Which One Is Best?
It’s the age old question, not the chicken or the egg, WordPress vs Active Rain – which is better for your real estate business? I am a former business development manager for a national title insurance company in Phoenix Arizona, I spent 10 years helping real estate professionals [REALTORS and Loan Officers] grow their business. I was around in the days when postcards and flyers actually worked! Today, everything [and everyone] is shifting online, which begs the question: WordPress vs Active Rain – which is better?
I have been a member of Active Rain [called AR from now on] for as long as I can remember. Seriously, I really do not remember when I joined AR but I know it was a long time ago, so long ago that I joined for FREE! If I had to guess, I would say it was at least 6 years ago. I love AR. AR and I have a long history together. I cut my blogging teeth on AR. About 3 years ago, myself and Ted Canto (The Mobile Mortgage PRO) noticed the shift in consumer behavior, we [I was a title rep at the time] had done several large classes together and were looking for another. Ted called AR and next thing I knew, Bob Stewart and Brad Andersohn [the big dogs at AR – Brad has since taken a position with Zillow] were here, in Scottsdale Arizona teaching the merits and benefits of AR to over 600 real estate professionals. I have been told “RainCamp” was born out of that 1st Active Rain seminar here in AZ. I can’t tell you exactly how many agents I have referred to AR but I would bet it’s in the hundreds. In my opinion, Active Rain is a must for real estate professionals. But is it better than WordPress?
Let’s first get “better” out of the conversation. Better is not applicable as WordPress and ActiveRain and just plain different with different value and of course, different drawbacks. First, the benefits. This comparison is AR vs WordPress.ORG, WordPress.COM AKA “the FREE WordPress” is for community, any commercial use is against the terms of service and will result in your account being shut down. FULL DISCLOSURE: I have a self hosted WordPress site and an AR Blog.
Active Rain Benefits
- Community – as of this post, there are 205,882 members of Active Rain. It;s the largest social network dedicated to real estate [that I’m aware of]
- Cut your teeth - AR is a great place to learn the principles and techniques of blogging
- Education – there is a lot to learn on AR. Want to know what to and not to do when working a short sale? Check AR, I guarantee you can learn from someone else’ pain.
- Classes - AR has all kinds of classes available through Active Rain University
- Referrals -Members of AR pass referrals between one another. Across the country and the world.
- Networking – 205,882 members remember! AR is a great place to see and be seen. AR is a must for any industry that supports the RE industry – Title, Lending, Appraisers, Home Warranty etc.
- Advice – Got a problem you can’t talk to anyone else about? Ask AR. Whether its a problem client or a Sales question, ask the AR community, you are guaranteed an answer.
- Increased SEO – AR has Google Juice. With over 200,000 members, all writing posts, with in and outbound links and FRESH content, you better believe Google loves Active Rain! You can rank on the 1st page of Google with AR (something that may take years to do with your own site)
- Back Link – AR is a fantastic back link. Post come content on AR and link it to your website or blog for increased SEO.
Active Rain CONS
- You don’t own it. If AR changes their terms of service or pricing you are stuck. Because you don’t own it you are essentially leasing a space on the net. It is a “pay to play model”
- Eggs - Relying solely on AR is putting all your eggs in one basket. If AR goes down for any reason [like it did last year] you could realize how vulnerable your web property really is.
- Neighbors – Yes, AR has Google Juice, but anyone you attract to your AR blog could easily be on your neighbors blog in a click of a mouse.
- Technology – It’s a little old, with significant drawbacks in the design and HTML arena
- Cost – AR carries a monthly fee, I recently heard Rain Maker accounts are now $89 per month.
WordPress Benefits
- Owned – For better or worse, it’s yours, you own it
- SEO – Google LOVES WordPress, [I hear Matt Cutts, head of Google’s WebSpam team has a WordPress site]
- Plugins – Plugins are applications that enhance your WordPress blog’s capabilities. [Tweetmeme, FB Share, Askimet, Add To Any]
- Thems’s – Change the look and feel of your website
- Open Source – anyone can and does create for WordPress
- Easy to use – If you can use Microsoft Word, you can use WordPress
- Social Media - WordPress is easily compatible with all Social Media channels [all that I have tried any way]
- Updates – WordPress is constantly being updated to address spam and viruses [keep it updated!]
- Integration – WordPress can easily be used as an E- Commerce site [cart], contact forms can easily be added as well.
- Support – There are thousands of sites and chat rooms dedicated to WordPress
- CMS – WordPress is a great Content Management System. It allows for many people to contribute to it and share data
WordPress Cons
- Cost – Custom WordPress sites [like the one you are on] can cost you. Custom sites [on average] cost $3,500-$4,000 but can easily get above $8,000 depending on what you want your site to do.
UPDATE: PRO-Found Marketing will create you a WordPress Real Estate Website for as low as $650.00. See “what our WordPress Real Estate Website’s Include”.
- Crickets - I honesty can’t think of any other cons of WordPress
I mentioned earlier that I was a member of Active Rain and that I have a self hosted WordPress site {which you are on now by the way}. In a perfect world, I would use both WordPress AND Active Rain. I use Active Rain as a back link. I write articles [posts] on my WordPress site and post a paragraph on Active Rain with a link [back link] to my WordPress site. I don’t need to do this so much anymore as my WordPress site has really taken off.
For agents new to blogging, I would suggest you get a self hosted WordPress real estate website right away and use Active Rain. You can take advantage of AR’s considerable Google Juice to help yourself get found online while your WordPress site gains strength in the search engines.
Apples to Apples, WordPress is a FAR better option for me, and any agent serious about building a brand and getting “Found” online. It’s easy to use, it can’t be taken away, easily customized, Search Engines LOVE IT, AND YOU own it. 
There is something comforting in knowing, my brand [MyTitleGuy] and content are secure and Google knows exactly who I am, what I do and where to find me. No one can take that away from me. Want to know more? Stay Tuned…..
What about you? Do you prefer Active Rain or WordPress? If you are a Phoenix REALTOR® that would like help with your real estate marketing, please fill out the form below. I can help.
