Image Credit: www.allspammedup.com
Wikipedia defines a blog as a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video.
Often, blogs are used by companies and organizations to publish information about new products, awards, new hires, expansion – general company information. These blog entries are a great way to inform the public about what’s going on within an organization, but they do little to get what matters most, more web traffic. Blogs should be looked at as a publishing platform to distribute fresh content, about anything in an industry, all the time. They’re much more than a company diary.
There aren’t too many blogs maintained by home builders, especially when you compare blogs to twitter accounts. In my opinion, every home builder should have an active blog; it should be as important as any other marketing effort. If done correctly, I guarantee a builder can use a blog to dominate their market online and leave their twitter happy competitors in the dust. I still wonder daily why builders skip blogging in lieu of tweeting and getting fans on facebook. Please, don’t get me wrong, twitter and facebook are extremely powerful tools, but if home builder’s have a choice between blogging and tweeting, I can’t imagine a situation in which tweeting would, or should, win.
I’ll offer more details into why builders should slow their twitter roll and start blogging later on, for now, here’s a list of blogs maintained by new home builders across the country. There are a lot more builders with blogs than I originally thought.
- http://blog.brookfieldsd.com/ – Brookfield Homes – California
- http://theopendoorblog.com/ – Lennar Homes – National
- http://raleighnewhomesblog.com/ – Standard Pacific Homes – North Carolina
- http://homecreationsblog.wordpress.com/ – The Home Creations – Oklahoma
- http://atlantaluxuryhomes.wordpress.com – Peachtree Residential Properties – Georgia
- http://charlottenewhomesblog.com/ – Standard Pacific Homes – North Carolina
- http://www.ivoryliving.com/ – Ivory Homes – Utah
- http://jordaniversonsignaturehomes.blogspot.com/ – Jordan Iverson Signature Homes – Oregon
- http://www.capstone-homes.com/capstone-homes_blog/ – Capstone Homes – Delaware
- http://www.bowenfamilyhomesblog.com/ – Bowen Family Homes – GA, FL, TX
- http://sharpresidentialblog.com/ – Sharp Residential – Georgia
- http://www.heronbayblog.com/” – Heron Bay – Georgia
- http://lennarcares.com/ – Lennar – National
- http://bowenfamilyhomes.wordpress.com/ – Bowen Family Homes – GA, FL, TX
- http://www.pultechicagoland.com/blog/ – Pulte Homes – Chicago, IL
- http://www.lennarcommunities.com/ – Lennar – National
- http://www.americanwesthomesblog.com/ – American West Homes – Nevada
- http://www.artisanlifestylehomes.com/blog – Artisan Lifestyle Homes – Texas
- http://www.schiavihomes.com/blog/ – Schiavi Home Builders – Maine
- http://woodridgecustombuilders.com/blog/ – Woodridge Custom Builders – Arizona
- http://www.brockbuiltblog.com/ – Brock Built – Georgia
- http://tonymarnella.wordpress.com/ – Marnella Homes – Oregon
- http://paramountconstruction.net/blog/ – Paramount Construction – Maryland
- http://blog.summerhillhomes.com/ – SummerHill Homes – California
- http://www.circle75news.com/ – Circle 75 – Georgia
- http://www.sterlingcustomhomesblog.com/ – Sterling Custom Homes – Texas
- http://www.eastwoodhomesblog.com/go/ – Eastwood Homes – SC, NC
- http://www.jeffclickhomes.com/blog – Jeff Click Homes – Oklahoma
- http://www.signaturecustomhomes.com/blog/ – Signature Building Systems – Pennsylvania
- http://sagenthomes.wordpress.com/ – Sagent Homes – Georgia
- http://woodlandhomes.wordpress.com/ – Woodland Homes – Alabama
- http://fredwilliamshomebuilder.blogspot.com/ – Fred Williams Homebuilder – Georgia
- http://highlandhomesflorida.wordpress.com/ - Highland Homes – Florida
- http://mjpenncompanies.wordpress.com/ – Penn Homes – Louisiana
- http://blog.newhousebuilder.com/ – Jenkins Custom Homes – Texas
- http://www.100khouse.com/ – Post Green Homes – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- http://www.theartofopportunity.com/ – Kairos Development – Georgia
- http://www.hauglandandsons.blogspot.com/ – Haugland and Sons – New Jersey
- http://www.stearnscustomhomes.com/blog.php – Stearns Custom Homes – New Mexico
- http://echeloncustomhomes.com/blog/ – Echelon Custom Homes – Delaware
- http://blog.centerlinehomes.com/ – Centerline Homes – Florida
- http://blogs.montehewetthomes.com/ – Monte Hewett Homes – Georgia
- http://blog.markjohnsoncustomhomes.com/ – Mark Johnson Custom Homes – North Carolina
Image Credit: www.munsterbusiness.ie
The rest of these blogs aren’t very active, if at all, but they still have content and are examples of what some home builders have done. The date next to each blog’s URL is the month and year of their last post.
