How Many Hits Does It Take To Get To The Center Of Real Estate Blog Lead?

As I attempted to bring clarity to the commonly asked question: How many hits should I expect to my real estate blog? the theme that has percolated to the top of the discussion both here and on ActiveRain was all too clear.

“It’s business, not hits that I want from my blogging.”
“What correlation is there between traffic and leads through blogging?”

Teresa Boardman is passionate about the subject, knowing too well that it is the business that she garners from her blogging efforts, not the readership, that makes it so worth it.  So, after a quick email exchange with her, we aimed to tackle the topic together.
My point of view comes from hundreds of hours of blogging, geared to be enjoyed by Realtors, and Teresa’s, from twice as many hours of real estate blogging directed towards the consumer.
Jim’s Perspective
What we learned from the last article:
#1. When someone is referring to website “hits”, they mean human visits.  End of discussion.
#2. Hits, unless you are being paid for them (Elizabeth), do not equal income.
So is it possible to make a correlation between hits and business that can be considered universal enough to set the expectation of the novice blogger?
Yes and No.
Yes, because without traffic, there are no leads.
No, because all traffic is not created equal, and it would be reckless to try and pin down a number of hits corresponding to a number of leads.
Blogging works, many of us have the proof.  For us, it is more than an addiction or a hobby.  It is a marketing strategy, that, like any other, when executed well, will continue to generate business.
It works because the more you are able to produce content that your prospective client wants to read, the greater the trust you build in them, leading to their desire to work with you.  It also works because the more content you create that attracts your prospective client the more prospective clients you reach.  Unfortunately it’s virtually impossible to come up with a formula that breaks down the ratio between content, frequency and leads.  Why?
Quality. Luck. Perception.
All three of which are slippery concepts to work into a formula.
In a perfect world, on a perfect blog, more writing would equal more readers and more leads.  In reality, we write, trying to anticipate what our audience wants (not actually knowing), and hope for the best.
If you happen to uncover a formula that is lead generating, great – stick with it… until it dries up.  If not, just keep writing, you just might be one article from gold.
My best shot at the Numbers Game Formula for Generating Leads Through Blogging:
Blog your brains out for 1-3 months: You might get some leads
Blog your brains out for 3-9 months: You might get some leads
Blog your brains out for 9-18 months: You might get some leads
And so on…
Or
10 visitors a day: You might get some leads
100 visitors a day: You might get some leads
1000 visitors a day: You might get some leads
And so on…
If you do get leads, then you are uncovering what a potential client base is looking to learn from you.  If you get the hang of that understanding, and you blog your brains out, keeping that understanding in your efforts, I am willing to bet that you will generate more and more leads.

Teresa’s Perspective:
(After reading the above, she added the following)

1.  The type of content published will determine the type of leads.
2.  The number of readers is not as important as who the readers are.
3.  Visits to my site go up when there are more people interested in buying or selling homes.  Here in Minnesota that means the months of March through June.  My web sites also get more visits during that time period and I get more sales right along with the other agents in the area.
4.  My visits go up when I write something that other blog writers link to.  So far no business because of those visits.
5.  One of the posts that gets the most readers is the virtual pumpkin carving contest item I wrote last October.  To my knowledge I have not gotten any business because of that post.

As for who reads my blog:
1. I ask a lot of questions and my content is aimed at a particular audience.
2. I get some help from hittail.
I hear people talk about keyword rich content.  Great point, but which keywords?
I have a group of keywords that I never would have imagined would work but they do. Most bloggers go for the big words.  I go into the longtail.
To some my blog looks random, but it is not.  There is a system to it.
Some would say that I am writing to Google.  I am not.  I am writing to the people who use Google.
In my humble opinion it isn’t about how many people read me.  It is about who reads me and why.  It is about speaking directly to the clients you prefer working with.  A ton of leads can mean a ton of work and little business.  Some of my blog readers are exactly the kind of person I want as a client and others are not.  Not all leads are equal.  The type and quality of the content does have an impact on the type of leads a blogger attracts.
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Thanks Teresa.
PS – Teresa is the author of StPaulRealEstateBlog.com