Builder Designs | Intelligent marketing for home builders

Welcome to the new Builder Designs website and blog. We will still be posting articles about out clients and how their websites have helped them generate business. We will also talk about new projects and our process. Make note of the “From the Design Team” posts in the sidebar. This is where myself and other members of the Builder Designs Creative department will post articles on our design process, css, html, wordpress, jquery and other elements that go into creating an effective website.

Home builders and blogging has been a match made in heaven for the home building industry for several reasons including:

•Home builders are tentative to let employees free in an open and public space.

•Blogging is a marketing force multiplier. The more employees you have blogging, the more Internet exposure your company gets.

•Blogging keeps a website fresh.  All too often a consumer views a home builders website as ‘the lights are on, but no one is home’, because the website rarely has fresh content. A blog lets the consumer know that you are home and are posting new contented on your site.

•SEO! Blogging regularly contributes strongly to the search engine optimization of a home builder’s website.

It seems that the home building industry has acknowledged the benefits of blogging but where do we get the extra resource?  It takes extra time and extra people to implement a successful blogging strategy. But it’s only a matter of time before home builders and blogging becomes a common accordance within the confines of home builder websites. In February 2010, the Pew Internet and American Life Project reported that Internet users ages 18 – 29 were about one-third more likely to say they blogged than those 30 and older.
 
Check out this graphs from eMarketer. The graph shows the reasons for home builder and blogging to unite. As home builders, we’ve got to hone in on the preferences brought on by technology.  It’s not just that the younger generation is more technology savvy; it’s that technology is playing a large part in shaping consumer preferences.  Young people adapt to technology because:

1. They aren’t set in their ways.

2. They have more time to experiment with new technologies.

 The bottom line is that home builders and blogging works and it’s an predictability of marketing and connection in today’s world of commerce.  The quicker we can adapt, the better off our companies will be.

We’ve always considered ourselves to be pretty neighborly and there isn’t a single Builder Designs team member who doesn’t love to travel so what do you get when you combine the two?  You guessed it, the best of both worlds- with clients spanning the United States and now abroad with our neighbors in beautiful Canada.  We were pretty excited about expanding our reach internationally so figured we’d share the great news that Wallmark Homes, one of Canada’s premier builders has chosen Builder Designs to oversee the rebranding of their company’s online presence with a completely new home builder website and Search Engine Optimization services.

We always like a new challenge and are ready to take on the world so if you know of anyone either here or anywhere else on the globe who needs a killer website and marketing to match, send ‘em our way!  We’re ready to help.

It’s not everyday that you get to work on a project that is tied to such a worthy cause.

ABC’s emmy-award winning television show, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition has selected Builder Designs client, De Young Properties, to build a home for a deserving family in the Fresno, California area in upcoming weeks.

When we were recently approached by the fine folks at De Young Properties, we jumped at the chance to help. Coincidentally, the creation and launch of the Extreme De Young site came to fruition at the same time we were putting the final touches on the new and improved De Young Properties website. With the holidays and scheduling of other projects, at times it felt like were were staging our own extreme show as we rushed to beat the clock and launch the sites on schedule.

Burning the candle at both ends paid off and we were able to successfully launch both De Young Properties and Extreme De Young bright and early on Tuesday morning.

It was just in time for the local press in Fresno to get a glimpse of the new sites and start rounding up volunteers and donors to give their time and talents to making a dream come true for the lucky family. According to news reports by Central Valley ABC affiliate, KFSN-TV, within the first 24 hours the volunteer response has been overwhelming.

You can keep track of the progress and also the announcement of the lucky family on January 8th by clicking here to watch video excerpts on the KFSN-TV website.

2008 was a challenging year for many of us in the building industry and all of us at Builder Designs are thrilled to have been able to end the year AND kick off 2009 on such a positive note. We wish everyone at De Young and all of the Fresno area volunteers and donors the very best and hope that the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition house is a roaring success and as rewarding of an experience for all of them as it was for us!