Inspired by a post Jonathan Dalton recently made on Agent Genius, I decide to put together a “Hyperlocal Neighborhood” site (and I honestly can’t believe I just used the over-hyped and worn out word “hyperlocal” in a sentence, but that’s really what it is…)
AgritopiaRealEstate.com is built on the Wordpress platform, but it’s really more a web site than a blog. It uses pages instead of posts, and will be far more “static” than your typical blog. That means far less time required of me to maintain it. It will never remotely approach the traffic of this blog, but that’s not the point. I think with a little work I can get it to rank pretty well for terms like “Agritopia real estate” and “Agritopia homes for sale”. Time will tell on that, but there is no question in my mind that as Internet users become more savvy, they learn to refine their search terms — thereby, in theory, landing on a site like this dedicated to Agritopia real estate and nothing more.
The cost of this little experiment?
Domain name: $9.00/year
Hosting: effectively zero. I host Phoenix Real Estate Guy on MediaTemple, which allows me to host something like 100 different domain names for the same cost.
My time: approximately four hours for site creation. As I already had the Thesis theme customized and laid out, the bulk of that was spent taking and cropping photos.
Gas: Agritopia is very close to my home. I dunno, 3 bucks?
It isn’t complete yet. The text needs work and there are a few things to tie up (like titling and captioning the photo gallery) but it’s 90% or so complete.
For $12 in hard cost and four hours of my time, even if it’s a miserable failure, so what?
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
I like the idea of the flexible lots. I grew up on a 40 ft lot in South Minneapolis, so I would be cool with that.
Just wondering…. how are those basements made? Are those block, poured concrete, or wood?
Now, here is a dumb question… Why aren’t basements more popular in AZ? Do they present some unique problems for the builders or homeowners? It seems like a waste to not have one.
Kermits last blog post..Eden Prairie MN Realtor is a “Late Bloomer!”
Fantastic! Beautiful!
I have a hyper-local blog which has generated inquiries and helps position me as a local expert, http://www.McCormickRanchRealEstateHomes.com
I have one $700,000+ listing I believe came from it but I’m not that diligent about finding out where my leads come from… yet.
Your Agritopia site is far more attractive and keyword rich and will likely generate more quality inquiries.
[Stop me if I'm talking too much!]
I used the same strategy of using a WordPress blog made up of “Pages” to create a “non-blog” web site, although it took me a few weeks to create instead of 4 hours, HowToBuyArizonaRealEstate.com http://www.howtobuyarizonarealestate.com .
It has generated a lot of leads (at least after I added the very intrusive form at the bottom of each page). I plan, however, to add one blog page to help keep it fresh and to improve its ranking in the search engines.
John Wakes last blog post..A blast from the past - 1999 New York Times on Fannie and Freddie
OK, you win, you’re “experiment” turned out better than mine already and I’ve got tons more hours in tweeking a theme I’d never used before. We have spent the same amount of money on both of ours though to reinforce to your readers that anyone can do it and money shouldn’t be a stopping point for you. The site looks great, I’ll be checking it out often for ideas. Maybe in a year you can do a cost analysis and show what kind of rate of return you got for your $12, I bet if you paid yourself $50/hour for your work in maintaining you’d still come out better than buying “leads”
I think the concept of hyperlocal sites will continue to gain ground as more of the main stream keywords get more competitive. I think once the concept of the site is developed then you can make it a “micro micro site” meaning you get such a low level of detail about a hyperlocal area that there is no choice but to perceive you as an expert
Also we have found that the more local your site it, the shorter time frame it is from initial contact to point of transaction (whether it be a purchase or a listing)
James Bridgess last blog post..Just like groceries, Google likes it Fresh
Jay we have been testing this concept out for a little while within portions of our website. Check out http://www.lovelybixbyknollshomes.com/. This is an area within Long Beach. We like going to the real detail level on certain areas because we found that those leads have filtered themselves to one area or set of information that they are looking for and then we have the answer for them.
I like how you did it with a wordpress theme though as that is a great idea.
Joseph Bridgess last blog post..Just like groceries, Google likes it Fresh
I have gone back and forth on doing these myself. I like how you did this one and it has a very professional feel. Let us know how this works out I think people will tend to contact those that have the best feel for the area they prefer to live in and I think this type of site puts your talents at the top of the list for representation.
I have definitely had a lot of success targeting specific areas in neighborhoods. The traffic you get from these specific searches or long tail is phenomenal. These potential clients already have narrowed down what they are looking for. It is also a lot easier to rank for these keywords.
I have never considered building an individual website for a specific area. However like you said for $12 and a couple hours to put together you really are not risking much and the potential return is huge.
Good luck with this new project and I’m really curious to see how it turns out for you.
Johns last blog post..Baltimore Real Estate
Good job Jay!
I already see you ranking #2 on Google for Agritopia Real Estate and this blog ranks #4&5…
Congrats!
Matts last blog post..Paradise Valley Sales Report - August 2008
Jay, looks great! I’ve been trying to get spooled up on blogging and want to look at several niche blogs myself eventually. Agritopia is a great unique community! You’ll have to keep us posted as to how it’s going…I suspect it will do well also! Blessings,
Sounds like fun. I find blogging at times to be more enjoyable than actually doing real estate transactions.
That’s pretty sweet. Looks like a simple way to create a quality site. I liked the video. That takes talent to look at a camera and drive at the same time.
I don’t know if it’s talent, or lack of intelligence…
@Kermit asks: “Just wondering…. how are those basements made? Are those block, poured concrete, or wood?
Now, here is a dumb question… Why aren’t basements more popular in AZ? Do they present some unique problems for the builders or homeowners? It seems like a waste to not have one.”
Poured concrete. Many parts of Phoenix have layers of caliche (think clay) that are hard as rock and difficult to excavate. I’m not a construction expert by any means, but I have tried to dig through that stuff and found myself wishing I had a stick of dynamite. I suspect that is part of the issue.
I like watching the video I saw a lot that I wouldn’t see on a picture. Ive been looking at homes in the phoenix area and watching the video made me a lot more satisfied . Thanks jay.