We talk a lot about mortgage blogging here at MetroDepth, because it’s one of the core services we provide to our clients. But what are the benefits of a mortgage blogging program? Why is it worth your time and/or money to pursue such a strategy?
An entire book could be written on this subject. But you’re in a hurry, so let’s zero in on the key points. Here are some of the ways a mortgage blogging campaign could help you grow your business.
1. Mortgage blogging is an easy way to grow your website.
Larger websites with more content tend to attract a larger audience, compared to smaller sites that are “thin” on content. And it stands to reason that a website with more traffic has the potential to generate more business. It’s a numbers game.
That’s another important benefit offered by mortgage blogging. By design, a blogging program makes it easy to publish content on a regular basis. It allows you to grow your mortgage website and attract more visitors — even if you have no technical or web development experience.
2. It helps you increase your ‘organic’ search engine traffic.
There are two main types of search engine traffic. Paid and organic.
- Paid traffic comes from advertising programs like Google AdWords. This is the “pay-per-click” approach to search engine marketing.
- Organic traffic, on the other hand, results from having relevant content on your website that matches a person’s search engine query.
Organic traffic is also free, because you don’t have to pay for those visitors. They are finding you through search engines as a direct result of your website content.
Over time, mortgage blogging can dramatically increase the number of visitors you receive through organic search results. And many of those visitors have the potential to be your next client.
By publishing new content on a regular basis, you’re giving Google users more ways to find you and utilize your services. And that’s good for business.
3. Mortgage blogging can keep people on your site longer.
Websites with a large amount of accessible, informative content tend to retain visitors longer than sites with very little content. If you offer your visitors a wealth of useful information that answers their questions and/or solves their problems, they’re going to stick around longer.
We also know from statistics that people who stay on-site longer are more inclined to take some form of action (like emailing you, filling out a form, etc.).
Translation: The longer people stay on your mortgage website, the more likely they are to become clients. And blogging can help you accomplish this.
4. A blog can help you position yourself as an authority.
Jane Doe, a mortgage broker, specializes in VA loans for borrowers in Southern California. Jane uses her mortgage blog to publish tutorials about the VA loan program, tailoring the content to home buyers in Southern California.
In doing so, Jane has established herself as an authority on a particular loan program within a particular geographical area. She could even brand herself that way, as “Southern California’s VA loan guru.”
When VA-minded home buyers land on her site, they’ll know they are in the right place. They’ll learn that Jane is knowledgeable in the very program they want to use. This increases the likelihood that they will contact her in some way — a phone call, an email, etc.
To state it differently:
You’ll have an easier time generating leads through your website if people view you as an expert within your niche. And mortgage blogging can help you position yourself in that way.
5. Blogging can help you start a dialogue with your visitors.
Many of the people who land on your blog articles will have questions about the topic covered in that article. You can encourage them to ask those questions in several ways.
Blogging programs like WordPress have commenting features built right in. If you turn this feature on, your visitors can leave a comment on your blog. You could respond to their comment through the blog, or email them directly to answer their question.
And just like that, you’ve started a dialogue with a potential client.
You could also put a link at the top of each article that says something like: “Contact me if you have questions about this topic.” (Blogging programs use templates, or “themes,” which make it easy to add call-to-action hyperlinks to all pages.)
