Good content bridges the gap between a total stranger and acquiring a customer.

Good content builds trust. It educates. It informs. It engages. And it converts.

But good content is also really difficult to write, consistently.

Here’s a list of ideas to help you feed the blog beast.

1. Lists

List posts are popular because they’re easy to scan and read. Everywhere you read, there’s a list headline. “7 Ways To …” “5 Reasons You Should …”

Why are they so popular?

Because people like to scan and list posts make it easy to skim through and digest content.

One of the most popular posts on this blog is: 10 Must-Read Books That Will Bring Out the Best Content Marketer In You.

Examples:

• 5 Reasons To Sell Before the Holidays
• 3 Biggest Reasons To Buy A Home In 2016
• 10 Things To Look for When Hiring a Local Real Estate Professional
• Top 10 Things To Consider When Buying a Home In [City Name]
• 10 Expert Home Staging Tips To Make a Small House Feel Bigger

2. Featured Neighborhood Profiles

Consumers aren’t just looking at the latest listings when they’re getting ready to buy a house. They’re also educating themselves on everything about the local community including:

• Things to do,
• Best neighborhoods to live in,
• Best schools in the area,

They’re looking to gather as much information about the local neighborhood in order to determine whether this is a place that they’d love to settle down and live in.

So creating content-rich neighborhood profiles is an effective way to earn their attention and keep them on your site looking longer.

Here are some great examples of neighborhood profiles:

• http://irvine.carringtonrealestate.com/community/ – each community page goes into great detail on the local community: demographic, lifestyle, market stats, local real estate listings.
• http://www.realfx.com/communities/ – again, each community delivers some background on the neighborhood and shares the latest real estate stats.

3. Things To Do In the Community

Your site visitors aren’t always going to be in the market to buy and sell real estate right now. So how do you stay top of mind and keep their attention over the long-term?

You write about the community!

Things to do, places to visit and explore.

Here are some excellent examples:

• 365 Things To Do In Vancouver, WA
• Things To Do In North County by 1850 Realty

4. Testimonials

Interview your most recent buyers and sellers. Let them tell a story of what their buying and selling experience was like while working with you.

I love Path & Post’s about page. They communicate their unique value proposition exceedingly well, in my opinion. For them, it’s not about the numbers. They value the customer relationship and if you take the time to read a little more about them, it’s obvious and their customer testimonials speak volumes.

5. Local Market Reports

These types of posts are always going to be relevant to buyers who are in the market to buy right now. What’s the average days on market? What’s the average sales price? Are we in a buyer’s or seller’s market and what does that mean for you?

Here’s a few excellent examples:

• Real Estate Market Update: Summer 2015
• Real Estate Shifts To A Purchase Dominated Market
• 2016 Real Estate Market Outlook: Metro Atlanta To Be A Top 5 Housing Market

Your goal is to talk to your potential buyers and sellers and educate them on the current market landscape.

6. Predictions

Predict what’s going to happen in the market this year. Are home values up year over year? Is there more (or less) inventory in the market compared to this time last year?

In Irvine, for example, home prices are up 4% over last year. There’s a lot of new developments in certain areas, so there’s market inventory.

In other markets however, inventory is low. And homes that come on the market are gone in less than a week.

What’s your advice to the prospective home buyer that’s looking to buy in 2016?

7. Share Facts & Stats

If I’m a seller thinking of buying a newer, bigger home, the local market stats matter to me. I’ll likely request a comparative market analysis. Again, I want to know how home values are trending year over year. What’s the market like? How many new listings have hit the market this month compared to last? What’s the average days on market for properties similar to mine?

Some of these stats are unique to each homeowner, so yes, you’ll want to prepare a custom CMA. But you can talk about the overall market. If it’s generally speaking a market with low inventory, maybe you have buyers that are interested?

Don’t just dish local stats, what about things that make living in your community fun? For example:

• 10 Things You’ll Love About Living In Laguna Beach

8. Buyer & Seller Guides

Lead magnets are a great way to generate a flood of fresh new subscribers to your email list. And the better the lead magnet, the more leads you’ll generate. Local buyer and seller guides are two of your must-have lead magnets.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed about creating these buyer and seller guides yourself I would recommend checking out Keeping Current Matters – their membership includes ready-to-go buyer and seller guides.

Again, what makes your community unique?

For buyers:

• What do I need to know about living in your area?
• What’s the market like?
• What do I need to do before I start my home search (getting pre-approved for example)?
• How does the financing process work?
• What do I need to look for in a real estate professional?

For sellers:

• What’s the local real estate market in my area like?
• What’s a CMA
• What to look for in a listing agent
• Understanding the listing contract
• Vetting buyers and offers

9. Checklists

Similar to list posts, checklists are easily digestible. They’re good for assembling IKEA furniture (though that’s more of a step-by-step guide than a checklist, heh) and they’re good for reminding your buyers what documents they need to gather in order to get pre-approved, for example. They’ll also good for sellers – here’s 10 things you need to do in order to successfully price your home for sale.

Take those parts of the home buying and selling process and write an educational piece that reminds your buyers and sellers of everything they need to prepare in order to successfully buy or sell a home in today’s market.

10. Educational (Evergreen Content)

I’ve always liked M Squared Real Estates resources page. They do a fine job of explaining buyer’s agency, seller agency, explaining the buying process, the selling process, and more.

Truth is, at the end of the day, you’re going to get asked the same question over and over and over again. And while it’s prudent to take the time to answer your prospective buyer or seller on the spot, you’re going to get emails and questions late into the night. So it’s great to have an evergreen content piece that you can quickly access and email them.

For example, when I got started in the industry, I was a loan officer. I would often email my clients the day before our meeting:

Hey Ricardo,

I look forward to seeing you tomorrow. Here’s a checklist of the things you need to bring to our meeting in order to get the approval process started:

[insert link to my checklist post]

And just so you’re in the loop, here’s the scoop on interest rates over the last couple of days:

[insert link to my Mortgage Rates Report category]

See you soon!

Often times, I had never met some of these people. We only talked over the phone. But by the time we met in person to get the loan application process started, they felt confident in the process and confident with me because I had been using my evergreen content to educate them every step of the way.

Go feed the blog beast!

Remember, good content builds trust. It educates.

If you’re short on ideas to write about on your real estate blog, pick something from the list above and go feed the blog beast!