Paid Advertising Strategies for Home Builders

Pay-per-click (PPC) campaign strategies are effective for home builders to generate leads. PPC campaigns allow for measurable progress, intersect well with various channels, and give you complete control of your campaign. This is one of the best ways to increase conversions in the real estate industry, however, it can be challenging. Don’t worry, we’re here to help. The following strategies are great ways to begin optimizing your PPC campaigns.

1. Use Location Extensions

Location extensions allow you to add location-based information for your business that appears next to website text in search engine results. Location extensions display this information at the top of a search engine results page, often alongside competitors. If you have an account with the Google Ads platform, then you are qualified to add a location extension. Extension information often includes: 

• Phone number
• Address
• Map Marker
• Directions/Distance

Location extensions offer several benefits:

Web and Call Tracking Analytics
Location extensions allow you to track where your leads are coming from, and which methods (phone, landing pages, etc…) are generating the most leads. This is beneficial because it can help you better understand what pieces of your marketing efforts need improvement. Location extensions can help you determine which changes to make so that you can keep up with the ongoing changes of digital marketing.

User Experience
People want the information they need at their fingertips as fast as possible. Location extensions provide this. Instead of going to a website and clicking on multiple pages before finding the information they need, location extensions provide this information at the top of a search results page. This gives the user a better experience and often causes them to develop more positive feelings towards your business. 

Search Engine Optimization
Google appreciates businesses that use location extensions. Providing your information will help increase your page ranking in search engine results. Additionally, it will help you gain more qualified traffic. Users often search for products or services “near me”.  Supplying your address via location extensions will ensure that your business shows up in results pages for nearby users. Using location extensions are an easy way to ensure that you are not only getting qualified traffic, but that you are accessible to that traffic as well. 

Below is an example of businesses who use location extensions: 

2. Consider Remarketing

Remarketing is when consumers are targeted based on their previous digital actions. For example, if a potential buyer visited your website and clicked on the “Contact Us” tab, but left the page before filling out a comment form, they can be targeted for related ads in the following days. This method is proven to improve brand recall which often leads to increased conversions.

Paid advertising remarketing allows businesses to target users who have already interacted with their website, app, or digital content but have not completed a desired action, such as making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter. This strategy helps re-engage potential customers and increase conversion rates. The following are some of the primary remarketing options available across various advertising platforms:

Google Ads Remarketing

• Standard Remarketing: Targets users who have visited your website but didn’t complete a specific action. You can show them display ads as they browse other websites in the Google Display Network.
• Dynamic Remarketing: Similar to standard remarketing, but with dynamic ads tailored to the specific products or services the user viewed on your website. This is useful for eCommerce websites.
• Remarketing Lists for Search Ads (RLSA): Targets users who have visited your site and then search for related terms on Google. You can bid more aggressively or show more relevant ads to these users to encourage conversions.
• Video Remarketing: Targets users who have interacted with your YouTube videos or channel, showing them ads across the Google Display Network and YouTube.

Facebook & Instagram Remarketing

• Website Custom Audiences: Targets people who have visited specific pages of your website or performed specific actions, such as adding items to a cart but not completing a purchase.
• Dynamic Ads: Like Google’s dynamic remarketing, Facebook’s dynamic ads show personalized products or services to users based on their past interactions with your website.
• Engagement Remarketing: Targets users who have engaged with your content on Facebook or Instagram, such as liking a post, watching a video, or clicking on an ad. These users are shown more relevant ads.
• App Activity: Targets users who have installed your app and interacted with it. You can show ads to encourage re-engagement, such as prompting users to complete a transaction or visit the app again.

LinkedIn Remarketing

• Website Retargeting: Allows you to target people who have visited your website or specific pages, and show them ads on LinkedIn.
• Engagement Remarketing: Targets users who have interacted with your content on LinkedIn (e.g., clicking on your post or engaging with a company page).
• List-Based Retargeting: Targets users who are on your email list or CRM by uploading your list to LinkedIn, enabling you to show them personalized ads.

Twitter Remarketing

• Website Tagging: Targets people who have visited your website or specific pages, allowing you to serve Twitter ads to them as they browse Twitter.
• Engagement-Based Retargeting: Retargets users who have interacted with your Twitter content, such as liking or retweeting posts or engaging with your account.

Pinterest Remarketing

• Website Visitor Remarketing: Similar to other platforms, Pinterest allows you to target people who have visited your website and show them relevant promoted pins.
• Engagement Remarketing: Targets users who have interacted with your Pinterest content, such as saving or clicking on pins.

