Marketing For Home Builders: How To Double Revenue in 2024

Our three-step marketing for Home Builders strategy is proven to increase traffic, drive more leads, and increase bottom-line revenue. These three simple steps are:

Have A Beautiful Website, Dominate Google, and Use Social Proof

It may sound simple, but this is the exact strategy we used to increase traffic by 1200% with Byrd Design and Build and double revenue with Cornerstone Remodeling. 

Keep reading to see how we did it.

You Build Beautiful Homes, Your Website Should Be Beautiful Too

In the same way that how you present yourself leaves an impression on others, a poorly designed website sends the wrong message to potential clients.

Outdated designs, slow loading times, poor user experience, and all of these common website pitfalls tell a customer that you don’t have the resources or expertise to handle their needs as a home builder. 

And the statistics don’t lie:

• 48% of customers say a bad web design equals a lack of credibility.
• 73% of web designers say lack of responsiveness is the top reason sites don’t convert.
• Design elements like location transparency, functionality, social proof, and customer reviews account for 75% of a website’s perceived credibility.
• 42% of website abandonment happens because of poor website navigation.

The look and feel of your website is the most important aspect of your online presence. You can drive all the traffic in the world to your website, but if it isn’t built to impress, none of it will matter. 

Best Practices For Home Builder Website Design 

• Clean and Clutter-Free Layout

85% of respondents say crowded websites are the top web design mistakes small businesses make. Focusing on keeping your website clean and streamlined helps users understand who you are, what your selling point is, how reputable you are and how to contact you. 

• Responsive Design

Over 60% of all website traffic is mobile. This means that having a website that works perfectly on both mobile and desktop is paramount to your success as a business. If mobile responsiveness is ignored, you are instantly cutting your conversion rate by 60%. Make sure that whoever builds and manages your website makes sure that your mobile responsiveness is top-notch. 

• Fast Loading Speed

Visitors attention spans are shorter than ever, the longer your website takes to load the worse your conversion rate will be. Studies show that a 100-millisecond delay in website loading times leads to a 7% decrease in conversion rates. For reference, 100 milliseconds is the time it takes you to blink.  

• Easy Navigation

Making it easy for visitors to navigate your website is paramount. 42% of website abandonment happens because of poor navigation. Make sure that your site has an easy to follow navigation to keep visitors happy. 

Read the case study here

Dominate Google As a Home Builder

Google is the first place that people go when researching new products/services and home building is no exception. 49% of people looking for new home builders used a search engine in their research. Since we know that 99% of users never visit the second page of search results, we can assume that if you don’t show up for home-building searches on the first page, 49% of people will never find you. 

Relying on traditional marketing and referrals is great, but by ignoring your online presence, home builders may miss out on nearly half of the available market. 

So, how does a home builder dominate Google?

SEO For Home Builders 

SEO for home builders is complicated, so let’s keep this as brief as possible. 

There are two main components to SEO: quality content and link acquisition. 

Never mind about meta descriptions, alt tags, and all the other technical mumbo-jumbo you’ve had shoved in your face by other SEO agencies. Most of the time, those items are meant to confuse and blind you of the real strategy behind good SEO.

Quality Content

A good content strategy for home builders has three main parts, top of the funnel, mid funnel and bottom of the funnel content. 

Top of the Funnel Content 

This is content that is meant to primarily drive traffic and build topical authority (show Google that you know about home building). This content will consist of:

• Educational blog posts
• Design trend blog posts
• Cost break downs 
• Ebooks or white papers (lead magnets)

This content is typically your first touch with a prospective customer and is meant to ease them into the buying journey.

Mid Funnel Content

Here the buyer is already familiar with your brand and is looking to learn more about who you are, what you do, and your reputation. This content will consist of:

• Detailed Case Studies 
• Client Testimonials 
• Pricing Guides 
• Portfolios and Past Projects
• Location-Based Service Pages (Home Builder in insert city/state)

Here, the user has shown interest in your brand, and if your mid-funnel content is convincing, they approach the last step in their buying process.

Bottom Funnel Content

The buyer has now done all the research they can and is ready to make a purchase decision. Bottom funnel content usually looks like this:

• Free consultations 
• Personalized proposals 
• Limited-time offers and discounts 

By combining all of these different types of content, you have created what is commonly known as a sales funnel! Most SEO efforts are spent on the top and mid-sections of your funnel in order to drive as much qualified traffic to your site as possible.

Link Acquisition

Arguably, the most important factor in SEO is the number and quality of links pointing to your website from other websites. These are known as “backlinks”.

Here is the basic criteria for what makes a “good backlink”

• Solid Domain Rating: Usually above 20
• Is Relevant: The linking domain is in your industry or a related field 
• Has traffic: The linking domain receives a substantial amount of organic traffic
• Is Not Spammy: The linking domain is a real website that is not being abused for linking purposes. 

Most link acquisition happens organically from building quality content. For example, if you have a content piece about the cost of build a home in your city, this blog post may receive links from other bloggers writing about similar topics. This type of backlink is the best because its typically relevant, receives traffic, costs nothing, and is not spammy. 

However, sometimes, links must be built through outreach. We work with a network of bloggers and news sites to find highly relevant, quality domains to build links to specific pages with the intent of pushing those pages up the rankings on Google. 

