You need to establish a presence where your prospects are if you want them to be able to find you online. Places like Houzz are perfect for contractors, remodelers, landscapers, interior designers, and other construction-related professionals.
Houzz is a social network that connects with Pinterest for interior design. If you’re a home remodeler or home improvement business, you can post about your work on Houzz and connect with clients who want to buy your creations. There are over 25 million monthly visitors to this site. Homeowners make up the majority of the members on this social network. It’s the biggest & best place online for remodeling no matter what your project needs are.
The catch phrase is ‘Homeowners have the power’, this means that homeowners account for more than 90% of the prospective members. They also have the choice to revamp or do some decorating on their homes.
If you want to close more business with prospects in the home service business field, you have to build your brand and connect with them. Here are some tips for getting started on Houzz, interacting on the social network effectively, and creating your brand on the site. These tips should help you increase sales.
Ok, let’s dive in.
Setting Up Your Account
Creating a Houzz profile requires registration, just as it does on other social networks. You can sign up with your email address or Facebook account. After you’ve registered, you’ll need to brand your page.
In addition to being a social network, Houzz is also an online business directory. List your contact details so potential clients can contact you quickly. Make sure you provide your website, telephone number and postal address. Be sure to enter your contact information along with location so that potential customers will be able to find you easily. As a result, your profile will rank higher on search engines when homeowners look for local contractors.
Optimizing Your Profile
Create a selling pitch under the profile description of your profile. Use your best content to help prospects learn more about your business. Outline the services you offer, where you do business, your credentials, and associations in your profile.
Set up a Houzz profile with content that is appealing to people who are searching for specific keywords so that it will rank highly in the search results. Include appropriate keywords in your profile. It’s alright to mention terms such as “ceramic tile flooring,” “mid-century boho design,” and so on, for the services you offer. Ensure that you include the keywords naturally in your profile copy.
Make sure you do these 3 things when writing your profile: be visible, be credible and be available.
Be visible: Carefully review popular search keywords before you describe your company in your profile. This may help with attracting more prospects.
Be credible: Provide details about your services and achievements.
Be Accessible: Make a call to action for prospects to take action.
Creating a Branded Houzz page
Houzz has over 250k service providers all wanting homeowners’ attention. If you want your profile to stand out from the crowd and attract potential clients, design a strong and eye-catching brand for your page.
Make sure to include unique images in your Houzz profile to help build your brand.
i) Add an image to your profile.
Upload one of your personal photographs to your account. It should be clear and professional looking. Ideally, an image should show your face and up to the shoulders.
Sellers should avoid putting their company logo in their profile picture to reduce any worry among buyers. People usually only trust the seller if they have a clear face in the picture, so it is best to leave company logos out of your photo. Customers like to see who’s behind a profile on Houzz. If you use your logo or a different picture, prospects may be less likely to connect with you.
ii) Create a Portfolio
Houzz’s Ideabooks and Projects allow you to upload your portfolio photos.
Show off your design skills with Ideabooks and Projects. Include photos of your concepts or previous projects. Sort your projects into separate albums. Your Ideabooks photos can be bookmarked and saved by visitors to your profile.
Bookmarked photos in Ideabooks link to your profile. Your Ideabooks will make you more accessible to prospects on similar projects.
Ensure you have high-resolution photos in your profile. If you do, you are more likely to attract leads. For your Ideabooks, use large, clear photos. A photo can be edited after uploading and its title and description can be updated.
Hint: Your photos should be at least 1000 pixels wide.
Add Tags to Photos
You can add tags to your photos to add additional details about the product. It is common to include tags highlighting the colors, sizes, and prices of products. FAQ tags may also be constructed.
Houzz Lead Generation
Choosing the right target customers and making them aware of your services are essential to generating qualified leads on Houzz. Setting yourself up for success with the right strategy is important. Here’s how to do it:
1. Publicize Your Ideabooks
Your Houzz Ideabooks can help you generate leads and show your expertise. Picture privacy can be controlled in Ideabooks so that only select photographs appear publicly. Publicizing a photo for a general audience is appropriate if it is not intended for a particular client. Your public images can be bookmarked by potential clients so they know where to find you when they need a designer.
Using shared Ideabooks also facilitates collaboration. By sharing your Ideabooks, you can provide others with information about your services. People who appreciate your work can follow you.
Additionally, you can share Ideabooks with predetermined prospects. Specify their e-mail addresses, make changes to the permission settings, and click share.