Email Remarketing

• Email Follow-ups: Sending targeted emails to users who have previously visited your site but haven’t converted. This can include abandoned cart emails, reminders, or promotions based on their past behaviors.
• Transactional Emails: You can target users who have made a purchase with additional relevant offers or upsells.

Programmatic Remarketing

• Cross-Channel Remarketing: Using programmatic advertising platforms, you can display ads to users across multiple channels (websites, apps, video platforms) based on their past behaviors, including browsing your website or app.
• Geo-Targeted Remarketing: Targets users based on their physical location, useful for businesses with local stores or events.

Search Engine Remarketing (Other than Google)

• Bing Ads Remarketing: Bing offers a similar remarketing feature to Google Ads where you can target users who have visited your site and bid on more relevant search terms.
• Yahoo! Gemini: A lesser-known platform that allows for search and display remarketing for users who have interacted with your site or app.

Best Practices for Remarketing:

• Segment Your Audience: Create different remarketing lists based on user behaviors and target them with specific, relevant ads.
• Frequency Capping: Set limits on how often an individual sees your remarketing ads to avoid ad fatigue.
• Creative Optimization: Tailor your creatives to show products or services that the user has previously shown interest in. You can use dynamic ad formats for personalized content.
• Exclusion Lists: Prevent showing remarketing ads to users who have already converted or completed a desired action, avoiding wasted ad spend.

These remarketing options can help businesses keep their brand top-of-mind and encourage previous visitors to complete their purchase or desired action.

3. Optimize Your Website

Make your website user friendly on mobile devices. PPC ads should take users to landing pages that are set up for both mobile and desktop users. Mobile-friendly websites should load quickly and be easy to read on a small screen. 

Another way to optimize your website is by creating different landing pages. All of your PPC ads play different roles. Some ads target people who are ready to sign a contract tomorrow. Other ads target potential buyers who are still unsure if they’re ready to take the first few steps. Each ad should have a corresponding landing page. For example, if an ad targets consumers who are unsure about their home-buying process, their landing page should ease their concerns. This could be an FAQ page or a registration form for more information. Tailoring landing pages to consumers’ needs provides a personalized and enjoyable user experience. 

4. Specify Location

Home builders exist all over the world. If you were to type “good custom home builders” into a search engine, it is unlikely that your results would be tailored to the location in which you’re hoping to sell. Add a location to your keywords to ensure that your business appears in the search results for people in your target area. For example, in the search “good custom home builders near Washington, DC”, Washington, DC narrows the generic search. Choose a densely populated location so that you can reach a larger number of potential buyers. 

When choosing a location, do some research. Find out what location your competitors use when marketing. Discover what locations your potential buyers often type into the search bar. Choose a destination that best fits your company. If you build farmhouses and cottages select a location that is more rural.

Simply adding a location to your keywords can help you make sure that you are reaching your target market and getting traffic with real client potential.

5. Select Keywords Wisely

Bidding on keywords is like shopping. You have to walk around the store before you find the best deals. For cost-efficiency, choose keywords that differ from your competitors’, yet have a high search volume. In some cases, long-tail keywords are the best for cost-efficiency. Although long-tail keywords are more specific, people using them are more likely to be qualified traffic. 

Effective keyword research is crucial for building a solid SEO and PPC strategy and ensuring your content and Ads reach the right audience. By targeting the right keywords, you can drive organic and paid traffic, enhance user engagement, and improve conversions. Here are some of the best keyword research practices to follow:

Understand Your Audience and Intent

• Search Intent: Keywords should align with the user’s intent—whether they are looking for information, making a purchase, or seeking a solution. The three primary types of search intent are:
  • Navigational: The user is searching for a specific website or brand.
  • Informational: The user is looking for information (e.g., “how to fix a leaky faucet”).
  • Transactional: The user intends to make a purchase (e.g., “buy running shoes”).
• Buyer Personas: Understand the characteristics, interests, needs, and pain points of your target audience to select keywords that resonate with them.

Use a Variety of Keyword Types

• Short-Tail Keywords: These are broad and typically one to two words long, like “shoes” or “digital marketing.” They have high search volume but are also highly competitive.
• Long-Tail Keywords: These are longer, more specific phrases like “best running shoes for flat feet.” They usually have lower search volume but are easier to rank for and often convert better because they target specific needs.
• LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) Keywords: These are related terms and variations that help Google understand the context of your content. For example, “buy shoes online” could be related to “purchase sneakers” or “online shoe store.”
• Geo-Targeted Keywords: If you’re a local business, incorporating location-specific keywords (e.g., “best Italian restaurant in Chicago”) helps target customers in your geographical area.
• Brand Keywords: Use your brand name and its variations if people are specifically searching for your brand.

