ARE YOU KILLING YOUR CONTENT?

Killing your content is murderously easy. I know you’d never deliberately send your blog to the grave, but how much of a chance are you giving it to live?

When estate agents and mortgage brokers first contact us, they’re generally disappointed with the performance of their content. And when we have a rummage through their websites and social media channels, it doesn’t take long to see where they’re going wrong.

Almost everyone is making the same mistakes, so this week I’m sharing some of the most common errors so you can avoid killing your content like them.

A BLOG IS NOT NEWS

Call your blog a blog, unless it’s actually news (which it probably isn’t).

News is the reporting of facts and events. Unless you employ a team of full-time journalists and you’re hoping to compete with the BBC, leave it to major media sites where people actually go to read the news.

On the other hand, blogs are about information, inspiration, and insight. Ultimately they’re about helping people, and local homeowners and landlords are far more likely to respond to content that makes their lives easier.

If you’re writing helpful articles, but you’re hiding them behind the banner of news, you’re probably losing readers.

POSTING GOOD. HOPING BAD.

I see so many estate agents and mortgage brokers post a blog and hope for the best. That worked fine in the noughties when blogging was fairly new, but there’s far more competition today. To get your content noticed, your articles need a helping hand.

For example, the text you’re reading right now will live a wonderfully varied existence as a newsletter, a blog, a series of social media graphics, videos for reels and stories, and perhaps even a podcast.

Posting and hoping makes your life harder, effectively killing your content. But repurposing your blogs makes it easier to reach more people and come up with more content without having to think.

UGLY DOESN’T SELL

Your blog needs to look good, and for multiple reasons.

For a start, a horrid plasticky photo of corporate high-fiving just isn’t going to get clicks. Think about the image you want to convey.

If you want the best homes in your neighbourhood, use gorgeous property photos. We use a London interiors photogrpaher for ours, but you could use the best shots from your listings.

Next, think about the layout of the text. Is it a massive wall of words? Publishing content online requires a little more thought, so:

• divide your text into sections
• use big headings
• include pull out quotes
• use multiple images
• turn some of your paragraphs into bullet points (like this!)

See how much easier that is to read?

KILLING YOUR CONTENT WITH NEGLECT

It’s enough work running a business without having to knock out a new article every couple of weeks. And I’m speaking from experience! My week is pretty full writing content for our clients, but I also need new clients to find the HUSBAND website and see that we’re active. There are weeks when it’s really hard to fit it in, and my life is far less full of the distractions that you have.

Still, inconsistent posting does you no favours.

For a start, Google won’t love you. But more than that, it just looks bad. If someone turns up at your website and the most recent article is three months old, then the next one is six months before that, it looks pretty poor.

In fact, a neglected blog is worse than no blog at all.

NOT ACTIONABLE. NOT VALUABLE.

How many people do you think are searching for which office junior was recently promoted to a negotiator? Not many!

When creating content, think about how it will benefit your target audience. Here are some recent examples of ours:

• How to make your home feel more spacious and light
• Buy-to-let finance for landlords explained
• How to achieve the very best price when you sell
• Should you be a private landlord or a limited company?
• Can changing your estate agent restart your move?

With subjects like these, you can get years and years – and posts and posts – out of every article.

STOP KILLING YOUR CONTENT TODAY

We help estate agents and mortgage brokers up and down the country to have a beautiful library of expert content packed with style AND substance. Would you like the same for your business?

Get in touch to see if Moving Words is right for you (and still available in your area!) Hit reply to this email or book a call here.