Builder Designs | Intelligent marketing for home builders

When creating a home builder website, there are several important elements that can give you an edge over other home builder websites.  The truth is, having a professional home builder website is crucial to bringing in clients considering 80% of homebuyers search online for homes.

The first thing you want on your website are the houses and floor plans available. In order to save potential clients time, allow them access to view home plans online. A typical home builder should offer several home and floor plans so clients can see if the homes fit what they are looking for before heading out to view the homes.

Giving potential clients the ability to print plans and brochures is also another added bonus that can give your site a leg up on the competition. This can give clients a reference as they tour model homes.

A second factor to take into account is that while some people are visual and will like as many pictures as you can give them, others might prefer more written information about the homes. Having an adequate amount of information for the client will suit those who want more than a picture.

Next, it is important to make sure that your site is easy to navigate. There is nothing more frustrating to any consumer than a site that is not easily followed. Also, have all the answers to questions they might have available on the site. For example: homes, home plans, locations, financing information, company history ext.   Along with navigation on the site, is navigation to where the homes are located. Adding an interactive map on your site allows one to click on a location and view homes in a desired area. This shows the client that the home builder wants to make the search for homes and developments easier.

Allowing the client to search by different factors they are looking for is also a way to make the search easier and more beneficial to you for potential clients. For example, allowing them to search by factors such as location, neighborhood, price range, number of rooms, amenities, ect. can help draw clients to your homes.

Have interest list forms or additional information request forms available allows for the client to take the next step in the conversation of buying a home from you, and also allows them to qualify for special offers and discounts by doing so.

Lastly, consider adding a mobile site to your website. It is predicted that by the year 2013, more people with search and browse on their cell phones than on their laptops. Having a mobile site ensures that consumers can easily access your site via their mobile device.

Its easy to understand what makes a good builder website. Users need easily understand the navigation, have well-written text to read and always have a way to get in touch with you or your sales team from a click of a button. Once you have the user engaged, why not give them something else to enhance their experience and to help you create even more leads. Its really a win/win situation. Here are some of the best interactive features for homebuilders to have on their websites.

Search Function – Having a good working custom search tool that will help a buyer find the perfect home is a must. This can be done in a variety of ways from a basic sorter that sorts through your home listings from price, square feet and home type to a more search function that searches down to the number of bedrooms and garages. HHHunt Homes dedicates an entire sidebar to this function.

Interactive Floorplans – This is by far one of the more advanced options available but they are very exciting to play with. Your buyers will become excited about building and have them interested in what customizations you have to offer. Here’s a great example from American Legend Homes Interactive Floorplans.

Mortgage Calculators – These are a great tool for homebuyers to use to calculate their financial responsibility and will help them narrow down what price range they can afford. A quick tool in the sidebar is very helpful as well as having a quick link to a calculator on your available homes pages can help boost interest and leads.

Google Maps/Navigation – Having Google maps on your website not only will help your searchability from the website but also from Google.  Add a mobile website and it gets even better. Direct traffic straight to all of your communities and show homes.

Videos – Utilizing YouTube on your website will create a tremendous amount of interaction. Videos outdo photos and gives the buyer a front row seat to touring your communities, homes or design center without leaving the house. There are awesome ways of using YouTube on your site. See how Simmons Homes uses Cool Iris for their videos from their homepage.

My Favorites – Create a custom dashboard for your interested buyers where they can save their favorites from of your communities, available homes,  floorplans and more. A new lead is created every time someone signs up on your website. They can even print their favorites complete with all your contact information. Goodall Homes calls theirs “My Dream Folder.”

Get the most of your website user experience and try using some of these tools next time you want to upgrade your website.

We’ve been incredibly busy to start this year off with some really great websites from homebuilders around the country and Canada. These sites have a variety of design, color schemes and most importantly, they are user friendly.  If you’re interested in a website for your company, get in line! Our websites sell homes and our calender is filling up! Builder Designs also offers many other services and add-ons such as Mobile Sites, SEO and Blogs. Check out our latest launches:

INTEGRITY HOMES – Virginia

MAYBERRY HOMES – Michigan

GRAND VIEW BUILDERS - Houston

TOWER HOMES – Birmingham, AL

FALCON HOMES – Alberta, Canada

HHHunt Homes – Virginia, N. Carolina

HANSON BUILDERS – Minnesota

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.

Year after year, Coldwell Banker Kansas City  continues to set the standard for providing the best in customer service when it comes to finding Kansas City real estate for prospective buyers in and around the Kansas City metropolitan area. Known throughout the region for being one of the premier sources for Kansas City Real Estate listings, Coldwell Banker Kansas City offers prospective buyers everything from luxurious new urban condos to comfortable and quiet suburban new homes.

Kansas City Real Estate is large and diverse, and includes numerous cities, as well as several counties in both Missouri and Kansas. In truth, it can often be hard to keep track of, which is where Coldwell Banker Kansas City comes in to the picture! With the help of any one of the expert agents within the Coldwell Banker family who can help you analyze and compare Kansas City real estate, you’ll be sure to get the best value possible for the property or properties that have caught your interest.  With the assistance of Coldwell Banker Kansas City and the negotiating skills of their agents, you will be one step ahead of the competing in making that dream Kansas City real estate property a reality. 

