Author Archives: Roofing Webmasters

How To Keep From Being Screwed By Roofer Marketing Companies

Getting screwed by roofing SEO companies is par for the course in 2020. The amount of disingenuous marketing “experts” has reached its peak. The sad part is that hard-working roofing contractors get hosed by whizkid marketers with bad intentions. Aside from the simple fact that roofing marketing costs too much in today’s market, the actual services are also garbage. From template websites to the PPC shelltrick, marketers are getting away with everything. Roofing SEO Webmasters has made it our focus to counteract this trend by providing affordable roofing services with strategies that actually work. We help roofers rank on Google ethically. Take a listen:

Learning for Bad Marketing Experiences

At Roofing SEO Webmasters, we understand the frustration of roofing contractors. We actually were in the service industry ourselves back in the early 2000s and got screwed around by some hack marketers who hosed us out of thousands of dollars. That’s when we decided to do digital marketing ourselves and eventually converted it into a full-time business. So unlike most marketing companies, we actually empathize with the client. We’ve been on their side of the spectrum and understand what getting screwed looks like in the world of digital marketing. We’ve made it our pledge to not screw roofing contractors who need proper web work.

SEO “Experts” Are Often Novices

The problem with buying roofing SEO services is that many so-called marketing experts are actually novices. They bought a social media marketing cost for $297 after getting remarketed to on YouTube and Instagram. They think now because they took a course from an individual who is not even an expert themselves, that they can now provide a competent service to clients. Furthermore, their focus on social media won’t help them provide SEO as it is meant to be. Social media can help SEO through signals, but it is not the foundation of SEO which involves more hands-on practices that require real training and experience.

Don’t Trust Marketers Who Can’t Say No

Another problem with hack marketers is that they don’t say no to any request. If a roofer comes to us and asks us to perform black-hat SEO we tell them that we don’t do that. First of all, it doesn’t work and secondly, we aren’t going to perform a service that we have no experience with. Many of these marketing gurus will attempt to do anything you ask of them, and will then do it poorly. Worst of all, they are likely to get your website or GMB penalized by Google, further draining your bank account in addition to the overpriced yearly contract that gamed you into signing. Don’t fall for it. Always do your homework before signing a contract.

How to Spot a Marketing Scammer

We talked a little about the signs of a bad marketing service but there are other tell-tale signs to look for as well. First, does the company or individual have a website? If so, does their website look professional? Is there a company name, address, and phone number? What do their rankings look like? If they can’t even rank on the first page for relevant keyword terms, what makes you think they are going to be able to rank your website? If you find someone on YouTube, make sure their success translates to organic SEO. You can’t simply apply a YouTube SEO strategy to Google since they are two entirely different algorithms. Let’s consider some red flags:

No Website or Cheap Website

Once you know the name of your marketing company, perform a search for them on Google. If nothing comes up, there’s a high chance that you’ve been scammed. If something does come up, check out the website. Look over the design and content, and decide if it looks professional. If it does, make sure you search for keywords related to their business. If they don’t rank for their target keyword terms, it’s unlikely they will be able to help you rank.

Yearly Contract Proposals

If you are negotiating with a marketing company, and they bring up a yearly contract, try to avoid signing it. The reality is that any marketing expert who needs a year to prove their worth is worried that they won’t be able to deliver. In 2020, SEO should be executed within 3-months and results should be evident in a maximum of 6 months. The best contracts are month to month so that the company is held accountable every 4 weeks.

Lack of Existing Clients

There’s no shame in giving an up and comer a fair shake, but you should always be aware of how few clients a so-called expert has. There’s no expert with 0 clients. If they call themselves a professional, it is expected that they have a minimum of 15 clients. At Roofing SEO Webmasters, we have over 250 clients. We can show our prospects existing websites that rank for relevant keywords which helps them feel comfortable using our services.

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Google Hates Trash Content for Roofers

When it comes to roofing SEO, things have changed a lot in the last 10 years. There was once a time when Google would reward content for the sake of it. Why? Because they had so few choices of what to crawl, index, and ultimately; rank. But since the whole “content is king” mantra became mainstream SEO, everyone and their mother has created some form of web content. Since Google’s success is dependent upon the satisfaction of its users, trash content no longer does the trick. Not only does Google have countless amounts of superior pages to rank over yours, but your over-saturation of their index is also only polluting their search engine and making your website less appealing overall. In today’s Roofing SEO podcast, Nolen Walker goes off on trash SEO content for roofers and why you should transition to other forms of content that are far superior for both the end-user and Google’s search crawlers alike.

Do Roofers Still Need Content?

