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Rainmaker
1,239,901
Sam Shueh
(408) 425-1601 - San Jose, CA
mba, cdpe, reopro, pe

Backlink. You want people to go to your site and talk to you.

Jun 08, 2016 05:26 AM
Ambassador
6,393,609
Bob Crane
Woodland Management Service / Woodland Real Estate, KW Diversified - Stevens Point, WI
Forestland Experts! 715-204-9671

More exposure, but be careful with duplicate content.

Personally I just stick with the AR blog, and share on other social media.

Jun 08, 2016 05:32 AM
Rainmaker
1,844,301
Lyn Sims
Schaumburg, IL
Real Estate Broker Retired

Well, it used to get better ranking than the general AR blog for me at least. Can't say that lately. 

Jun 08, 2016 06:20 AM
Rainmaker
921,504
Annette Lawrence , Palm Harbor, FL 727-420-4041
ReMax Realtec Group - Palm Harbor, FL
Making FLORIDA Real Estate EZ

IT really depends on if you OWN those things that could control the destiny of your busienss. Ben could decide, "No more blogs on Active Rain." What would happen to your business then? Prepare and plan as though for that outcome.

Jun 08, 2016 05:34 AM
Ambassador
3,043,274
Katerina Gasset
The Gasset Group & Get It Done For Me Virtual Services - Provo, UT
Amplify Your Real Estate & Life Dreams!

I am assuming you are talking about your AR outside blog? If so, you should. I don't know why you would not post to your outside blog if it is about the topic your outside blog is about. 

Jun 08, 2016 09:12 AM
Rainmaker
2,817,671
Debbie Gartner
The Flooring Girl - White Plains, NY
The Flooring Girl & Blog Stylist -Dynamo Marketers

I no longer do this and haven't for years.

First, it's duplicate content...which MAY hurt you, but regardless, you will in general only show on on the SERPs for 1 of 2 places.  and, if I had to choose between here or outside blog, I would choose here (although the much better option is your own site that you own).

I think the formatting and flexibility on the outside blog stinks. And, it's not mobile friendly, so why take a chance on having that be the one to show on google?

Now all that aside, they may improve outside blogs. Or, on the otherhand, they may drop them.

So, IMO, it's smarter to just have it on here.

But, as I said before, much smarter to have your own WP blog.

Jun 08, 2016 08:19 AM
Rainmaker
2,781,173
Richie Alan Naggar
people first...then business Ran Right Realty - Riverside, CA
agent & author

Yoda says...do or dont do there is no try. Go with his sage

Jun 08, 2016 07:01 AM
Ambassador
2,684,109
Fred Griffin Florida Real Estate
Fred Griffin Real Estate - Tallahassee, FL
Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker

Hopefully  Debbie Gartner  and / or Nestor & Katerina Gasset  will weigh in on this topic.

Jun 08, 2016 06:08 AM
Ambassador
5,049,466
Jeff Dowler, CRS
eXp Realty of California, Inc. - Carlsbad, CA
The Southern California Relocation Dude

I think the issue with the outside blogs is duplicate content. And for a while the appearance/formatting was an issue. Perhaps Bob Stewart can weigh in when he has time

Jun 08, 2016 05:49 AM
Rainmaker
1,157,785
FN LN
Toronto, ON

It is another site your post can appear on.

Jun 08, 2016 05:46 AM
Rainmaker
4,936,705
Will Hamm
Hamm Homes - Aurora, CO
"Where There's a Will, There's a Way!"

My web company said it takes away from my google juice.

Jun 09, 2016 05:07 AM
Staff
1,685,603
Bob Stewart
ActiveRain - Mesa, AZ
ActiveRain

Sorry I didn't get a chance to answer this yesterday. And thank you to the few people that tagged me.

Michael, let me see if I can explain.

Outside blogs were originally intended for ActiveRain members to be able to publish their content on their own domain. The highest and best use of an Outside blog is when that blog is targeted to something specific.

For example, Bill and Liz Spear have an outside blog all about patio homes in warren county ohio. So even though they write a ton of other content that is not specific to patio homes in warren county, they only send content to their outside blog that focuses on this niche they have chosen. In that way, when google indexes their outside blog, it sees that the domain has a focus.

All of the other content they create either just stays inside ActiveRain, or gets sent to a second outside blog they have that is more inclusive of their entire business.

When you send a post to your outside blog, we add code to the post on ActiveRain telling the search engines that the content is in more than one place, and that the search engine should consider your outside blog domain to the originating source of that content. In this way, you don't get penalized for duplicate content (although duplicate content penalties aren't really designed for this kind of thing and really don't impact a content creator placing their own content in more than one place, assuming you tell Google what is the original source).

What ended up happening for many, is they just send everything to their outside blog and so it has zero focus (unless you are a highly focused blogger by nature).

I wrote this post earlier this year. It loosely covers the concept of outside blogs. Finding a niche in 2016.

 

Jun 09, 2016 02:53 AM
Rainmaker
3,071,489
Tony and Suzanne Marriott, Associate Brokers
Serving the Greater Phoenix and Scottsdale Metropolitan Area - Scottsdale, AZ
Haven Express @ Keller Williams Arizona Realty

parked and reading

Jun 08, 2016 11:00 PM
Rainmaker
4,434,127
Gita Bantwal
RE/MAX Centre Realtors - Warwick, PA
REALTOR,ABR,CRS,SRES,GRI - Bucks County & Philadel

I do not know.

