The Real Estate Blogsite Myth

Every client we work with has different real estate blog development needs.  Often the concern is, “Do I need to replace the real estate website I already have in order to incorporate a blog into my marketing?”
The answer: “It depends.”

First, a quick look at the difference between the website, blog and blogsite:

Website: Standard online presence; homepage, secondary pages, forms, listings etc.
Blog: Database of articles appearing in reverse chronological order, sortable by category, keyword and date.
Blogsite: The combination of the above.
Let it be known, that I am a fan of the real estate blogsite.
There are many obvious benefits:

A single root domain (yourrealestateblogsite.com) for the website and blog.
One branded look and feel.
One hosting service.
One development company.

But it needs be explained that dumping your current real estate website to replace it with a real estate blogsite is not always the best option.
Having both a solid real estate website and a fully functional, regularly updated blog is a perfectly sound solution for your needs as a modern real estate agent.
Scenario
You already have a great site that has all the standard features your audience is looking for when it comes to online real estate:

MLS Search
Home Value Reports
Featured Listings
Local Resources
Info About You
Mortgage Tools and Info
And more…

Or, even better, you have a complete real estate website that is already a great, natural landing page for relevant search phrases.
Reinventing the wheel to include all of these tools into a brand new blogsite just to add the blogging function is unnecessary. And in some cases even foolish.
The blog, when leveraged properly, will be an amazing attractor of relevant web traffic.  It will, in most cases, out perform any standard real estate website you have (had).  And, after all, that’s the first step in the overall goal: generate relevant traffic, generate interest in your services, generate leads, generate clients.
Once you have the traffic to the blog, you can inspire them to click on any offering that may be relevant to their needs (read: MLS Search, for example).
The blog and its articles are just a landing pages; a means to the end.  Get an audience to your environment and then in ‘one click’ have them in a position to engage you for your services. That ‘one click’ will send them to any place you like, namely your current, fully functional, real estate website tools (again, read: MLS Search, for example).

Scenario to consider the Real Estate Blogsite as a solution:

You have no website, or you aren’t pleased with the success, design and/or functionalities of your current website.  And, you have blogging fever, of course.
In this case, a custom designed, full featured blogsite, that incorporates all the standard real estate website tools with a robust blogging platform, all under one domain, is a perfect solution.
But don’t just take my word for it.