How Websites for Home Builders Boost Sales With Photography

1) Hire a Professional Architectural Photographer

As a home builder, you’ve gained a considerable amount of expertise in your field. The same goes for professional photographers .

When getting the images for your website photo gallery, look at working with an established architectural or interior photographer who is experienced in taking shots of homes.

The key here is hiring an architectural or interior photographer, not a real estate photographer . It will mean the difference between forgettable images and those that get remembered.

Basically, real estate photography is what you see on sites like Zillow, and architectural photography is what you see in Better Homes and Gardens magazine. Which ones make you feel like you want to move in to the house?

2) Organize Your Images

Be sure to have a carefully curated selection of images in your online photo gallery that represent the different models and styles of homes you build. Remember not to overwhelm your homebuyers with too many pictures.

Your photo galleries should be organized so it’s easy for your homebuyers to find images of the homes that appeal to them.

Here are two ways to arrange your photo galleries that will help your sales team promote your homes more effectively:

1. Organized by model or floor plan: For builders that sell models, each one should have its own website page with a description of the home and a floor plan. This is a great spot to add a photo gallery showcasing the home with images that highlight curb appeal, interior rooms, and unique design details. You can also include images of available upgrades.
2. Organized by project: For luxury homes, group your photos by project. Organizing your photos in this way will provide discerning homebuyers with a better understanding of the planning, design, and construction detail that is involved in building a one-of-a-kind home.

If you want to take it to the next level, you can provide filtering on your portfolio. This way, homebuyers can select specific kinds of images to look at—like exteriors, interiors, kitchens, bathrooms, and whatever else they are interested in.

3) Make Your Photo Gallery Easy to Navigate on Mobile

Imagine a prospective homebuyer scrolling through your portfolio and finding a home they fall in love with. When they see their friends and family, they will pull up your website on their phones and show them the pictures as well.

When creating your gallery, focus on how it will look on mobile phones first, then how it will work on desktops. Ensuring your portfolio is easy to use on mobile will help your homebuyers make the important decision of choosing you as their builder.

Here are four points to keep in mind:

1. Link size: When navigating a website on your phone, it’s important to have big links that the homebuyer can see and click. Small links can be difficult to click on with a finger.
2. Swipe feature: Keep user experience in mind and make your gallery swipeable. It’s far more intuitive on a phone to swipe through pictures than to click on each one.
3. Thumbnails: Using thumbnail photos that click open to larger images is effective. That way homebuyers just need to click the ones they like without being forced to sit through a slideshow.
4. Distractions: Make your portfolio easy to navigate by removing any peripheral information. Use a solid color transparency so homebuyers can still see where they are at on your site without being distracted by everything else on the page.

4) Optimize for SEO by Including Context and Stories

While pictures are worth a thousand words, you still need to add in some text. This not only helps your homebuyers gain more context, it helps your search engine ranking as well.

Include a short description for each image so your home buyers know what they are looking at. Tell them about the model name, floor plan style, and any unique features or design elements.

For homebuyers, this is important information that helps them visualize living in one of your homes more clearly. For search engines, your captions provide much-needed details that help your website get found on the internet .

Getting Started on Your Portfolio

If you’re ready to build a portfolio that connects with your homebuyers and offers your sales people an effective sales tool, then get started by finding the right photographer for your business.

Download The Complete Guide to Photography by Houzz. It will tell you pretty much everything you need to know about getting professional pictures of your homes.