Jun 08, 2016 10:53 PM
Rainmaker
989,652
Jennifer Mackay
Counts Real Estate Group, Inc. - Panama City, FL
Your Bay County Florida Realtor 850.774.6582

Exposure for one

Jun 08, 2016 10:05 PM
Rainmaker
7,836,419
Roy Kelley
Retired - Gaithersburg, MD

Additional exposure is the goal but I am uncertain as to reality.

Jun 08, 2016 09:24 PM
Rainmaker
634,482
Kathleen Luiten
Resort and Second-Home Specialist - Princeville, HI
Kauai Luxury Ocean Home Sales

Annette Lawrence , Palm Harbor, FL 727-420-4041 makes an important point. Aad at minimum sharing to other sites gets you more exposure.

Jun 08, 2016 06:20 PM
Rainmaker
1,622,432
Inna Ivchenko
Barcode Properties - Encino, CA
Realtor® • GRI • HAFA • PSC Calabasas CA

I rarely share my post via outside blog. I do not know any good reason to do so.

???Any?

Jun 08, 2016 05:27 PM
Rainmaker
883,732
Debra Leisek
Bay Realty,Inc Homer Alaska - Homer, AK

I think it is a very good question and will watch for more answers... I personally have no idea!

Jun 08, 2016 05:27 PM
Rainmaker
4,319,419
Praful Thakkar
LAER Realty Partners - Andover, MA
Andover, MA: Andover Luxury Homes For Sale

Michael J. Perry - why should you NOT? There are advantages in doing so....

Jun 08, 2016 04:48 PM
Rainer
321,564
Melissa Jackson REALTOR
Trinity Premier Properties - Azle, TX
Helping You Make The Right Move

Stopped by to see which direction your answer sways toward.  Right now I'm only using Active Rain.  Always heard that sharing the same article on different sites could be a downfall.  Will come back tomorrow for more feedback. 

Jun 08, 2016 03:08 PM
Ambassador
3,727,873
Patricia Kennedy
RLAH@Properties - Washington, DC
Home in the Capital

I'm not a fan of this technique.  I feel like I'm being manipulated.

Jun 08, 2016 01:30 PM
Rainmaker
2,362,977
Lise Howe
Keller Williams Capital Properties - Washington, DC
Assoc. Broker in DC, MD, VA and attorney in DC

great question

Jun 08, 2016 01:13 PM
Rainmaker
3,988,007
Debbie Reynolds, C21 Platinum Properties
Platinum Properties- (931)771-9070 - Clarksville, TN
The Dedicated Clarksville TN Realtor-(931)320-6730

Additional exposure and every little bit helps.

Jun 08, 2016 12:51 PM
Rainmaker
1,771,867
Noah Seidenberg
Coldwell Banker - Evanston, IL
Chicagoland and Suburbs (800) 858-7917

I think the outside blog is unsupported Michael. Maybe we can get Bob Stewart to chime in on this questions?

Jun 08, 2016 12:30 PM
Rainmaker
1,502,998
Ryan Huggins - Thousand Oaks, CA
https://HugginsHomes.com - Thousand Oaks, CA
Residential Real Estate and Investment Properties

The backlink as Sam Shueh said, but also you should probably post the entire blog on your outside site and a snippet on AR so your site shows as the main source.

Jun 08, 2016 10:30 AM
Rainmaker
1,525,616
Sybil Campbell
Fernandina Beach, FL
Referral Agent Amelia Island Florida

I used to think it went ot the public but if you are a Rainmaker, you get the choice of public or members only.

Jun 08, 2016 10:20 AM
Rainmaker
3,986,258
William Feela
WHISPERING PINES REALTY - North Branch, MN
Realtor, Whispering Pines Realty 651-674-5999 No.

I want them to but not all blogs are designed for the public

Jun 08, 2016 09:08 AM
Rainmaker
1,390,113
Wayne Zuhl
Remax First Realty II - Cranford, NJ
The Last Name You'll Ever Need in Real Estate

Good question. 

I had been re-writing and backlinking to a WordPress site but I don't really see the benefit.

Jun 08, 2016 08:01 AM
Ambassador
2,178,603
Carol Williams
Although I'm retired, I love sharing my knowledge and learning from other real estate industry professionals. - Wenatchee, WA
Retired Agent / Broker / Prop. Mgr, Wenatchee, WA

What Annette Lawrence , Palm Harbor, FL 727-420-4041 said.  

Jun 08, 2016 08:00 AM
Rainmaker
290,969
Allie Angeloni
Long Realty - Oro Valley, AZ

Now is this the same Blog that you have written for AR, and are just sharing it with members and clients Michael J. Perry?  I would think a real estate Blog should be acceptable and informative to be read by both groups, while a more personal not business-related Blog would just be for members?  I will have to read replies below . . .   

Jun 08, 2016 07:07 AM
Rainmaker
4,800,082
Gabe Sanders
Real Estate of Florida specializing in Martin County Residential Homes, Condos and Land Sales - Stuart, FL
Stuart Florida Real Estate

Count me as confused as well!

Jun 08, 2016 06:01 AM