Like it or not, GeekRealtor’s little list of the top 100 blogs is causing quite a stir. Mariana posted that AgentGenius is #19, an impressive feat indeed, especially for a relatively new blog.
But…
With the exception of the multi author blogs that are covering national real estate issues, like RainCityGuide, InmanBlog, BloodhoundBlog and AgentGenius, this ranking really means very little. In the end, for those of us who are real estate practioners supporting ourselves by selling houses, placement on this list is little more than a feather in our caps. The true measure, at least for me, is in my local reach. How am I doing at connecting with consumers in Metro Detroit? Do luxury home sellers in Oakland County seek out my blog, and understand that it gives their homes better exposure? Do home buyers turn to me for the advice they need on their next home purchase?
I will probably never have the traffic, alexa ranking, etc of a silicon valley blogger. Our consumer demographics are vastly different. Yet I know I have much better reach than others in my local market. I’ll settle for that.
Comparing hyper-local blogs to national blogs is irrelevant. It’s almost a valueless exercise. I’m happy for the people who appear higher on the list than I do, but none of them are in Michigan. So, Vlad, how about a list of biggest blogs by state? There are tons of us out there who are blogging for consumers. We have little interest (except when we put on our AgentGenius hats) in blogging for Realtors.
Thanks to Benn for the opportunity to share my thoughts here on AgentGenius. I’m happy to be part of this great group.
Linda Davis
February 16, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Well said! And congratulations on being a genius. 🙂 Well deserved.
Vlad
February 16, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Maureen,
Great idea. We already have 3 or 4 blogs from Arizona. I see your point. We’ll keep that in mind!
Maureen Francis
February 16, 2008 at 6:04 pm
Thanks Linda. You are a genius in my book. There is much to be learned from you.
Vlad, glad you like the idea, You’ll always have people who will criticize what you are doing and how you are doing it when you try to rank competitive real estate agents. But I appreciate your openness to other’s thoughts on the matter.
Vlad
February 16, 2008 at 9:25 pm
Maureen,
In the real estate we always have to think “location, location, location”. The local traffic will never beat the national one…. I understand.
I think tough that list is turning out to be an interesting resource nevertheless. Hey I would never guess that Mr. Trump would not make at least the top 20 ;)….
Missy Caulk
February 17, 2008 at 12:50 pm
First congratulations on being a genius. I like your idea about Michigan, but of course I am from Michigan.
Teresa Boardman
February 18, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Welcome Maureen and i quite agree. i don’t understand why the makers of the lists would include industry group blogs, blogs that are not about real estate at all and a little local blog like mine on the same list. Does it help me to be on these lists? maybe but at the end of the day all that matters is who is reading the blog, not how many.
Vlad
February 18, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Theresa,
The as more blogs are submitted the list will change. The feedback like this has already helped me in many ways. I can assure you that I will remove the blogs that are not in any way related to real estate.
All I can say I am human and humans make mistakes.
Here is an example.
Apartment Therapy blog (currently number 1 on the list). I added this blog because it was on many real estate blogrolls. However I think it would be more appropriate to list that blog in a “Home and Living” category. But since many real estate blogs had the link to Apartment Therapy blog listed under blog rolls like “Real Estate Websites” or “Real Estate Blogs” I went along and added it to our list.
Don’t take me wrong, I think Apartment Therapy is a great blog. But in my opinion it should be considered a “home and living” website.
I am sure there maybe other mistakes like that. As time goes on I will try to fix them.
I am not quiet sure what do you mean by “industry group blogs”. Are you referring to blogs authored by multiple authors? Or networks like ActiveRain where each individual blogger has “his own” blog? Could you please clarify? Thanks.
Ginger Wilcox
February 21, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Hi Maureen. So true. Even a blog list in a big state like California doesn’t mean much. Laurie Manny’s Long Beach real estate blog has huge readership in her area, but it means nothing to my little market. My blog is super local, which is exactly how I want it to be.