Getting Noticed! How To Draw Attention To A New Website

Having a web site is one thing. Getting people to visit it is quite another - especially for home builders who weren't part of the initial "web sites-are-news" wave that first hit approximately five years ago.

Burnside Homes was not in that wave. Consequently, when we recently launched our first corporate web site, we knew we were going to have to do something very unique and compelling to attract attention.

To do that, we took a page from successful auction sites like E-Bay and conducted our own on-line auction.

First launched April 10th at 5 p.m., the web site/auction featured everything up to and including a model townhome valued at $298,000. Specifically, the other items included (community/estimated value in parenthesis):

• Ballerina Children's Room (Lakemoor Farms, $1,268)

   

• Frog Children's Room (Lakemoor Farms, $1,128)

   

• Home Office (Lakemoor Farms, $469)

   

• Pool Table (Villas of Red Oak, $949)

   

• Round of Golf (Oak Hills Country Club, $89)

   

• Utility Upgrade Package ($1,423, available to contracted buyers only)

   

• Master Bedroom Suite (Waterfall Glen, $2,359)

To announce the auction, we had our PR firm -- Elmhurst-based Walsh Communications, L.L.C. -- issue both a media alert and press release detailing the particulars. Bidders then had 45 days to log on, review the items in both picture and word formats and then place their bids before the auction closed at 5 p.m. on May 26th.

Of course, we had developed specific rules governing payment and delivery of the purchased items. Bidders on the townhome, for example, had to be able to secure a mortgage or pay cash for the home within 45 days. The other items had to be paid for with a certified check and transported by the buyer.

The actual auction was both conceived and conducted by our advertising agency, Demi & Cooper, based in Elgin, Illinois. I make that point by way of noting that the whole process was rather straightforward. Because it was designed by the agency's webmaster rather than a regular auction house, there was no "10%" added fee for either successful bidders or Burnside to pay as would be the case with most auction houses.

Once the auction opened, its success became immediately apparent. Within just the first two weeks alone, the site netted hits from 1,200 different machines. That exceeded even our expectations which we thought we had set very, very high.

That being said, a week's worth of traffic at our current communities typically averages around 200 with occasional spikes and dips factored in. By comparison, the on-line traffic averaged 600 per week which, at minimum, was at least 50% (and possibly as high as 250% assuming no overlap between real life and on-line visitors) better than foot traffic alone.

When the auction ended on May 26th, all items, even the townhome, had been sold. Over the 45 days, tracking figures indicate there was in excess of 10,000 hits from more than 2,000 different machines. All told, more than 250 individual bids were placed on the eight featured items.

Perhaps best of all, we realized bids exceeding $267,000 (or 87% of estimated values) plus "free" publicity including a TV spot.

And the benefits are still accruing. We've sold three homes as a direct result of our Internet activity and continue to get a dozen or so E-mails a day asking for more information.

From our vantage point, it all adds up to the unqualified success we had hoped for - one we plan on replicating as soon as possible. Given the increased visibility and financial rewards alone, we'd be foolish not to.

For more information, contact:
George Arquilla, III
President
Burnside Homes
Downers Grove, IL
Phone 630-515-9999 ext. 117
www.BurnsideHomes.com

Also See:

Arquilla Discussion