This article was originally published on July 28, 2009.
Some people use single property websites as a SEO move, but I think it’s best used as a fluff-less destination for buyers of a particular property.
The good stuff
Some GOOD things I can tell you about using tumblr.com as a single property website:
- It is ridiculously easy to sign up for an account.
- You have the option to point a URL you can purchase to your account (so it says 1234.com instead of 1234.tumblr.com).
- There are a number of themes to choose from and you have customization options with colors, sidebar content (you can put widgets on the sidebar).
- Tumblr is mobile phone friendly and can be used easily by passerbys.
- Tumblr has a community behind it; regardless of how robust, tumblr sites are designed for sharing and ease of posting.
- You don’t have to know any code to create a site.
- You can take pictures of a listing from your phone and upload it to tumblr without any formatting, so you can essentially mobile blog on the go.
The bad stuff:
I like Tumblr a lot, but it has its downsides:
- As opposed to paid sites like MyMarketWare.com, it is not designed specifically for real estate SEO, so you have to manually figure out what details to include and there are no “fill in the blanks” on tumblr.
- You don’t own your content, tumblr does. There’s always a downside to not owning your own content given that ownership implies complete control.
- Many of the themes don’t support sidebar information which I believe is critical to a single property website (should have basic contact info and be used as a place for compliance).
- While the skin of the site is flexible, the functionality doesn’t compare to say, WordPress as a content management system.
Here is what it looks like setting your blog up:
Seven themes to consider:
There are many themes/skins to choose from, below are seven that support having a sidebar (remember, you need this so your contact info is front and center) and are not overly whimsical or overly simple. Go play with the actual site at 1234MainStreet.com.
There are several ways to make a single property website- MyMarketWare, Blogger, WordPress, Tumblr, Posterous, etc. so it is important to experiment with ways to gain exposure for your listings and do it without looking like your site is antique or too shamwowie.
