Online Marketing in the Property/Construction Industry – Is it working for you?

If you are an individual or an organisation who have a limited web-based presence or maybe none at all then you are missing a really big marketing opportunity that will reach places you would never have dreamed of.  A web presence is your shop window to the World.  If you are not regularly refreshing/updating your material then it will soon start to reflect negatively on your business.

Source: http://tengoldenrulesblog.blogspot.co.uk/

To the very day, today marks the first anniversary of the day I published my first article on this blog.  At the time I decided to set up the blog I had no idea that it would become so popular so quickly, and I would never have envisaged that I would receive over 59,000 page views (update February 2015 - Now over 315,000 page views!), not just from the UK but from around the World.  This has been achieved from a standing start, a blank sheet of paper, and without any financial investment whatsoever.  Through the blog I have had a number of articles published in magazines, and I regularly get requests to undertake consultancy work. Also, I am continually inundated with people and companies who want to write guest articles for my blog. 

As interest in my blog has grown I have also been approached by a number of people who were thinking of setting up their own blog, and wanted some general guidance.  The first thing I always make very clear is that it is really hard work.  Anyone can write an article and publish it on the internet, however if you want people to read it, it needs to be interesting, well written and something that will make people want to come back and read more.  Also, a number of people I have spoken to are under the impression that once you put something onto the Internet that people will automatically flock to it because it is ‘available to the World’.  If you think this will happen then I am afraid you are going to be very disappointed.  If you want people to view you blog or website then you need to let them know where it is.  Ignoring this is like arranging a party and not telling anyone where it is or what time to arrive.  Nobody will turn up!  

Source: http://rvtechsolutions.com/

Initially my primary objective for setting up the blog was as a learning resource for my students (for those who do not know, I am a Senior Lecturer at Coventry University).  However, it became clear in a very short period of time that my audience was far wider than I had first imagined which led me to reconsider the types of articles I wanted to publish. I also decided immediately, that if I was aiming at a professional audience than the image of my blog would also be professional.  I spent many hours designing the template and I wrote down a number of core values that I would never compromise on in order to ensure the quality and professionalism of the blog and the material that I would publish.  

These core values included a maximum article length of 1200 words (although I try to achieve a maximum of 1000 words wherever possible).  The image for the blog would be recognisable, which would include the font and word size, as well as each article incorporating a number of images.  The material would always be as subjective a possible and would not advertise organisations or products.  This was particularly important for guest articles, where although I allow a link to a website, and a short reference to the guest writer and their position, I will not allow the article to be written as a marketing piece.  I ask guest writers to send me a draft article, which I edit and send back for comments. This gives me the opportunity to request removal or re-wording of parts of the article, which I will not publish until I am happy.  Any article that does not meet my core values will not get published. 

The quality of the material that is published is fundamentally important, however to be successful it is also necessary to publish on a regular and consistent basis.  If you look at numerous blogs on the internet you will find that material is published in a very sporadic/random manner.  There is usually a glut of articles in the early weeks/months, however articles then start to become less frequent with large gaps between published articles and in many cases, posts completely dry up.  In order to avoid this happening another of my core values was to publish a new article every week.  I knew this would be a big commitment; however I also felt that this was a key factor in making the blog successful.  I also thought it important for my article content to be original, i.e. written by me (or by a guest author).  There is absolutely no point in publishing anything on your blog that people can read elsewhere.  Some blogs/websites are set up almost like a ‘digital interchange’.  This is where lots of links to different articles/websites will be uploaded and with the exception of the occasional passing comment, there is no other original content.  When I stumble on these types of sites there is nothing that makes me feel that I want to go back again, and this is something I did not want my readers to think. 

If you are an individual or an organisation who have a limited web-based presence or maybe none at all then you are missing a really big marketing opportunity that will reach places you would never have dreamed of.  A web presence is your shop window to the World.  If you are not regularly refreshing/updating your material then it will soon start to reflect negatively on your business.  Is this really the impression you want to give about you or your business? There are endless website developers and media organisations that emphasise these points and offer to provide their assistance (for a fee of course) in order to help promote your image and your business.  I would not be bold enough to suggest that I have the same level of expertise, however, the tips/suggestions that I have identified above have worked for me and I hope they can also be of assistance to others. In my opinion the success of my blog relates to all of the factors discussed above, but above all it relates to good quality material which is published on a regular basis, which I can promise you is really hard work!

If you are thinking of setting up your own blog or require some guidance then please feel free to contact me for some guidance: garyoneill65@hotmail.co.uk

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Information/opinions posted on this site are the personal views of the author and should not be relied upon by any person or any third party without first seeking further professional advice. Also, please scroll down and read the copyright notice at the end of the blog.