Leverage Keyword Research Tools

• Google Keyword Planner: A free tool that shows search volume, competition, and keyword suggestions. It’s ideal for paid search and SEO planning.
• Ahrefs: A powerful tool that provides detailed keyword data, competitor analysis, backlink research, and more. It offers keyword difficulty scores and SERP analysis.
• SEMrush: A comprehensive keyword research tool that helps you track keyword rankings, discover new keywords, analyze competitors, and check search volume.
• Ubersuggest: A free and paid keyword research tool that helps with keyword suggestions, search volume, competition, and related terms.
• Moz Keyword Explorer: Helps find new keywords, see keyword difficulty, and analyze search volume and potential.

Analyze Competitor Keywords

• Identify Top Competitors: Use tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs to analyze which keywords your competitors are ranking for. This will help you find potential gaps in your strategy.
• Competitive Gap Analysis: Look for keywords that your competitors are ranking for but you are not. This can uncover opportunities to target low-hanging fruit.

Focus on Keyword Difficulty and Search Volume

• Keyword Difficulty (KD): It’s important to assess how hard it will be to rank for a particular keyword. Tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush offer keyword difficulty scores that help you evaluate if you should target the keyword.
• Search Volume: Check the search volume of a keyword to understand how many people are searching for it each month. However, remember that high-volume keywords are often highly competitive, and long-tail keywords can sometimes offer better conversion rates.

Incorporate Content Gaps

• Content Gap Analysis: Identify keywords or topics your competitors are targeting that you haven’t covered yet. Use keyword research tools to compare your website’s content with that of your competitors and discover untapped opportunities.
• Explore Forums & Social Media: Sites like Reddit, Quora, and social media platforms can provide insight into what people are asking and searching for. User-generated content often reveals keywords that are less obvious but highly relevant to your target audience.

Evaluate Keyword Relevance and Quality

• Relevance: Don’t just chase high-volume keywords—ensure that they are highly relevant to your content and audience. Irrelevant traffic can increase bounce rates and reduce conversions.
• Content Intent: Make sure the keyword fits with the intent of the content you are planning to create. For example, don’t target a transactional keyword for an article meant to inform or educate.
• Prioritize Low-Hanging Fruit: Sometimes, targeting low-competition, medium-volume keywords will give you better results than competing for highly competitive terms.

Use Keyword Clusters or Topics

• Topic Clusters: Organize keywords into themes or clusters. This method groups related keywords around a central topic, making your content more comprehensive and better aligned with search intent. For example, if you are targeting “fitness,” cluster keywords like “workout routines,” “fitness trackers,” and “healthy diet plans” under that main topic.
• Siloing: Group your keywords by topic to create a clear structure on your website. Each page should be optimized for a specific cluster of related keywords, improving topical relevance and user experience.

Monitor Keyword Trends

• Google Trends: Use Google Trends to identify seasonality or emerging trends in your industry. This helps you anticipate shifts in search behavior and align your keyword strategy accordingly.
• Search Console Data: Check Google Search Console for the performance of keywords already driving traffic to your website. This helps you optimize for queries that are close to conversion.

Focus on User Experience

• CTR (Click-Through Rate): Keywords with high search intent should ideally lead to higher CTR. Make sure your meta descriptions and titles are compelling to encourage clicks.
• Semantic Relevance: Google increasingly values semantic relevance over exact match keywords. Optimize content to provide valuable, related information around the target keyword, enhancing the overall user experience.

Revisit and Update Keywords Regularly

• Keyword Trends Change: SEO is an ongoing process. Regularly review your keywords and rankings, and adjust your strategy as necessary to account for changes in search trends, user behavior, and competition.
• Refine Based on Data: Use data from your analytics tools (Google Analytics, Google Search Console, etc.) to continuously refine your keyword strategy based on what works best.

Keyword research is a dynamic process that requires ongoing adjustments. Focus on understanding user intent, using the right tools, and targeting a combination of short-tail and long-tail keywords to capture organic traffic. Regularly revisit your keyword strategy and ensure your content aligns with what users are truly searching for. By following these best practices, you can create a more effective SEO strategy that drives qualified traffic to your site.