Why Blogs Boom In the Winter

The real estate market doesn't necessarily slow down during the winter months, but blogging definitely heats up. Even though social media is still a relatively new medium, statistics make it pretty obvious that online activity increases during the winter due to people spending more time indoors. Online shopping, video streaming and gaming sites of course witness a boost in traffic, and so does blogging. Citizen journalists, real journalists and other experts have more time at the computer to craft their messages, and readers have more time to read them.

Between December and March, Realtors® still have work to do, but they too have more indoor hours to devote to promoting their businesses online. We've talked about how to transform your real estate business with a blog before in this space, but now we'd like to point out that reading other blogs is almost as important.

The best way to generate content for your blog is to write about what you know: your area. Prospects looking to move into or out of your area will find your blog via their keyword searches about your area, and they'll return to your blog to read what you have to say about the market, schools, jobs, events and other important community-oriented tidbits. This way you become an authority on your subject matter (key for any blogger) and you'll be competing directly with other real estate pros in your field.

But every great writer is also a great reader. Reading other blogs can help you stay on top of social media trends, popular keywords and editorial approaches adopted by bloggers in other regions (or your own). It also keeps you mentally sharp and, if you comment on their blogs, it helps you build relationships in the blogosphere.

So, this winter if you get some indoor downtime and want to devote it to your real estate marketing, think about simply kicking back and reading a real estate blog. You can even do it by the fire.

To view the original article, visit the ReachFactor blog.

For More Information

• Want to get started with blogging this season? See our 2013 Holiday Blogging Plan.
• For more tips and best practices, read educational articles about Blogging.
• Not sure what blog platform to use? Read more about Blogging Tools and discover Blog solutions.