- http://www.simmonsontulsa.com/ – Simmons Homes – Oklahoma
- http://www.meridian.com/meridian_blog/ – Meridian Homes – GA, SC – 8-09
- http://www.schulzhomes.com/blog.aspx – Schulz Homes – Virginia – 9-09
- http://www.finelinehomes.com/blog/ – Fine Line Homes – NY, PA – 9-09
- http://www.buffingtonsignaturehomes.com/blog/ – Buffington Signature Homes – Texas – 9-09
- http://blog.oeveringhomes.com/ – Oevering Homes – Wisconsin – 9-09
- http://blog.johncannonhomes.com/ – John Cannon Homes – Florida – 9-09
- http://blog.mccalebhomes.com/ – McCaleb Homes – Oklahoma – 8/09
- http://www.nilsonhomes.com/blog/ – Nilson Homes – UT, WY – 8/09
- http://blog.jrmcdowellhomes.com/ – JR McDowell Homes – Georgia – 7-09
- http://www.goldmedallionhomes.com/blog/ – Gold Medallion Homes – Utah – 7-09
- http://postgreen.com/blog/ – Post Green Homes – Pennsylvania – 7-09
- http://daybreaktoday.blogspot.com/ – Ivory Homes – Utah – 6-09
- http://viphomes.wordpress.com/ – VIP Homes – Arizona – 6/09
- http://leemichaelhomes.com/blog/ – Lee Michael Homes – New Mexico – 6-09
- http://blog.wonderlandhomes.com/ – Wonderland Homes – Colorado – 4-09
- http://chaffeyhomesaz.wordpress.com/ – Chaffey Homes – Arizona – 3-09
- http://blog.cbhhomes.com/ – CBH Homes – Idaho – 2/09
- http://www.pacificcedarhomes.com/blog/ – Pacific Cedar Homes – Washington – 1/09
- http://www.mollenhour.com/blog/ – Mollenhour Homes – Tennessee – 1-09
- http://www.dumontbrothers.com/home-builder-blog/ – DuMont Brothers – South Carolina -1/09
- http://markelhomes.com/news/ – Markel Homes – Colorado – 10-08
- http://vanacorehomes.com/blog/ – Vanacore Homes – Florida – 7-08
There are a lot more home builder’s blogging than I originally thought. That said, it’s a lot less than you’d expect from an industry that knows more than 80% of all home buyers research homes online.
*Tip – If you plan on blogging for awhile, don’t host your blog on another domain i.e. wordpress or blogger. You’ll get better long-term results if your blog is on your domain
Are you a builder with a blog, or do you know of any home builder blogs that aren’t included? Please let us know in the comments below.
Here are some links to popular blogging platforms
Wordpress
Blogger
Joomla
Movable Type
TypePad
See Also:
Successful Blogging Must Haves – Jim Adams CEO Blog – NHD
Choosing a Blog Platform – Darren Rowse – www.problogger.com
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Very nice summary of some of the builder blogs out there. Totally agree that having a blog is becoming more and more important. However, I would also add that using Twitter and Facebook to drive traffic to your blog is also highly important.
Thanks for sharing.
Kay L. Howard
Director of Communications
Lennar Corporation
@Kay – thanks for stopping by. I agree with you 100% – Twitter & Facebook are great ways to drive traffic.
Hey Jayson,
Great list of homebuilder blogs. I am currently one of the authors/bloggers for a brand new blog coming online from Premier Northwest Homebuilder Pacific Lifestyle Homes of Vancouver Washington and would love an inclusion on the next go around when you publish this list again.
It’s apparent that local and regional home builders are much like other businesses in other niches, in that we are behind in getting to the task of blogging, but I’m sure more and more will be coming on board.
I agree with Kay Howard from Lennar, that Twitter and Facebook drives traffic well, and also YouTube and LinkedIn is another great source of blog traffic.
Just followed you on Twitter. Follow Pacific Lifestyle Homes on Twitter @paclifehomes.
Thanks again for such a great list and post!
Ed Bisquera
Social Media Consultant/Blogger for Pacific Lifestyle Homes
Vancouver, WA
Ed Bisquera´s last blog ..Reason #3 To Attend REBarcamp Seattle
Kay,
I would love to know how your blogging and social media involvement has affected your business. I know it’s mostly proprietary information, but generally speaking, do you find your blog, TheOpenDoorBlog and the YouTube channels, Twitter and Facebook, helps Lennar in online branding and drives traffic to your builder sites? And bottom line, does the last year of social media involvement, show a ROI and caused more new home sales?
