From Project to Proof: Crafting a Compelling Construction Case Study
When chatting with prospective clients looking for custom web design, the topic of content always comes up. As it should! Compiling content for your website is a necessary step before any design project can begin.
One of the things I ask my clients for is case studies.
But what exactly are case studies and why are they important to add to your construction website?
We’ll explore that this week, as well as give you the tools to start building your first case study (or revise existing ones) for your website.
Building Effective Case Studies for Construction Websites
What exactly is a case study?
A case study is a way of studying and learning about a particular situation. It’s a detailed story or report, broken down into smaller, bite-sized parts.
How does this apply to your construction business?
As a builder, case studies give a detailed look at real-life projects or situations that have been completed by your company. They typically include information about the scope of work, design, materials, techniques, challenges, solutions, and outcomes of a particular project or client. The purpose of putting together case studies for your website is to provide valuable insights and lessons learned that can inform and guide future projects, as well as showcase the expertise, skills, and results of your work.
Not only that, but case studies can also be used to market your services, establish credibility, and build relationships with potential clients.
Today, case studies on websites are becoming more and more common for home builders and remodelers and have proven to be an effective way of building trust and gaining more clients.
The importance of case studies for home builders and general contractors
Today, case studies on websites are becoming increasingly common for home builders and remodelers and have proven to be an effective way of building trust and gaining more clients.
Adding case studies to your website has a ton of benefits:
Case studies establishing credibility and build trust
Case studies demonstrate your expertise, experience, and success in delivering high-quality projects as a builder. This has a great impact on increasing your credibility and trustworthiness in the eyes of your potential clients.
Thorough success stories of past projects provides potential clients with a detailed view of the your process, challenges faced, and solutions implemented, increasing transparency and building trust in the your abilities.
Case studies are the perfect way to showcase your portfolio
It’s not enough to just have a gallery of your work. Give us the context!
Having pictures by themselves is nice but it’s not a long-term strategy for building up your reputation as a builder or general contractor. Potential clients need way more than just some pretty pictures to sell them on your services over one of your competitors.
What were the goals of the client or project before you started?
What construction or design solutions did you implement into the project?
Document the project process from start to finish, so we can see the progression.
Case studies will differentiate you from your competitors
By highlighting unique aspects of the work that you do, case studies can help you differentiate yourself from your competitors. and highlighting your expertise in a particular area or style.
Case studies provide valuable insights for clients
Case studies can provide valuable insights into your process, challenges, and solutions, which can help potential clients better understand what to expect when working with you.
Case studies help drive engagement and leads
Case studies can help drive engagement on the your website, as well as generate leads by providing a compelling reason for potential clients to contact your company for more information.
Case studies can be a powerful tool for your construction company. It helps build your brand, establish credibility, and attract new clients. It’s a super important part of your website content and your marketing strategy as a whole.
The steps to building an effective case study for your construction website
Step 1 - Give a clear project background, description, and goals
For example, if you’re building a new custom home for a client, give us some background on who that client is. What is their profession? How big is their family? Why did they decide to build a custom home as opposed to buying a home on the market?
Remember, we’re telling a story. By giving some background on your client (without giving up private information of course), prospective clients can relate to them and put themselves in their shoes.
Step 2 - Detail the challenges either you or the client encountered during the project
No job is without a few hurdles. But you know what? That’s okay! It can actually be beneficial to be transparent in some of the challenges that came up, because it paves the way for how you overcame them and came out on top! (Detailed more in Step 3 below).
Did your clients’ budget provide a challenge in choosing design materials?
Did you run into permitting issues?
Were you held up by supply chain issues?
Whatever you faced, include that in your case study (because it will lead into how you provided solutions to those challenges).
Step 3 - Tell us about the innovative solutions you provided throughout the project
It might seem counterintuitive, but as I mentioned earlier, explaining the challenges helps build trust by informing people of the solutions you offered to solve those unique project challenges.
Overcoming challenges can actually highlight your expertise even more when its used strategically to show how you are able to provide solutions to any scenario.
Step 4 - Share the results and impact of the project
Now that the project is finished, what are the results? What did the client achieve by partnering with you?
For a custom home client, you might explain how the home you built provides them with a more functional space or has given their family room to grow.
When you do this the right way, your prospective clients will envision that result for their own life, further convincing them that you’re the company to solve their problems. With effective storytelling, this can be the most powerful part of building your case study.
Whatever you helped your client achieve, share it here with pride!
Step 5 — Use high-quality images and videos to showcase your work
Just like on your website, you don’t want to ignore the power of professional imagery. This is the perfect time to show off the final result — your new build!
It doesn’t hurt to provide progress pictures so we can see the project from start to finish and all of the many stages. It brings your story to life and will make a lasting impression website visitors moving forward.
Step 6 — Get testimonials from your clients
Now that you’ve gone through all this work to detail the project, it’s time to hear from the client! It’s not enough for a company to tell us how great their service is — that lasting trust is built through customer reviews and testimonials.
“This company did a good job. 5 stars.” (Honestly, that review tells us NOTHING.)
Again, we want to hit on the pain points, fears, and possible objections your future clients may be feeling.
Continue to tell that story, even into the testimonials. The more detailed the testimonial, the better. Here are some prompts you can give your clients to include when writing a testimonial for your company:
Before working with [your company name], when it came to building a custom home, I felt…
What hesitations, fears, or concerns did you have before deciding to work with us?
For someone on the fence of working with [your company name], what would you say to them?
Now that your project is complete, what are you looking forward to in the future?
These questions get to the heart of the initial fears your client had before working with you, as well as how they feel today. By addressing that as part of the testimonial, future clients will be put at ease. They probably have those same fears and concerns. Seeing someone come out on the other side, having been relieved of those worries and with a beautiful finished project that they can enjoy for years to come — that’s the best way you can build trust.
If you can utilize video to film a 30-60 second testimonial from your client to use on your website and/or social media, even better!
Overall, case studies on a builder's website can help build relationships with potential clients by providing valuable insights, demonstrating expertise, and building trust and rapport. In my opinion, it’s a non-negotiable on any construction website.
If you’re looking for ways to increase conversion rates on your website and book more projects overall, building effective case studies is a great place to start!
Increase the number of jobs you book this year with a strategic website.
Let’s chat on a free 30-minute phone consultation. I’d love to be your partner in scaling your construction business with strategies that are proven to work!
