Houzz, a home remodeling and design site used by hundreds of thousands of professionals, has begun rolling out a tool that lets users signed up with the site design and publish free mobile-optimized websites.
Originally conceived to save pros the work of updating both their business websites and Houzz profiles, “Site Designer” automatically pulls content like project photos, business descriptions, client reviews and Best of Houzz awards from professionals’ Houzz profiles to surface it on the websites.
“Houzz pros tell us that their free Houzz profile is easier and less expensive to update than their own site, and often more attractive,” said Alon Cohen, president and co-founder of Houzz. “So we’re excited to give our pro community the power to publish in minutes a professionally designed, mobile-ready website.”
Users of Site Designer may choose from a variety of customizable themes for their websites, and may update both the websites and their Houzz profiles from a single location, Houzz said.
The tool isn’t public yet, but professionals may request an invitation to use it by visiting: www.houzz.com/sitedesigner.
Currently, “.houzz.com” appears in the URLs of all websites generated by the tool, but Houzz is working on enabling pros to use custom domain names, according to Houzz spokesperson Gabriela Hebert.
In May, Houzz began allowing real estate agents to join its business directory. The directory lets professionals review and be reviewed by other site users, upload photos and create “Ideabooks” and “Projects.”
More than 300,000 home improvement professionals, including real estate agents, homebuilders, architects, interior designers and contractors, use Houzz to connect with homeowners browsing the site, and interact with clients and other professionals, according to the company.