It’s more relevant than you realize
by Jacquelyn Knoll
Sometimes it’s tough bringing traffic to your website, especially if the website hasn’t already been established. In fact, keeping viewers interested once they are already there is the easy part; the challenge arises when you’re building content for your mortgage company’s corporate homepage or loan officer’s site, and no one knows it exists. Especially for lenders, blogging and lifestyle content has been found to increase your website rankings, not only bringing more visibility to your website but also helping to appear as experts in the industry. With that being said, if you’re looking to improve search engine optimization (SEO) and increase your website rankings organically, it would be a good idea to implement these content pieces.
Building Your Blog
When you have implemented a high quality blog that you update regularly, search engines will begin to favor your website. It will assist in the overall performance of the website, allowing your posts to rank higher, thus becoming more visible to your audience. When blogging, remember to focus on 1-2 great, long keywords that focus on the topic of your article, and make sure that they are targeted to your audience. For example, if your article is meant for first time homebuyers, do not accidentally use keywords that could be confused for someone searching for a VA loan. I say long keywords, because when a homebuyer or even existing homeowner is searching for a longer keyword/question in their search engine, it usually means they are looking for an answer and will be more inclined to read your entire post. Additionally, you should ensure these keywords are involved in the shortened URL, as well as the blog’s header and body. Don’t go overboard, but ensure they’re being utilized sufficiently.
You can also link internally and externally to help your website rankings. If you can relate a section of your current blog to a previous blog that was written, you can create an inbound link. This will help to keep your readers on your website, and will get your other posts read as well. Outbound links will demonstrate where you found certain information, other websites will see that you’re helping them market by creating these links, and your SEO will certainly improve. Additionally, even items such as associated images with your blog entry can make a difference. Adding images with relevant titles, alt tags, and descriptions will help your blog’s online presence.
Learning from Lifestyle Content
The content in your blog entries matters just as much as their structure. Most blogs in the mortgage industry perform well by answering common questions, providing tips, and otherwise being helpful to the reader. Therefore, focus on doing just that. For instance, if a first-time homebuyer is searching Google for 'How much should I have saved before buying a home?', then it might be a good idea to have a blog titled, ‘When buying your first home, how much should you save beforehand?’ Market yourself as an expert loan officer without directly telling the reader to choose you when they want to buy a home. Eventually, you’ll become their go-to expert when they have questions about their home, and then their loans. It may be as simple as giving out advice regarding upkeep of a potential homebuyer’s current home. Topics could range from tips about spring cleaning, to a more informational read on FHA loans; the number of subjects you have to write about in your blog entries are almost endless.
In many cases, items such as blog upkeep and content management may seem like small features that don’t have a big effect, but that’s simply not the case. Looking at the bigger picture, putting in the time to compose a well written blog can ultimately bring in much more traffic online, increasing your website rankings. Therefore, by having knowledgeable resources available at the fingertips of potential homebuyers, you will bring a good name to you as a lender, and should see many more closed loans as a result.
Jacquelyn Knoll’s role as Marketing Coordinator at WebMax spans a great deal of important duties as she takes part in all of WebMax’s marketing initiatives. Her role produces lead generation from various marketing and sales angles including writing opportunities and reaching out to prospects directly.