Roofers still need content marketing in 2020 but the type of content is now much more dynamic. Mediums like video, podcasts, check-ins, user-generated reviews, and testimonials are just a few of the new waves of content that roofing companies should focus on to grow their business. An inherent problem with text-based content is that it’s boring. But quality text content can actually still serve a purpose. However, the vast majority of content published online in 2020 is pure and unadulterated garbage. And no other industry is more guilty of exercising this practice than roofing contractors. Luckily, they now have new ideas about what content is.

New Types of Content for Roofers

Check-ins

If you didn’t know by now, reputation management for roofers is very important. But one aspect of reputation is proof. And with online check-ins powered by BrandRevu, roofers can enjoy the social proof of job site check-ins. Every time you perform a service at a verified location (via your BrandRevu tool) you will see that check-in populated on the corresponding page of your roofing company website. As users and Google see that you’ve worked on specific services in specific areas, they will be more confident about using your services in the future. Additionally, Google will acknowledge your location pages as legitimate since verified check-ins in the corresponding locations now populate the content of the web page. It’s a win-win for everyone involved.

Images

When you perform a check-in, for example, you can snap a photo of your job site and of the roof you are working on. As you showcase to your audience real-time imagery, you prove your worth as a legitimate roofing contractor and gain their initial trust. When you combine images with reviews, videos, and check-ins, you begin to establish a level of credibility that your competitors lack. Images are important for SEO as well and are made more impactful by the inclusion of alt text which describes the image to Google and also to users with visual impairment. Having unique images is critical since stock photos are pure trash and will make your roofing business look like a joke and an utter disgrace to society. Furthermore, nobody will trust you. Commit your focus to images of your team, trucks, equipment, and logos.

Reviews

As you may know, reviews are the integral part of the aforementioned reputation management. BrandRevu, in addition to providing check-in technology, also helps you generate reviews from satisfied customers. The software tool sends text and email reminders to recently serviced consumers with links to review your business on Google or Facebook. These reviews are then showcased on your roofing contractor website for potential customers to see. Not only is this beneficial for SEO purposes, but also for conversion rate optimization. The best part about reviews is that they are generated by verified users, rather than a roofing company or their hack content writer. Prospects are way more engaged with how a previous job went than how great your content writer can describe your services.

Videos

YouTube is one of the largest platforms on the internet and a place where consumers spend much of their day. This is true both through mobile devices as well as desktop computers. Embedding YouTube videos on your website is beneficial for multiple reasons. First, Google ranks videos in a separate algorithm on its search engine. Surrounding your video with other forms of contextual content, helps it rank as a video, and vice versa. When you integrate Google and YouTube you can get great results on both platforms. In addition, website users are more likely to engage with visual content. If you can show one of your services or provide an inspirational description, on camera, you are far more likely to succeed with converting web traffic into lead generation for roofers. 2020 is the time to appeal to users visually.

COVID-19: The Death of Door Knocking

Covid-19 has taken many things away from our society. However, it’s also given us something important: perspective. We now know just how quickly our daily life, routine, and business can change.

The roofing industry was a relatively lucky one. Even during the crisis, homeowners continued to require roof repairs, installations, and replacements. What Covid-19 did change was the marketing options roofers had to work with. The practice of door knocking, in particular, took a big hit, forcing countless roofing professionals to explore other opportunities for sharing their brand.

Today, we’ll explore the death (or at least the induced coma) of door knocking and what that means for your roofing business. We’ll also dig into your other options for marketing your company in the meantime. Listen in to our latest podcast and take notes as we discuss the changing landscape of the industry, and how your business can continue to thrive.

Takeaways for Enterprising Roofers

Even before the crisis, door knocking effectiveness had waned.
Today’s newest generations don’t answer the door for many people.
Covid-19 is an opportunity to reevaluate your marketing strategy.
Local SEO offers more lucrative gains than it did a few years ago.

Table of Contents

Is Door Knocking Effective Now?

In the throws of Covid-19, door knocking has come grinding to a halt. Put simply, door knocking isn’t even an option right now. If you happen to come back and read this article in the future after the crisis has resolved itself, odds are door knocking still hasn’t recovered to its former glory.

It’s not your fault. Much of society has shifted away from answering the door bell anyway.

Even prior to the Covid-19 crisis, the death of door knocking seemed to draw ever closer and closer as younger generations took on the mantle of home ownership. The practice may never fully pass away, but its waning effectiveness means that your roofing company will likely need to focus in another direction for your marketing efforts.

What are My Marketing Options?

We could pour over the dozens of advertising options available on the market right now, but that would take too much time. Right now, your number one goal should be putting your brand in front of the people who are most likely to need your services. This begs a couple questions:

Where do you need to put your brand so that those people see it?
How do you focus specifically on people in your service area?

More than ever, homeowners (and commercial prospects) are looking online for their day to day needs. That includes big budget purchases like roof replacements too. So if you want to get your brand in front of the right eyes, that’s going to happen on a digital landscape.

