business and projects.
We know that one day we may have more reasons to have a page, than not to, and may start one up again. This decision is reversible.
Facebook can do AMAZING things for people and businesses, we get it. Perhaps just not for us…
We even tried Facebook’s advertising, with several targeted campaigns. But – it did jack for us in terms of reach and numbers.
And really, although this lovely business of ours is growing and we find ourselves just loving new opportunities and where they are taking us, we just weren’t feeling Facebook as being key. It just isn’t key to our growth or an enjoyable facet of our work, if we are being honest.
We often gain new clients in person, through word of mouth, or by random chances. Tanya does plenty of work for clients in far-off places, such as the U.S.A. and India. These clients didn’t pop up on our Facebook Page.
Instead, we felt as thought our page was impeding on our family and friend’s feeds.
When people put their feet up and scroll through their feed for some mental down time and a switch-off from the real world, we didn’t feel like they wanted to see our latest listings, or musings about life as a hired writer.
Our clients and industry colleagues didn’t really need to spend time on our page – we have plenty of other means of communication. So really, getting a ‘like’ from my Mum, as kind as it was, felt like an indication that we didn’t have the reach we wanted, or needed really.
As copywriters, we sell a service, not a product. What we were showcasing on our page, specifically our organic content, really wasn’t being seen by anyone and wasn’t going to change anyone’s lives. Seriously.
We love our work, we are good at what we do, but we weren’t being rewarded by our time on Facebook and it didn’t feel like it was an avenue worth continuing.
We live in a world where people are shuffling around the streets like zombies with their heads down, finding imaginary anime characters (another post in itself!). We daresay that people really don’t want to trawl through the business page of someone who isn’t offering them a service relevant to them, when they can be spending time doing things they enjoy in their free time.
Ciao for now, Facebook.
There are plenty of articles floating around that weigh up the pros and cons of businesses breaking up with Facebook. Some of them had some really resonating points, but there was no particular literature that cemented the decision for us.
It just felt like a box we had ticked, but that our heart wasn’t in.
So we made a business decision to say goodbye to it!
Because when you run a business yourself you make these decisions and wear the consequences or rewards yourself. And it feels damn good to be authentic to our own thoughts and experiences.
So, we work in advertising.
We are professional marketing content writers.
We do use Facebook, in terms of having personal pages. It can provide a really wonderful space to make loved ones on different continents not seem so far away and, of course, to share messages, ideals and raise awareness.
But –
You won’t find The Property Writers creeping into your feed on Facebook (for now, at least!).
So see you elsewhere, folks! (Some not so subtle links below.)
If your audience is still paying attention after the first 8 seconds, you have approximately 4 minutes and 52 seconds until their attention spans are exhausted. The average adult attention span has plummeted from 12 minutes a decade ago to just 5 minutes now, according to a Fortune.com article.
Wow, not long! And what has caused the plummet?
We could certainly take a wild guess. The (rising) influx of technology and tidal waves of services that are designed to make our lives easier are perhaps contributing factors. No one has any time any more.
From when we rise in the morning, until our heads hit the pillow at night, or even the early hours, we have information directed at us, choices to make and information to process.
It certainly is tiring.
When it comes to marketing, specifically real estate marketing, the key is standing out, while not demanding too much from weary home-seekers or investors.
My husband is an electrician. He has always said that lighting is everything. We’ve renovated numerous houses together and he has always done the lion’s share of the major changes, including lighting. I must say, his choices have been spot on.
Modern lighting has a way of evoking different vibes and moods, depending on the look you are going for. And is such a value-adder.
At The Property Writers, we just love fawning over a lot of the stunning lighting that we see in property photographs that come through our inboxes.
Indoor lighting, outdoor lighting – even candlelight! To be able to see anything, the first port of call for our eyeballs is processing light. Our eyes are drawn to light. It’s instinctive.