Many home builders are hesitant to venture into a new marketing paradigm online, but from what I’ve seen on your blog and your Facebook fan pages, it seems as though your organization has taken a very serious and proactive approach to using all the Social Media tools to bring more awareness to Lennar and new home building. That just means more awareness for all home builders across America. And for that, I say THANK YOU!
And, I also say “AWESOME!”
Best of luck,
Ed Bisquera
Ed Bisquera´s last blog ..Reason #3 To Attend REBarcamp Seattle
Yes – we are a homebuilder with a blog! Sorry you missed us – http://atlantaluxuryhomes.wordpress.com. Enjoyed the article though!
If you want traffic, unique relevant content updated frequently is the way to go. Blogging is the best medium to accomplish this.
They seem to suffer from the same problem as a lot of blogs, lack of fresh content. Considering their business, a blog is a perfect fit. Potential customers can subscribe and find out instantly about all of the deals and new communities coming out. They are even better for Realtors. Makes it easy to keep up with new communities and inventory.
Chas@Las Vegas Real Estate´s last blog ..Las Vegas Property Auctions – Deal or No Deal?
@Ed – thanks for stopping by and let me know when you get your blog up and running so I can get it on the list. Thanks for asking Lennar if what they’ve done is paying off. I’ve been wondering the same thing for a long time. They’ve certainly led the way among national home builders and are a great example of “how to do get it done”.
@Kathleen – I’m sorry I missed you too – I’ve updated our list to include your blog. Thanks for stopping by and letting us know.
@solarglobalgreen – thanks for commenting – fresh, unique content is definitely the way to get better results from your blog.
@Charles – A lot of these blogs need more attention, but there are certainly some gems on the list. I agree, blogs are great tools for both builders and agents – thanks for stopping by
Thanks Jayson!
How often are the rankings refreshed? thanks! ginny
Also, thank you for the mention!! @Ginny
Thank you for the great list. I will definitely be visiting some of these blogs since they are local to me.
@Ginny – we’ll update the blog list as often as needed to include new blogs. The blogs aren’t in any particular order, the ones towards the top were just discovered first or are blogs that we visit frequently. thanks for stopping by
Wonderful information and very useful list! Thanks so much!
You have left off a couple of builder blogs that I know of:
http://www.brockbuiltblog.com – Atlanta, GA
http://www.sterlingcustomhomesblog.com – Austin, TX
That is quite a comprehensive list.
@Laura – thanks for the links! The list has been updated
@Sam – It’s getting there
Great list of builder blogs! I’m a builder in Oregon and maintain a blog and have a presence on Twitter & Facebook as well to cross promote and provide interaction with people.
http://jordaniversonsignaturehomes.blogspot.com/
jordan
jordan iverson´s last blog ..FLOR meets Putt Putt.
Blogs are a great way to keep the content fresh and build credibility.
Jordan – I added your blog. Thanks for stopping by and don’t forget to come back
An active blog is the most important, updating it every day with new information’s and things – a good list, many new and intrested blogs.
I agree that fresh content is important to keep your blog afloat. Its easy to do this by posting promos, information about events etc… But after your promo or the event has passed, your post becomes irrelevant.
I believe the challenge is to create high quality posts that would stay relevant for a long time or ‘Evergreen content’. You have to roll up your sleeve to create one, but its well worth it considering that your post has a higher chance to gain organic back links.
An example of an evergreen content is this post. Its a very comprehensive list of home builder blogs and I’m sure home construction and home improvement enthusiasts would surely find this useful.
@Eddie Williams – you’re spot on. Promos and events become stale and the best content can remain good as time goes on – it definitely takes longer to create a resource that lasts.
As much as marketers need to have their own blog, I agree that builders should also have theirs too! and it needs not just a fresh content but a quality content also.
Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Myspace and LinkedIn are the most popular social media sites ideal for networking and marketing and you can also communicate with friends in real-time as well.
Blogs can be an interesting tool to use, but they can be very labour intensive as well. Really, it’s best to have a clear idea of both the potential benefits and the potential costs, and be realistic about both, otherwise all you end up doing is creating a new time sink with little return.
@Selling my home – agreed, good point
Hi Jayson – Our blog was on the list which I greatly appreciated (http://atlantaluxuryhomes.wordpress.com) but now it’s gone. Was it something I said?
@Kathleen – Definitely something you said
Actually, I had to pull up an old draft after some reformatting issues and it looks like your blog wasn’t on that old draft. I apologize for the mishap and I put your blog backup – it’s #5. I really appreciate you letting us know as it would be half the resource without your blog.
please watch what you say from now on.
Ha ha Jayson – THANKS!
I like the resources at BuildingGreenTV.com. They represent a bunch of different view points.