7 Ways Home Builders Should Be Marketing Online

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The decision to buy a new semi-custom home or work closely with a builder to design a long-imagined dream home is certainly not made on a whim.

Buyers will spend a great deal of time weighing the pros and cons of building a home versus buying a home, as well as searching for a builder who is highly recommended and fits their budget. If you are a custom home builder, you want to be in consideration when buyers are in the midst of their decision-making process – and you hope to become their builder of choice.

Unfortunately, in a competitive market like the one right here in Cleveland, if you aren’t easily found online, you may not make the cut. Yes, word-of-mouth referrals and local reputation are very important, but they aren’t everything. Think about this: If a Cleveland home buyer does not know that you exist, or cannot find you online, how can you be an option? 

The National Association of Realtors published an article in 2019 entitled The Digital House Hunt which produced some eye-opening data on just how important digital marketing is to home builders. The report summarized that over 90% of realtors have websites, and their most common feature is their house listing menu. The digital hunt starts immediately as more than 44% of buyers look at listings online themselves before contacting an agent. The search is mobile too. Over 80% of all millennials reported finding their house on their mobile device, and even 68% of baby boomers found their new residence on their cell phone.

The battle to be the top home builder in Cleveland is now being fought in the pocket of the consumer. Here are 7 things you can be doing to increase your digital presence and online marketing efforts:

 

1. Optimize your local search profiles.

As you can see, potential buyers are mobile when they are looking for their home. Searches like “new homes in my area” or “custom home builders nearby” are increasing, and it is critical to maintain a high ranking in Google search results for those categories. For this reason, it is absolutely essential to claim and maintain all local directory profiles. You can use a tool like Moz Local to find and locate any online profiles that exist for your business, make sure they contain accurate information, and gain access to edit and optimize the profiles, like updating the contact information or adding new photos. Google Maps, Google My Business, Houzz, Angie’s List – these accounts are a great place to start.

 

2. Create a social media presence for your business.

Is your business on Facebook? If so, does your profile make a strong first impression? Your social media profile may be the first glimpse a prospective buyer has of your home construction business. If a potential buyer lands on a Facebook page that has not been touched since 2013, it can, in turn, create a negative impression of your business and make them think that you are not current. As a home builder, your social media should showcase your completed home constructions and show buyers everything you have to offer.

 

3. Invest in paid search advertising.

Paid online marketing can be a great way to get your business seen by interested, prospective buyers. While paid search advertising costs more upfront, you are almost guaranteed to see results. For example, when you have an active pay-per-click campaign, a user searches for home builders in your targeted area and your advertisement will show in their Google search results – and you pay only if they click through to your website. Search Engine Journal suggests that geotargeting, or setting up ads to reach viewers in locations with digitally-defined borders, can be extremely effective. Paid search is a great way to get immediate results.

 

4. Share a drone video of a model home on your website.

Give prospective buyers a chance to see inside one of your completed homes. A virtual tour of a home is a great opportunity to entice a prospective buyer to come and see the model home in person, or, if they like what they see in the online tour, they may call to obtain more information. Cleveland home buyers like drone footage. It will give them more context around what the home looks like in its setting and in the neighborhood where the prospect could be living one day. The more info the better – and the more likely you are to close the deal!

 

5. Regularly add new content to your site.

A blog on your site is a great vehicle to share new, helpful content with prospective buyers. Regularly adding fresh content to your site signals to Google and other search engines that your site is current and a resource to those searching for topics relevant to your business. This will help your website perform better in organic search results. Plus, blog articles are great content to share on your social media channels. You might write on the ROI of a custom home, how to save money on a new home mortgage, tips for new homeowners, or any topic relevant to a prospective buyer and homeowner. Not sure where to begin? BDX has over 101 blog starters for home builders to get the creative juices flowing!

 

6. Monitor your analytics.

Use a free tool like Google Analytics to monitor traffic to your website. This data can be helpful in making decisions about potential changes to your website. Where are your visitors coming from? Which pages on your site are they visiting most frequently? Are there specific pages where users tend to leave your website? You may need to make enhancements to poorly performing pages, or expand the content of the page, to retain more traffic and make the page more useful to your visitors.

 

7. Engage in email marketing.

Many people may have an interest in building a custom home, but they are not quite ready financially. The decision to build a custom home is often made over years, not months. For this reason, it is important to stay top of mind with your potential customers and nurture a relationship over time so that when they are ready, they will call. You can achieve this through a targeted email marketing campaign.

 

If you take any one of these steps, you will be improving your digital marketing efforts. Many custom builders find it beneficial to work closely with a digital marketing agency to target a specific demographic of prospective buyers in their local area. Company 119 has worked with builders in the Greater Cleveland area and beyond to help them sell vacant lots and attract new buyers. If you are interested in learning more about Company 119’s digital marketing and website design services created to serve the needs of custom home builders, contact us today.

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