Are you posting on your social media channels multiple times a week? Good job! But are you regularly linking back to your website in these posts? Unlikely.
We see way too many real estate offices only posting their content on their Facebook or Instagram, and barely using their website. If you’re doing this, you’re missing out on opportunities to get more traffic on your website.
Whether it’s through specific landing pages or to new articles on your blog, you should start to regularly link back to your website on your social media pages. We’ll go through some of the main reasons why.
Your social posts provide you with extra content for your blog
Firstly, you’ve probably been at a point where you simply don’t know what to post on your blog, leaving you with no new content to link back to in your social media posts. Most likely, you’re not even really thinking about it at all. We don’t blame you – most of us simply don’t have the time to worry about the blog on our website. And if you’re really honest, you’ve probably been neglecting it.
It is however important to regularly publish new content if you want to reap the benefits of having a blog. If you don’t, it will just become another static page that never gets updated – say goodbye to all those SEO benefits we talked about before.
If you’re struggling to publish regular posts, it’s time to take a look at your social media content. A lot of this content, such as overviews of open homes and property tours, can be turned into blog posts!
So, next time you want to share a relatively bigger piece of content (not a team member’s birthday – please keep these on socials only), try writing a new blog post. You can then share the link on your social media channels. And voila, you’ve got a new social and blog post, all with one piece of content!
Using your social media posts for your blog has multiple benefits on top of just providing you with extra content.
Increase your engagement rates
When you share a blog post or other landing page on social media, your followers need to click on the link to see the full content. Every click means extra engagement for your post. And the more engagement, the better. It shows the Facebook algorithm that people enjoy your content, triggering them to show your posts to more people. So, if you increase your engagement rate on social media, you’ll see that your reach will follow!
Write a captivating sentence and title to accompany your shared link, as this will encourage people to click on it. Put yourself in your followers’ shoes: what kind of content would you want to see if you were them? Just don’t go too crazy with the clickbait. Make sure you don’t leave out key details or over-promise in your title, as you don’t want to disappoint and lose followers.
Drive extra traffic to your website & generate more leads
The previous two points are great benefits, but this one here is the real deal. This is the main reason why you should be putting more of your social media content on your website: you’ll drive more traffic to your website and generate more leads.
Simply put, if you only put the full content on your website, your audience on Facebook and other social media channels need to click on this link to view the content. And once these people are on your website, you’ll have more opportunities to generate leads.
Let me explain that in more detail.
Something to always keep in mind is that your website is an environment you have control over. It should be optimised to turn traffic into enquiries. The thing with Facebook, Instagram and other social media channels is that it’s filled with distractions. It’s incredibly hard to keep your user’s attention for long enough to turn that attention in any sort of enquiry. Therefore, you want to drive your audience to your website as much as possible: your website is the place that’s designed to turn visitors into leads. No distractions.
The thing with Facebook, Instagram and other social media channels is that it’s filled with distractions. It’s incredibly hard to keep your user’s attention for long enough to turn that attention in any sort of enquiry.
Let’s take a look at the example of a ‘Just Sold’ post and how posting this content on your website can benefit you. Instead of putting all the information in a social media post alone, imagine you’re sharing a hero image of the listing, a brief intro and a link to view all the details of the sale. Now, when someone is interested in the listing and what it’s sold for, they’ll click on the link to view the full content. This will take them to your website.
From this point, there are two things that can happen:
- The user leaves your website. They didn’t submit an enquiry or do anything else, but they have now engaged with your website! This means that their information is now stored in your tracking codes and pixels. This allows you to remarket your content to them.
- They start to browse your website and absorb other pieces of information. They might look at other recent sales, read your ‘Why sell with us’ page, or get in touch with you.
Both of these outcomes are far more beneficial for your real estate business than just bumping up likes and comments on Facebook!
TIP: to maximise the conversion rate from your website traffic that comes through Facebook, make sure you always insert a clear CTA (Call To Action) on each landing page, such as a free appraisal enquiry form on your ‘Just Sold’ listing.
Comparing the journey
So, let’s compare the journey you take readers on when you post on social media only, to when you share a link to your website with the same content.
This visual shows you why it’s definitely worth using blog posts or dedicated landing pages for certain pieces of content. It simply adds extra steps to your potential client’s journey. These extra steps will help with lead generation and drive your prospects to leaving their contact details. Even in the ‘worst-case’ scenario where they leave your website without taking any further action, you still obtained their data for remarketing purposes.
As we mentioned before, it’s not like you suddenly need to put every social media post on your website. Certain things, such as a team member’s birthday or Friday afternoon office shot, are perfect for social media only. But for the bigger pieces of content, such as your open home times, try sharing them via a link to your website. You’ll see how much more traffic you’ll drive to your website.
Not sure how to get started?
If you’re not sure how to get started with adding more content to your website (to link back to in your social media posts), make sure to check out our recent post where we give you plenty of content ideas.
If you need help with your content strategies or would like an agency to do the hard work for you, we can assist. Simply schedule a completely free consultation with one of our digital marketing experts today via the button below, and find out how we can help you grow your real estate business.
