Is SEO Dead? Why Home Buyers Can't Find Your Website (and how to fix it)

A bi-weekly round-up newsletter of the best new construction and real estate marketing, sales, and news in the industry.

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In This Issue:

💡 The Big Idea: Expert advice from Neil Patel on SEO for 2025.
🐝 Industry Buzz: The latest marketing and real estate news updates.
🧠 Get Your Learn On: Join Outhouse to discover how to generate lead magnets that really work.
🏆 Quick Win: Cleaning up your database will do wonders for your email marketing.
🧰 Tech Check: Keep your email list clean with Bouncer.
🤖 A.I. Prompt Play: A custom prompt to create a nurture sequence for early-stage home buyers.
📚 Recommended Resource: 10 Simple Marketing Upgrades To Help You Sell More Homes Faster
🎙️ From The Podcast: Brent Bommes talks about how to keep up with technological changes in the industry.
🏅 Marvellous Marketing: A standout social post from LifeInDesrochers
📈 Real Estate Market Update: a look at the market stats for December 2024
... and more!

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
"Love the easy-to-digest format. Gives me a quick pulse check on the industry and some new things to try."

The Big Idea 💡

Is SEO Dead in 2025?

Is traditional SEO dead in 2025? According to this article from Neil Patel, it’s not dead but it is evolving. He takes a deep dive into what you need to know like:

☑️ paid vs organic traffic
☑️ intent is more important than ever
☑️ the future is personalization
☑️ and much more

Industry Buzz 🐝

🪵 Framing Lumber Prices
While lumber composite prices fell by 0.5% last week, prices are still 9.6% higher than the same time last year. This article from NAHB goes into the prices and trends of the US framing lumber market, including notable growth, the impact of the Canadian sawmill curtailment, and more.

📉 Existing Homes Sales Numbers for 2024
According to NAR, the sales for existing homes hit the lowest number since 1995, as Builder Online discusses here. While the median home sales price reached a record high, the number of sales fell to the lowest level seen in the industry in 30 years.

👀 IBS 2025: After the Show
Are you heading to IBS 2025 in Vegas next month? If so, take a look at this list of 10 things to check out after the show! Restaurants, clubs, and shows - take your pick.

Get Your Learn On 🧠 

🖥 CRM Growth Engine: Lead Magnets That Convert
Ready to learn how to fill your sales pipeline for 2025? Join us on Tuesday, February 6th at 2:00 PM EST as V23 teams up with Outhouse's Kevin Weitzel to reveal battle-tested strategies for creating lead magnets that keep your sales pipeline full. We'll show you exactly how to turn your CRM into a growth engine that converts prospects into opportunities. You can register here: CRM Growth Engine: Lead Magnets that Convert

Quick Win 🏆

Clean up your contact database. Spend 30 minutes removing bounced emails and duplicate contacts. Improve email delivery rates and get more accurate performance metrics.

Tech Check 🧰

Ensure your emails hit the mark with Bouncer, a powerful email verification tool. Bouncer quickly validates email addresses to reduce bounce rates, improve deliverability, and protect your sender reputation. With an intuitive dashboard and seamless integrations (like HubSpot!), Bouncer streamlines your email list management, so you can focus on crafting messages that convert.

AI Prompt Play 🤖

Welcome to AI Prompt Play, where we provide carefully crafted prompts you can copy, customize, and use immediately to create professional marketing content in minutes.

Tips for using these prompts:

• Replace text in [brackets] with your specific information

• Adjust tone and style descriptors to match your brand voice

• Use the generated content as a starting point and customize to your needs

NURTURE SEQUENCE FOR EARLY-STAGE BUYERS

Goal: Build long-term relationships with prospects who are 6-12 months from buying

Prompt: Act as a buyer journey expert and marketing automation strategist. I am a [CITY] home builder looking to create a 6-month email nurture sequence for prospects in the early research phase. Design a sequence that includes: 1) Email frequency recommendations, 2) Content themes for each month, 3) Subject line formulas that maintain interest, 4) Progressive profiling questions to learn more about them, and 5) Engagement triggers that could move them to a sales-ready sequence. The tone should be educational and helpful, focusing on building trust through valuable information rather than pushing for immediate sales.

