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Jessica Bryant Posted by Jessica Bryant on September 21, 2012

5 Tips for Developing a Content Strategy for Your Home Builder Website

5 Tips for Developing a Content Strategy for Your Home Builder Website

Learn how to streamline the content creation process.

5 Tips for Developing a Content Strategy for Your Home Builder WebsiteYou've probably heard the saying, "Content is king." No matter how large or small your company is, creating content is undoubtedly a vital aspect of your online marketing plan. In the past, it was only necessary to create content when there was something specific to promote. Thanks to the Internet, content creation has become a constant activity designed to attract a steady stream of leads.

Creating content regularly can get overwhelming quickly, which is why it's helpful to develop a content strategy. Content strategy is defined as a plan for the creation, publication, and governance of useful, usable content. A content strategy provides you with a roadmap to follow to create content that your target audience cares about. Here are 5 tips for developing an effective content strategy for your home builder website.

1. Analyze your target audience

Who are your ideal customers? What are their wants, needs, and interests? What are their biggest concerns? Do they read blogs or use social media? Do they find your site via the search engines? These are some questions to think about as you assess your target audience. Keep in mind that you may be targeting several types of prospective home buyers.

Develop profiles of your ideal customers' online behavior. For example, determine what types of information they consume online and what aspects of the home-buying process they spend the most time researching.

2. Perform a content audit

Audit your existing content to determine whether it's meeting your target audience's needs or whether there are some voids to fill. Strive for a good mix of different types of content and cover a variety of topics that are important to your audience.

3. Outline the steps of the buying cycle

Most people won't stumble upon your site and then immediately decide to call you and buy one of your homes. They'll undoubtedly pass through several different stages of the buying cycle before deciding to contact you. Typically, the buying cycle is made up of four stages: awareness, research, comparison, and purchase. The goal is to create content that meets customers' needs in each stage of the buying cycle.

Content that can help to boost awareness of your company include social media updates, videos, and blog posts. To aid prospective buyers during the research stage, you could provide them with free brochures, reports, etc. During the comparison stage, testimonials could come in handy. In the final purchase stage, providing prospects with detailed information about your homes and communities is vital.

4. Create an editorial calendar

After following steps 1-3, you'll probably come up with many content ideas. Set up an editorial calendar outlining what kind of content to create and what topics to cover. Determine how much traffic and leads you want to generate each month and then set a content creation and publication schedule that will help you reach those goals.

5. Repurpose old content

There's no need to produce fresh content all the time. You can also repurpose your old content and use it to help you reach your marketing goals. For example, you could create an ebook made up of several old articles from your blog and give it away for free to your email newsletter subscribers.

Improve Your Home Builder Website's Online Presence Today

efelle designs and develops home builder websites and provides a full suite of online marketing services that help home builders get their websites found online. For more information or to set up a free consultation with our home builder marketing specialists, give us a call at 206.384.4909 or fill out our online contact form.

See also:

10 Things That Every Home Builder Website Needs

5 Tips for Improving Your Home Builder Email Marketing Strategy