Connecting with people in your specific service area is going to force you to think locally. This limits false leads from outside your community and maximizes your chances of converting to sales. No more driving an hour from your office just to perform shingle repairs (unless that’s something you really like doing).

Now that you’ve established online marketing offers the best brand exposure and you know locally-targeted marketing offers the best sales potential, that leads us to our final question. What digital marketing solution targets the greatest number of people within your service area?

The answer is Local SEO.

How Local SEO Works Now

If you want to develop a consistent stream of roofing leads, the most practical method to do so is local search engine optimization (local SEO). That means getting your company website to the top of Google Search results specifically for the people in your community.

Now you might say “But our company is already on Google. We have a website.” Unless you are literally the only roofing company within a 30 mile radius, simply having a website isn’t going to get you the sales you crave. With local SEO however, your website will start to deliver actual (qualified) leads for your business.

As your rankings improve on Google, you’ll naturally start to receive more calls from homeowners and/or commercial prospects in your community. More calls means more lead potential for your company.

How to Improve Local SEO Rankings

While Google uses hundreds of signals to determine ranking potential, there are a handful of areas that impact your local search rank the most.

These include:

Roofing Website Design
Google My Business Listing Optimization
Local Citation Creation
Domain Naming
Content Creation (Writing, Pictures, Etc.)

Thanks to industry changes over the last few years – Google’s Local Search Update of November 2019 was especially impactful – it’s easier than ever before for roofing companies to make large gains in local rankings. So don’t let unfamiliarity or inexperience stop you from earning more revenue for your business. Even if your team doesn’t have the time or resources to pursue it, there are several amazing marketing teams out their with the skills to manage it for you.

Ultimately, local SEO provides the best marketing opportunities for your business because it allows you to make quality connections with people within your community. If you’ve traditionally relied on door knocking until now to grow your company, it’s not too late to get started online. Of course, our team at Roofing Webmasters is always here to help!

Showcasing Great Customer Service During Coronavirus

As we are in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, our thoughts tend to be scattered, and we are having to re-evaluate our priorities. As a roofing contractor, you have probably experienced this. While your business is important to you, it can be hard to devote mental energy to ways to sustain it; much less improve it. But don’t fool yourself – even in this time of crisis your business can grow and thrive. It may not seem like it, but the pandemic is affording business owners the opportunity to showcase outstanding customer service.

We work with roofing contractors every day. We have seen the value of great customer service during these times and what it can do for a business now and in the future. As we are taking precautions to safeguard ourselves, our families, and our businesses, take some time to consider customer service in the here and now. Doing so will help your business not only survive during these times but thrive.

Here at Roofing Webmasters, we are here for you every step of the way. If you are ready and willing to utilize this crisis as an opportunity to demonstrate value to your customers, then read our customer service tips.

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Let People Know

If you are running your business during these times, it would be extremely helpful for existing and potential clients alike if they knew that you intend to take the necessary precautions to keep them safe. In this time, the last thing anyone wants is to have a bunch of roofers on their property who are coughing and possibly spreading the novel Coronavirus. So the first step you should take towards maintaining a high level of customer service during this pandemic is letting your customers know that you will take the necessary steps to keep them safe. Update your website to reflect the safety practices you and your crews will be implementing, let people know when they call, and ask about your services and you can even send emails to your current customers updating them on your safety policy.

Follow Through

It’s one thing to say that you will keep your customers and team safe, it’s quite another to actually follow through. The first concern on everyone’s mind as they venture into the public or have people come to their homes or businesses is face masks. Make sure you and your team have plenty of face masks when they are on the job. You can also let your customers know that you will be mainly outside and that if you need anything, you will simply knock on the door. Physical distance is important so try not to be too “in your face” when you are speaking to a customer in person. While that may be your normal style, it will make your customers wary and unlikely to use your services again in the future.

Modernize your Communications

Your customers will appreciate your efforts to limit physical contact. If you don’t have to physically be on the job site, try not to be. Instead, try to communicate with your customers over the phone or, if the situation calls for visual aids, reach out to them over Zoom, FaceTime, or other video chat apps. As a roofer, it may be hard to let your customers know what needs to be done over the phone so these video chat apps can be beneficial to get on the same page as your customers.

Keep Things Basic

This one may be hard since almost everyone is feeling the effects of the economic crunch. But if all possible, try to limit the number of workers you have on a job site to those that the job actually needs. People may get uneasy if they see a big crew on their property unless the job really necessitates such a workforce. By keeping your team scant, you are showing the customer that you care about their safety and health.

