You probably hear all the time that the three most important factors in buying a home are:
- Location
- Price
- Type of Home
So, as a real estate agent, your website content/blog should probably focus on location. It’s where you can share the most information. Price and Type of Home will appear in the listings on your website, and there’s probably not much you can write about those topics without excluding some of your readers. That said, I go back to my first statement – focus on location.
Hyperlocal has become a buzz word in many circles because it enables any business to provide content that is targeted to a very limited geographic area, such as a town, neighborhood, or even a single zip code within a city. The content can range from local information about what is happening in the area to features on other local businesses, like a restaurant review. The best part of a hyperlocal website is that you probably won’t run out of content sources for your updates. And an added benefit is that you quickly become known as the “neighborhood expert”.
According to Wikipedia: Hyperlocal is online news or content services pertaining to a town, village, single postcode or other small, geographically defined community.
Some of the items you can include:
- Upcoming local events
- Local resident news
- New zoning information that could affect residents, as well as changes to local laws
- School event updates
So, how does this strategy help your business?
Becoming the Neighborhood Resource
Hyperlocal content on your website shows the community that you are an authority on their neighborhood. If you become known for local information, it will become clear that you understand what’s happening, that you are on top of things and invested in the neighborhood. You, and your site, will quickly become the “go to” source.
The real estate agents that provide the best information about each area, including items of interest to potential buyers, are the ones buyers and sellers seek out. They want to know about the neighborhood and have someone to turn to even after the sale is completed. Hyperlocal content is often keyword-rich, targeted and current, which results in increased engagement. As your site content becomes more engaging, people will comment and share the information.
So my question would be, if you live in the neighborhood, don’t you want to know what is going on? And you are probably struggling when it comes to blog content as well as finding the time to blog. Think about it:
- Did you try a new restaurant in town lately?
- Are your kids in school and bringing home information about upcoming events?
- Is there a new traffic light going in down the street? Why?
- What’s happening in the neighborhood?
- Did a great new business just open?
So stop focusing on coming up with unique topics and contents to tell buyers what to look for in a new home, or how sellers should prepare their home for sale, and talk about what’s going on around town. Imagine how quickly you can write 300 words on any of those topics. Probably in a few minutes.