Full disclosure: One time in college, on an overnight house-sitting gig during a holiday break, I ate an entire box of Cheez-Its from the pantry and barricaded the cat in a walk-in closet because it was hissing incessantly, scaring the crap out of me.
Understandably, the “client” (for the purposes of this post, we’ll call them my parents) docked our agreed-upon fee in the amount of the Cheez-Its and gave me a stern talking-to about animal rights. My services were not retained.
I mention this only to make clear that I’m not cut out for property management. It’s a demanding field, and the responsibilities that come with taking care of someone’s real estate investment or vacation rental are vast and varied. I admire those who do it for a living, whether by handling tenants and home inspections or by inventing software to make those kinds of jobs easier.
Property management blog ideas, on the other hand, I am cut out for. If your company’s website is in need of some work, read on.
10 Property Management Blog Ideas
At BuzzFarmers, we help fellow small businesses by researching industry trends and then relaying our findings. This helps us, too, because creating original content campaigns is our passion, while also paying the bills. Below, I’ve assembled 10 property management blog ideas that will bolster your web presence starting today and turn traffic via search and social into customers paying cold hard cash. I’ve also found examples to illustrate the ideas in action. They come from longtime brick-and-mortar property managers, as well as from software startups who help those property managers expand their services online.
For example, our client Evercondo exists to connect condo property managers to tenants through an app that simplifies management of their properties. It helps with everything from keeping track of work orders, to organizing tenant voicemails, to getting board documents signed and filed quickly, to measuring KPIs, and everything in between. On their blog, they attract traffic by writing about topics that will attract property managers, and also condo tenants that might recommend Evercondo to their property manager. Their post about smart condos can target both, while their post about how to be a good property manager satisfies the needs of a property manager.
Below we’ve picked out some additional examples. The keywords to fuel your SEO – bonafide winners, all – are in red.
[Tweet “We’re not cut out for property management, but we can help manage your business blog.”]
1. Find a Connection
Title: Resident Retention Ideas for Property Managers Seeking Improvement
Suggested Call to Action: “This post will save you time and energy in coming up with resident retention ideas, just like our software will save you time when you’re ready to implement them. Check out our tenant service features!”
A property management software company, Yardi keys in on a concern for all real estate investors and landlords: keeping tenants in place for as long as possible. The message with a post like this? “Our product is a bridge from here to there.” I’m a big fan of Yardi’s devoting a full identity to their blog: From its title to design to content, it stands apart from the rest of the website.
2. Build Up Some Resources
Title: 5 Rental Property Investment Tips for First-Timers
Suggested Call to Action: “Which rental property investment tips have worked for you? Which haven’t? Let us know in the comments, and call us with any property management questions in the meantime!”
There are several “staple” posts when it comes to property management blog ideas, and focusing on the financial side of real estate is certainly one of them. Still, when done right – as NRS Rentals does here – you can furnish authoritative resources that will turn search and social traffic into loyal visitors for your website. With this particular post, investment newbies who go on to succeed as land owners won’t forget who helped them along the way.
3. Keep Them Out of Trouble
Title: Landlord Liability Issues to Look Out For
Suggested Call to Action: “Looking for answers to your landlord liability legal questions? Let our experts clear up any confusion, and let our software clear your schedule so you can concentrate on the real responsibilities of property management.”
Staying up to date with real estate and rental law is a continual challenge for both landords and tenants. RenTec does a good job here of providing help. Again, the idea is to exhibit your knowledge, authority, and competence, in case readers are ultimately looking for property management services to save them time – and court costs.
4. Teach New Tech
Title: Tenant Portal Tips for Property Managers
Suggested Call to Action: “Open the door to better resident relations with these tenant portal tips, a must-have for busy property managers, and take a look at our tenant portal templates here.”
Boston-based Buildium handles software and online needs for more than 600,000 residential units in 31 countries worldwide, and their exceptional property management blog ideas seamlessly integrate their products and services. A big reason why clients contract with Buildium is because they don’t have the bandwidth to learn and layer in new technology themselves. Posts like this one help them understand what they’re paying for and reinforce why they’re doing so.
5. Slide In a Cautionary Tale or Two
Title: Property Management Horror Stories
Suggested Call to Action: “Don’t be haunted by too many mistakes while managing multiple properties. Learn from these lessons and let us know is there’s anything else we can do to make your job less scary.”