Reach out Online

Just because we are social distancing during this time doesn’t mean that we can’t interact with our customer base. Now is a great time to respond to all those comments left by customers on your social media page and reply to some of your reviews. Replying to reviews is a great way to show your customers that you care about their interaction with your company and you don’t need to put theirs or your health at risk to do so. Responding to social media posts is also a great way to engage customers and develop a rapport with them.

Show Empathy

And as it is eloquently explained in this Forbes article, people are frustrated these days. Not only is the looming virus stressful but services are down or really slow all over the place. Show your customers that you understand their frustration and that you are doing everything in your power to help them. Reach out to them in an email, call them on the phone or simply post a message on your website and social media page acknowledging the frustration that many customers may be feeling and assuring them that you are working to fill their roofing needs.

Customer Service Tips for the Future

All the customer service tips we have laid out here sound like they are for the here and now – and they are. But all of these tactics revolve around considering the thoughts, concerns, and feelings of your customers – an approach that any successful roofing contractor must adopt.

The above customer service tips will surely help your customers trust you during the pandemic, but they will remember the thoughtful service you provided at this time. And they will be that much more likely to continue with your roofing services when things get back to normal.

For more help with your roofing contractor business, please feel free to reach out to us here at Roofing Webmasters.

We’re Bringing SEO Back | Roofing SEO Podcast

Does SEO really mean what you think it does? Jason and Nolen explain how ignorance and misinformation lead many roofing companies astray during online marketing. If any of these real-world stories sound familiar, it might be time to reconsider how you search for marketing services!

Table of Contents

Key Takeaways For Roofing Professionals

Inaccurate preconceptions prevent businesses from finding SEO services they really need.
The amount of money spent on a poorly-performing website template does not make it better.
Pretty websites don’t always make successful (sales-driving) sites.

What is Real SEO?

Marketing is an ever-shifting, bustling industry. As much of the consumer world transitions into online search for their day-to-day needs, roofing companies look to Google to find their customers. Most savvy business owners understand a few basic facts:

They need a website,
They need to advertise online, and
They need to optimize for Google.

If you’ve already grasped these marketing truths, your business is already doing better than many roofing companies out there. Unless you have years of search marketing research under that tool belt however, there’s still a long road between your company and a successful online marketing strategy. That’s why the vast majority of roofing firms turn to agencies to guide their progress. The only problem is:

How do you find a real SEO company that actually knows their stuff?

Real SEO (search engine optimization) focuses on crafting a website that blends superior keyword rankings with a smooth visitor experience. Numerous elements go into this process, including web design, keyword research, schema coding, and citation management. Even a quick Google search of “roofing SEO” however, reveals that dozens of businesses offer SEO services for the industry.

An Example of a Balanced Roofing Website — Quality SEO Balances Custom Web Design With Extensive Keyword Strategy and Coding.

A Dangerous Truth About Most “SEO Companies”

Unfortunately, most roofing SEO companies have no idea what they’re doing. Still more claim to provide search engine optimization but provide little in the way of actual SEO. What you’ll find instead are…

PPC Campaign Management Firms
Cheap Website Developers (without search experience)
Expensive Website Developers (also without search experience)
Social Media Marketing Agencies
Lead Sellers
Marketing Software Companies

Some of these agencies truly offer valuable solutions for earning roofing sales. Others have no clue what they’re doing, but can easily talk their way through sales calls. Again, very few provide real solutions in the way of SEO. From an outside perspective, that might not seem like a big deal. However, the difference could end up costing your business years of setbacks and thousands of wasted marketing dollars.

Why Does SEO Even Matter?

Quality SEO solutions tend to take time (usually a few months) to produce results, but the results last. These solutions generate a steady stream of local consumers coming into your website and contacting your business. Consumers also tend to return with greater frequency, at a significantly lower cost than if you tried to buy them through a lead seller. Revenue opportunities only grow over time as both Google and consumers learn to recognize your company brand.

In short: SEO offers cheaper leads, more sales, and more sustained revenue over time.

Roofing contractors with a real SEO company will happily share their success stories (unless you’re a local competitor, of course). In fact, it’s a wise practice to look up high-ranking roofing companies outside of your service area and see who their marketing company is. You’ll find their brands listed in the top of local map packs and organic search results!

Google Analytics Traffic Data — A Productive SEO Company Will Happily Share Your Site Analytics Data!

Getting Sidetracked

Once you find a capable SEO service provider, don’t let go. We’ve witnessed too many businesses jump into marketing with great enthusiasm, only to bail out a month or two later. They usually fall into one of two tragic stories:

The roofers attributed their success to their own abilities.
A competing marketer talked the roofer into switching.

If your company enjoys sweet success from a certain SEO marketing company, why leave? Thankfully, there are ways to confirm whether or not your company is providing worthwhile results. Chart the number of leads you earn each month. Compare your numbers with those from last year and the year before. Examine your Google Analytics dashboard and see how many site visitors originate from Google Search!

