The Search Friendly Blogger-Oxymoron or Perfect Weapon?

by Eric Blackwell

The Real Estate Group, Virginia Beach and Chesapeake VA

Author website

In the beginning was the Keyword…just kidding!

But that is how many SEO focused obsessed people look at it. After reading Kris’ post I could empathize with her position. Why spend hours fretting over well placed keywords. It is enough time to find the right methaphor and not leave dangling participles. One cannot (without divorce and a 30 hour day) do both…right?

And even if we get beyond the aspect of time. Then there are all of these pages of content to write that are stuffed with keywords…a journalistic sacrifice at the altar of the almighty Google. You feel like you are selling your soul for traffic…and at that traffic that may or may not be interested in buying or selling a home in your area. Why bother. Either we have standards or we do not as bloggers, right?

I am sure that there are other concerns as well…for brevity’s sake I will confine the concerns to those..just understand that I can empathize.

You are RIGHT. Taken on the whole and not individually.

Frank admission #1: There is only so much time. Too often SEO focused folks DO sell their souls for traffic in my opinion. We all have to make decisions and I have made many decisions in the past that I have looked back and regretted. I hope that is honest enough and blunt enough. They focus on how many links and how many keywords that they can stuff here and there.

They often lose journalistic integrity. They often do not write for the love of the industry or the love of convincing others of their value. They are writing to please an algorithm. Scratch that…they are simply writing to get over on an algorithm.
That said, the reality for search engines is that they are after essentially one thing–relevance. Relevance = traffic and success for search engines. This is something that TRUE blogs (and yes, TRUE bloggers) deliver better than almost anyone else.

The content is fresh and frequent. The points that are made are direct and on target. They are convincing.  And good blog writing is a talent and gift. Geno, Russell and Kris (just some of the many examples here…) need a bigger stage. I would totally agree with Bob Wilson’s comments on Kris’ post there.  And Geno–I wouldn’t change the title that you gave the spinster post for love or money…not to mention a search engine.
But the question remains..with a small amount of effort at understanding the basic principles of being Search Engine Friendly (different than search engine optimised), along with the writing talents and integrity of a true blogger–can you increase your blog’s effectiveness in getting you the local traffic (and more importantly the RIGHT traffic) you’re craving. My opinion is Yes. It is time well invested and you do not have to sacrifice anything more than a few hours to get enough of an understanding to make a large difference.
True Writing Talent is the main thing that conveys a sense of trust enough to have a website or blog reader pick up the phone and call you or inquire about a property. It sends the message that “I’m trustworthy.’, I’ll take care of things for you”, or “You can beleive in me.”

But you cannot convert someone to a raving fan if they do not read your blog…and that is where the science of putting together a blog that is search engine friendly comes in. Some of the most effective, focused, obsessed SEO people in the world use a simple WordPress blog as their weapon of choice.  It is modified to make sure that it has nothing that will detract from how search engine technology would view it…it practices the hippocratic oath,,”First, do no harm…”.To be search engine friendly, a blog does NOT need to be stuffed with keywords. It simply needs to be part of your marketing plan that you are as passionate about as you are your hobby.
While a keyword focus can help you get to the most highly contested of keywords, there is MUCH traffic to be garnered without going to that length, provided your blog is built in a way that will use the links and the structure of your blog efficiently. You CAN actually bypass others who have stuffed keywords like so much Thanksgiving turkey in getting to moderately competitive terms that will net you LOCAL and RELEVANT traffic.

In the end, search engines MUST use text to determine what a post, page, category, or blog is about…but Google started on the basis of links as providing a piece of the information as to the trust or credibility of the blog, post or page in question. One of the things that make the Bloodhound Blog rank so well is the popularity it has among REALTORS. They laugh about it, blog about it, and link to it. That alone will carry it above many other sites without jamming keyword rich goo into an otherwise well crafted post. No need. (so I am agreeing with you Kris–I’d NOT waste time worrying about that aspect for SEO’s sake.)–but I am humbly disagreeing with you on this quote:

“Unless the person stumbling on to my site through a search bar is looking to buy or sell a home in San Diego, they are of no value to me from a business perspective.”

Actually they MAY have value to you in two ways: links from their blogs and in referral business. If I have a client or friend relocating to San Diego (sorry Bob Wilson…grin) they are going to you.  I already have a trust level with you and I have never personally met you. CAVEAT: You are correct that many people who do stumble via a search bar are neither real estate nor San Diego affiliated and in that case I’d agree–but add that like ANY marketing proposition, it is a numbers game. Sometimes you are going to appeal to the masses.
Worrying about it for your readers’ (read: potential clients’) sake is another matter. What do they want? You indicated that (while the main thing they crave is listings…) they also want to get to know you. I’d totally agree. How to write in a way that does that is a challenge for me. I simply do not write as well as you do, Kris. I wish I did. That is why I am here. You play better golf with better golfers. I feel like I am at Augusta.
In the end though, there is this balance between focus on online traffic generation and focus on blogging / writing skill. I would contend that the real estate blogger of today CAN have it both ways. They really do have the perfect weapon…an online vehicle that search engines like. But they ARE the perfect weapon because they have writing skills that are gifts and they use them to be real estate columnists to the world.
That keeps them in touch with today’s consumer and today’s consumer in touch with them.