One of the many great qualities of Coldwell Banker Kansas City is their eagerness to make the transition to living in the Kansas City as easy as possible for new residents of this exciting area. On top of providing top-quality Kansas City Real Estate, Coldwell Banker Kansas City will provide you with helpful information on neighborhoods, schools, social activities, entertainment options, and all kind of recreational opportunities. Coldwell Banker Kansas City also offers comprehensive relocation services  for companies, both large and small. In an effort to save your business resources, time, and money by assisting in the move, Coldwell Banker Kansas City helps to facilitate the transition, and thus ensuring that the business can hit the ground running right away.

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.

A study done by Eyeblaster, Microsoft Advertising, and comScore had recently reviled that the more a consumer engages your website, the higher the conversion you are more likely to have with that consumer. Eyeblaster’s ‘Global Benchmark 2010′ report examined billions of loaded media impressions and found higher engagement resulted in higher conversions. An increase in ‘dwell rate’ from 5% to 15% resulted in a 45% conversion increase.

The research also showed that high engagement led to a 39% increase in brand-related search engine searches with many studies that show brand related searches have a higher conversion than non-brand related studies.

What does this mean to home builders? In order to get added leads, there must be ample opportunity for a consumer to engage you. How to you get the consumer to become engaged?

1. Good content. Site content should be comprehensive and relevant to the entire home buying experience. This means school info, utility info, neighborhood info, area info, etc.
2. Add a video. This is the easiest and quickest component to increase engagement with a consumer, customers love videos and the constant rising video stats prove it.
3. Have a blog. By posting at least once a week you can let consumers know the lights are on AND you’re home.
4. Have a Facebook fan page and converse with consumers that become fans.
5. Have a Twitter account and tweet often!

Increasing consumer engagement takes time and money. If you, the home builder, want a lift in online conversions, you’re going to have to assign more of your budget to the online world. There is currently way too much money spent on the traditional media, like billboards and newspapers, and not near enough online. Your consumers are online waiting to communicate with you, there are tools that are out there for us to succeed; we just need to use them.
Image provided by eMarketer.

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.

Let’s face it, sometimes thinking positively is easier said than done. Looking back on the past several months and grabbing a mental snapshot of the headlines and top stories in the news or on the radio, I don’t recall many being overly positive.  In fact, the general mindset has been gloom and doom and no one wants to be subject to that kind of news day in and day out.  So in the vein of  trying to be a “Bright-sider” (yes, I watched GMA this morning) I wanted to share some positive things relating to the real estate industry that I’ve heard recently either in the news or from our clients, friends and comrades.

• Dallas home builder, American Legend Homes, sent us an email a couple weeks ago saying “11 sales this past weekend and 7 the weekend before…I know your website is a huge contributor to that”. I don’t know about you, but hearing that positive news made me hopeful that perhaps the end of the “slump” is here. One can only hope!

• Had a call from a Realtor client of ours on Friday that I don’t hear from very often.  He said traffic picked up practically overnight in the new home community that he markets, he was somewhat astonished and glad to be so busy. Same goes for a number of other Realtor/Builder/Developer clients I’ve been talking to. This is the time of year when we typically see that welcome increase in traffic.  With the homes on the market, low mortgage rates and high volume of traffic, we’re hoping that translates into lots of contracts…did someone say slump? We’re thinking Sell!

• According to the NAHB, in February, nationwide housing starts turned upward for the first time in 8 months.

• The National Association of Realtors announced that existing home sales rose in February 5.1%

• Word is getting out and our SEO client base is growing rapidly! Not only is this great news for us, it’s indicative of the mindset of our clients. Many are coming to realize the potential to be found in their internet marketing efforts and understanding the value of putting their best virtual foot forward. I know I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, good SEO pays for itself.

Those are just a few of the things that I’ve heard lately that made me smile and want to share.  Sometimes hearing a little bit of good news can make it a little easier to get through those days where it’s difficult to see the blue sky and fluffy white clouds.  I’ll keep my eyes and ears open, if you want to share your positive stories, post a comment or shoot me an email.  If you have a REALLY good story, I might even buy you coffee

Builder Designs wants to say congratulations to our clients American Legend Homes and Grand Homes for their nominations for Best Builder Website in the 2009 McSAM awards.  We’re proud of you and beyond thrilled to have been chosen by  each of you to create two very impressive websites which showcase the fabulous homes you build!  Good luck to you both.

In case you’re not familiar with the McSAM awards, here’s a brief overview from the Dallas HBA’s website.  “The McSAM Awards were created in 1979 by the Sales and Marketing Council of the Home Builders Association of Greater Dallas in recognition of Sales and Marketing excellence. The prestigious McSAM Award is given to Builders, Developers and Associates who have made a significant and creative contribution in residential marketing through specific achievements during the year.”