How Successful Homebuilders and Contractors Get Targeted Traffic to their Website in a Slow Market

by Rick Morris.  July 15, 2009

With the building and contracting industry in a slow market these days, sales are down and money isn't flowing.  The recession is in full swing, and all businesses are positioning themselves to grab clients when they can.  So, as a business owner it's best to just wait it out, right?

Wrong!   Now is the most critical time to market your product or service.  "But," you say, "nothing is working".  Well, that may be true in the traditional sense, but there is a place where your advertising bucks can make a difference . . . even in today's market. 

Where, you ask?  We'll, look no further than the computer your are using to read this article.  That's right, the internet!

The best place to turn to for advertising on the Internet is Google.  And, you should take advantage of pay-per-click advertising such as Google's Adwords program to get your share of the minimal market.

As a builder, you've likely adjusted your strategy.  You've gone green, looked into the smaller home market, attended conferences, pushed the tax credit, and moved into the remodeling arena.   And, you certainly have your signs posted on the lot!

As a contracting supplier to builders, you've reduced pricing on bids, attended the institute, and investigated federal acquisitions.

Sure, there is a 7-month supply of homes on the market today.  But, that doesn't mean there aren't any buyers.  They are out there.  And, your competition is selling to them. You've just got to do what they are doing to reach potential buyers.  Much of the selling comes from leads generated via the homebuilder's or contractor's websites.

Think about it.  The builder down the street has sold 4 of his homes this month.  So, how's he doing it?  Probably with the help of an online advertising campaign.  Sure, the realtor is doing their thing for your existing new homes.  But, people are more likely to get online and search for "Charlotte home builder" if they are looking to build.

Yesterday there were 82,000 American searches on Google for "Home Depot" (I have a tool that I use to discover the number of searches for any keyword or phrase).  People know that Home Depot's website is at www.homedepot.com.  But, they still do a search for the company.   The same applies for builders and contractors. 

For example, there were about 8,000 searches for "home builder".  And, there were about 3,000 for "remodeler".

Many of those searchers are clicking on the Sponsor links on the right side of the Google search results page.  You know... those links that your competitors are placing on Google.

The big builder's website will always come up high in the general search results.  It's the little guy that also desires to be seen high.  And, that's where a pay-per-click advertising campaign can help.

Now, before you say, "yeah, the builder down the street got lucky on those sells", you should ask yourself, "how is he getting leads to his website?"

I'm not a home builder or contractor.  But, I have been building websites for them for the past 8 years.  In doing so, I have come to understand what it takes to help my clients get leads from the Net.  And, there are two simple steps in doing that:

   1. Get a Quality Website or update your old one.  We specialize in websites for homebuilders and contractors.

   2. Set up a Google Adwords advertising program.

You can spend tens of thousands of dollars and work for several years to get your new 2,000-page website coming up high on the first page of Google results.  But, if that's not within your budget, you will want to do the following:

First, if you already have a newly developed website, you are golden.  If you don't have a website, you need one.  If you current website is more than 18 months old, you should consider getting it redesigned.  You can't run a Google Adwords program without a functional, up-to-date website.

Next, go to adwords.google.com and get signed up (the only costs are for the ads you run).  Then, read everything in there about Adwords.  The time spent will be well worth it.

What are Adwords?

Adwords are those advertisements found on the right side of the page when you do a search in Google (and other search engines).  You can put your ad there in a matter of minutes.  And, if you have a contact form on your website, you can start collecting leads (names and contact info) from all those visitors.

The results you produce are based on the keywords you target (such as "atlanta builder" or "homebuilder Texas"), and the amount of your bid.  For example, the top position for "remodeler" will cost you about $2 each time someone clicks on your ad.  The price per click drops as you position yourself lower.  The minimal bid is 10 cents.  But, that would likely put your ad on the 5th or 6th or even 15th page (or lower).

Thinking like a potential searcher, you determine what they are searching for in order to position your ad on the results.  The Adwords tools will show you what people are using as keywords and how many of them are using those keywords daily. 

For example, if you are a builder located in Atlanta, you will want to use the keyword phrases, "atlanta builder" and "georgia builder" in your Adwords campaign.  That way, only those searching for an Atlanta home builder will click on your ad.  And, that is targeted traffic.

It takes about an hour to set up a Google Adwords campaign, and you can be getting leads within a couple hours.

You bid what you want, based on the position you want. For my Adwords campaigns, I usually bid to the fourth or fifth spot, which usually ends up being less than half the top spot.

And, you control how much you want to budget for the day, week, month, or year.  So, if your budget is $100 a day, and you position your ad in the 4th spot, you will get about 100 - 110 clicks each day (assuming there are enough people searching for "atlanta builder" or "georgia builder").   Always shoot for the first page of the results, and around position 3, 4 or 5.  It may take a few days to figure it out. 

But, you definitely gotta get on the front page of the results.  You might spend $500 or $1,000 (250 - 500) clicks to generate 10 or 20 quality leads, but one of them will result in a sell.  Remember, these are targeted leads - people looking in your area for a new home builder or contractor.

Google's tools in the Adwords program will tell you everything you need, including how many clicks you can expect each day, and the general costs.  But, using a targeted advertising system works on the law of numbers.  You are going to get a certain amount of sells from a certain amount of dollars spent on advertising.

Out of 500 interested searchers, don't you think that at least one is going to buy?  So, you've spent $1,000 to sell a $235,000 home.  Not bad!

Oh, there are online businesses out there that will "guarantee" you a top spot on Google within a day or two.  While they lead you to believe you will get a top spot in the regular results, don't fall for these guys as they are simply setting you up with a Google Adwords account, all the while charging your double or more per click.  Adwords is something you can do yourself - and you should.  You'll have better control of your advertising money.

In closing, if you aren't using the power of the Internet to get new leads, you gotta look at getting a new website, or improving your current site.  Then, you need to set up a Google Adwords campaign.