Perhaps one of the best examples of utilising lighting for advertising and marketing is Times Square in New York City. I remember I visited in 2006 (Ten years ago?! It’s been way too long between visits) and I felt just like a character in a movie. Cliche, but true. I was totally smitten as I took in the immense lit-up signs. I bet they’re even more spectacular ten years on.
Dazzling Times Square.
So it was only a matter of time until these mammoth, illuminated billboards trickled down into real estate/realty marketing.
I know they’ve been popping up all over the country lately and have been showcased at trade shows. But I must say it was a real treat to recently spot an illuminated sign at night, out the front of a property.
I spotted it whilst driving, around a week ago. It was a listing for Ray White, in Largs Bay, South Australia. And it looked magnificent!
This lit-up sign made me slow and pull in to the curb to read it.
The image and words were perfectly and crisply illuminated, the darkened street around it providing the ultimate shadowy backdrop, much like a stage.
These solar powered and otherwise real estate signboards are only going to become more prevalent and accessible – that’s our prediction.
Fast forward a year from now and I’m thinking they will be absolutely everywhere.
An image from “Digital Central”, a company offering illuminated signboards. Copyright lies with Digital Central Real Estate Signage Company.
It’s awesome to see the industry utilising such technology to stand out and do the absolute best for their vendors. It would be great to see costing eventually become accessible across a spectrum of price ranges.
I think these signs should capture up to the 4 minutes and 52 seconds allotted for average adult – plenty of time to note the name and number of the agent and phone them!
Does anyone else have any thoughts on these innovative signboards? Or are you a business who offers them as a service? Let us know on Instagram or Twitter.
Note: this post is NOT sponsored or endorsed by any company or business, it is our expressed view on a product and service.
A real estate listing popped up on my Facebook feed yesterday.It was, from the outside, an unassuming brick maisonette in a nondescript Adelaide suburb.So why was my friend, who lives interstate with no plans to move, sharing it? And then it popped up again. And again. It popped up on Twitter by that afternoon. I clicked on the link and looked at the home.
It was extraordinary, for all the wrong reasons.The carpets were brightly patterned and clashed spectacularly with the walls, which in every room were papered with pictures of cats.More pictures dangled from the ceiling in makeshift mobiles.There were shelves and cupboards lining every wall, stuffed full of dolls, toy cats, and more dolls.Bright frilly decor added to the effect, which should have come with a warning for anyone prone to epilepsy.
Wilson Real Estate West Richmond via realestate.com.au
Looking at it, I wondered what the real estate agent was thinking.Had he tried to persuade the vendor that she’d do better to clear out the personal items and pull down the ‘wallpaper’, only to be met with refusal?Or – and this is what intrigued me – had he decided to keep it as it was?
We all know the standard wisdom for home staging.Paint the walls a neutral colour.Rid the rooms of personal items.The less you have inside the house, the bigger it looks.People want to be able to see past your life and superimpose their new one onto the rooms.It’s usually good advice.
But those homes, unless they’re spectacular in their own right, don’t generate social media shares. So, faced with a completely ordinary home in a completely ordinary suburb, did the real estate agent make a very smart decision to leverage the one extraordinary thing about it?
Wilson Real Estate West Richmond via realestate.com.au
But Tanya, you say, if you’re inclined to talk to blog posts, what is the point of exposure if the house puts people off? Well, you’d be surprised what attracts people, for a start.I’ve already seen someone comment on how bright and kitsch the home is, and if she was looking to buy it would be right up her alley.For people who value quirky kitsch in their lives, it’s easier to imagine themselves in a home someone else has already demonstrated can be made to stand out.With hipsters entering the market, retro or ironic furnishings can be a drawcard.
And there’s a second group of buyers that listings like this attract: the bargain hunters.Never underestimate this group.They’re on the lookout for homes that are presented badly, in hopes that they’ll be the only ones who look past the decor to the bones of the structure.Ironically for them, there are so many people in this group that homes which look like bargains can sometimes go for more than the equivalent.
In February of 2016, a Sydney home made the national news when it was discovered that a dead body had been inside for eight years.The place was completely derelict, as the deceased owner had lived there alone and increasingly unwell until her lonely death.Photographs of the home’s interior, with layers of grime, mould and grim disrepair, were shared widely.
