We’ve always considered ourselves to be pretty neighborly and there isn’t a single Builder Designs team member who doesn’t love to travel so what do you get when you combine the two?  You guessed it, the best of both worlds- with clients spanning the United States and now abroad with our neighbors in beautiful Canada.  We were pretty excited about expanding our reach internationally so figured we’d share the great news that Wallmark Homes, one of Canada’s premier builders has chosen Builder Designs to oversee the rebranding of their company’s online presence with a completely new home builder website and Search Engine Optimization services.

We always like a new challenge and are ready to take on the world so if you know of anyone either here or anywhere else on the globe who needs a killer website and marketing to match, send ‘em our way!  We’re ready to help.

Saturday night was one of great anticipation for Builder Designs as the Homebuilders Association of Greater Dallas hosted the annual McSam Awards Banquet to honor the achievements of area builders. Two of our high profile clients in Dallas were nominated for the prestigious McSam for Best Builder Website, American Legend Homes and Grand Homes. While we were thrilled to have the sites we built for them nominated, we were so happy to learn that one of them Dallas Builder, American Legend Homes won the coveted honor of having the Best Homebuilder Website in Dallas! Working in conjunction with Bright and Co. Marketing for several weeks to bring the site from an idea to a reality was only part of the fun. Building a lasting relationship with them and having them as a satisfied (and now Award-winning client), is the icing on the cake!  Congratulations to our friends at American Legend Homes and Bright and Co.  We are thrilled the site won and have to admit we think the judges did a stellar job with their winning choice! 

Of course not only were several of our builder clients and acquaintances in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area honored with awards, but our very own Susan Taylor was also singled out for a very much deserved Legends of Sales and Marketing Award.  For years she has been part of the Dallas/Ft. Worth Homebuilder community, originally working with the New Homes Journal and later coming to join us at Builder Designs.  What an amazing honor, being named a legend isn’t an everyday occurence and the BD Team couldn’t be more pleased or proud of her for her accomplishments.  Congratulations Susan!

Last but not least, we would like to extend our heartfelt congrats and raise a toast to all of the winners and nominees in this year’s awards.  Our well wishes are extended especially toward those award winners we’ve had the distinct honor of working with in this past year.  In what has been a difficult year for the industry at best, we have to say it’s news like this that brightens our day and hopefully yours as well!

Let’s face it, sometimes thinking positively is easier said than done. Looking back on the past several months and grabbing a mental snapshot of the headlines and top stories in the news or on the radio, I don’t recall many being overly positive.  In fact, the general mindset has been gloom and doom and no one wants to be subject to that kind of news day in and day out.  So in the vein of  trying to be a “Bright-sider” (yes, I watched GMA this morning) I wanted to share some positive things relating to the real estate industry that I’ve heard recently either in the news or from our clients, friends and comrades.

• Dallas home builder, American Legend Homes, sent us an email a couple weeks ago saying “11 sales this past weekend and 7 the weekend before…I know your website is a huge contributor to that”. I don’t know about you, but hearing that positive news made me hopeful that perhaps the end of the “slump” is here. One can only hope!

• Had a call from a Realtor client of ours on Friday that I don’t hear from very often.  He said traffic picked up practically overnight in the new home community that he markets, he was somewhat astonished and glad to be so busy. Same goes for a number of other Realtor/Builder/Developer clients I’ve been talking to. This is the time of year when we typically see that welcome increase in traffic.  With the homes on the market, low mortgage rates and high volume of traffic, we’re hoping that translates into lots of contracts…did someone say slump? We’re thinking Sell!

• According to the NAHB, in February, nationwide housing starts turned upward for the first time in 8 months.

• The National Association of Realtors announced that existing home sales rose in February 5.1%

• Word is getting out and our SEO client base is growing rapidly! Not only is this great news for us, it’s indicative of the mindset of our clients. Many are coming to realize the potential to be found in their internet marketing efforts and understanding the value of putting their best virtual foot forward. I know I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, good SEO pays for itself.

Those are just a few of the things that I’ve heard lately that made me smile and want to share.  Sometimes hearing a little bit of good news can make it a little easier to get through those days where it’s difficult to see the blue sky and fluffy white clouds.  I’ll keep my eyes and ears open, if you want to share your positive stories, post a comment or shoot me an email.  If you have a REALLY good story, I might even buy you coffee

All of that hard work paid off and tonight you can watch the story unfold on ABC’s Extreme Makeover Home Edition featuring Builder Designs client, DeYoung Properties.  The show on the Riojas family in Fresno, California will air tonight nationwide at 8:00pm (7:00pm CST) on ABC (check your local listings for station info).  We hope you’ll check it out. It was great to be a part of the whole experience from start to finish and we were honored to have been able to create a website for the fine folks DeYoung Properties and their volunteers to keep track of volunteers, donations and also to keep the public apprised of their progress with blog entries, photos and video links.  You can (and should) check it out at www.extremedeyoung.com and then watch the show tonight!

