It’s worth repeating it once again: link signals are among the top local search ranking factors in 2017. Indeed, if reputable local websites are referring to your brokerage, your digital profile gets a ranking boost. Luckily, there are a few ways to get free local press to improve your rankings and get more inquiries to your inbox.
How many times have you thought that media coverage is way too expensive for your brokerage? While it could be for traditional media, the digital age makes everything more affordable. Local journalists and bloggers will be happy to mention you and link back to your site if you can contribute to an engaging story.
Sharing your message via local press is a great strategy if you’re struggling to:
- raise brand awareness;
- boost SEO rankings;
- generate more business and skip a lengthy prospecting stage.
Below are 6 tactics any brokerage can use to strengthen their reputation and win new leads.
6 ways to get the local press talk about your brokerage
1. Create newsworthy content
No one is going to link back to you if your real estate website is not informative enough to show your expertise. That’s what your blog is for as well as neighborhood pages and market reports.
So an important prerequisite to getting more free press is to build a great site featuring lots of locally relevant info. Most of the time, local news outlets will get in touch on their own when they come across your valuable content.
Creating newsworthy content is easier than you might think. For example, if the national real estate market is seeing some big changes, explain what effect they’re going to have on your area. Reinforce your message with market data from a few neighborhoods you’re working in. Even though this won’t be the evergreen content, capitalizing on the power of the moment is a good idea to get more press already.
[Related post: How to Find Hyperlocal Info to Post on Your Real Estate Blog and Social Media]
2. Use the right tools
Local journalists and bloggers are looking for sources all the time. So another way to get noticed is to join the right places. Some of the best ones are:
- Help a Reporter Out (you can register as a source and get notifications when someone is looking for a quote);
- Facebook;
- Twitter;
- LinkedIn;
- Google Alerts or any other alert tools to know when new promising news is out.
You can join discussions on social media or email local journalists directly (make sure to read their content to understand what they’re after before reaching out).
3. Write a great About Us page
An About Us page is an essential lead generating page for a real estate website but it can do even more than getting you new leads. A strong, content-rich About Us page could convince reporters that your brokerage is a valuable source to add (and link back to) to their stories.
In a way, the About Us page is your digital business card so it makes every sense to dedicate more time and make it stand out.
We did a post detailing how to write a good one for your site: Real Estate About Us Page: How to Turn It Into a Top Lead Generating Tool.
4. Create your own press releases
Press releases work great for SEO. You get loads of backlinks and traffic as well as a stronger association with your area. Eventually, this boosts your rankings for a bunch of local keywords you’re targeting.
Writing your own press release gives you freedom to feature the story as you see it and emphasize the facts you want to get noticed. Obviously, you need some newsworthy event to write about, for example launching a local charity campaign or winning an industry award.
Whatever the event is, publish your press release on your blog first (always link to other posts from your content somewhere in the copy and choose important keywords as the anchor text). Next, contact local sources to let them know about your event so they can republish the news.
5. Take part in local events (or sponsor them)
Participation in local events gives you a chance to connect with prospects and spread the word about your services. Since all sorts of local events get covered in the local press, your participation won’t be left unnoticed.
So not only you can do something valuable to support community causes, you also get a new avenue for enhancing your brand.
[Related post: 10 Real Estate Growth Hacking Ideas to Inspire Your Team]
6. Write your pitch and follow up
It’s definitely true that getting free press is not all sunshine and rainbows. Be prepared that your pitches will be overlooked, lost or rejected. Still, pitching local sources is a lot easier than national outlets. Most local resources are short-staffed so chances are big your press release or story will be shared eagerly.
If it’s not, you might want to follow up a few times. If you haven’t heard back, it’s ok to reach out to someone else without denying exclusivity to your first outlet.
There you go – something new to try this month to get your business noticed by lots of potential customers.
