More and more potential customers are turning to the internet to find home plans and look for information on home builders. In order to take advantage of the increase in web activity, it's important to make sure that your home building business is found online. Let's take a look at a few ways you can make sure potential customers find your home design business.
Online Directory Listings
You can think of online directories as the new evolution of the old paper phone book. It's vital to make sure that you have your home design business listed on several directories to make sure customers can find you. Some of the biggest directories include:
- Google My Business
- Bing Local
- Yelp
More people use the Google search engine to research businesses than any other online outlet, so it's vital to have a Google My Business listing. A Google My Business listing will increase your search engine rank, give customers a chance to see all of your business details in one place and provide an outlet for reviews and customer interaction. All of these things greatly increase your web visibility.
Even if you have a Google My Business listing, you shouldn't ignore other online directories. Bing is the default search engine for Microsoft's web browsers and Yelp is the most used third-party directory and review platform on the web. Listing your home building business on these and other online directories greatly improves your chances of being see by potential customers.
Map Listings
Are you looking for a way to draw business from your local area? If so, make sure that your business is registered with online map services. Google Maps and Apple Maps are the two most commonly used online map services, and many potential customers have access to these services from their smart phones as well as desktop computers.
Even if you don't have a physical office, listing with map services is vital. These map services are often linked with web search results, and many times potential customers interested in building a new home will search for builders and designers in their local area. Making sure your contact details are added to map listing will improve the chances of your business being found by customers via web searches.
SEO Optimization
While online directories and map listings help you rise in search rankings, having an SEO strategy can improve your visibility even more. SEO, or search engine optimization, is the process of designing your web site and producing content that will meet the criteria of search engines such as Google to display your site higher than others. Most browsers won't scroll past the first page of search results, so the higher your site ranks the better chance they'll visit.
Including the Portfolio Home Plans' virtual marketplace on your website will do wonders for your SEO rankings. PHP is found on the websites of thousands of home builders, home designers and Realtors. Being such a trustworthy addition to so many sites makes it a prime factor when Google decides which sites outrank others. Plans found on PHP are also sharable and have a large presence on the World Wide Web, helping to increase the rankings of sites that include this virtual marketplace on their website.
It's also important to frequently add and change content on your website. This can be done through updated blogs, photo galleries and other updates that keep fresh content on your website. Letting the content on your webpage grow stagnant can lower your rankings pushing your home design business to the back pages of search results. The PHP virtual marketplace is constantly changing with new plans being added and altered. This added benefit to PHP is just one extra reason to consider incorporating it into you site.
Social Media
Your social media presence is just as important nowadays as your SEO ranking. Many potential customers will be alerted your home building endeavors through Facebook posts and Instagram stories.
In order to take full advantage of social media, make sure you have a Facebook, Instagram and Twitter presence, and regularly share content on all three of these platforms. You'll also want to make sure that the content you share is worthy of being shared by your followers. The more people that view your content the better chance you'll have of increasing your potential client base. Some great sharable content includes:
- Blogs
- Photos of completed projects
- New home designs
- Articles on current industry trends
Blogs and photo galleries are a great sharable opportunity. They give you a chance to display your workmanship and tell people about what makes your home design business unique. Along with complete projects and stories about your company, you also have the opportunity to share new and exciting home designs you've created. If you utilize the PHP virtual marketplace, you'll be able to use this tool to share your designs and other new and exciting ideas you're ready to build.
About Portfolio Home Plans
Portfolio Home Plans is an online storefront that home builders can utilize to control the sales of home plans to their customers. It easily integrates with your website giving you control of home planning from start to sale. For each sale made via the virtual marketplace embedded on your webpage you'll receive a commission on the sale whether you personally build the home or not.
Designers can even upload their own plans and gain wide access to potential revenue through the thousands of websites that utilize PHP. This can exponentially increase their client base well beyond those in their own geographical area.