The place was auctioned as-is, with no attempts made to clean it up (save, of course, for removing the body).Bids started at $600,000 and were expected to finish at around $700,000.Instead, the tidal wave of publicity saw ten interested bidders turn up and compete fiercely, all believing that they were about to grasp a bargain – after all, how many places in inner Sydney would be in this bad a condition?In the end, the house sold for $1.1 million, not far below the median price for an equivalent home in tip-top condition.
Sometimes, a house which is poorly presented looks more attractive to bargain hunters than one which has been done up.So next time you’re landed with a vendor who doesn’t want to spend the money on staging, or a plain old ugly duckling, think outside the box.If nothing else, you’ll get a reputation for honesty, and you might just walk away with a fat commission to boot.
You can’t swing a cat lately without reading about or hearing about the cold water potentially being thrown on negatively geared investments, here in Australia.
A hot news topic, like the weather here lately (hello, winter!), it’s cast a bit of a gloomy shadow over the industry.
In the build up to our Federal Election, property investment and some related tax breaks are being scrutinised more than ever.
While change is always inevitable, in any field and political climate, the headlines splashed around lately have tended to focus chiefly on the Labor Party’s intent to reform negative gearing.
But, as we know, there are so many other facets to property investment here in Australia. Positively geared investments, of course, being an alternative that shouldn’t be sniffed at.
But nitty gritties aside (as the debate is a whole other post in itself), we felt like we needed to bring a little cheer to the grim forecasting and the industry itself.
We’ve had a few clients, friends and family lately who have been frowning a bit too much for our liking.
So, in no particular order, reasons why real estate is so exciting:
1> Real estate will not, despite the ‘battening down the hatches’ attitude of late, go away. It simply will not. Like a bottle of wine, that itself is a living organism, it evolves, changes and can improve. Of course, it can oxidise too (read: you can lose money), but it is not going anywhere. There will always be land, there will always be property and there will be a demand for both.
2> People involved in the industry are tightening their connections and affiliations – technology has brought us closer than ever before. Kinships between agents and agencies and marketing professionals such as ourselves are formed daily and this community is a fast-paced, vibrant and exciting one. Although scheduling conflicts meant we weren’t at the recent AREC conference in Queensland, we loved the buzz that we saw from our clients who attended and the positive empowerment that they experienced while attending.
3> Real estate is an industry that you can undoubtedly make and create your own opportunities in. A multi-faceted industry, there is something for everyone, depending on your wheelhouse. We ourselves are constantly learning about different aspects of this powerhouse of an industry. Owning property isn’t necessarily permanent, but the choices you make once you do own something, be it a starter unit, a knock-down job, or a stake in a new development, can play a big part in your future, financial and otherwise. And how enthralling is that?
4> The support and wealths of information that we have access to, in our country, are seriously phenomenal. Whether you’re an agency, agent, vendor, or buyer – If you’re not sure about something, during any process, you can be certain you can FIND OUT. How great is that? Whether it is through your own research, or a service that you call upon, a book you read, a convention you attend, or a course you undertake – knowledge is EVERYWHERE and knowledge is POWER! Information doesn’t always come from the four walls of a training environment either. Sometimes all it takes is shouting someone you meet a cup of coffee and asking them some polite questions about their niche for ten minutes. Chances are you’ll walk away with plenty of food for thought.
Image copyright Jim Davis
5> As per the above point, the different services and niches that exist within real estate are seriously cause for excitement. We are thrilled every time we meet someone who has started their own vendor advocacy, mortgage broking, property staging or property photography company, to name a few examples. These businesses are opportunities for people to work hard and reap rewards, while providing invaluable services to buyers and sellers alike. It’s impossible not to get excited after having an in-depth conversation with someone who has found their feet while working in real estate and the enthusiasm is totally contagious.
