While we are all doing our best to practice social distancing, a lot of people are staying home. They are cooped up with their families and taking an extra close look at their surroundings. Anyone who was contemplating a move in the near future will definitely want to move after being at home for so long. Thankfully, most people have internet access and some time on their hands to explore what home ownership opportunities are out there. We want to make sure you’re prepared to help customers view your homes without leaving theirs. Open houses and model tours are unlikely to continue, but your website can help your customers see why a new home is the best option right now. In fact, over the last week, we’ve seen a 33% increase in high value lead generation activity happening on our clients websites. Below are a few tips to make sure your website is as up to date and as user friendly as it can be.
Are your locations, plans, and specs up to date?
This is the time to give your website a thorough look through and make appropriate changes and improvements. Put on your customer hat and look at it from their perspective. You want your website to give them the best possible experience and impression of your homes.
Locations
Go through your website and make sure that each location where you currently build is listed with clear contact information. Check the address for each community to make sure the directions are accurate. Do you have the contact information for the correct sales person at each location? Is there a phone number, email, and contact form so that potential customers can reach out with questions? And don’t forget about photos! Now more than ever, professional photography of your communities will be needed. Customers will want to be able to see all of the amenities the location has to offer. Finally, make sure that area attractions are included in the copy and also provide some photos of places of interest nearby.
Plans
Check each plan to make sure that all available plans are listed and associated with the communities in which they can be built. Are the “starting from” prices accurate? Do you have interactive floor plans or static images of each plan? If you don’t already have interactive floor plans, now is a time to consider their addition. IFP’s are an excellent way for people to get a feel for the layout of your plans without leaving their homes.
Once again, check the photos. Make sure that the photos you use are high quality, give the customer a good feel for the layout and most importantly, are staged with furniture. Empty spaces make it exponentially harder for people to imagine themselves living in the home. If they can’t come visit a model, this is the only opportunity they will have to see the homes. Make sure the photos and virtual tours are front and center. If you don’t have virtual tours, this is something to consider upgrading to. People are going to get comfortable with options like virtual tours as a way to decide which home they want to buy during this time. We recommend creating individual pages with links to all your virtual content including videos, matterport tours, and interactive floor plans.
Specs
If you have move-in ready homes available make sure their pricing is accurate and that any virtual floor plans you have are front and center, easy to access and view. Check the address to ensure it’s correct and that the directions are up to date. People might not be visiting, but they want a clear picture of where the home is located.
Now more than ever, an easy to navigate website with lots of opportunities to help home buyers get in touch with you is important. It’s no longer something that can be put off. ONeil is here to help you. We can upgrade your website, provide IFP’s and coordinate photography. And as always, we’re available to provide marketing to drive people to your newly updated website. For more information on how we can help you, contact us here.
