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Top 5 Posts of 2010 and Why

by Chris on Dec 20th, 2010
in Tags: 2010, Most read real estate blogs, Tech Savvy Agent Top Posts, Top Real Estate Blog Posts
Posted in Blogging, Random, Social Media, Text

One of my favorite things about having a popular blog and Facebook Page has definitely been the data that comes along with it. I try to share as much of the insights that I am privy to as possible with you all. I think that when the analytics are examined closely they actually prove trends as opposed to much of what is discussed on the web which is usually just unfounded theory. So with that being said below are the top 5 posts on Tech Savvy Agent for 2010 and my thoughts on why each one was read or viewed so often:

5.  30 Must Have Mobile Apps Live – 2,740 Views – We all at this point have heard someone say that mobile is huge. The hour video I did on the top 30 mobile apps for real estate proves that there is a thirst for practical apps that will help a Realtor be more productive. I also gave a similar presentation around the country for Inman News which tells me that when you leverage your online content in the offline space it drives traffic back to learn more/digest. I felt like this was one of my most interactive classes to date and came off more like a web TV show that was interactive than a webinar. If you missed it you can of course watch it now.

4.  How To Back Link and Why It’s Done – 2,948 Views – This visual how to by Suzanne got more comments than nearly any post all year. Why? It taught 1000′s of Realtors why comments were important from an SEO perspective. Before reading this post my guess is that many real estate agents had heard the term back link, but had no idea how it could help their site or why it was worth their time to incorporate. Usually the tech teachers do not speak slowly enough for the average non techie. Suzanne not only made it all make sense, the visuals she used and by explaining the how AND why was the key to this posts success.

3.  The 5 Best Ways To Use QR Codes For Real Estate – 5,453 Views – Oh QR codes. Weren’t they just all the hype this year. If any technology is deserving of the shiny object of the year award it is certainly QR Codes. While many posts were written about whether or not they were a fad, I decided to write a post focused on the best uses for our industry. Can they be leveraged to make the home buying process more enjoyable? Absolutely. Will we still be writing about them this time next year? Time will tell. By sharing the strategy behind the shiny object and not just that they exist but how you as a Realtor should be using them this post had legs. Also helped that it was featured on the cover of the Arizona Association of Realtors Magazine and by a few other small media outlets.

2.  Facebook Shuts Down Page With 47,000 Fans – 6,953 Views – I think we could all agree that Facebook dominated the headlines this year. When I saw that my friend Jonathan Rivera who had one of the largest real estate related pages on Facebook had it taken away without warning I knew it was going to be a big story. The shut down was due to the use of the word Realtor in the domain name which was a violation. Instead of allowing Jon to make a change the page was instead shut down. With privacy and who actually owns the content in Facebook being such hot topics in the national media this story took off like crazy. Ironically Twitter is where it went viral thanks to tweets from likes of Robert Scoble and Mari Smith. Fear sells and this story sold. It was even featured on the front page of The Orlando Sentinel and Jon was interviewed dozens of times in the following weeks. I also intentionally did not use the words real estate in the title because I thought that would limit the buzz and I was right in that regard. Amidst the buzz Jon got his page back with a new URL, oddly enough that follow up post received a fraction of the views as the original. Lead with blood I suppose.

1.  How To Add Contact Forms In Real Estate Facebook Fan Pages – 8,257 Views – Another gem by Suzanne (congrats to her btw for having the top post of the year). Real estate agents are spending a lot of time on social networking sites and not seeing a lot of ROI, social not-working if you will. This step by step how to video and visual post showed an easy and free method of adding lead generation forms to Facebook Business Pages. Within hours of publishing we had feedback from several Realtors that they had received leads that were legitimate. If there is one thing I have learned about this industry it is unless you can show or prove that something works it will not be openly adopted by the masses. Our model from day one has been to provide practical information that is easy to execute. This post did that brilliantly. Once we started getting testimonials from agents that they were seeing a return and quickly we shared that information when we re-syndicated and it went viral.

So what can we all learn from this list? I have a few takeaways for myself:

1. 3 of the 5 top posts were video. I have been preaching that video will be king and for those of us who have adopted early it already is.

2. Numbers in post titles do well. 3 of the top 5 posts had numbers in their title. Do that more.

3. Suzanne is possibly the most under the radar blogger in the industry. 2 of the top 5 posts were hers even though I write 85% of the content.

4. Mobile is indeed huge. 2 of the top 5 posts were about mobile and I only see that trend increasing in 2011.

5. How To was in 2 of the 5 titles. People are browsing the web to learn and showing them how to do things is works. 4 of the 5 posts were educational, theory is not as important anymore.

6. Facebook is King. The top 2 posts were about Facebook and had Facebook in the title. When your audience is largely engaging with you there it makes sense to create content about that platform.

Hope you were all able to learn a thing or two from us this year. I know I learned a lot from engaging with all of you!

Photo Credit Flickr