Real Estate Blogging: 14 Profound Ideas to Increase Links to Your Blog
Linkbait. Just sounds evil.
But it’s not. It’s nothing more than a label for a content-rich, useful blog content…a blog post that people not only love to read, but more importantly, share.
“Once a great site, great application or trendy post is written about somewhere, it gets picked up and dragged across the web. Social tagging and popularity ranking sites (like the aforementioned Digg & del.icio.us) help to give the document massive visibility to hundreds of sheep-like content creators, who’ll happily link to you.” Linkbaiting for Fun and Profit
In the end, linkbaiting is a beautiful thing. It bring you traffic. Attention. Subscribers. Prospects. And ultimately clients.
So, just launch just one of these linkbait ideas on your blog a month for a year…and there’s a good chance you’ll develop a large following.
Web 2.0 Applications
While mashups, maps and community-like apps tend to be shoe-ins for easy link bait, there’s a hitch. Not for the faint of heart. You must be–or must know–a software engineer. Greg Swann is the king here on this.
Collaborate on Blog Posts
Connect with some other bloggers to create content that’s useful, unique, urgent and ultra-specific. With multiple authors, you tend to get links from their sites to your site, thus drawing their audience to your site.
Expose Wicked Deeds
Uncovering a scandal is sensational. Somewhat suspect. At times, down right dirty. But oh so loved by everyone. Now, having said that, please…be professional. Expose the deed. And don’t make a judgement call. In fact, ask your audience what they think.
Top 10 Lists
Think David Letterman. Numbered lists with tips, advice and steps are great for drawing traffic and links. And it doesn’t have to be 10. It can be 100. Or even 1,000.
Real Estate Related Humor
Everyone–even the top-notch serious–need to bust a rib every once in awhile. But as with “Exposing Wicked Deeds” make sure you use your noggin’ here. Common sense should tell you NOT to use stereotypes or crude language.
Reviews of Events
Reviews of pubcrawls, conferences, product launches, speeches or seminars are exceptional examples of linkbait.
Interviews with Insiders
In today’s globally connected world, emailing an insider is a cinch. Frankly, you don’t have an excuse not to do this. It’s that easy. My recommendation: Email about five people. You raise your chances of getting a response from at least one. And if all five respond–you’ve just got yourself a series.
Surveys or Collections of Data
Survey Monkey makes collecting data child’s play. Simply whip up the survey and post the link. Within days you’ll have a smidgen of data you can build a good post around.
Film or Animation
This is a stretch…but worth a thought since videos tend to be easy targets for going viral. Make it real estate related, and you’re liable to wind up on a high-caliber web site. That’s a promise.
Charts, Graphs or Spreadsheets
For those closest Excel addicts, this is your chance. But don’t forget: you must examine and analyze the data. A summary is imperative. Otherwise you come across as a numbers snob.
High Profile Criticism
Target someone or something that’s in the spotlight–and do a good, honest job of it–and you’re likely to draw links out of the woodwork.
Contests, Giveaways and Competitions
This may smack of coupon cutting (that is, low brow), but numbers and research are not on your side if you resist this idea: Contests, giveaways and competitions draw people. An insane amount of people.
Trend-Spotting
There’s an art to trend setting. Or a science. Whatever you think it is, the bottom line is that it takes time. But picking up on a story before everyone else–even if it’s not identified at first–will make you a star. Just ask Matt Drudge.
Advice from Multiple Experts
If you’re creating an article that offers advice, pulling opinions from the well-known experts in the industry is a great way to make sure links flow your way. The experts themselves will often be inclined to link.
Did you find this article helpful? If so, leave a comment or subscribe to the real estate marketing blog.