Builder Designs wants to say congratulations to our clients American Legend Homes and Grand Homes for their nominations for Best Builder Website in the 2009 McSAM awards.  We’re proud of you and beyond thrilled to have been chosen by  each of you to create two very impressive websites which showcase the fabulous homes you build!  Good luck to you both.

In case you’re not familiar with the McSAM awards, here’s a brief overview from the Dallas HBA’s website.  “The McSAM Awards were created in 1979 by the Sales and Marketing Council of the Home Builders Association of Greater Dallas in recognition of Sales and Marketing excellence. The prestigious McSAM Award is given to Builders, Developers and Associates who have made a significant and creative contribution in residential marketing through specific achievements during the year.”

It’s not everyday that you get to work on a project that is tied to such a worthy cause.

ABC’s emmy-award winning television show, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition has selected Builder Designs client, De Young Properties, to build a home for a deserving family in the Fresno, California area in upcoming weeks.

When we were recently approached by the fine folks at De Young Properties, we jumped at the chance to help. Coincidentally, the creation and launch of the Extreme De Young site came to fruition at the same time we were putting the final touches on the new and improved De Young Properties website. With the holidays and scheduling of other projects, at times it felt like were were staging our own extreme show as we rushed to beat the clock and launch the sites on schedule.

Burning the candle at both ends paid off and we were able to successfully launch both De Young Properties and Extreme De Young bright and early on Tuesday morning.

It was just in time for the local press in Fresno to get a glimpse of the new sites and start rounding up volunteers and donors to give their time and talents to making a dream come true for the lucky family. According to news reports by Central Valley ABC affiliate, KFSN-TV, within the first 24 hours the volunteer response has been overwhelming.

You can keep track of the progress and also the announcement of the lucky family on January 8th by clicking here to watch video excerpts on the KFSN-TV website.

2008 was a challenging year for many of us in the building industry and all of us at Builder Designs are thrilled to have been able to end the year AND kick off 2009 on such a positive note. We wish everyone at De Young and all of the Fresno area volunteers and donors the very best and hope that the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition house is a roaring success and as rewarding of an experience for all of them as it was for us!

I sometimes think people are speaking a foreign language with all the abbreviated words running amok in our vocabulary. Perhaps it dawned with the increasing popularity of cell phones and text messaging…or maybe it was the fact that we’re in such a hurry these days that we don’t have the time to spell or say everything as it is…it’s something to ponder. One thing I do know is that there are a lot of people out there who are confused by the terminology and thus I am asked quite a bit to explain what all of these things are and more importantly how do they affect the person who’s doing the asking.

So that being said, here’s my quick version of what these things mean in regards to our business and the people we work with and for on a regular basis!

CMS – Content Management System. Basically this is an administrative tool that enables clients to update portions of their websites via a web portal built into their site. Incredibly handy when you have a price change or want to update pictures, with CMS on your site you don’t have to wait for someone else to make the changes for you. The way we do them at Builder Designs, it’s as easy as typing in the information or linking the image you want and hitting save. You don’t have to be a web designer or programmer to update your site. It’s easy and updates are instant. I sometimes wonder if the C should really stand for Convenient!

ROI – Return on Investment. When you invest in something like a website, you would expect to see it bring in new business right? Otherwise what’s the point? There are a number of things you can do with your traditional marketing to get the word out there and drive traffic to your website. Did I mention that Builder Designs can help you with that? Not only do we build websites, we also provide marketing and consulting services to help you get your ROI. Read on…

SEO – Search Engine Optimization. If you build it, they will come. Not always so in the competitive world of real estate and the world wide web. Search engines and directories like Google, Yahoo, MSN, Aol and Ask all send out programs that read the code on your website and use that information to determine if and where you’ll show up if someone is searching for a relevant topic. So, if you build houses, you want to have your site optimized so that people looking to buy houses can find you quickly and easily. There are a number of things that can be done and without getting into too much technical detail, Builder Designs is happy to work with you to optimize an existing site or build you a brand new one that is optimized to bring you a coveted organic high ranking/position in the serach engine results pages!

