When it comes to resort and vacation home markets, I firmly believe that a really productive (this means commission generating) site is blog-based, and has a huge amount of local and tourism focused information to go with the real estate content. I agree with those who don't believe this, but only from the perspective that some SEO clout is sacrificed with the broader scope, thus less real estate keywords in relation to the whole.
However, my very best clients have been vacationing in my area for years, and they did a great deal of their planning and research for their trips on the Web. None of those early searches were for real estate. They were looking for the most interesting places to see, the activities others found to be fun, and great restaurants and shopping. Now, if my site is hyper-focused on real estate, yes I will get those looking right now, but I'll not get a visit from the others.
I would rather cover the entire area, activities, places and people. I get those visitors and vacationers much earlier, well before they may ever want to buy or sell real estate. However, if my site is interesting and they subscribe to my feed or email newsletter, I'll be their local resource for all of this period before they become real estate prospects.
By keeping the real estate business there, inserting posts on a regular basis about real estate, and keeping this subtle reminder of my business active, I will get their business someday. They have become loyal readers, and they have been keeping up with the market while they enjoyed my area content as well. It's a cumulative thing, and I'll be happy to accumulate visitors over time who love the area and keep returning. They frequently decide to buy that dream vacation or retirement home...and I'll be right there in front of them.