So how was that for a little cheer!? It’s not all rainbows and unicorns, but we think it counts for something that real estate employs many people, creates plenty of opportunities and acts as an umbrella for plenty of sub-industries.
Yay for real estate!
If you yourself own or run a business within our ever-changing, utterly exciting industry, do say hello on Facebook or Instagram, we would love to meet you.
If you work in the real estate industry, whether you’re an agent, property manager, or a developer, chances are you spend a lot of time in your car.
I’ve come up with a few hacks to make the most of your mobility and revel in your chance to work out of a mobile office.
All it takes is foresight, a little bit of technology and an awareness of how to best manage your time whilst not in your office.
Set aside time each morning planning your route and take note of places/areas in which you will likely stop. Having a plan for your day will empower you – of course things certainly don’t always go to plan, particularly in this industry! But it’s better to start the day with a framework, than none at all, and adapt accordingly.
Put together your work-on-the-go-kit. Picture your desk – what is on it that you use frequently that you may need to replicate in your car? It’s pretty straightforward, but if you keep a separate car charger for your phone/tablet, notebook, pens, diary and glasses if you require them together, in a bag or storage tub in your car, you’ll thank yourself for it. It means not having to grab extra bits and pieces before leaving your office. Knowing that you’ll have what you need with you if you have to unexpectedly stay out longer than planned will provide you with peace of mind. It sounds so simple, but the amount of times we’ve clients have said their phone battery had betrayed them, or they didn’t have their reading glasses has made us all the more aware of the importance of these basic things. (I’ve been guilty of forgetting so many of these things too.)
Get your kit sorted!
Cloud storage is your friend. It’s inevitable that being on the go so much, you’ll be creating or receiving documents. You will want these saved securely without you having to switch devices often, or wait until you return to your office. If they are streamlined across your devices, you ultimately save time.
As well as utilising handy cloud storage, there are plenty of apps that I use that I swear by for using while working on the run. That’s a whole other post in itself, but ones I favour are Evernote for word processing/note taking, Dropbox for saving and sending files and utilising Voice Memo (or the Android equivalent) for dictating.
Speaking of back-up – portable contents insurance – ensure that you have it! If you do have an unfortunate incident with one of your devices or contents, if it’s covered by your insurance policy, you’ll be glad to not have hassles when making a claim.
Before you hit the pavement make sure your belongings are secure and that you have insurance.
Coffee and snack stops. These are vital, especially if you are fuelled by caffeine, as I admittedly am. (What writer isn’t, really?) Packing your own food can often be healthier and more cost effective, but isn’t always a daily reality. For when you are making a stop, if you don’t mind repetition, go for somewhere with a loyalty scheme for your beverages, so you’re at last getting a free drink after several. If you like mixing it up, find somewhere different each time and aim to support small or local businesses to the area that you’re stopping in. And do your part for reducing your carbon footprint and aim to take in your own travel mug to fill up, if stopping for coffee is a regular thing. You can get some AMAZING ones online, or even your local stationary supplies store.
Image source: www.keepcup.com
Embrace podcasts! They are a great way to stay engaged and informed in your industry and stay mellow in traffic. As long as you feel like you can still concentrate while driving, podcasts are a seriously fabulous way to make the most of time spent driving. You could always use the time to indulge in podcasts aligned your own personal interests or hobbies now and then to mix up your day and drive.
Find an inspiring natural landscape, or backdrop, to stop and work at. Make the most of your position of not being fixed in the same working space day in, day out. Seek inspiration in the great outdoors. Fresh air and natural splendour do wonders for soul and can really help boost creativity. I love so many quotes from John Muir. A particular favourite, to finish on:
I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in. – John Muir
Find a natural setting to stop at and enjoy while you work.
What are your tips for working while out and about? And please do let us know of any podcasts we should be subscribing to. Visit us on Instagram and Facebook to give us your own tips and tricks.
So a couple of weeks ago I wrote about the concept of propinquity, which basically says that the more people interact with you, the more they’ll be inclined to both like and trust you.Useful to keep in mind in an industry which is always struggling against the perception of untrustworthiness, right?
