We just did a blog post called "Online Marketing for the Title Industry - Covering the [NEW] Bases (+ FREE ALTA Video Content Idea!)" and in that post, we outlined 7 basic things that Title Companies can do to get online with their businesses. In this post, we want to outline a few very specific things to-do, and not to-do in regards to the 5th key, "Creating Content that is Google-Searchable."
In Online Marketing, Content is King; however, all content is not created equal. In fact, bad content can hurt your online presence for two reasons:
1- Google (and the search engines that direct people to your content) watch how long people interact with your content; if people do not spend a long time on your site when someone clicks a link from their Search Engine, they will knock your rankings. Google and other search engines (now Facebook included), want any external link to add value to their search or advertising. If consumers do not get value (determined by seeing how long someone spends on your site), they will be less likely to send people there, and instead direct people to better content.
2- You only get one chance to make a first impression. If someone trusts you enough to click a link, or follow your social media, then they only get a bait-and-switch of bad content or non-relevant chatter, you are only one "back button" or "unfollow" from losing them forever.
The goal of Online Content is simple: Create a better conversation online where you can be seen as a subject matter authority on a topic, and increase the amount of time people spend on your site and interacting with your brand. You do not get this by just creating random content for the sake of creating content. If you are not adding value, stop.
It all starts with figuring out who your audience is & what they actually want/need... then find an interesting way to add value to the conversation (in the form of social media posts, blog content or pages on your site dedicated to that conversation). All of this is Google searchable, and shareable on Social Media (if it's good).
So what should we do now? Here are 3 easy ways (some refer to as a "hack" or shortcut) to create content that actually adds value:
1- Answer the Most Frequently Asked Questions: Create short content (and I emphasize the word short) to offer answers to the questions that your team gets most frequently asked. To do this, it all begins with you listening to your customers and your team. Are there steps in the closing process that always seems to come with lots of customer or real estate agent questions? Could you write a quick blog post about that step or that question?... then push that blog post through your social media and feature it in your email newsletter.
The most frequently asked questions should push you to create content to answer those questions.
2- Scrape the Best: Maybe you don't want to (or don't have time) write your own content... no worries! Find great content online, then re-post it as your own (while giving proper credit to who actually made it).
Here's how it works...
When you see great content online that you think can add value to the conversation online, re-post it and give credit to the person/company that actually made it. You an also add your own comments/opinions to the existing content.
Lot's of people do this on Twitter, but you can also do this on your company blog by re-posting (copying/pasting) parts of a news article and offering your own thoughts on top of it.
Good sources for original content to use can be: news articles, social media posts, interviews, Youtube videos, Vimeo Videos, podcasts, radio shows, etc... basically any content that you find.
Still stumped on where to get relevant content? Consider BreakthroughBroker. For a small monthly fee, you get access to all of their real-estate and title-focused content. What you do with it is up to you. Do you want to repost it? Fine. Do you want to send it out via an email newsletter? Fine. Their content is your content... no strings attached. They also have a great CRM feature that can send the content to Real Estate Agents.
3- Recycle the Best: If you have Google Analytics installed on your website, you should be able to see what content is getting the most views. Once you know what content is getting the best traction online (by traction, we mean "eyeballs"), simple... make more content like it! If you have a great blog post on "Why do I need Title Insurance in Minnesota," maybe consider making a "Why do I need Title Insurance in Minnesota, Part 2." Get the point?
Bottomline: Content is King. We hope these 3 things help you make amazing, value-adding content that solidifies your position as #1 in your customers minds.
At CloseSimple, we are all about helping Title Companies communicate during the Closing Process through Automated Emails & Text Messages, using our Closing Timeline (Pizza Tracker for Title). Although we are not a marketing company, we do love helping you Grow your Title Business, so please let us know any way we can help, and if you are looking to add efficiency and automation to your business, to drive growth and deliver an exceptional consumer experience, please let us know and we'd love to chat about how CloseSimple can help you!
