Custom homes are expensive, and potential customers want to know that they’re going to get their money’s worth. For this reason, a key aspect of successful home builder websites is photo galleries.
Photo galleries show your customers that you’re capable of quality work, and building one is easier than you might think. This post will show you how to create a Home Builder Photo Gallery.
Step 1: Taking the Pictures
Homes are a visual product, so you need pictures for your website—professionally done pictures. Don’t just take photos with your iPhone. These pictures will be an important part of sales. You need high definition photos taken by someone who knows what they’re doing.
Try to use decorations and furniture for interior shots, not just bare walls. This will make the pictures seem homier. Also, make sure everything is well-lit. Great photos are an important part of marketing.
Designblendz recommends using drones for photography: “Drones are an amazing addition to marketing. Aerial photography used to be expensive and difficult to accomplish in urban locations. But today, you can hire a drone with a professional operator who’ll produce images from on top and around all sides of your project. This is a remarkable way to display what’s for sale. It helps customers appreciate not only the building but also the entire surrounding area.”
Great photos may take time and money, but they’re worth the investment. When customers see them, they’ll know you’re a professional capable of building great homes and that they can trust you.
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Your photos need to be better than good. They should be great.
Step 2: Building the Gallery
Building a gallery on your home builder website is very easy with WordPress. First, you have to create a page (or post) where your gallery will be.
To create a page, sign in to your account. Then, on your dashboard, you’ll see a button that says “Pages.” Click it, then click “Add New.” You’ll see a page come up that looks like this.
Next, click “Add Media.” A box will come up, and you will first click “Create Gallery” on the left. Then, if you already have the pictures for the gallery on your website, simply select them, but if they are not yet on your websites, then click “Upload Files,” then “Select Files.”
This will open a box where you can choose which pictures from your computer that you want to add to the gallery. Select the images you want then click open (click and drag or use Ctrl/Command-Click to select multiple). The pictures will appear (already selected) in your media library. If you need to select more photos from your library just click them.
When you’re done, click “Create a new gallery.” This will take you to a page called “Edit Gallery” where you can drag and drop to change the order. (Make sure you lead with your best picture.) You’ll also be able to choose the size of the pictures and the number of columns that will appear on the page.
When you’re finished, click “Insert gallery” to add it to the page. You’ll still be able to edit the gallery even after you insert it by clicking the pencil icon above it.
When you’re done, you can publish the page. (Make sure to add a title first).
There are also different plugins you can use to make galleries, some of which have more features and options, but this is an easy way.
Images and SEO
Not only can pictures make your website look more professional, but they can also be a great opportunity for SEO.
SEO stands for search engine optimization. Essentially, it means getting your website to appear higher on Google searches. This should lead to more traffic and sales.
An important part of SEO is keywords. If you put keywords that people are searching for on your website, it will increase the chances of them finding you (this doesn’t mean you should stuff your website with as many keywords as you can cram in, however, as that doesn’t work).
Picture names can be a great way to include keywords. Each picture file will have a name, and while visitors to your site will rarely see these names, Google’s algorithm pays attention to them.
Be strategic about what you name your pictures. For instance, you could name them “What the picture is of_Keyword_Your Company Name_Your Location.” An example would be “Kitchen_Custom Home Builder_Fredrick’s Custom Homes_Hagerstown MD.”
Additionally, giving your photos actual names increases the odds they’ll show up on Google Images where people might find them and be taken to your site.
A photo gallery should be a critical part of your home builder website marketing strategy. It can attract customers, make your website seem more professional, and improve your SEO. Power Marketing can help you with all areas of internet marketing including:
- Website design
- Branding
- Social Media
- Content
- SEO/PPC
- And more
Talk to us if you are looking for home builder marketing services.