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AppFolio is another property management software company that provides online portals, mobile apps, paperless work orders, and more. The appeal of products like theirs is that they make property management cleaner and more efficient. Telling the occasional cautionary tale is a tried and true tactic, but AppFolio adds a cool wrinkle by utilizing a trendy slide show feature to deliver the content.
6. Breaking (the Lease) Bad
Title: Meth Lab Cleanup Advice for Landlords
Suggested Call to Action: “What has been the biggest disaster at your rental property? How did you overcome it? Let us know in the comments, and check out our free guide to successful tenant screening.”
Now, admittedly, this is an extraordinary circumstance, but unfortunately far from unheard of. Other topics that could fit into the calamity category: pests, pets, abandoned vehicles, water damage, etc. Posts like these provide practical advice for property managers looking for help … and, perhaps, a product. RentPrep’s services focus on tenant screening, so the subtext here is “Hire us, or you’ll have Walter White living in your condo.”
7. Nail Down a Niche
Title: How Home Inspection Software Can Save You Time
Suggested Call to Action: “Our home inspection software is state of the art, and will revolutionize the way you do business. Grab your clipboard, give our services the once over via this demo, and let us know if we pass!”
Happy Inspector is ahead of the curve – their services are highly specialized and unique – but their keyword could have been much stronger in this case. “House inspection software” averages about 20 searches a month, with upward of 19,300 competing pages among Google results. “Home inspection software,” however, yields 1,600 searches, with a still low 63,100 competing pages. Most companies can’t simply flip a description of their product into a strong keyword, because there are simply too many other people doing what they do. Happy Inspector can; their blog SEO missed a golden opportunity here. Still, their content is solid.
8. Anticipate Industry Trends
Title: Creative Placemaking Can Contribute to Your Properties’ Value
Suggested Call to Action: “The next time you walk by that mural in your neighborhood, take a closer look: It and other artistic endeavors could lead to big things for your real estate investments and rental properties – just like our software solutions!”
It’s important that your blog break out of the boring old cycle of article standards by keeping up with the news – not just in your industry, but across disciplines – and finding angles you can incorporate into future posts. MRI Software appeals to an up and coming audience here by examining the phenomenon of “creative placemaking,” which centers on community-building via art and commerce. This is an item of interest for land owners, and it shows MRI is an innovator whose services will add a dimension to their audience’s real estate investment and propery management. Bonus: “Creative placemaking” is a strong keyword, ripe for realty-related searches.
9. Bring In Some Book Learnin’
Title: Book Review: Rental Property Success a Real Motivator
Suggested Call to Action: “Have your read the latest book on rental property success? Care to share any secrets of your own? Here’s one we can’t keep – hiring a property manager will actually save you money on your investment! Click here to find out how!”
This one is pretty straightforward, but effective: Relevant book reviews and recommendations can drive traffic and attract visitors looking for guidance. Real Property Management is a nationwide agency that provides traditional services, and in this case, they’re filling readers in on a book written by franchisees in South Dakota. The post implies that RPM’s strategies work – i.e., they lead to “success” – and that the company is such an expert in the practice that its property managers are published authors.
10. Give Them the Lay of the Land
Title: Property Management Essentials
Suggested Call to Action: “Ready for a crash course in property management essentials? Read on! And contact us for a free quote if you think you’ll need a little extra tutoring.”
Property management is hard work – if it were easy, you wouldn’t be in business. There’s nothing wrong with letting real estate owners and rental investors know what they have ahead of them, as First Light does here. If you post quality content that demonstrates knowledge and ability, chances are you’ll convert visitors into customers ready to give you money – which means less to many people than does their time – to provide a valuable service.
Your blog is a sales tool, but it’s a finely calibrated one that requires a skillful touch. The content it calls for goes well beyond “What we do works – hire us!” Real estate investors, home owners, condominium associations, and other potential clients are looking for property managers who bring a little more to the table, while property managers themselves are searching for next-generation software solutions that will strengthen their own operations. No matter which camp you count yourself in, these property management blog ideas will help you display your professional acumen and qualifications. They’ll also showcase your services.
Have you tried any of these property management blog ideas? If not, would you try them on your company’s website? Let us know in the comments!
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