Marvellous Marketing 🏅

Stand-Out Social Post From LifeinDesrochers
Sometimes, you just need to have a little fun! And that's what @lifeindesrochers on Insta did with this post. Adding a little humour while still highlighting a feature of the community; the whole thing just works!

Real Estate Market Update 📈

US Market:
According to NAR, the average price of an existing single-family home in the US in December 2024 was $404,400. This represents a 6.0% increase from the same month in the previous year.

Canadian Market:
In Canada, the average home price for December 2024 was $676,640, looking at stats from Wowa. This is a slight increase of 3.0% compared to the same time last year.

From the Podcast 🎙

Discover proven marketing strategies and growth tactics on the Home Builder Marketing and Growth Show with Jeff Schneider. New episodes every week:

#012 | Digital Transformation in Home Building: How To Keep Up With The Pace of Technological Change And Avoid Becoming Obsolete In The Digital Age | Brent Bommes
Digital transformation consultant Brent Bommes shares battle-tested strategies from 13+ years of helping builders modernize their operations. Learn which emerging technologies are worth your attention in 2025 and how to ensure your company stays competitive in an increasingly digital industry.

#011 | Lead Magnets: My Favourite Tactic For Generating Home Buyer Leads + Examples You Can Swipe & Deploy | Marketing Minute
Create a steady stream of qualified leads by offering valuable content upgrades that home buyers actually want. This episode reveals proven lead magnet strategies specifically for home builders, including real examples and implementation guidance.

#010 | Leah Fellows | Online Sales Concierge Best Practices From One Of The Top Trainers In The Industry
In this value-packed episode, industry pioneer Leah Fellows shares battle-tested insights from 18 years of training top-performing OSCs. As the founder of Blue Gypsy Inc and one of the most respected voices in OSC development, Leah reveals what actually works to improve conversion rates and drive more sales.

Tune into the podcast on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music or any of your favourite apps.

What We’re Watching 🎥

$100M CEO Explains How to Build A Brand in 2024 - Alex Hormozi, YouTube
If you’re looking for a great YouTube channel to take you down a business rabbit hole, then you need to check out Alex Hormozi. We are huge fans of this guy! His no-BS approach means he gets right into the details, and this video is full of tips to take your branding to exactly where it should be. And while it was done in 2024, it still applies today.

Just For Laughs 😂

Points of Interest 🧐

🗓 On this day
On this day in 1892, the Coca-Cola Company was incorporated in Atlanta, Georgia, marking the formal establishment of a company that has become a global leader in the beverage industry.

⛪ Archaeologists Discover ‘Church Of The Apostles’ In Galilee
Believed by many to be a myth, researchers think they’ve found the Church of the Apostles. This location is said to be where Jesus fed 5,000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish.

👌 The Movement of Stick Nation
There’s a new trend taking over… fun sticks! “Stick Nation” is a fun and wholesome community sharing all things cool about found sticks.

Whenever you’re ready, there are three ways we can help:

1. Complimentary 1-Hour Strategy Session: Let's get to know each other. We'll hop on a Zoom call to understand your goals and challenges and then provide actionable marketing recommendations tailored to your business. Walk away with strategies you can implement immediately. Schedule your no-cost strategy session.

2. HubSpot Audit & Optimization: Unlock the full potential of your HubSpot investment. Our thorough 60+ point check-up will identify what's working well and what needs attention in your setup. You'll receive a comprehensive report and a 90-minute review session to maximize your HubSpot performance. Request your HubSpot audit.

3. Complimentary Website & Marketing Check-up: Give your online presence a boost. We'll review your website and marketing channels, then conduct a 60-minute workshop to share our findings. You'll walk away with actionable tips to improve your digital marketing and attract more qualified leads. Sign up for your no-cost marketing check-up.

About Velocity23

Velocity23 is a growth agency and has been specializing in digital marketing for home builders for 13+ years. As one of the first HubSpot partner agencies to specialize in the home-building industry, we’ve helped builders across the country solve their challenges with content marketing, lead generation, lead nurturing, and marketing automation. Our experience has led to the development of the Growth Engine Framework™️, a marketing system that’s helped our clients achieve:

🖥 7.4M+ website sessions
🙋 110,200+ leads generated
🏠 9,680+ homes sold
💰 $3.3+ Billion in reported client revenue

If you’re experiencing marketing challenges or you want to sell more homes and grow your company, book a call today and let’s see how we can help.

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