At Roofing Webmasters, we’re always happy to walk through your Analytics and chart your progress. Is your company willing to prove their worth? If not, we’d love to talk with you about your company SEO needs! Give our team a call at (800) 353-5758 for a free consultation.

How I Got Started in SEO | Roofing SEO Podcast

When no one offers a solution to your problem, sometimes you have to become the answer! Through a strange adventure filled with twists and turns, a long-time professional in the home security industry became the founder of an SEO and web design company. Nolen and Jason talk about the history of Roofing Webmasters!

Table of Contents

Key Lessons for Roofing Professionals

Marketing is one of the most powerful factors contributing towards roofing company success.
Online marketing grows your digital channel of leads.
It takes dedication to make page one in search results, but the payoffs are huge.
In-house marketing is impractical (and expensive) for most small businesses.

A Brief History

Roofing Webmasters actually grew out of a completely different industry! Years ago, our founder Nolen Walker ran a home security business out of the Dallas / Fort Worth area. When telemarketing began to face strong federal backlash, he saw that online advertising and website optimization was the best way to further his business.

Unfortunately, few local marketing companies had any experience with SEO. Those that did charged a fortune for the most basic services. Their cockiness and patronizing drove Nolen away from their services very quickly!

Dissatisfaction Breeds Innovation

Nolen decided to take matters into his own hands by hiring an in-house team of marketers to promote the business. It was a very expensive proposition at the time, but it laid the groundwork of what would ultimately become Roofing Webmasters! Today, our team consists of over twenty content writers, web designers, programmers, video specialists, and SEO analysts.

We take on the online marketing challenges that are too time-consuming or costly for many roofing professionals to handle themselves.

Local Roofing Companies Show in the Google Map Pack

Crucial Lessons From Our Past

It took years of trial and error to find the well-balanced team of professionals we have today. We learned some crucial marketing lessons during that time.

The most successful businesses typically invest heavily in marketing.
Not all digital marketing firms have the necessary experience to manage SEO.
In-house is an expensive challenge that most businesses can’t manage.
Cockyness isn’t always a sign of expertise.
Clear communication with your marketing team is essential for long-term success.

These are lessons that we continually honor and share as we serve businesses across the country. They are why we strive so hard to provide timely, customized service for our clients. But enough about our business! Why does online marketing matter for your roofing company?

Why Online Marketing Matters

The concept behind marketing is a simple one to grasp: if you want people to know about your services, they have to be told. If you need prospects to choose your team over a competitor, you have to persuade them. Marketing accomplishes both of these goals, providing the necessary information and persuasion to draw clients into your revenue stream.

Marketing is simply part of doing business.

That truth extends into the realm of search marketing, which connects your company brand / website with local consumers on Google Search. With so many people relying on Google to find their essential services, it’s amazing how many professionals in the roofing industry still don’t quite grasp the significance of this type of marketing. Yet there are so many benefits to reap from it!

Expanded Revenue Potential

Think of all the consumers looking for roofing service online! Search marketing provides roofers with the essential visibility and authority needed to earn premium rankings. Scoring page one rankings could land you thousands of dollars in new revenues each year. The best part? Organic search results are so much cheaper than buying leads from a seller!

Enhanced Branding Growth

How people perceive your business is just as important as what you have to say about it, if not more. With a high ranking website on Google Search, people automatically perceive your business as more authoritative and trustworthy. Enhance that site with professional web design, plentiful client reviews, and verified local citations (from Yelp, BBB, etc) for an even stronger online performance!

These are all activities your search marketing strategy should include.

Empowered Customer Service

Be where the customers are. That’s a crucial pillar of business and an even more essential facet of customer service. If your potential clients can’t even find your business online, then how can they find the relief they need? Search marketing enables your company to better communicate with the thousands of homeowners, through your website and other online assets.

Thousands of contractors claim superior skill and expertise, but few take the time to answer the key questions that consumers ask every day.

Keywords on a Roofing Company's Search Console

Local Search Update For Roofers | Roofing SEO Podcast

The digital marketing world knows Google well for its secrecy, but not so much for subtlety. When the search engine giant drops a massive new update that potentially affects millions of businesses around the country, you can bet there will be a scramble to get up to speed on critical changes. Thankfully, our team at Roofing Webmasters has done all the Local SEO prep work already.

So let’s talk about the Local Search Update, and how your business can adjust its content strategy!

SEO Tips for Roofers

The latest local search update places even greater emphasis on diverse keyword strategy.
Make sure your website has enough service pages to rank for your desired terms!
Google My Business should be optimized and filled out as much as possible.
Schema coding dramatically helps your business stand out from others.

