Still working on starting your first real estate or mortgage blog?  Well, take our advice… It’s not so hard if you grasp the basics first!

If you’ve missed them, be sure to check out our previous posts in this basic blogging series – “Real Estate Pros: Start Blogging Now!” and “More Expert Blog Tips for Real Estate and Mortgage Pros.”

This will our last basic blogging feature for beginners for awhile, but we might just tackle some more advanced and real estate specific ideas in the near future.  So, without any further ado…

Keep It On Schedule

When trying to reach out for new customers or just new friends with your real estate blog, they’ll ignore you faster than you can blink an eye if you forget about them.  If you don’t post on a regular schedule, they’ll forget about your blog or possibly even never see it in the first place.

Now this doesn’t mean you need to be unnaturally rigid about posting.  No need to post every day at 8 am on the dot, but try to post often enough to keep ‘em coming back for more.  Also, if you have, let’s say, 5 topics to write about, spread these out over a week or so instead of posting all at once on the same day.  Readers want to see new posts on a frequent basis rather than going long stretches with nothing at all.

Don’t Be Afraid To Moderate

Here’s the deal… If you won’t have the time to check in on your blog posts’ comments on a regular basis, it might be best to turn them off altogether.  You don’t want the spammers taking your blog over or obscene or obsessive commenters running a free for all from your blog.

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with moderating comments if you can check in fairly often.  But if you go the moderation route, be sure to approve comments frequently enough that participants can freely maintain a fluid conversation via the commentary.  And don’t let any off topic or otherwise objectionable comments through your screen.

Help Your Blog Go Viral

Now this might sound intimidating to the real estate blogging beginner, but read on for the scoop.  “Going viral” is when other bloggers begin to comment on your posts and vice versa.  Your traffic will definitely reflect the benefits of an active community.

Picture the snowball effect.  As more and more visitors stumble across your blog, they’ll tell more and more people and traffic will grow even more.  Allowing comments will encourage this growth and so will properly setting up trackbacks.  Again, they sound complicated, but just check out the FAQ’s for the blog program you use and trackbacks will begin to make perfect sense.

Use a Design That’s Clear

It’s easy to get carried away picking out the flashiest or coolest template design for your blog.  I mean, there are thousands of options and they’re fun to explore, but keep simplicity in mind.  The last thing you want to do is distract your readership from the content they came to read in the first place.

A good design can be bold, but it must naturally complement your written content.  For example, with a real estate or mortgage themed blog, you probably shouldn’t even think about using the latest “dog-lover” template that looks so great.  Be bold; but keep it neutral, if you know what I mean.

Best of luck with your real estate or mortgage blog!