If you want to start a real estate blog to generate leads online, writing content is just a starting point. You will need an array of other resources including a great blogging platform, images, and graphics designing tools. While there are plenty of tools available on the internet today, you should pick only those which save you time and money.
Blogging platform
To begin with, you will need a blogging platform. There are many free and paid blogging platforms. Here are some of the most common ones:
- WordPress.org (self-hosted)
- com (online)
- Blogger
- Tumblr
- Medium
- Ghost
- Squarespace
- Wix
Without any hesitation, we will recommend the first item on this list that is WordPress.org. If you are not using it already, you must give it a try. You will be able to not only start a blog, but also build your entire real estate brand online with this platform. You will need a hosting service and a WordPress theme to launch your real estate blog. You can get a hosting service for as little as $10 per month (even less). You can use a theme or buy a premium one for a price, starting from $50.
Free stock photo websites with royalty-free images
In order to make your blog posts visually appealing, you will need images. It used to be very difficult to find qualify images free of cost, but not anymore. You can find free images on almost any topic related to real estate. Here are some of the most popular stock photo websites:
- Pixabay
- Flickr
- Pexels
- Unsplash
- com
- Stokpic
- Refe
- Gratisography
- SplitShire
- Little Visuals
- Life of Pix
- Death to the Stock Photo
- Superfamous
- Picjumbo
- IM FREE
- Magdeleine
- Jay Mantri
- Cupcake
- Epicantus
- Free Nature Stock
- Negative Space
- Good Stock Photos
- morgueFile
The basic plans from most of these websites are free. Before using images from these websites, you should check whether you need to give attribution or a link so that you don’t infringe on copyright. Each offers its own distinct licensing for the images they provide, so just be sure to read each service’s terms of use agreement and any other legal lingo pertaining to image use.
You can also use any of the premium stock photo libraries. They provide high quality images. iStock, Fotolia, Shutterstock and Adobe Stock are some of the options.
If you are using free stock photos, make sure they are good quality. You will do your brand a disservice if you use poor quality images. Instead of serving their purpose of increasing traffic and engagement, they will drive prospects away.
Graphics and image designing tools
Here are some of the most popular tools for spicing up your images:
Pablo: You can use the awesome features of this tool free of cost without even logging in. You can use this tool to add text on your images.
Canva: You can use this tool to add text like quotes or your blog post’s title on images, prepare cover for ebooks, and to create blog graphics.
Easel.ly: This tool is primarily used for creating infographics. You can re-purpose your blogs into beautiful infographcis within minutes with help of this tool.
So these are some of the most popular resources to start a blog and make your content look visually appealing.