And I also said that I’d talk more about how to do that in the online environment. Because it’s no longer enough to sponsor the local Christmas Pageant or have your face on the side of a bus: both millennials and Gen Xers, are living their lives on the internet, and plenty of them are also looking to buy houses.They want to see that you’re a real person, and that you know your stuff, and you can do that by putting in some time online.
1. Make your website compelling
You no doubt have a website, with your current property listings available for searching.But what is drawing readers to your site in the first place?Why will potential new vendors click on that URL as opposed to the one down the road?Maybe they’ve seen your name on billboards around their areas or your shopfront has caught their eye, but you can also do a lot to make sure that your site pops up at the top of a generic search using great web copy with SEO-optimised content and a good web designer.
But great web copy only gets you so far.Remember, the aim here is to make you seem familiar before the vendor decides to find an agent.You already do this in the real world, so what you’re going for here is the equivalent of driving down a street and seeing your thoughtful, eye-catching billboards every day.
2. Make your content fresh
This is where content marketing comes in.Before a vendor has decided whether to list their properties, they’ve been researching online.They’ve costed out a renovation (too pricy!), they’ve looked at how much their area’s appreciated, they’ve done some thinking about where the best schools are or whether there are any beach suburbs that are still affordable.If your site is offering information on those peripheral issues (and the list is endless!), and they’ve read your articles, then you’re becoming both familiar, and an expert, in the back of their mind.
3. Write for other sources
It doesn’t just have to be your own website on which you’re sharing all of this: plenty of larger, high-traffic site will accept sponsored content from contributors.That means that instead of paying for an advert on a website, you’re providing them with an informative article.They save on staff writers and have quality to offer their readers, and you as the contributor have got your name out there for people to remember.
And if you’re blanching at the very idea of writing for a high traffic website, here’s the biggest secret of all: ghostwriters don’t just work with books.
4. Maintain a social media presence
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram…the number of social media platforms is growing all the time.Depending on your goals and objectives, you can maintain a social media presence across several platforms or just a few.The important thing is that you understand how each platform works, and you’re prepared to post regularly.The etiquette of social media requires that you interact with your audience, rather than just posting links: try and stick to an 80:20 rule where no more than 20% of your posts are promoting native content. Respond to posts by other people, thank them for their interactions with you, and forge connections.You’re showing people who you are, and the more natural that comes across, the better.You can outsource this work as well, by the way, but it’s important to maintain your voice, so if you can find the time to do it yourself, all the better.
If all of this seems overwhelming, remember you don’t have to do it all at once.Pick a quiet time of year – winter is coming! – and put aside some time to improve one avenue first of all.A neglected social media presence is almost worse than none at all, so start with the thing you’re confident you can maintain and add things as time permits.We’ll be publishing more how-to articles on each of these subjects, so check back in with us as you go!
This post is penned by a total film tragic, so straight up apologies for the quite obvious reference. That said, this quote and its use was flooding plenty of different creative industries after the 1996 film in which it was featured. We just thought it was time to bring it up again.
Yep, we are referring to Jerry Maguire’s spiel to Rod Tidwell. (See below, if you need a refresher. Note, all Copyright of clip remains with owners/proprietors of the original film.)
Don’t get us wrong, we aren’t in the habit of ranting at our clients, or bothering them whilst they are attempting to dress. And we pride ourselves on our really positive relationships with all of our clients.
When you communicate with a client purely via Emoji, that’s when you know you’ve built up a solid working relationship!
But what we love about this “help me help you” ethos is that in the marketing world it’s easy for pressures and strains to compete to get in the way of taking a deep breath and going back to basics.
Asking the really simple (seriously, very simple) questions of a client at the beginning of a brief, we have found anyway, have ensured that we are providing the best possible service (read: help) that we can.
Questions such as:
Who are you trying to reach with this?
Do you have any documentation that can give us a unique insight? (For example, vendor’s statements about what they love about their home, why they first built in the area, etc..)