SEM – Search Engine Marketing. As with most of your marketing efforts, SEM is where you pay to market your website and drive traffic via a sponsored advertisement. All of the major search companies have programs that allow you to purchase keywords and come up in the sponsored sections (usually at the top or to one side) on the search results pages. Where SEO is geared toward an organic (unpaid- natural) high results ranking, SEM is strictly the paid positions in a search. Often SEO and SEM campaigns are done in tandem with one another and analyzed of several months time to determine effectiveness.

PPC- Pay Per Click. This ties into any SEM campaign- in essence it’s exactly what it says. You pay a certain dollar amount every time someone clicks on your sponsored link. You determine what kinds of keywords you want to target and depending on their popularity, you’ll see a price you can expect to pay everytime someone sees your sponsored link come up when they search for those words AND click on your link. You don’t pay unless they actually click to visit your website.

Builder SEO which is a service we offer at Builder Designs, is a program where we can assist you with determine what needs to be done with your site in order to optimize it for organic rankings as well as analyzing a SEM/PPC campaign and evaluating it over time to determine if it’s helping with your ROI!

The world is such a fast paced and busy place, we hardly have time to speak in words that aren’t abbreviated anymore, but isn’t it nice to know that there are people and resources out there that will take the time to explain it to you? If you are interested in CMS, ROI, SEO, SEM, or PPC, give us a buzz. We’d love to talk to you or fill out a contact form on our website and we’ll get in touch with you.

BUYER BEWARE! One of these things is not like the other…

You know that saying about imitation being the best form of flattery? Well apparently we should be VERY flattered because another website company likes our work so much they copied it and are trying to pass it off as their own! Don’t believe me? Take a look below.

Builder Designs Website- THE ORIGINAL!

The Copycat Website - an uncanny resemblance they even used our logo!

On the screenshot of the copycat website, I blurred out the company and client names to protect their identities but you should know that their company works in the same industry and claims to provide expert builder consulting, website and design services to anyone in need of it. In fact the president of their company claims to be a “dot com” expert-how odd that an expert would need to take and use our site without permission! They have several websites out there, the domain where ours appears is one of many they maintain and market.

We politely asked the copycat people to take our content off their site but apparently they don’t want to (understandably… since they liked it so much they copied from us instead of trying to come up with original work of their own.), so I thought this was the perfect opportunity to remind buyers to be aware that sometimes things on the internet are not what they appear to be.

It’s almost like having a Stalker….creepy.

Remember that movie where the bad character began assuming the traits of the good one in order to steal her identity? Kind of the same thing here really. I have to say again that while it’s flattering that the copycat folks like our work so much they want to use it for their own company, it’s kind of disappointing to see that moral and ethical business practices have gone by the wayside for some people. Whatever happened to creating and standing by original work and building a successful business by being not just good at what you do, but truthful and honest at the same time? Pretty sad really. Granted, this is all just my personal opinion but a lot of creative work from all of our team members went into making our site and coming up with the content that you find within our pages. It’s oddly flattering and disconcerting to me that someone would stoop so low as to take our work.

So… What should you do?

If you’re in the market for a new website- particularly one in the real estate industry, whether you’re a home builder, realtor or developer- here are 3 things you need to know about Builder Designs.

1. We are an honest, ethical business.

2. We don’t and won’t copy other people’s work- including buying/using cheap templates and crediting ourselves for the design. When you work with Builder Designs, your website is an original!

3. We are really good at what we do!

Never take for granted that the sites you visit are original works created by the company you see displayed. Always ask! If you’re looking for Builder Designs – ask for us by name. Go to www.BuilderDesigns.com

Don’t be fooled by cheap imitations and never settle for less than the best!

“Why can’t I find my website on Google?”

That seems to be a common question I hear quite a bit these days and while the answer may be far from simple, the solution most certainly is. More and more people in the real estate industry are hearing those “magic” letters coming up in conversation these days: SEO. It stands for Search Engine Optimization and it can be key in getting your site to rank in Google, Yahoo, MSN and other popular search engines and directories.

WHY SHOULD A BUILDER, REALTOR, DEVELOPER CARE ABOUT SEO?

This year has been an uphill battle for most. In times of increased competitiveness and a tougher housing market, we’re all looking for ways to spend less, make more. Trimming the fat and finding smarter ways to spend our money in order to sell product. In my opinion, SEO is the best money you can spend hands down right now. If you have a website, it pays to be visible. As gas prices fluctuate, more people spend time browsing homes online. Half the battle is getting in front of people. This is where SEO comes into play for you. The resulting simple yet ideal scenario is pretty easy:

1. Buyers find you when they are searching online

2. They come to your site, like what they see.

3. They either fill out a form, call or come visit.

4. You sell them a house.

Sounds good doesn’t it?

