In this day and age, landlords spend a lot more time online in order to bring attention to their rental properties, fill vacancies, screen tenants, and keep up with maintenance requests. It all starts with a great website, which is used to keep tenants informed and makes it easy for prospective tenants to find you.
But one thing your website is probably lacking is a blog. You might think there’s not much point in this endeavor, but research says the opposite. Approximately 33 percent of first-time home and apartment hunters begin their research online, and 92 percent of shoppers end up going online for some of their research. This means when renters go online to look for apartments, your site will be more visible, thanks to your blog.
Those who want to be at the top of the search results when people begin looking for apartments should focus on search engine optimization (SEO) for their rental properties. SEO is a digital marketing tactic that’s used to bring your website’s page ranking in Google search closer to the top of the search results. Since the majority of people don’t leave the first page when searching for things, this is huge for your rental property.
Blogging is an essential part of successful SEO. The more content you write with local keywords relevant to your rental properties, the more Google will recognize your site as an authority on real estate in your area. It’s the perfect opportunity to jump ahead of your competitors and keep your vacancies filled all year long.
Blogging can also be very beneficial for your tenants. Building a tenant community is another attractive element for potential renters. They like to see that people enjoy living in a place where the management takes care of their needs. Through your blog, you can share information, recent events, offer tips and tricks, and provide other information that’s relevant to apartment living. It shows your attention to detail and your desire to provide a great tenant experience.
It’s important to note that investing in a blog may not be ideal for every landlord. If you cover just a couple of properties, you won’t be attracting a wide enough audience to make the time and money invested in this venture worthwhile. This advice is more for those who service large apartment complexes and struggle to keep them filled throughout the year.
Now that you’ve been thoroughly convinced of the importance of a blog for your apartment complexes, let’s look at some of the ways you can make it a success.
1. Stick to Relevant Topics
Attracting the right consumers with your blog is all about sticking to topics that are most relevant. Your blog will primarily attract organic search traffic from prospective tenants, and relevancy is key in bringing searchers to your blog. The great thing about blogging in this industry is that you’ll never run out of things to talk about. Here’s a brief list of blogging topics to get you started.
Any of these topics would be a great place to start and continue blogging throughout the year. As you become more accustomed to the blogosphere, you’ll think of new ideas that can be helpful to your readers.
Most of the search traffic you’re hoping to attract with your blog will read things like “apartments for rent in Katy,” or “Houston apartments.” For that reason, you should be using these keywords in your articles.
There’s no need to stuff your articles full of keywords. This is an outdated SEO tactic that can actually hurt your search engine rankings rather than help them. Simply using the keywords a couple of times in the article where they fit appropriately will help bring you search traffic.
When you have a vacancy, you can market it through your blog. This will help in a variety of ways. First of all, it will alert your tenants of a property opening. If they have friends or family looking for a place to live, they can spread the word through your blog post, making your marketing more efficient.
The second way this helps is by attracting search traffic. As mentioned previously, you’re trying to get people searching for local apartments onto your page. By writing articles on apartment openings, you’ll have pages for searchers to visit.
When marketing to potential renters online, images are incredibly important. They give viewers a better idea of what the property will look like. Images are also important for blog posts. It brings the words to life and helps readers better understand the content presented.
Research shows that the brain actually comprehends images 60,000 times faster than it comprehends text. If you’re looking to get the most out of your blog and better marketing for your apartment complex, images are an essential factor.
You have enough to worry about without the complexities of an intricate blogging platform. WordPress is the most used blogging platform. It’s very simple to use, even for those with no experience in blog design. It’s also well-supported with plenty of free resources.
If you already have a website and it’s not through WordPress, however, it may be best to use a blogging platform that’s better suited for your existing site. You can learn everything you need to know about setting up a blog on any platform through YouTube tutorials.
Or, if you have a little extra cash, and want to hire someone to put your website together, that’s another option. However, recognize that the revenue generated from your blog likely won’t be enough to pay for the development of your blog, and you’re likely better off building your own.
Looking for ways to draw more attention to your apartment complex? The property managers and real estate team at Green Residential can help. We offer a myriad of services for landlords, from maintenance to tenant screening. For more information about what we can offer, contact us today!
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