When we talk about roofing SEO and Internet marketing, just about all contractors say the same thing...my web guy said I would be busy, but I'm not.
UNTIL... They figure out the secret to getting more business from their website.
There is a formula to successful roofing SEO or Internet marketing:
Traffic + Conversion = More Business From Your Site
It obviously starts with reaching more home or business owners online that need a roof repair, a new roof, roof coating etc. (Read more, and you’ll see some viable ideas below that have worked for hundreds of roofers.)
The next thing you have to do is get those people looking for roofing companies to click on your site instead of the other 9 roofers on the page. You do this with the right message placed in your META title and description. This is what people actually see in the search results on Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc.
Every roofing company owner that I’ve ever spoken with (and I’ve worked with several hundred of them) about his business has had the goal of generating more new customers from the Internet and a very well optimized roofing website is how you do it. It’s also important to have the marketing strategy on the site written correctly so that visitors feel compelled to reach out to you for help -- you know ... they become a lead. Roofing SEO is not only about getting found well in the SERPs. Remember the formula for success, SEO gets you the traffic, and marketing is how you increase conversions.
Roofing Website Design Makes A Huge Difference
If you’re like most guys in the biz that I meet about their Internet marketing, you really want to convert site visitors to good quality leads that won't waste your time. This is done with your website's content. It has to solve the problem the site visitor is trying to solve and show that you are the contractor to solve that problem the right way.
As an example, if a commercial building owner is looking to coat a flat roof - you better show how you do the job better than others at a competitive price. There are tricks to doing this without sounding arrogant and talking all about yourself. As cold as this sounds ... they don’t care about you - they only care about getting the job done right at a good price and on schedule. Here's an example of how we did this for a commercial roofer in Atlanta.
Keep in mind that you offer a handful of services, and each page has to address a single problem. The commercial flat roof coating page has to be totally different from fixing a roof leak for "Harry the homeowner". Many roofing companies have most of their traffic land on the home page. This makes the visitor "search" for what they really want, and they often click the back button rather than look through your navigation for the right page. Having site visitors land on the home page can also scare the person who needs a small repair as they see huge new roof jobs on the page and leave your website. It's hard enough to get traffic; there's no need to scare them away once they reach your website.
When your content is written correctly, to exact roofing SEO standards, you can actually double the leads you get from the traffic you are already getting to your site. Never mind the new traffic you can generate if you use some of the ideas below.
There are a handful of ways to make sure your website produces traffic, leads, and ultimately sales for your roofing company. They all work if they are done correctly ... and that’s the key ... they have to be done CORRECTLY!
Unfortunately, people who oversell these roofer marketing methods as magic bullets can bring in so much new business that you'll be hiring 10 new crews in 30 days blah... blah... blah.
I'm sure you get many calls and emails promising the sun, moon, and stars every week. Most business owners have been taken advantage of by more than one so-called roofing SEO company claiming that paid ads... or SEO... or blogs will fill their pockets full of gold in hours. The BS meter is ringing off the hook.
FACT: You don’t need to pay a company a ton of money to do this for you, and all of these strategies do work really well. As long as you realize that they all work in different ways and are best when you use all of them together.
By the way, I know you don’t want to get this involved in your online marketing ...
BUT the roofing business is different than it was years ago when you could run an ad in the phonebook or newspaper and get a ton of business. Now, the Internet brings in more new business than any other method ... including word of mouth.
Roofing SEO is Complemented by PPC and Content Marketing
Here’s a couple of things that can truly get you more business and a time frame that they should realistically start working for you:
SEO - everyone knows that a very large percentage of Internet searchers visit sites from the organic rankings, but it takes a little time for a legitimate amount of search engine optimization to be performed on your site, get it launched, and begin generating leads for you. Many newly optimized sites will have 30 or so decent rankings immediately, but it takes some months to reach hundreds or more search rankings. SEO is the most cost-effective way to generate leads for roofing contractors.
Paid ads - these can be on search engines or social media. When you do these right, they work pretty much immediately. Many roofers have a bad experience with the paid ads because they really weren’t done right. To do them right, you probably need a specific landing or “squeeze page”, a great offer, and a strong follow-up program. Use email and retargeting on Facebook and Google to really get your money’s worth out of PPC. Without retargeting, it’s hard to make money with paid ads. Like a roof repair, some of your services are an immediate lead, but a new roof might be a process for the buyer. So retarget them with a valuable message that offers them something that they deem useful. This brings them back to the site and back to you while you’re becoming an authority in their eyes. This starts to get into the 3rd thing on the list.
Content marketing - this has become really big, but like SEO or PPC, it requires a well-thought-out game plan. It’s also really misunderstood. You can’t wing this and hope for the best. Content marketing is where your blog can help you tremendously. If you, or someone on your team, can write blog posts that answer your potential buyer's questions about your product or service and market it right - there's big money coming. This is more for the bigger jobs like roof replacements - commercial roof coatings etc. Roof leaks and shingle repairs are more of an immediate need, and those people will respond pretty quick.
Create great ads that you’re going to put on social media. Social media platforms make this easy. The ad must be relevant to the content (blog post) the person who clicks the ad sees. Don’t run a new roof ad and drop it to a roof repair post. If you want more help writing blog posts or creating ads, I would suggest contacting Just Click It Digital Marketing - these guys are certified content marketing specialists, and they’re really good and pretty fairly priced. Content marketing works differently than SEO or PPC - the goal is to get people into your sales funnel and provide them great content while establishing yourself as an expert in your field. The trust builds, and the sales come. This is one of the most successful ways to maximize customer value. Long term, this method of Internet marketing can create a ton of sales, but it takes a little longer for you to see the actual results than SEO or PPC. Content marketing is also a great way to do more business with people who have done business with you before by staying in front of them regularly.
These three Internet marketing methods really work well and bring more traffic to your website so you can do more business that starts with people finding you online. They all require a good game plan and someone that understands the Internet and online marketing. We know that many times business owners are too busy to learn about online marketing, and that’s why we exist. If you need help with any of these things or just have questions about how to get started, contact us; we’re glad to help.
This post was written by Joe Webb. Joe has been in the online marketing field since 1997. He has been providing SEO to roofing and other contractors for more than 10 years. He also holds multiple certifications in Digital Marketing.