2. Make it About Your Potential Customers
Increase brand awareness by informing and entertaining prospects. The following examples provide ways to do so:
a) Research is important as part of the process. Use pictures relevant to the interests of your prospects in order to get their opinions. Try comparing two product images and seeing which one is preferred by your audience.
b) Inspire your clients. You should create Ideabooks that explain different design options to your prospects. In a particular Ideabook, you can showcase different kinds of kitchens during a certain month.
c) Share hints and tips. As a product expert, why not educate your prospects on your product? When you have a lot to share with your customers, you can create specific Ideabooks to help them.
d) Organize a giveaway. Not many service providers take advantage of Houzz contests. An Ideabook containing several designs can be used to create a contest. Followers should be able to vote on their favorite design. You can offer them a discount on your next project in return.
e) Build Alliances. Join forces with a local business to showcase your brands.
3. Improve the Visibility of your Houzz Profile
Besides ranking well in searches for related key terms on Houzz, make sure they find your profile when they conduct a local search. This will generate more visitors and more leads.
There are two ways to increase visibility:
a) External links to your Houzz profile
Houzz badges can be displayed on external websites to promote your business. Put the badge on your blog, your email signature, or website, for instance. By doing this, you will make it easier for other potential customers who aren’t on Houzz to find you on social media. Prospects are directed to your portfolio from the badge, where they can save your work to their Ideabooks.
b) Get more Testimonials
Your profile visibility on Houzz will also be boosted by positive testimonials. Clients can also add reviews of your service. Make sure your clients leave reviews after finishing their projects. The higher your profile’s average is, the higher your ranking.
Hint: Maintain a good working relationship with your client and communicate effectively. The client will also be more likely to write a good review if you do this.
Make Your Houzz Brand Visible
There are so many service providers on Houzz that you need a strong brand to stand out. Here are some tips to help you stand out:
a) Upload plenty of images
Upload images on your Ideabook to create an idea of what you are selling. You can choose different angles or backgrounds for you shots. For example, show the product in natural surroundings to give the viewer a sense of how it would look in real life.
b) Create tags for your images
Use tags to maximize the reach of the photos you upload to your Ideabooks. Encourage your followers who are professional designers and contractors to tag their photos with your products. This will increase your brand’s exposure.
Tag every image three to five times. Ideally, the tags should include a detailed product description, a price, and other pertinent information.
c) Title your images
You can organize your uploaded photos into projects with meaning. This will allow you to easily find your photos and edit them. You can also group your photos based on key features, such as line, type or color.
The products on your profile will appear by title in alphabetical order. Give each product a clear description.
d) Describe your products clearly.
Display your products with Ideabooks. Besides the photos that you have uploaded to Houzz, you can also pull any other photos from the platform. Have fun with it! Having an interesting Ideabook increases your chances of being followed and generating more leads.
Additionally, you can break down your Ideabooks into many different categories, from setting, colors, to gifts.
e) Engage with your prospects
Get active with the community on Houzz. Service providers and homeowners can communicate on the social network. Start by discussing your products on the network. Respond to any questions left by your prospects.
Your discussions will stay on your profile. Regularly check your profile to see what people are asking about.
Hint: Provide answers quickly. This will increase brand awareness and assist in lead generation.
Tips for Creating an Ideabook
Ideabooks are crucial for generating leads on Houzz. However, putting some best practices into action on social networks can be a great opportunity for you to generate leads and make your business more successful. Consider these recommendations for using social networks effectively:
A) Include visually appealing images
Houzz prospects are attracted to home designs. Try to avoid boring images. When you upload dull photos, you could lose followers and lose sales.
Photos should be high-resolution and colorful. Your brand is more likely to be exposed to other users when they share them.
b) Maintain your Ideabooks.
Keep your followers engaged by uploading new photos regularly. Posting photos is simple, but capturing images worth posting is more difficult.
Follow similar designers for inspiration. Check their Ideabooks for fresh ideas. You can build a larger following by sharing and bookmarking other designers’ images.
d) Include links to your images
Include a link to your website description when you upload photos of projects you describe. The same is true if you’re uploading images from a different source, so make sure you link to its URL. Users may want to read the original content if they wish to learn more about the image. You will come to be trusted as a reliable source of information if you make their work easier.
Professionals in the building and design industry can promote themselves using Houzz. With the help of this article, you will be able to develop leads from your Houzz account.
