I'm new to this. Designed my own website: www.cheshireantiques.com but it is obviously not real estate related. As I study for the exam I am trying to fine tune my web site and delve into blogging so I can hit the road running when licensed. The problem is I am kind of lost, I'm using wordpress but can't seem to come close to some of the great looking blogs out there cheshireantiques.com/blog. I would love some suggestions on learning this stuff. I see the value and I want to get good at it!

I assume you are using wordpress.org. There should be plenty of template available that will work. That would be a good place to start.

If you see a blog you like the look of you could look for a template similar and use it.

But I suggest that you don't use the white text on a dark background, it's a lot harder to read. Remeber that about 50% of computers sold these days are laptops, so there are a lot of small screens out there.

Hi Here is my Wordpress blog im working on http://www.rybackrealestate.com

This theme is very easy to edit. I am going to be adding 1parkplace IDX database this week which I already have some pages plugged into the site.

You can find this theme at http://www.studiopress.com

Good Luck!
- Jason Ryback
Ryback Real Estate Team
Keller Williams Tri Valley Realty

Rich - how is the blog coming?

I think too many Realtors focus way too much on design when the important thing is the content you put on the blog. (you can have the most beautiful blog in the world, but it won't rank for squat if you don't have good content on it.) I know a lot of top bloggers, and their sites are very "plain vanilla", but they get TONS of traffic because the search engines like them, and their readers keep coming back to read their stuff.

Try this:
Write a post about a neighborhood or subdivision in your area. Then, write a "how to" article and post it on ezinearticles.com or articlealley.com. In the Author bio, include a link back to that specific article (with the name of the subdivision included in the text of the link). (This is called a deep-link.)

Assuming it's not a competitively pursued neighborhood, you'll likely make the first page of Google within a week or two.

Joel - thanks for the great suggestions

I am still getting accustomed to the extra workload of studying for the exam while running another business. Scheduling is key and I know it will become more critical once I am licensed. We have forty Antique dealers in our mall which means I have to be able to shift gears rather quickly but my wife is slowly taking on more of the responsibility for that business. Maintaining a blog and website is challenging, but it's coming along.

I would suggest that you don't start a blog until you are ready.

The biggest thing about a blog is to post frequent, relevant content.

If you posts are properly keyword optimized, you could stay on top of Google by just posting once a week (after some initial work).

Good luck,

Russ

[quote=Rich Campbell]Joel - thanks for the great suggestions

I am still getting accustomed to the extra workload of studying for the exam while running another business. Scheduling is key and I know it will become more critical once I am licensed. We have forty Antique dealers in our mall which means I have to be able to shift gears rather quickly but my wife is slowly taking on more of the responsibility for that business. Maintaining a blog and website is challenging, but it's coming along.[/quote]

Keep it up Rich! Once you have your system and methods in place everything will be easy. Go autopilot!

Blogging is indeed an investment. You have to work at, week after week. It takes relevant and consistent content to both build up a readership, as well as build authority for Google. I agree with that comment about waiting to start blogging until you are ready to commit. However, go ahead and make your site now so that the domain can "age."

-Scott

Anyone have a good blog that they use to build SEO for their website that I can look at?