Always be extremely careful when building links as doing so incorrectly can cause irreverisbale damage to your sites ability to rank and drive traffic. Avoid cheap links, PBNs and work with a reputable agency to build links. 

Generate Consistent Home Building Leads With Google Ads

Running Google ads is the fastest, easiest, and most consistent way to generate home-building leads. 

Google ads allow you to bid on specific keywords and drive traffic to a landing page solely optimized to convert visitors into qualified leads. 

Here are some of the best practices when running Google Ads as a home builder:

Optimize Your Landing Page

When sending traffic to your landing page, you want it to be fast, relevant to the search, and simple. 

You want the visitor to easily understand what you’re selling, how to contact you, and the social proof that you’ve done it for others in the past. Keep your landing pages short, straight to the point and easy for the user to operate. Any thing that adds friction to this process will result in lower conversion rates. 

Consolidate Ad Spend

Bid on as few keywords as possible and keep your campaigns specific. Let’s say that the average cost per home building lead for you is $150 and your daily ad spend is $200, this means, on average you’ll receive 10 leads per week. 

As soon as that ad spend starts being spent on other keywords, the number of leads will start to slip as there isn’t enough ad spend to generate the results you want. 

Find what you want to sell and keep your ad spend concentrated. 

Track Conversions

Conversions must be tracked! Otherwise, you might as well be setting your cash on fire. Conversions are any action that you want a user to take, for most companies this means a form fill, phone call or scheduled meeting. 

Google ads operate by optimizing for conversion events to help drive more customers like the ones already turning into leads. 

If you do not track these conversions the system will not know what to bid for and spend money with no direction. 

Conversion tracking also allows you to figure out what your return on investment is with Ads, this can help inform you about what is and isn’t working, where to put more money and what services provide the best returns.

Social Proof Converts Leads At A Higher Percentage

As a home builder, social proof is one of the greatest tools at your disposal. Studies show that 92% of people are more likely to convert as a customer after reading a trusted review. This statistic underscores the immense value of customer feedback in influencing potential buyers.

Social proof, in the form of reviews, testimonials, and case studies, builds credibility and trust with your audience. When potential clients see positive experiences shared by others, they are more inclined to believe that your services will meet their needs and expectations. This is especially crucial in the home building industry, where the decision-making process involves significant investment and commitment.

Making an effort to gather more reviews should be a priority for any home builder. Encourage satisfied clients to leave detailed reviews on various platforms such as Google, Houzz, and wherever you collect leads. Highlight these reviews prominently in your marketing materials, including brochures, websites, and social media channels. 

Create a Portfolio of Your Work

Social proof doesn’t stop at reviews; photo and video evidence of the beautiful homes you build is a key factor in closing more leads. Visual content can be incredibly persuasive, showcasing your craftsmanship and attention to detail in a way that words alone cannot.

Take as many photos and videos as you can of your process and the end result of clients’ homes. Documenting the various stages of construction, from the initial groundwork to the final touches, provides a comprehensive view of your capabilities. These assets serve as powerful testimonials to your expertise and can significantly enhance your marketing efforts.

On social media, visual content tends to generate higher engagement rates, making it an ideal medium for showcasing your work. Posting before-and-after photos, virtual tours, and time-lapse videos of your projects can captivate potential clients and provide them with a clear understanding of your skills and the quality of your work.

Your business profile on platforms like Google My Business, Houzz, and other industry-specific sites can also benefit from these visual assets. High-quality photos and videos can enhance your profile, making it more attractive to those searching for reliable home builders. 

Have A Face To The Company 

Being transparent about who you are, who your team is, and what your mission is can drastically improve the conversion rates on your website. In an industry where trust is paramount, showing the human side of your business can make a significant difference in attracting and retaining clients.

Transparency builds trust. Potential clients want to know who they are dealing with, especially when it comes to significant investments like home building. By openly sharing information about your company, you provide them with the assurance that they are making a well-informed decision. Introduce yourself and your team on your website. Create a dedicated “About Us” page that includes detailed bios of key team members, highlighting their experience, qualifications, and roles within the company. Including professional photos can further humanize your business, making it more relatable and trustworthy.

Takeaway

The strategy laid out before you is not complicated, there are no mysterious hacks, no secret tool we use to outperform the competition. These are simple, effective, and tested methods that actually work to generate more leads for home builders. 

But don’t take out word for it, see what our clients are saying:

“7ten is by far the most well-put-together marketing firm out there. I have absolutely enjoyed every minute of working with this team! From early-stage start-ups with big ideas to an already established company, if you own either (we own both!), 7ten has a fun, creative, professional, and talented team that can augment any growing business. We feel more confident with both our businesses due to the fact that we have such an experienced marketing team working alongside us.”

• AJ Ballantine, Owner, Cornerstone Remodeling.

“The 7ten team is fantastic to work with. They have done several of my business’s web design, SEO, PPC, and high-level internet marketing strategies with us. I look forward to the next campaign we tackle as a group!”

• Rick Byrd, Owner, Byrd Design & Build.

If you want to learn more about how we can help you, click here to set up a call where we will go over your existing presence and build a personalized strategy to wipe the floor with the competition.