Immediate Impact of the Local Search Update

Let’s get started with the most important impact the local search update might have on your roofing business. If you’ve relied on a company name that incorporates an industry keyword (ex: Bill’s Roof Repair) to earn you leads, you may have already noticed a steep drop in local listings. That’s because Google’s neural mapping system has expanded the search engine’s ability to recognize synonyms of hot industry keywords.

Now Google can recognize all kinds of synonyms and phrases related to roofing and use them to assign ranks in local search results.

If your business has already developed a diverse collection of industry keywords on your roofing company website, you may notice an increase in rank. However, if you’ve relied on generic go-to phrases that everyone else does, you may drop in local search ranks. That could be especially damaging if you’ve held a long-term position at the top of a local map pack!

Your Strategy

How to Take Advantage of the Local Search Update

As always, Google connects search users with the highest quality content. Since they don’t have to rely on exact matching and the same old keywords, they will vigorously expand their ranking process to hunt for even better search results. There are a few ways you can take advantage of the local search update for your business:

How to Earn Stronger Ranking After the Local Search Update

Make sure your website has dedicated pages for each of your specific services.
Avoid spammy (repetitive) usage of keywords as you try to rank.
Write naturally, using synonyms and language a ninth grader could understand.
Infuse your pages with schema code, especially in headers and lists.
Continue releasing material (through content marketing) with new, relevant keywords.

Key Tools

What Tools Can You Use to Optimize?

If you haven’t taken the time to develop a broader keyword strategy, don’t worry. There’s always time to start optimizing your website. Look to helpful tools like SEMrush, Moz Keyword Explorer, Answer the Public, and Ubersuggest to search out new and exciting phrases!

Ideally, you’ll want to target mid to low-volume phrases with high user intent. That means the terms themselves clearly reveal what the consumer is looking for (such as installation service). Mixing these quality keywords in with more generic phrases makes your content pop in Google Search!

If you haven’t taken the time to update your Google My Business (GMB) account recently, it’s time to take another look! No other tools affect your local listings as much as your GMB, so regular checkups are essential. Continue adding photos of all your greatest jobs! You can also promote limited-time offers through GMB posts.

Is Your Website Ready?

There are a few ways to tell whether or not your website is ready for the Local Search Update. First, compare the number of pages on your website to the number of individual services your company provides. If the site currently tries to advertise all your services on a handful of pages – it’s even worse if your site doesn’t mention them at all – you’re not ranking as well as you could be. Dedicated service pages are the way to go, at least for now.

Next, make sure that your pages have plenty of schema code. This coding allows Google to better interpret various page elements on your website, improving your chance of earning outstanding local ranks. If you haven’t already, you need to listen to our talk on Righteous Reviews and schema-enriched client reviews! The results we’ve seen in local search are truly incredible.

If you’d like to learn more about local search, the Local Search Update, or anything related to website optimization, our team at Roofing Webmasters would love to talk with you! Consult with our experts for free at (800) 353-5758, and see why so many contractors come to us for higher search rankings.

Roofing SEO Conference 2020

Search marketing is an ever-changing landscape of Google policy changes, established practices, newly-minted tactics, and revolutionary software. Put simply, the rules and strategies that guide roofing SEO (search engine optimization) change from year to year. Even our seasoned team of search marketing professionals has to actively test and research new methods to keep up with the shifting industry.

That’s why we go to conferences!

Jason and Nolen arrive back on the scene, fresh on the cusp of one of the most influential search conferences in the nation (maybe the world). As usual, they have some helpful insights to steer your business towards sweet success! Whether you’re just now entering the online search scene or you’ve competed for years, be sure to listen in.

Key Marketing Lessons for Roofing Companies

Roofing SEO is a step-by-step process, not a single fix-it solution.
PPC is good by itself. With SEO, it can be fantastic.
SEO “basics” are requirements for your business to show up in search, but businesses need to go beyond the basics to earn premium rankings.

What Hasn’t Changed in SEO

With all the flashy revelations that fly across our attention span, it’s easy to lose sight of the core principles that haven’t changed. Search engines continue to dominate marketing as a primary source of revenue. That means roofing SEO is even more essential than it was just a few years ago. If you aren’t competing for leads through this digital channel, you are probably missing out on tens of thousands of dollars every year, minimum.

With that being said, opportunities to get your company up and running online are still very accessible. Even if you don’t have the necessary expertise to market online, somebody else does.

If you’re eager to reap the substantial rewards of search marketing, now is the time to get active. To help you, we’ll re-touch on the basics of SEO and local search. Then we’ll get into the more advanced tactics you’ll need to go from entry-level competitor to front page material.

Let’s dig in!

A Roofing Company That Engages in Search Marketing

Your SEO Baseline Requirements

Anyone can start a social media profile or run an ad, but what are the bare essentials to start building your online brand presence? First, you’ll need a website!

