Google "Real Estate Blogs." I did, after reading TLW...ROAR's post yesterday. Active Rain (my favorite forum) is listed all the way back on page 3. If I had a bigger screen, maybe it would have been at the bottom of page 2. Maybe not. The point is, as an entity, Active Rain's web presence isn't where it needs to be. It was listed at number 27 as of 4:30 this morning. Inman is number 5.
So what, you ask? With nearly 47,000 members--many of you the best and brightest in our industry--we can change that with a little focus on two things: (1) creating real estate-related content, and (2) adding real estate-related tags to your posts. Don't think you have to give up your voice to do this!
I'm changing my focus. Actually, I changed it about a week ago, with some much-appreciated direction (I asked, she responded) from Marlene Bridges, REALTOR in Orange County, CA. Almost every post has a single focus--writing Real Estate Related Content for Active Rain and Local Color Content (Tucson) for Localism. All from a personal point of view. My view. My voice!
I use every literary tool at my disposal to make my writing memorable--to make the reader come back for more. My "Mike In Tucson tool bag" has drama, humor, suspense, anticipation and the sharpest tool of all--surprise! (Go ahead. Click the picture...you know you want to!)
I challenge you to spend 10 minutes reading TLW's blog post Why Not Just Use Your Active Rain Blog As An On Line Diary? ... ROAR! (Members Only.) Do it when you have 20 minutes to sift through the comments. Together, with your focus, Active Rain can top Inman in Google Rankings. We have better writers. I'll bet the Suthern Thangs bloggers can write recipes with real estate content! Are you up to the challenge?
I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson, AZ mortgage lender.
edit: Karen George, a fellow Arizona lender, wrote a great post on Tags for Google optimization. Here's the link. Adding Google-Friendly "Tags" to Your Blog When Posting-- Part 2 (Members Only)