WHAT ELSE DO YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THIS SEO STUFF?

What is SEO? Without going into too much (boring) detail, SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is essentially taking your website, and making it easy for the search engines to read your website content, determine what it’s about and decide how it will show up when someone searches for information relating to that content.

What is a Search Engine? Websites like Google, Yahoo, MSN, Aol, Ask, Dogpile are what we consider to be search engines. Now, technically some are actually search directories, but all you need to know is that in general terms when someone talks about a search engine, they are talking about those wonderful websites where you get to type in an inquiry about any topic you can think of, hit enter, and instantly see the results of your query. It’s a glorious thing. Even more so when your website comes up in the search results!

Can SEO help? Most certainly if it’s done right.

Can someone guarantee placement on the search engines? In life there are few guarantees, and the same goes for promises of top rankings. You should be wary of anyone who does guarantee a certain ranking. However, any good SEO company (like ours) will let you give their program a trial run to see if the results work for you. Ultimately that is a win-win situation.

HOW DO I FIND THE PERFECT COMPANY TO OPTIMIZE MY WEBSITE?

1. Do your homework. Talk to companies and ask for references and examples of their work.

2. Make sure you only do business with companies that employ ethical business standards and practices. In this digital age, sometimes it’s hard to get a feel for the people you’re working with. Be wary of companies who bad mouth their competition or steal the work of others.

3. Ask them to analyze your site. See what ideas they offer to improve your rankings and research their work.

BOTTOM LINE: HERE’S YOUR SOLUTION

OK, so you’ve read through this information. You want to know what is the easiest way to take advantage of SEO on your site and you want to find someone FAST, someone you can TRUST, someone with PROVEN RESULTS. Well, you guessed it. You came to the right place! Builder Designs is the company you’ve been looking for, and our Builder SEO program is the solution you need. Don’t settle for anything less than the best in the business!

Call or e-mail us today if you want to give our Builder SEO program a whirl or want to learn more. You won’t regret it! 913-393-3367 or fill out our Contact Form

In a time of increasingly tight marketing budgets for most people in the home building and real estate industry, the number one question I’m asked these days is where can you get the biggest return on your investment? I don’t think there’s a black and white answer to this but I tell people their number one priority should be to make sure they have a really great online presence. Granted, I work for a website design and development company so naturally people would expect that from me. But even before I came to work here, that was my answer when people would ask. Why? Here are my top 3 reasons:

1. More people research new homes online than ever before. Over 80% is a statistic released by the National Association of Realtors in 2006. Imagine where that number is now as technology and internet access has become easily accessible and readily available to the public. As more people embrace technology, this number will continue to grow as people use their computers, laptops and increasingly their smartphones and portable devices

2. Having a presence on-line gives you credibility. People conduct searches now more than ever. If you are well represented online it tells your website visitors that you are accessible and not trying to hide anything. It tells them you are a professional and up to date with trends and technology. Best of all, having a great web presence enables you to have the ultimate showcase of your work- especially given rising gas prices. Those Sunday drives to go look around new home communites seem to be few and far between these days making it more important than ever to put your best foot forward online. If people like what they see and they are in the market to buy, it makes sense to have great pictures and information available at their fingertips. If they fall in love with the house online there’s a very good chance they’ll do the same once they visit in person

3. The gift that keeps on giving. As with any great marketing effort, there is cost involved in creating a really terrific website. What that cost ends up being depends greatly on what your personal needs are. The more bells and whistles you have built in, the higher the cost is likely to be. Regardless of whether you choose a clean and simple site or a larger-than-life complex site, you’ll typically find that your costs on having your site created are typically front loaded. That’s why I say it’s the gift that keeps on giving. Once you give yourself the gift of the website and follow it through from concept to creation, your costs become minimal- mostly hosting and maintenance until you decide to freshen up your site. Most people will do a design revamp every 2-3 years to add new features and freshen up their site to keep people coming back. The point is, averaged out over time, the cost for a website becomes minimal compared to other marketing venues that can be very pricey and lack the longevity of a 24/7 presence on the internet

Once you have a site you obviously have to find a way to let people know that it exists. There are hundreds of things you can do, some cost money and are also well worth the investment (Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Marketing, Mailers etc.) and others are inexpensive if not free (e-mail footers, e-mail blasts, business cards, etc.). Any good web design company will be full of ideas that you can use to market your website. However, keep in mind that before you can market a website, you have to have one that your clients are inclined to visit. Make sure yours is a prime example of putting your best foot forward!