When do you plan on publishing this and/or having your other material complete?
Can you describe your ideal “buyer”, who would read this copy and be enticed to pick up the phone and call you?
Can you cite an example of a listing/catch-phrase/campaign you’ve seen recently that has sparked your interest and what did you love about it?
We have found that when providing our service for the first time to a client, whether they are an agent from a boutique agency, or someone from a powerhouse agency, questions like these help so much.
All it takes is this initial ten-minute or so conversation and we are in the best possible situation to help and to produce something tailored, unique and exactly what is required by the client. As a result of them helping us. Win-win!
It can also save a stream of emails back and forth following a brief, which may be a hindrance on time, on both ends.
So whether you’re a copywriter reading this, or a business owner/agent/agency who currently outsources to writers such as us, it’s a good little tagline to embed in your brain for the day.
help me help you
Simple right? But effective! Have any other tips for that first efficient, effective copywriting briefing? We would love to hear them.
We’re entering an age where digital marketing has become one of the most powerful tools in the sales toolkit…and yet where are the real estate agents?In our business, we make it a point to follow as many Australian real estate agencies and businesses on Twitter as we can, and the number of times we’ve searched for a name only to find that the agent doesn’t have an account astounds us.We know it’s a busy industry, and taking the time to develop a social media presence can feel overwhelming, but if you don’t, you’re missing out on more than the opportunity to share an Instagrammedbrunch.You’re missing out on sales.
There’s a concept you should understand, taken from social psychology, which is known as propinquity.It refers to way that physical or psychological nearness between two people leads to a closer relationship. The co-worker you see every day, your neighbours, the other parents around the school gate; by making contact regularly, and passing the time of day, you develop close, meaningful bonds even if you aren’t natural soulmates.
With the growth in social media, researchers have found that physical proximity isn’t the only way to develop those bonds.Virtual propinquity also exists.
And what on earth does that have to do with you?Well.Marketing and sales are all about building relationships with people.Especially for real estate agents, who are already working against the perceptions that they are untrustworthy , building trust is a critical part of landing the listing, and it’s part of the sales process that starts well before the vendor decides to sell.
Most of a customer’s decision making process happens before he or she even speaks to you.Whether they pick up the phone and ring your office instead of your competitors depends entirely on what they already know about your service and about you.That’s why referrals are so powerful.
But as the Age of the Internet grinds steadily across the horizon, the marketing landscape is changing. More and more, vendors do their research online. They’re not deciding that you’re the right agent for them based on their neighbour’s opinion anymore, they’re basing it on what they know of you online.That, combined with the need to influence their decisions before they speak to you, represents an enormous opportunity.By mapping out contact points – places where your prospective vendor is likely to go online and where you can interact with them – and then creating those interactions, you create a virtual propinquity effect.
That only works if the interactions are positive, of course: we don’t like everybody we see every day, after all!But if you’re willing to create high quality branded content (you don’t have to write it yourself!) and get that content placed in places where a contact point is likely, then your prospects will start to know who you are even before they know they’re looking for an agent. And that means they’ll walk through your door first.
How and where to place that content and optimise your social media presence is a whole post on its own, so we’ll follow this one up with more details on content marketing strategy next week.Until then, happy selling!
a) Love what we do
b) Revel in how much time we give back to real estate agents
c) Feel that fresh, colourful words are essential to selling property
To anyone who really thinks there isn’t the need for sophisticated language in real estate marketing, we would love to change your mind.
Think on it; how much work goes into the purchase of a home? Whether a property in question is targeted at investors, home-buyers, of the first or seasoned variety, so much work goes into the sale.
It’s a big deal.
Before you even get to that chapter, from a real estate agent’s perspective, you need to put your best feet forward, in a very competitive market. Designer threads, impeccable grooming and warm smiles are only a fraction of how to make a solid impression on your prospective buyers.
Compare the marketing of a property to that of well-known soft-drinks. Billions of dollars worldwide is spent every year on the marketing of these products. Products that, individually anyway, can cost as little as $1.50AU.
