Builders and contractors have an increasing arsenal of tools they can draw upon to generate leads and business. At a time when money is tight (which, anymore is pretty much always), small businesses are looking for cost effective ways to reach new customers. That, of course, is one of the appeals to promoting your business online. Once you have your website built, there are a lot of things you can do that don’t cost much.
However, just because you have a website doesn’t mean that your customers or prospects know about it. There are tons of websites out there, and frankly, there are probably a fair number that offer something similar to what you offer. How can you make sure that potential homebuyers find your site?
One way to get found is by making sure that the content on your site is written in such a way that the major search engines (such as Google) pick it up. Part of that process includes Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and involves writing your copy in such a way that describes your products and services using the same words that your customers use when they search for you on the Web.
Sometimes, however, you may want to boost the performance of your site by employing Pay-per-Click (PPC). Wikipedia describes Pay-per-Click as: an Internet advertising model used on websites, where advertisers pay their host only when their ad is clicked. Advertisers typically bid on keyword phrases relevant to their target market. Examples of this are the ads that appear on the far right of a page when you do a Google search. This can be an effective way to make sure people find your site.
But does Pay-per-Click pay for builders and contractors? In our recent webinar for builders and remodelers we looked at one of our clients, a builder and remodeler from the Pacific Northwest. In addition to their other marketing efforts (website optimization, blogging, white papers, Twitter, Facebook) they decided to spend some money on PPC. Over the course of five months, they spent $4,400 on PPC (an average of $880 per month). What did they get for their money? Their PPC campaign generated 105 qualified leads—an average of 21 leads per month at a cost of $42 per lead.
Does Pay-per-Click pay for builders and contractors? It certainly did for this builder. But it’s important to remember that PPC was only part of their overall marketing strategy. Without their other efforts, they probably wouldn’t have had the same results.
