This digital age is a wondrous one. With a proper web presence you can attract customers moving to your town from out of state before they even board a plane. A solid, well designed website goes along way. For some one moving from Michigan to Texas, that website might not just be your first impression – it might be your only chance to attract a potential buyer.

Today I would like to talk about a great way to make that first impression, and attract those elusive house-buyers: 3D renderings. Traditionally elevations have been handled as small works of 2-D line art, often beautified with watercolors or the like. Contrast those with modern computer renderings. I’ll level with you, maybe it is just a matter of taste, but you can’t deny the slick appeal of a more visceral elevation displayed in three dimensions.

But lets talk other benefits, namely production and money. Hand drawn and painted traditional elevations take time and money. An artist with a stack of 20 elevations may take just as many days. And if you aren’t satisfied with the result? How much longer, and how much more money must be spent to correct the renderings? I am sure you see where I am going with this: using computers a three dimensional rendering may take 6-8 hours, but any corrections or changes, say you want to show an elevation with three types of brick, a different roof texture, placed in a different setting – all these things are quick and relatively painless digitally.

And best yet? Thanks to wonderful graphical manipulation programs like Adobe Photoshop, you can manipulate the 3D renderings with watercolor effects, pastels, any number of artistic styles!

Customizable, high resolution, professional – this is why I believe 3D Elevation renderings are where it is at.

Some pointers for the rest of us. 

There. You have just finished pouring hundreds of man-hours into an incredible website, culminating in the creation of an aesthetically pleasing website that utilizes all the latest features. Flash, CSS, dynamicfeeds, you just built the Rome of websites. Excited, you eagerly submit your site to a popular search engine and patiently wait for the flood of web traffic. 

But no one comes. What’s going on? 

Unfortunately, the age old colloquialism, “build it and they will come” does not apply to webpages. Your site may be a glorious masterpiece of modern web technology, but without traffic, who cares? This is where Search Engine Optimization comes in, or as it is more commonly referred to: SEO. Many companies (such as yours truly) provide detailed SEO plans to help secure your rankings on popular engines like Google, or Yahoo! If your budget allows for it, this should be every bit as important as making your site in the first place. 

The trick is that each search engine has its own algorithms and guidelines for how they classify pages. For the most part, the specifics of these processes are shrouded in mystery, but there are some basic guidelines even casual web developers can follow to ensure higher rankings on search engine returns. I would like to take some time to discuss these: 

Since 1994 we’ve had a tremendous impact on the creation, design and marketing of homebuilder’s websites and marketing services to the industry. As an all-inclusive advertising and marketing firm built specifically to handle the home builder’s industry, we’re more qualified to handle your branding and market your services better, quicker and more cost-effectively.

"Utilizing the most progressive technology in the industry today, Builders Communications has brought the most interactive way to buy a home to the industry and the home buying public."

In addition to our award-winning website design, we’ve been developing creative campaigns and advertising programs for some of the most recognized home builders and master planned communities in the industry. Our talented creative and marketing team, consisting of creative directors, art directors and copywriters can create everything from marketing materials, sales brochures, magazine ads and renderings to any kind of direct mail pieces.

We started by identifying a need for large and small businesses to have an affordable and efficient means to advertise communities, and in late 1994 launched the first electronic advertising campaign for a national top 100 builder, Royce Homes. This resulted in the first comprehensive home builder website and the 1996 GHBA Prism Award in specialty advertising.

Since the beginning, Builders Communications has won countless home builder awards and continues to set the standard in inventory management systems, advertising campaigns, 3D renderings, and interactive floor plans and plats.

As a consumer, options are what empower you. Who doesn't enjoy building their own sandwhich at a deli? Or tricking out their car with unique features? Homebuyers, are prone to the same excitement of customization as any other consumer. We have watched increasing numbers of homebuilders moving towards interactive plan viewers in acknoweldgement of this.

Our goal with PlanViewer Live is to create an application that can be customized to the homebuilders needs while providing the homebuyer user base with a streamlined application that is fun and simple to use. Imagine you are a homebuyer browsing websites for new homes. Each builder lists out their plans, and provides links to floorplans and elevations. More often than not, the floorplan ends up being a poor scan or too small to read, with no easy way to even print out the ones you like. Even the crisp and easy to read images become tedious to wade through after ten or more plans.

Now imagine you've gone to a site with PlanViewer Live. Suddenly  you are interacting with the plans, dropping in options, zooming in on the details, printing off brochures at the click of a button that are packed with information and details. Suddenly your fatigue is replaced by enjoyment, you feel in control again.