Let’s break it down…
1. Who is behind all this fantastic information?!
The first thing you need to do as a blogger is make sure that anyone searching for you — by name and city — can find you on the first page of Google search results. Start by writing a detailed “About” page. In fact, change the name of “About” to “About [Your full name]“. Write it in the third person so you can use your name a lot… and I mean a LOT! Use some form of your name at least 5 times: “Mr. Schmoe has sold Denver real estate since 2005 and has concentrated on the Highland neighborhood for the past year…” (You get bonus points if you noticed that I snuck in “Denver real estate” and “Highland neighborhood” in that sentence as well!) Yes, it will probably look a little strange, but it is also very common for the very reason that it is very effective.
Next, make sure your full name is listed as the author of your posts. This is specified in your Dashboard > Users > Your Profile, under Name, in the drop box of Display name publicly as. You don’t want all your posts to be attributed to “JShmoe” or to “joeshmoe” since nobody will ever search for you that way. Enter your full name into Nickname then select your full name from the drop box. That way, your name will be plastered all over the blog, but in a very non-intrusive way.
2. What is this blog generally about?
Identify the broad terms that describe your niche. If your focus is on a particular neighborhood, use the name of that community in the context of the city in every post. Yes, every single post needs to incorporate the words that you want to be known for. For example: “Even though the national trends are still gloomy, the Denver Post just featured an article that states that homes the Highland neighborhood is still appreciating! That matches what I’m seeing, particularly between the blocks of…” The broader your niche, the more posts you’ll need to secure that 1st page of google. Seriously, for popular neighborhoods, it could take years. For lesser known neighborhoods, it could take only weeks. Choose your niches wisely.
3. What specifically are the highlights of your niche?
While you settle in to the idea that it may take some time before google “discovers” you as a broad niche expert, you can’t waste time waiting for that to happen. Figure out what micro-niches within your broad niche you can “own” today. In other words, what are the unique characteristics that make your niche so great? It could be it’s proximity to downtown, or the pocket parks, or the boutique shopping, or the great restaurants, or the views, or whatever… you get the idea. The key is to imagine what your perfect client would like to know, and then write about that in your blog — just in case they are out there and they’re frustrated because they can’t find anything about what they are looking for on google. (Hint: they probably are!) To highlight these micro-niches further, you should probably use them as your blog’s categories. In the meanwhile, you will be gaining “authority” for the broader niche with each new post you write. In any case, you’ll quickly learn why the most successful agents have said for years: “The riches are in the niches.”
To sum up
Your “About” page will speak glowingly about how “[Your full name] is best/most knowledgeable/hardest working agent serving Denver’s Highland Neighborhood…” Not to mention the fact that every single post you write will be attributed to [your full name] as well. In no time at all your name should appear on the first page of a google search for [your full name] [your niche]. Since every post you write will also include the specific terms of your broad niche, your blog should be steadily moving toward the first page of Google searches for those terms as well. Finally, the posts that you write specifically because there is nothing else written about such local items in detail, will very quickly show up in the #1 Google spot for those terms. (They even have a name for this type of writing: They call it “Hyper-Localism”.) Just keep chipping away at your niche keywords and you will be found by anyone who is looking.
Next up: Don’t wait for the mountain to come to you!