Newly-minted roofing companies aren’t always flush with funds, so we understand if you need to begin with a free template design. If you have the financial capacity however, we highly recommend you find a seasoned firm that offers search-optimized web design. The enormous difference in lead potential will quickly help you recoup the costs.

The SEO Bare Essentials List

Company website, with optimized service pages
Google My Business (GMB) listing, claimed and verified
Citations from BBB, Yelp, Manta, and other established brands
Client reviews and recommendations
Facebook Business profile

Getting your business information listed across multiple reputable platforms is also a crucial part of growing the brand online. Not only does this create additional exposure and review potential for your company, it also creates a stronger sense of accountability and trustworthiness. The more places Google’s search engine detects your brand, the more likely it will recommend it through higher rankings.

Keep in mind, these are just the basics your company needs to accomplish in order to show up in search. In recent years, we’ve seen more and more roofing companies manage to achieve these requirements. If you really want to succeed and earn premium rankings (and the resulting leads), you’ll need to go above and beyond what other businesses are doing.

As we say at the Webmasters, “You don’t have to be perfect. You just have to be the best!”

Above and Beyond

What sort of tactics allows a fledgling brand to rise above the rest in local search marketing? Again, quality web design plays a huge role here. A capable site incorporates simple navigation with keyword-rich service pages. This enables the site to rank for a much wider variety of phrases!

If you want to go above and beyond, start infusing your site with schema code. Schema code helps communicate the purpose and meaning of different page elements in a way that Google’s search crawlers – picture little bots scouting and indexing new site content – can easily understand. It takes some dedicated research and effort to update your website with schema, but it’s worth the effort!

Supercharged Client Reviews

As we mentioned before, client feedback plays a key role in establishing your brand reputation online. The more positive reviews come in, the more likely Google’s algorithm is to recognize your company as a reputable and reliable choice for local consumers. Of course, anyone can gather reviews.

If you really want your brand to stand out, try supercharging your client reviews with geotagging software. Geotagging adds GPS data to reviews, the kind of data that Google absolutely craves! The search engine sorts through countless contracting companies every year. Roofers with geotagged jobsite check-ins and reviews, however, provide undeniable evidence of their service area.

In simple terms, Google sees actionable evidence of where you work and directs more traffic from those communities to your website.

At Roofing Webmasters, we use integrated software called DataPins to provide geotagged check-ins and reviews for your website. That’s just one reason why our roofing clients enjoy front-page rankings and exceptional lead quality. We’d love to talk with you about your growth goals.

True Client Stories: Roofing GMB Nightmare

We’ve all heard the tales of marketing disasters, but few professionals fully understand just how close they could be to losing serious business online. In our latest podcast, Nolen tells the scary story of how a once successful roofing professional lost over two thirds of their annual revenue ($2+ million) thanks to some unfortunate online mistakes! If you ever feel worried about the future of your lead generation, be sure to listen in.

Key Lessons for Roofing Professionals

Your Google My Business account plays an essential role in local search results!
Trying to manipulate the rankings of other companies is a recipe for disaster.
Relying exclusively on reviews and referral traffic can lead to sudden drops in lead generation.
Make sure your company has an organic presence to work off of.

A Shaky Foundation

Every seasoned industry professional knows that even the strongest roofing system is only as sound as its supporting framework. Without a solid foundation to rely on, a roof can quite literally implode on itself. One roofing company owner – we’ll call him “Bob” – found out the hard way that this concept applies to online search marketing as well!

In fact, a handful of mistakes cost his business over two million dollars in one year!

Bob ran a very successful company. With years of experience under their belts, Bob’s team managed to complete hundreds of roofing projects each year. Much of his business arose from repair and replacement jobs, as the company operated in one of the top hail-prone states in the country. His staff consisted of over 30 people, and the business still saw fantastic profits year over year. Unfortunately, all Bob’s success came crumbling down around him one day.

A Painful Local Search Mistake

Bob’s company did little in the way of marketing online, with the exception of collecting reviews. The company’s Google My Business account had yet to be verified. His website lacked essential optimization factors that could elevate rankings in local search. He didn’t even have to advertise very often. Like too many contractors and owners, Bob assumed that the company could coast along in reviews, so that’s where he spent his efforts.

That’s where he made the gravest mistake of all.

A Customer Leaves a Review for a Roofing Contractor — Bob Accidentally Violated Google Quality Guidelines by Offering Discounts for Reviews.

Bob wanted to encourage people to submit reviews for his company, so he offered $50 gift cards for anyone who would provide them. In the man’s defense, he wasn’t trying to coerce or bribe people for better ratings. His team already did great work, and the reviews created were from real, happy customers.

