It is not enough to paste pictures of houses on your website and expect people to buy.  First, you have to have other helpful content to attract people to your website.  The content you include on your website should answer a need for your customers depending on where they are in their buying journey.

Attract visitors:

The first stage of the buying process is browsing.  The customer is not educated and has not narrowed down their search.  At this stage, very general search terms are used by the customer.  While “custom homes” may be too general for your website to get ranked early in the search results, adding the area or the community name would attract visitors who are looking in your area; so, consider “Outer Banks custom home builders” or the key words for your locale. Is there a type of custom home you specialize in? If so, use this key word to further differentiate yourself.

Another way to help attract visitors would be an article that compares different neighborhoods in the area and illustrates the local feel – show the character of different areas within your city.  This could be done in several different ways.  One could examine the schools, shopping, cultural activities, and recreational activities.  Additional content linked to these pages can guide the customer as they continue on their buying journey.

Helpful content

As the visitor continues to browse, your website should illustrate why you are different.  Is your building process more streamlined, do you provide decorating assistance or other services that differentiate you from the competition? 

Contest or sweepstakes:

A contest can increase interest, aid in link building, social shares, building social followers and increased brand discovery and can be developed in limitless ways.  Contests allow you to collect emails and perform additional marketing directly to the customers who enter the contest.  Try a contest to “vote for your favorite house” where the winner gets a gift certificate to a local eatery.  The contest can be repeated and your site and homes will get more exposure.  The contest can be shared and promoted on lots of related additional sites, and sweepstake sites like www.online-sweepstakes.com and www.ilovegiveaways.com to get additional exposure.

Convert visitors:

EBooks:

Visitors who are further along on their buying journey are looking for more information before they convert to customers.  Perhaps an ebook comparing your custom home building process to industry bench marks could show how you can deliver faster at a lower cost and better quality.  While this may not convince the visitor right away, it allows you to gather information and an email from the customer to target future pieces to his needs and help guide him during his journey.

Product comparisons:

A builder could produce a product comparison, showing differences in materials, warrantee or workmanship to compare his product against local building competitors.

Niche articles for more educated visitors:

An article comparing windows and doors to identify which wears better in the conditions of your locale would attract a more informed customer and provides credibility to your firm and what you build.  What are some upcoming trends, like home automation, solar power or the like that you can write about?

Multi-expert or round up articles:

A review of the “Parade of Homes” award or a recognized award program in your community and a re-cap of what “experts” said would be effective to reinforce your credibility and distinction in the community. 

Infographics produced with your business data:

Top 10 energy saving devices selected by new buyers over the last year would be one example.  Think about what unique intelligence your company may have that would be informative to your potential customers. 

Visitor to Customer:

Content on your site should be well written and visually attractive.  Attractive pictures are key in just about every industry.  As a builder, consider including actual reviews of customers a year after purchase; a video would make their words even more intimate for the potential customer. Highlight pictures of tweets or Facebooks posts where customers have complimented the company on a great product or responsiveness to a problem.  Finally, make it easy for your customer to know how to contact you and where to find you to increase trust and show you stand behind your product.

Want to learn more about how to use inbound marketing to bring more customers to your website? download our free ebook, Inbound Marketing for Home Builders.  Need help creating an inbound marketing strategy for your company? Contact the home builder marketing experts at Paveya at 855-372-8392.