Should Real Estate Agents Worry About Duplicate Content?

Duplicate content is when an exact replica of your content exists on multiple websites. There are a lot of things that can go wrong with this, such as getting your website blacklisted by Google.

However, this can only happen if the content wasn’t original in the first. But if the content is yours and has your name on it anywhere else it is posted, especially if it’s highly ranked websites such as LinkedIn; then it will even help your SEO.

The only problem Google has with duplicate problem is HOW to index it properly.

What happens if you create duplicate content?

Based on Google’s algorithm, the website with the strongest domain authority will be indexed first. For example LinkedIn will most likely rank higher than Medium.

Nevertheless, the most important thing to consider when creating duplicate is your end goal. What are your goal(s)?

Typically, the goals of most real estate agents will vary between any of these three:

Goal One: Driving Traffic to your Website

If your goal is to drive traffic to your website then ideally, you should first publish the blog post on your website and then use the “Teaser” strategy:

• This strategy entails you using social media and other content marketing channels you have selected when crafting your content marketing strategy to tease people back to your website.
• You do this by writing short new piece of content that will motivate people to click to read more and land on your website.
• You should have a strategy to collect people’s email addresses so you can continue to update them of new blog posts and new listings to your website. In order to achieve this, you need to have a strong call-to-action on the blog post.

Goal Two: Increasing Website Exposure

If your goal is to get exposure for your website and your blog then you should definitely publish your content on multiple websites.

You can do this by:

• Guest blogging
• Using <Medium>
• Using LinkedIn
• Creating <SlideShare> versions

Remember; post your best content and always link back to your website.

Goal: Establishing Industry Expertise

If your goal is to establish yourself as a <real estate expert> then you will want to focus on industry specific websites and groups.

The strategy here is to find out where your target audience hang out and actively participate. Basically, as a real estate agent, you’re likely looking at 3 possible target audiences:

• The home buyer/seller
• Other real estate agents
• Investors

Depending on your target audience and which you think will bring the most return on investment; these two channels will primarily be your outreach platform:

• Social Media Groups; LinkedIn and Facebook.
• Websites like ActiveRain etc.

Sometimes, your goal might be any of these, sometimes it might be ALL of these; regardless, what you should strive for is creating unique, original content that will add value to whoever reads it.

We’d love to hear from you. Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section.