And all a buyer needs to do to acquire one is click a few buttons on a vending machine, insert coins, or wave a card – and the drink is theirs.
SO much simpler than the mountain of meetings, paperwork, hoops and phone-calls it takes to buy a property, right?
Not that we are strictly comparing apples with apples, but the cost of a home these days can be upwards of $300,000 and obviously way beyond. A very expensive ‘product’, a very important decision and one that requires much more of a comprehensive decision-making process than a can of Sprite.
So, why should you not invest a little in your marketing content? What you are selling is worth several hundred thousand beverages, in a competitive market. This means at the very least, the property needs to have features and benefits highlighted, in a sophisticated and direct way. Seeking some outside help (such as the likes of us ‘adladies’) is a brilliant decision.
Think of us as the people who come up with those insanely catchy, yet very precisely thought out, key words for those colourful and appealing drinks. But for property.
Sophisticated language, weaved into web titles, content for online and print marketing and even signboards for your properties allows your listings to, like you, have their very best feet forward (now there’s an image, a house with feet!).
What sounds BETTER? – Three-bedroom home in Manly – Seeking somewhere tasteful in Manly?
Then of course, there are real estate agents out there who love nothing more than taking the time to craft the words for their listings themselves and they do it well, time after time. Cudos to them, we love their work and some could seriously give us a run for our money in marketing content.
But if you fall into the more common category of being time-poor, or inspiration failing to strike for piecing these listings together, then we encourage you to contact us to let our sophisticated language really help you sell.
In November 2015, Google released an update on how its search engine algorithms work. Clocking in at a huge 160 pages in PDF form, I feel pretty safe in betting that you haven’t read it, and you’re not going to.
But if you want your agency to come up in web results, this is a document you need to understand, because Google has drastically changed the way it ranks searches. Long gone are the days where you could put up a website with the words ‘real estate’ in the title and hope for the best – these days, it’s all about expert advice and original, content-heavy content. That’s not discounting the other factors, of course – Backlinko enumerates a huge 200 factors taken into account to determine Google rankings, which you can read here if you’re so inclined.
You’re not? That’s fine. Luckily for all of us, we here at The Property Writers love this kind of stuff. So here’s a summary:
Clear, concise writing is favoured over duplicate, ‘scraped’ or badly written content. The stuff that’s generated through high volume content mills by writers working well below minimum wage tends to be careless and come across as lazy. The writers themselves aren’t lazy, of course – they’re writing as fast as they can just to buy groceries. But that means they don’t have time to stop and revise their copy, much less to research their content and interview experts. Which brings us to our next point.
E-A-T. That’s the new acronym for the pages Google looks for to rank as high quality. It stands for Expertise, Authority and Trustworthiness. Complex topics such as finance, health and legal requires expert opinion. Relevantly for real estate agents, advice pages that “may affect a person’s finances or well being”, a category that ranges from financial advice to home remodeling and parenting, should also be written by an expert. The writer should be an authority on the topic, providing content that is useful and can be trusted for accuracy.
That means that agents who are using content management strategies to establish themselves as trusted authorities in the field need to make sure that their content is authoritative and correct. A real estate agent is an expert in the property field, and can give advice on a range of topics from preparing your home for sale to renovating for profit. But if you don’t want to write it yourself, you need a professional copywriter who can use your authority to present crisp, authoritative prose that Google will rank highly.
Here’s another acronym: YMYL. Your Money/Your Life. That refers to pages where bad advice can cost people dearly, and includes e-commerce, detailed health advice and financial how-tos. If your content includes advice on how to finance a home purchase, for example, Google is likely to put your page under extra scrutiny to make sure that it contained qualified expert advice.
If any of this sounds daunting, don’t worry. The algorithm changes are excellent news, because they represent another step towards favouring real experts offering real quality services. And that’s what you are, after all. You don’t have to compete with the hacks and the content mills: just make sure your content is written by someone who can do justice to your knowledge of the industry, and you’ll find your business goes straight to the top of the page.
