Using Blackwood Group's inspiration website, Halstead created a highly image driven website. The new look placed each project into a separate case study - into what developed to be a true, high-end elegant digital portfolio. The projects are all accessible via the homepage - but city as well as by category. Awards and about the company are accessible via the menu.

Have you ever met anyone who was amazing at everything? Someone who could paint like a pro, prepare architectural drawings, cut pavers, install pavers, run a training workshop, design a brochure, photograph the best angles of a project, write hundreds of words on a specific topic, run social media campaigns, manage a calendar, run interviews, prepare taxes...? I think you're getting the point here. You can't be great everything. It's impossible. But yet you might be doing (almost) everything. What would happen if you delegated what you suck at and did more of what you're amazing at? How would that impact your design/build business?

Mrs. Jones saw a Unilock .. or a Techo .. or some kind of natural stone outdoor living pic in a magazine or catalogue. You (Mr. Landscape Designer, Landscaper, or Landscape Architect - whatever it is you call yourself) promised her she was getting that. It's the same patio - same materials. Same paver patterns. Pretty much the same size. You might even have the similar planting and fence installed. Yet, she's not quite thrilled. Something is missing. Maybe she's telling you that "it's close - you did a good job," or maybe she's hiding it and you're left wondering "is she happy?" Why did this happen? Why isn't she in love with this new outdoor space? After several weeks (or months) of design and landscape construction - what's the missing piece? DESIGN! Interior design is the missing piece to every beautiful home design and remodel - why would you leave it out for the exteriors?

Since service review websites like Yelp and Amazon have developed a large consumer base by offering their basic services for free, Angie’s List has had to up the ante by promising in March that it would join its competitors in the realm of free basic reviews. On July 1, 2016 Angie’s List came through on that promise. While this development gives clear advantages to homeowners, will business owners reap the same benefits? Here is what you need to know. 

While websites such as Thumbtack.com and homeadvisor.com have been known to work for connecting consumers and services, the high volume of inquiries versus low close rate has many of our clients wondering if there is a better option. With its beta release in the summer of 2015, Google Home Services hopes to provide a streamlined platform for business/consumer interfacing. We're here to give you the scoop on this platform, still in the early stages of its development.

Home services lead referral websites such as Angie's List, Home Advisor, Yelp, and now, Amazon Home Services, have become the unfortunate norm in contractor "marketing" today.  Turn on the service and the inexpensive leads come flooding in right to your iPhone. Trust me, I understand. I remember receiving leads from HomeAdvisor— called ServiceMagic.com back then—while I was in a sales/project management role. And once the service was turned on, my calendar would almost instantly book up with late evening appointments with homeowners that were less than ready to buy. That is if the meeting even took place. 

Let's be honest. The world has changed a lot from the days when relying solely on word of mouth referrals was a safe strategy for home remodelers, landscaping companies, and other home improvement contractors. That’s not to say that referrals aren't still the most qualified leads to get. But today, when a customer gets a referral from a coworker, they don't simply pick up the phone and schedule a time for you to come out and provide an estimate. No, no. They thank Susie for the recommendation and then they go online to learn more—a lot more. 

Many contractors rely on pay-per-lead services to deliver the construction leads they need. but are services like thumbtack the best option? here we take a look at the best ways to drive home improvement leads today.

Spoiler alert: Squarespace wins, hands down. There is a ton of misinformation out there about website design building sites - including platforms like Wordpress. So to help get our home improvement contractors up to speed on what is best for them in terms of design, responsiveness, style options, seo friendliness, and more, we are breaking down the difference between Wordpress and Squarespace.

If you're feeling the heat of new competitors (or suddenly more popular older ones), then it may be time for you to take your strategy online. Maintaining a healthy revenue today in a home improvement business often means dominating the digital world. So how exactly do you do this? Here is your five step plan to making sure you get the attention you need from the customers you want in your local area.

Thinking back to decades ago, when a storefront business needed more foot traffic, they looked to traditional advertising to increase awareness of their store. The store owners would make sure they are trying to bring in the right buyers and advertise to them in place those buyers would be in and use advertising material that would grab their attention. Well, today's online marketing is not much different. 

SEO isn't mysterious; it's not witchcraft. There is a formula that works and factors that don't. What makes SEO complex is that the formula includes hundreds of variables. In our previous blog post, we mentioned that Google's algorithm includes 200+ factors. Some are foundational (such as high-quality content) which will severely impact your rankings and some are complementing (like image descriptions). And since there are so many SEO factors, it's easy to lose track of what is still relevant and what's not. We believe (and hope) this is the reason for using outdate SEO tactics. To check your knowledge (or quiz your SEO person), check out this incredible infographic on what SEO used to be versus what it is now.

We here at Halstead Media are obsessed with understanding how today's SEO works. We say today because SEO techniques change almost everyday; its a constant flow of change. And with Google's 200+ ranking factors (source: Google) in their algorithm to rank web pages, we keep busy with our obsession of SEO learning. Equally as obsessed, are home remodeling and landscaping business owners in getting more revenue, more leads, and more traffic. There is nothing that drives that more than first page (top of page) ranking in search results for keywords relevant to your services. If you're looking for ways to boost your rankings, we have a million ideas, but here are a few to get you started.

As the beginning of the next season gets closer, outdoor living professionals put their marketing efforts in overdrive. Rightfully so, this is prime-time pickings. Successful landscaping, pool-builders, and really any home improvement professional that is dependent on good weather looks to (and can) book up a good portion of the season by the end of March. And if you have all the right things (content/blogging, social media presences, good photography of past work) in place, its possible. For those struggling to get the right boost in enough jobs, Google AdWords can be a good additional to your overall marketing approach - but before you jump in, make sure you know the tool inside-out. 

Remember when Facebook was the hot platform in which every home services business needed to be on? When companies used it as the best free way to market to their potential customers? Well, things have changed. What is still very true is that whether you're company is in the interior or exterior home remodeling business, you need to be connecting with your potential, current, and previous customers on a social media platform.

Blackwood & Associates, based out of Canonsburg, PA, contacted Halstead Media with two goals in mind: to transform their website style and to increase the company's revenue.

The 2016 Houzz report on the state of the industry is out and we couldn't be more excited about the info and based on the content - majority of general contractors, home remodelers, builders, and landscapers feel the same. 

2015 proved to be another year of growth for the industry - year over year as well as compared to the pre-recession times. 

Home remodelers, landscapers, and every home improvement business that deals with appointments and work in the field will say that the most challenging parts of running their business include employees and customers. In other words: people. Hands down, regardless of if its formal surveys or passing conversations, these are the most common two biggest headaches in our industry.

On the flip side, the biggest money and time investments by these same business owners include machinery, materials, and actual time on labor by business owners.

Google accounts for about 90% of all searches (Source: Moz). And 97% of all consumers use online media to research when buying something local (source: BIA/Kelsey’s study). So what does this mean to local home improvement contracting companies? It means that Google is King. It also means that Google is focused on providing quality search results to shoppers, hence its popularity and ability to continuously interest people to use its search engine. 

If I told you that I could deliver 20 prequalified leads directly to your cell phone every month, would you believe me? Probably not. You would probably believe me even less if I told you that in order to that, I would be using just your website and a few social media sites. That's right...I wouldn't tell you to pack up 5 pallets of stone and head off for the weekend to a home show that cost you $5k. And I wouldn't say turn your HomeAdvisor account on so you can drive around to visit tire kickers until 10 o'clock at night after working a 10 hour day in the field. Nah, just your website and the place where over 80% or homeowners will be looking for their next contractor to hire.