Okay here is a survey. I am a very busy Realtor as many of you are, so my question is if you only have enough time to blog once or twice a week would you blog on a site like REW or Activerain, or would you blog on your own website? Is one more important than the other? Is there more of an advantage that outweighs the other?

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MARK Z. & Associates

Coldwell Banker Real Estate
Northville, MI 48168
(248)675-6908
Northville Real Estate
West Bloomfield Real Estate
Commerce Township Real Estate

Servicing the entire Metropolitan Detroit Real Estate market. If you know of anyone looking to relocate to Michigan, call me with their name and number. I am willing to pay you up to a 30% referral fee.

You should blog on all three. But if I had to choose just one I think I would have to go with AR.

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Bellingham Real Estate
Bellingham Condos
Bellingham MLS

In terms of off site blogs - I may be jaded, but REW is a much higher quality (Better moderated) platform than AR - typically those who choose AR of REW Blogs are those that don't like "the rules" - but it is these rules that ensure a higher quality of standard which in turn ensures longevity and authority.

That being said - your question is really about off site vs on site blogging.

The answer to this really is "Both" as Eric suggested (Or all three whatever)
But if you truly only have time for one - here are some things to consider

Positives of an off site blog
Off site blog (AR or REW Blogs) are already authorities, thus by posting there you pretty much automatically will achieve search engine exposure.

Off site blog builds back links to your website or on site blog - backlinks are what help develop YOUR authority.

Off site blog requires less of a commitment in terms of posting to maintain readership due to the fact that there are other posters also contributing regularly

There are few positives - now for a few negatives of an off site blog.

If you do post something amazing and it gets noticed - then others will link to it - seeing as it is not on your site, you actually do not directly benefit from the link as it is sent to the off site blog (Although passively some of that comes back to you)

Off site blogs are not exclusive, visitors can also find other users (This can be seen as a negative or a positive, typically only a negative if you have a ton of local competitors also blogging on the same platform.

Lack of ownership / creative control - although you can get as creative as you like with your articles and pages at say REW Blogs, you cannot change the design (Same with AR) so you are stuck with whatever is offered (Another reason to choose REW vs AR But still if you are the kind of person who wants everything custom, it is just not an option in an off site blog.

So on site - ideally if you had authority already, you would always choose on site vs off site (Unless the readership that was already established in an offsite was so compelling, you stood to benefit from it) - This way all links earned by your posts would earn YOU even more authority.

The problem lies here - You are NOT an authority (Most individual agents aren't) and by authority I mean search engine authority, not local authority, I am sure you know your stuff. So the question becomes how much more do you have to do to get your blog posts noticed on your site considering your lack of authority (Or will they ever get noticed at all) - if they are never noticed, then what was the point right? You get no customers, you build no brand or name recognition, you never get links (So your own authority never develops) etc

The solution (A solution) is split your time between both - Keep the really good "Local" stuff on your own blog (Post every second week) and post the more general authority / awareness building stuff on your REW Blog - This way you still build links from your offsite blog and build awareness of your blogging skills, while at the same time, if great editorial "local" links are going to be earned, they are sent to your on site blog.

There is way to much to cover in just a short forum answer, there are simply tons more pros and cons to each - so each person really needs to test it out factoring in things like long term vs short term goals, ability to generate awareness of local blog etc There really is no perfect solution.

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Webmasters who spend their energies upholding the spirit of the basic principles [Of Google] will provide a much better user experience and subsequently enjoy better ranking than those who spend their time looking for loopholes they can exploit. Google.com

A hah I knew would say something to this. I was waiting for you to say something.

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Bellingham Real Estate
Bellingham Condos
Bellingham MLS

Lol were you baiting me badgley!

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Webmasters who spend their energies upholding the spirit of the basic principles [Of Google] will provide a much better user experience and subsequently enjoy better ranking than those who spend their time looking for loopholes they can exploit. Google.com

Eric;

Too funny. I'd agree that solid moderation equals longevity. IMO, if you have limited time, you should work on things (add content) in the following order:

1. Your blog /site

2. Highest authority outside blogs as possible (read: Less spam, highest ranking)

3. Highest authority social networking sites as possible that provide opportunities for links back to your site.

I find the REW blogs to fit the #2 criteria better than any other real estate industry choice.

Google Louisville condominiums and you'll see why. (grin) (not bragging--I'm just saying)

Best

Eric

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Eric Blackwell
Technologist, SEO Specialist and Consultant

Louisville Real Estate

Southern Indiana Search Engine Marketing Blog

Real Estate Industry Watch - Real Estate Industry News Blog

Actually this should be broken down by:

1) On site blog (a blog connected to your website)

2) Off site blogs

A) Off site blog, stand alone (Wordpress blog with it's own unique domain name).
B) Off site blog in a community (Active Rain, Realtown, etc.)

I've already stated my position on this with several other threads, but my vote would first go with an on site blog. I would much rather build my identity with posts inside my real estate site vs off in some community where I really don't own my destiny.

Since I have owned a wordpress blog since Oct. 2006...that would definitely be my second preference, because again I own my destiny and with close to 10,000 hits a month, I don't think there's any question it's working.

I'll let the Active Rain people defend themselves. At the end of the day, I want to own my work and not be at the mercy of a policy change, company buyouts, or whatever else could negatively affect your position.

As hard as it is to keep up one blog, I couldn't imagine why someone would want to have three blogs or more. It's one thing to own a static website thats for the most part done and gathering leads, but something dynamic like a blog...you have to keep feeding it articles or your audience will slowly go away. So for me...I will keep my "Off site -Stand alone blog" and probably add an "On-site blog" to my rew site. My Wordpress would be much more active and broader in speaking vs "On site blog" that would be targeting its specific market and more of a micro approach.

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Jerry Campbell, CRS, GRI
Muljat Group
Bellingham, WA 98225
Professional REALTOR for 15 years
Bellingham Real Estate | Whatcom County Real Estate | Bellingham Real Estate Blog

i think as long as there is a built in ping service with your blog,you should go for that one. my blog is attached to my website which boosted my serps. i use bevolution and usually my blogs are in the serps within hours, but lately since i haven't blogged much i am seeing that it taks a few days now.

don't know if that is coming from trackback spams i have been receiving.

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Charlotte House Buyers/Stop Foreclosure Specialist/Sell your Charlotte House
Sell Charlotte House l Charlotte Real Estate l Charlotte Wholesale Properties
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We buy houses in Charlotte, North Carolina and surrounding areas. Stop foreclosure in Charlotte, NC fast & easy by selling your house to us, guaranteed offers in hours. Charlottes Foreclosure Expert, helping homeowners behind on payments.

I am pretty much with everyone else.

1st) Onsite blog integrated into your site. (you control)
2nd) Offsite blog on authority site - REW (I got a listing today from my REW blog )

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Wayne Long
Search all the Columbus Ga Homes for Sale listed in the Columbus MLS
as well as Fort Benning Real Estate and area info.
Check out the Columbus GA Real Estate and area info.

In site blog is good as you can add anchor text and links.........

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