At BDX we work with hundreds of builders to help them maximize the performance of their websites. When we analyzed the analytics from these clients we found some common trends including four traffic sources that consistently outperformed the others in terms of conversion.
First, let’s set the stage by defining conversion.
CONVERSION RATE = (Direct Leads + Sales Calls) * 100
Web Sessions
Example: An email campaign produces a total of 100 leads (80 direct leads and 20 sales calls). The total number of sessions on your landing page is 5,000. Your conversion rate is (100/5,000) * 100 = 2%.
Pro tip: When measuring conversion, be sure to filter out IP addresses of people who are not “real” shoppers, i.e. bots, internal, monitoring, and customer service traffic.
Traffic source #1 – Organic Search
Organic search is defined as traffic that finds you through a search engine like Google or Bing and is NOT the result of paid activity, i.e. advertising, PPC, etc.
Organic search traffic is highly qualified and more importantly, high-converting traffic. Why? Because your very own website content (and a solid SEO strategy and some backend coding) is driving the results. This means that when someone lands on your website from a Google search, there is a very high probability that the content on your page matches their search results and is relevant. This leads to happy converting visitors!
The challenge of organic search is the number of changes that Google makes to their search algorithm– we’re talking 500 a year! While you can attempt to stay on top of them, it's sometimes best to work with a team of experts that spend 100% of their time focused on maximizing results.
BDX has many marketing programs to help builders improve their organic search traffic and conversion including:
- SEO Services
- Geospatial maps to improve local SEO
- Videos and other content which are proven to be good for SEO
- Listings on NewHomeSource.com – positioned highest on local search results pages in most market
- TrustBuilder – user generated content like ratings and reviews is a great SEO indicator
Traffic Source #2 – Targeted Display Advertising
Traffic driven by display advertising finds your website by clicking on an ad that ran on another website. Banner ads on blogs and image ads on news sites are some common generators of display traffic.
For builders, BDX has uncovered that the key to increasing conversion rate is where display ads are placed. In our experience, targeted real estate display ads on sites that cater to home shoppers like Newhomesource.com convert at a rate of 5X that of standard display advertising.
BDX’s builder-specific display advertising marketing programs include:
- BDX Premium Advertising on NewHomeSource.com
- BDX Advertising Network of 3rd party sites
Traffic Source #3 – Referral Traffic From Third Parties
Referral traffic is any traffic to your site that followed a link from another website (Google and other search engines NOT included). For example, if someone clicked on a hyperlink in an article they were reading that would count as referral traffic.
There are many ways to increase referral traffic including:
- List your homes on leading new home sites
- Guest blog on industry and other relative websites
- Get active on social media networks
- Leverage partner networks to get listed on their website
Pro tip: When it comes to referral traffic, it’s about the quality of the traffic, not just quantity.
There are hundreds if not thousands of companies offering partner networks to help increase your traffic. However, if it’s not relevant to your industry, it will only end up hurting rather than helping your conversion rates.
BDX has developed BDX Listings, a network of 300+ sites including NewHomeSource.com that provide highly qualified referral traffic for builders.
Traffic Source #4 – Email
Email traffic is simply traffic derived from people clicking on links in your email campaigns.
You likely have an internal database or interest list which can be highly effective. But you should also consider high quality email sends from third parties with proprietary lists to reach new groups of active agents and shoppers. While email conversion is dependent on many factors, the quality of the people you are sending to is a key to success – so choosing a third party wisely is key. If done properly, email traffic can be some of your most valuable. The benchmarks back this up with email traffic generating some of the highest conversions and lowest bounce rates.
BDX has developed a couple of marketing programs that help drive quality email conversions including:
- Agent Connections eFlyers
- Consumer eFlyers to NHS audience
Interested in learning more about the many BDX marketing programs that help builders convert home shoppers into homebuyers? Contact your BDX sales consultant or email us at the info@thebdx.com.
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