What a builder’s website needs to bring in the right enquiries

A builder’s website should bring in enquiries that already come with a budget, a block and a timeframe, not just more names in the inbox. That means saying where you build, what you build and roughly what it costs, asking a few qualifying questions on the form, and replying fast with a clear next step. Galleries and branding help, but on their own they don’t fix enquiry quality.

Volume is not the problem. Fit is.

Most builders don’t need more enquiries. They need fewer bad ones. Every enquiry that turns out to have no land, no finance or a budget half of what the build costs still takes a call, maybe a site visit, sometimes a full quote. That’s time you can’t spend on the people who are ready to sign.

Your website is the first filter. If it’s clear about where you build, what you build and what it roughly costs, the wrong people rule themselves out and the right people turn up better informed. You get a smaller pile of enquiries that are worth your time. It is one channel of several; this guide on where builders’ enquiries come from covers the rest.

Say where you build, what you build and the price range

Put these three things where nobody can miss them: on the homepage and on every page people land on from Google or ads.

• Where. Name the regions, councils or suburbs you build in. “Perth and surrounds” is vague. “Perth’s northern and eastern suburbs, out to Ellenbrook and Mundaring” is useful.
• What. Single storey, double storey, knockdown rebuilds, custom homes, extensions, sloping blocks, narrow lots. Say what you do well, and what you don’t take on.
• Price range. A starting price, a price per design or a typical range for your builds. Say plainly what’s included and what isn’t, such as site costs, driveways, landscaping or fencing.

Be careful with “from” prices. NSW Government guidance on building advertisements warns against stating a price that’s only part of the cost unless the full price is also clear. Wherever you build, set out the inclusions and the likely extras so a buyer can’t read your number the wrong way.

Project pages that answer buyer questions, not just photos

A gallery shows you can build a nice home. A project page shows a buyer what it would be like to build with you. For each project worth featuring, add a short write-up:

• the suburb or area, and the type of block (sloping, narrow, corner, bushfire zone)
• the type of build and size
• the client’s brief in a sentence or two
• a problem that came up and how you dealt with it
• how long it took, from contract to handover
• a price band, if the client is happy for you to share it

Buyers looking at a sloping block in your area want to see that you’ve done one before. A page that says so, with real photos, does more than twenty unlabelled images.

If you sell from a set of designs, treat each design page the same way. Show the floor plan, the sizes, the block width it suits, what’s included at the starting price and the popular upgrades. Buyers shortlisting designs at night will often decide who to call based on which builder made it easiest to work out the numbers.

The enquiry form: which questions to ask and which to leave out

The form is where you qualify, so it needs a few more questions than a plumber’s contact form. Keep them quick to answer: mostly multiple choice, with ranges rather than exact figures. Our guide on how to qualify new home enquiries has the full question set and a simple way to score the answers.

Worth asking

• Name, mobile and email
• Where the build is (suburb or council area)
• Do you own the land? (Yes / Under contract / Still looking)
• What are you building? (New home / Knockdown rebuild / Extension / Not sure yet)
• Budget range for the build, in bands that suit your work
• When are you hoping to start? (Within 6 months / 6 to 12 months / 12 months or more)
• Do you have plans? (Yes / Using one of your designs / Need design help)
• How did you hear about us?

Leave out

• Long open questions such as “tell us about your dream home” as a required field. Make it optional.
• Compulsory file uploads. Ask for plans later.
• Detailed finance questions. Whether they’re working with a lender can come up on the first call.
• Anything you won’t actually use to decide what happens next.

Add one line above the budget question explaining why you ask, for example: “This helps us suggest designs and inclusions that fit. Every build is quoted on its own.” Most serious buyers are happy to answer when they understand why.

Test the form on your own phone. If it takes more than a couple of minutes, or the dropdowns are fiddly, trim it. A form that’s quick to fill in on a phone will get more complete answers than a long one people give up on halfway.

What happens after someone hits submit

This is the part most builder websites get wrong, and it matters more than the design. A homeowner who has just enquired is often contacting more than one builder that day. The builder who replies first with something useful has a head start.

1. Instant acknowledgement. An email and text within a minute that thanks them, says who will be in touch and when, and sets expectations.
2. Something useful to read. A short guide to how you work: the steps from first call to contract, what affects the price, and what they’ll need ready.
3. A booking link. Let them pick a time for a first call rather than playing phone tag.
4. A real person, fast. A call within business hours the same day for enquiries that fit. Answers on the form tell you who to call first.
5. Into the CRM. Every enquiry should land in one place with its answers attached, so nothing sits in someone’s inbox while they’re on site.

Enquiries that don’t fit still deserve a polite reply. A short message saying what you do and don’t build, and pointing them somewhere useful, protects your reputation and costs you nothing.

Bringing in enquiries, replying fast and showing homeowners why they can trust you is what PreBuild is built to handle for builders and trades, but the steps above work whatever tools you use.

Reviews, licences and insurance details buyers look for

Building a home is one of the biggest purchases people make, and buyers check you out before they call. Make the checking easy.

• Licence details. Licensing rules are set by each state. NSW Government guidance says the licensee’s name and licence number must be shown in all advertising, and the QBCC says the same for ads in Queensland, including websites. Check your own state regulator’s rules and put your licence number in the footer of every page. This is general information, not legal advice.
• Home warranty insurance. The scheme’s name and the value of work it applies to vary by state. Explain in plain words how it works for your buyers.
• Reviews. Link to your Google reviews and show a few on the site, with the client’s first name and suburb if they agree. Never write or edit reviews yourself.
• Memberships and awards. Industry association memberships and awards are worth listing if they’re current.
• People. Photos and names of the builder and the team. People want to know who will be on their site.

Measuring enquiry quality, not just enquiry count

“We got 40 enquiries last month” doesn’t tell you much. Track what happens to them. A spreadsheet works, but a CRM makes it easier. For each month, count:

• enquiries received, by source (Google, Facebook, display home, referral)
• how many fit your brief on land, budget and timeframe
• how many booked a first meeting
• how many got a quote or a paid preliminary
• how many signed, and the reasons the others didn’t

After a few months you’ll see which sources bring buyers and which bring tyre-kickers. That tells you where to spend on marketing and which pages on the site need work.

What to do this week

1. Add your build areas, build types and a price guide to the homepage.
2. Put your licence number in the site footer.
3. Rewrite the enquiry form using the questions above.
4. Set up an instant reply that explains your next steps.
5. Pick one person to call new enquiries the same day.
6. Start tracking enquiries through to signed or lost, with a reason.

If you’d like help setting this up, we build websites for builders with the form, the reply and the CRM connected from day one. See our website builds for how we work.