Houzz.com on Tuesday upped its bid to lure marketing money from marketers by expanding its Houzz Pro+ program and adding a tool that shows remodelers and other pros how popular their photos are on the site.
Houzz launched Pro+ on Jan. 29 after testing it in 12 markets, but didn't say then how big it would get. (See "Paying To Stand Out" from REMODELING's February issue.). The March 12 announcement revealed that Pro+ will be available in 425 markets in both the U.S. and Canada.
The service's biggest benefit entitles you to buy a place on the first page of results whenever a homeowner in your area clicks the “Find Local Pros” tab and then narrows the search to find pros in subgroups such as general contractors, design/build firms, architects, or kitchen designers. Houzz lists 20 pros on each results page. Under Houzz Pro+, 10 of those spots will be reserved for companies that buy the service.
The price charged for this service will vary by market but will start at several hundred dollars per month, Houzz spokeswomen said. To learn about rates and sign up, pros need to contact Houzz directly.
In addition, the Palo Alto, Calif.-based Houzz introduced Pro+ Dashboard, a tool that pros can use to track how frequently the photos and other information they post gets viewed by homeowners and picked up for consumers' ideabooks on Houzz.com.
Roughly 190,000 contractors, architects, interior designers, and landscapers post their work on Houzz.com, the company estimates. They do it because the site attracts 14 million unique visitors per month, at least 90% of whom are homeowners, Houzz says. —Craig Webb, editor in chief, REMODELING, twitter/RemodelingMag
