Lydia Lucas

Do you happen to be struggling with your real estate blog? Can’t think of ideas for blog entries? Not getting targeted readers? Maybe you need to start hyper local blogging.

What does that mean? Basically, rather than blogging about general real estate news that’s applicable to the entire nation, focus solely on news related to your niche area. For example, with Milford CT real estate, I try to write about recent local news and events, such as the opening of the new Chipotle by the Milford mall. Since competition is significantly easier in the search engines for longtail local keywords, you can easily rank high just by posting a blog about such an event in your area.

For me, I do like writing about Milford CT real estate, but at the same time, I think it’s beneficial to write about local events to help out potential buyers. These people may be trying to do research on your city and have come across your blog through some keyword searches on Google. In order to keep these people on your site, you need to entertain and inform them. So if you do a good job of doing this with your blog, you might create enough interest in them to contact you. You might just have a new client due to your blogging!

The possibilities are endless. Also, don’t forget to have fun with your blog. A lot of people tend to forget this, resulting in the task becoming a chore. When it gets to that point, it’ll be harder and harder every day to keep posting. Eventually, you’ll stop blogging, which is bad for SEO and your rankings in the search engines. Google especially wants a constant flow of fresh content, so it’s up to you to give the search engine mogul what it wants.

Your hyper local entries don’t have to be about real estate either. Even though my ultimate goal is to showcase Milford CT homes for sale, you want to show your readers and potential clients that there’s another side to you, that you’re not all business. By showing a hint of your personality, you get to build a connection and trust amongst your readers. It’s through this gradual trust building that you can attract new clients.

Regardless of how you want to go about your blog, make sure you’re enjoying what you do. Even though blogging and SEO is beneficial to you as a Realtor, if you can’t stand it, then either forgo the whole thing and find your favorite way of marketing your services. In addition, if you’re willing to spend the money, hire a ghostwriter or a content writer on various content broker sites to help you get the job done.

I have to say that things have been pretty hectic for me and for you as well, so I honestly shouldn't have any excuses with maintaining my blog entries. It's like every minute of my day involves real estate and Milford CT homes for sale :)

Of course, that isn't always a bad thing. I'd rather be swamped in work and activity than not having any leads coming in.

What I want to ask you here on ActiveRain is - have you ever had any ActiveRain blogging slumps?

Don't worry, I plan to pick things up once again!

Lydia Lucas is your source for Milford CT Real Estate
Email: LydiaLucas@PrudentialCT.com
Cell Phone: (203)980-9213
My Clients Become My Friends

Buying Milford CT homes for sale doesn't always come out the way as expected. You have your ups and you have your downs. Sometimes things go smoothly all the way until the closing, and other times it's a constant rocky road of a journey.

As a homebuyer, I've been in that position before. That's why as a Realtor, I understand that not everything works out as planned. I've had deals where my clients were able to sell their house and close on another within the same week, while with another client, it took 2 years to actually find the home right for him.

That's why while it's currently a buyers' market in Milford CT Real Estate, you can't always expect things to go your way. When things don't turn out as expected, don't give up. Maybe that house wasn't right for you. Maybe you were meant to live elsewhere. Maybe there's something better out there for you.

Keep your chin up.

I'll be there to guide you in what can be an overwhelming time in your life. Also, let's have fun with it at the same time :)

Lydia Lucas is Your Source for Milford CT Real Estate
Email: LydiaLucas@PrudentialCT.com
Cell Phone: (203)980-9213
My Clients Become My Friends

This doesn't just apply to Realtors but also to other professionals dealing with Milford CT real estate and properties in other areas as well. My son has helped me a lot with the creation of my website, and while things are still in the beginning stages, we've already managed to acquire a few leads through it. From this experience, here are my 5 tips on putting together your own site:

1) Provide Valuable Content

We are already busy with keeping up with our ActiveRain blogs and the rest of the community, but it helps to at least have some solid content on your site to show visitors that you really are a real estate professional who knows your stuff.

Also, for SEO purposes, it helps if you continually add content to your site. Another blog on there definitely helps, as Google LOVES blogs. The latest Google algorithm update increases the power of sites that provide constant content. Feed Google with what it wants, and it'll reward you in return.

Once I stepped it up with blog entries on my site, my rankings started going up :)

2) Realtors Need an IDX Solution

Sure, you can use your broker's own IDX and the listings on their site, but it's much better when you are in control. When you get traffic onto your site, all the listings in your MLS are show on YOUR site, and visitors can easily request a showing or more information on a listing directly through those pages.

3) Please Find a Design That Isn't from 1997...

No offense to a lot of Realtor sites I've seen out there, but a lot of them are a blast from the past! It's like these sites were made with Geocities or Angelfire. How do you expect to attract people to Milford CT homes for sale like that? I'm not saying that you need a fancy design, as some of those flashy sites out there are all for show and ruin all functionality. Even my site isn't anything special with the looks, but as long as it's simple and functional, that's all you really need for your site.

Aside from making the site look good, a solid Content Management System (CMS) such as Wordpress can make the whole updating and blogging process pretty easy.

4) Learn Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to Drive Traffic to Your Site

This is a whole other beast to tame, and that's why my son handles this. For him, it's basically a full time commitment, so if you don't have the time to do it yourself, look into hiring SEO professionals. There is so much to ranking on Google, but it is such a worthwhile investment - monetarily and time-wise.

Paid traffic such as Google Adwords is great, but you need to lose a decent amount of money to optimize your campaigns in order to come up with a good return on investment. That's why we mainly use Adwords for testing search numbers.

5) Have Fun with Your Site

Just like with ActiveRain, it shouldn't be business all the time. Let loose and have fun with things. Post random videos or write about topics that fall under your interests once in a while. This shows visitors that you are human and actually do enjoy other things in life.

Mix it up and give people a reason for coming back to your site.

These are just a few tips that came from the top of my head. Feel free to provide any feedback or leave any website tips of your own :)

Lydia Lucas is Your Realtor for Milford CT Homes for Sale for you
Email: LydiaLucas@PrudentialCT.com
Cell Phone: (203)980-9213
My Clients Become My Friends

Yesterday, I went to a Milford CT real estate inspection with my son, who was shadowing me for the day. When I was using my Supra Key to open the lockbox, there was a really long delay. The device kept processing and wouldn't move to the next step. I also updated it before I left, so something else was up. This is a problem I've never had before with any sort of Milford CT homes for sale.

Then my son mentioned that the sun could be disrupting the infrared (IR) signal between the Supra Key and the lockbox, so he shielded both devices from the sun with his hand and EUREKA! The lockbox opened :)

Just wanted to throw that out there for future reference.

Lydia Lucas is your Milford CT Real Estate Source
Email: LydiaLucas@PrudentialCT.com
Cell Phone: (203)980-9213
My Clients Become My Friends