Home Builders: Website Design that Builds Business

Like building homes, websites are built with different requirements that call for specific skills to achieve the desired results. Home building requires numerous skilled laborers and technicians. You need the right materials, a well-designed plan, and an experienced general contractor to build a quality home. Not to mention the local approvals, permits, and financing that must come first.

A quality website is similar. Instead of housing a family with specific architectural features, a custom-built website is designed to attract the right kind of visitors while building credibility and trust for the company. Building a quality website that produces results relies on many factors, from a well-planned strategy and structural design to brand-aligned marketing campaigns to attract new clients.

Since we build websites that cater to home builders, we can break down the essential elements of a powerful website that will help build your company.

1. Planned Strategy and Structure

Your web structure represents your website's floor plan. It includes the page structure, navigation between pages, and the type of content for each page. It may include design templates that will structure how each page appears and ensure unity between every section of your website. The website strategy outlines the visitor experience when they move through your website, just like a blueprint outlines the intended design of a house.

2. Target Audience

Your target audience helps you define what type of client you want to attract - and build homes for. Are your ideal clients looking for a starter home, a custom home, or are they developers ready to commission an entire community? Target audience research starts by assessing the type of homes your business builds and your typical client profile, then takes a deep dive into identifying those traits through demographics and online behavior.

For example, if your target audience is highly educated and interested in a custom home, your website content should be written at their educational level and resonate with them to build credibility and trust. This might contrast with a target audience of young families looking for starter homes who may respond more to hopeful, uplifting, and educational content as they seek to learn more about the home-building process from a brand they can trust.

3. A Content Management System (CMS)

Your Content Management System (CMS) is the infrastructure on which your website is built. It provides a framework of pages that are easy to update, built for search engine accessibility, and typically designed with security features built in. It allows you to implement your website design swiftly using established best practices already included in the structure itself.

Believe it or not, some websites were built before content management systems were developed.  These older websites don't meet the SEO guidelines built into high-functioning websites.  It's like renovating an older home to bring it up to today's code; usually, it's best to start fresh than remodel.

There are many CMS options to choose from, including WordPress, Duda, SiteGlide, WebFlow and beyond. Each CMS offers unique features, strengths, and weaknesses which should be considered based on the specific needs of the website you want to create.

4. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) represents how accessible your website pages are for people making online searches. Most decisions today start with Google-powered research, so SEO is critical for the success of your website. You want your service and blog pages appearing on the search engine results pages (SERPs) of potential clients when they look for subjects relating to home-building and custom home.

Visibility is accomplished through keywords - terms used by potential clients when they are searching for home-building information and providers. Keywords are researched using a professional tool and then folded into your website's structure and content. These keywords guide users from the search engine to relevant pages that answer their questions and display your company's expertise during the potential client's decision-making process.

5. Quality Design

A well-built website is like walking into a quality house; it feels welcoming and creates an emotional connection.  The colors and overall design reflect your company brand and appeal to your homeowner clients. The design should flow and build trust for your business using colors from your logo and other design elements.  Your website needs to reflect the same level of quality as the homes you build.

6. Graphics, Photos, and Videos

Visual content inspires further engagement with your website. Great visuals make your website more appealing. More importantly, they showcase the quality of your work and draw website visitors into exploring your home-building process and stunning results. Graphics, photos, and videos are integrated into pages to accentuate the written content and guide visitors through a more engaging experience.

These visuals are then optimized for searches using metadata like alt-tags and captions as part of the SEO process. This means your images may also show up in image searches, videos in video searches, etc, to multiply your brand visibility.

7. Written Content

The written content of your website is like the drywall, trim, and fixtures. It transforms the website's structure into a finished space. The written content provides context, information, and the bulk of what your website has to offer.

The content must be written to resonate with your potential clients and motivate them to reach out to your company. Whether they contact you by phone, email, or schedule a meeting, this is known as a conversion. All written content on your website creates a conversion funnel. Every page plays a part in outlining your services, talks about your solutions, and showcases how you solve problems and help homeowners fulfill their vision of their new home.

8. Contact and Calls to Action

Like having a construction sign in front of a home being built, having your contact information in numerous places on your website makes it easy for visitors to contact you.  We typically have contact information at the top, bottom, and middle of the homepage and strategically placed throughout the website.

Calls to Action are written content that persuasively encourages website visitors to contact you to schedule a meeting or ask a few questions.

9. Technical Skills

Building a website isn't just about filling a CMS structure with words and pictures. Just like a quality home relies on skilled builders and specialists, a quality website relies on professionals with technical skills and abilities to ensure the website is attractive, high-performing, and achieves the desired goals.

Implementing the right skills ensures the website is built to the highest standards. Of course, technology is always changing, so websites and content management systems also require technical support for regular updates. This will keep your website sleek and competitive in the home builders market.

10. Sales and Marketing Software Integration

Last but not least is transforming visitors into clients. The integration of sales and marketing software is essential. With these tools, leads can flow directly from your website to the Client Relationship Management (CRM) platform. This can provide automated replies to clients and send notifications to your team via email, text, or phone call.  For more information about the software we offer, see www.Accelerator-Pro.com

How to Get Started

If your home builder website is not helping you build your construction business, it's time for a renovation or to build a website designed for performance from the ground up. Give us a call at 207-464-0016 or email us at design@gcmd.agency to schedule a virtual meeting. Check out our numerous web design awards.