That didn’t matter when Google found out about his practice. It seems an unhappy former employee contacted the search engine and informed on his boss’ practice. Since this violated Google’s quality guidelines, they closed down Bob’s GMB account. Almost overnight, Bob’s roofing company went from premium rankings to practically disappearing in local map results.

A Difficult Lesson

Bob made an honest mistake when he incentivized reviews. Regardless, his company went from earning $3+ million in revenue to less than a third of that. He contacted Google, eagerly sought out his error, and apologized. Google reinstated his account, but Bob’s company still hadn’t recovered when they came to our team at Roofing Webmasters for help.

His company signed on, and we’ve worked very hard to restore Bob’s company to their former online glory. It’s been a challenging journey. The shaky reviews-only foundation that had supported the business collapsed when the GMB account was suspended! Because the company had practically zero search engine optimization for their website, no one could find the brand when they tried to search local contractors.

We’ve since started overhauling Bob’s website so he can start ranking again, but it’s going to take some time before his team fully recovers.

An Example of a Well-Optimized Website — Even in Rare Search Mistakes, Well-Optimized Sites Like This One Can Bounce Back With Steady Organic Traffic.

How Can You Avoid Bob’s Mistake?

There are a few key activities you can tackle to lessen your chances of a major marketing disaster like Bob’s. First, make sure that you’ve claimed, completed, and verified your Google My Business listing. While verification methods change from time to time, you should be able to get your roofing company taken care of within a few weeks.

Second, invest in a quality, search-optimized website. A sturdy website should have dedicated pages for each of your services. We see companies that provide dozens of services strip down their list to two or three, then jam-pack those few pages with way too many keywords. Instead, craft a handful of pages for your top categories (such as residential, metal, and commercial roofing), then create sub-pages beneath each of those with all the related services. Take time to work related keywords into every page in a way that reads naturally.

Finally, make sure that your company is consistently asking customers with reviews. Of course, you should avoid any sort of practice that could be interpreted as incentivizing reviews! If you ever feel unsure about a particular practice, check out Google’s Webmaster Quality Guidelines.

How to Earn Leads and Avoid Search Penalties

Register, claim, and verify your GMB account.
Create a custom, keyword-optimized website with dedicated service pages.
Collect reviews from a variety of sources (Yelp, Google Reviews, Manta, etc)
Get listed with citation sources, such as the Better Business Bureau.
Never offer incentives for reviews!
Never try to mess with reviews or listings for competitors.
Consult Google’s webmaster quality guidelines.

If you’ve been hit with a serious Google penalty, our team at Roofing Webmasters would love to help. Contact us anytime at (800) 353-5758 for a free consultation!

Other Resources from the Roofing Webmasters

Podcasts and Articles
– 14 Roofing Sales Strategies to Boost Income Potential (Article)
– Roofing Marketing: 22 Proven Tips for Contractors (Article)
– Skin in the Game with Roofer Marketing Dollars (Podcast)

Related Services
– Google My Business
– Google Maps for Roofing Contractors
– Local Search Marketing for Roofers

True Client Stories: 34 Minutes and 34 Seconds Of Roofer Story Hell For Nolen

It’s a story we hear over and over again. A roofing contractor tells of how digital marketing companies have cheated them in the past. The frustration is so intense, so palpable at times, that contractors can’t even move forward and escape their situation. That’s the greatest tragedy.

We understand what it feels like to be disappointed and anxious. In today’s podcast, Nolen and Jason discuss real world contractors who’ve gotten stuck in a vicious cycle of marketing failure. Thankfully, your business doesn’t have to settle for mediocre business growth! We’ll explore how your company can start over again with a new, productive marketing plan.

Helpful Tips for Roofing Professionals

Before trying to fix your marketing plan, try taking some time to clear your head.
Use Google Analytics to see where your website is falling short.
See what the top roofing companies in your community do with their website strategies.
Try consulting with an expert before committing to one particular strategy.

Turning Frustration into Action

How can you take months (or even years) of disappointment, and turn them into success for your roofing company? It’s an arduous process, but we’ve seen so many businesses turn their marketing around with fantastic results. It all starts with examining your current situation, removing hindrances, evaluating your strategy, and making baby steps towards success.

You don’t have to have the perfect marketing plan to earn a place among the top local companies.

This process does require a clear head however, so give yourself some time to calm, organize your thoughts, and (if necessary) get alone by yourself. Anxiety only hinders your ability to plan, and online marketing strategy requires clear thinking! If necessary, you can talk about your current situation with a seasoned marketing expert, but try to do some research by yourself first.

Step #1: Make Your Exit

What’s the first step to escaping mediocre marketing results? Part ways with your current marketing strategy. That doesn’t mean you have to get rid of every marketing asset you have. But you do need to recognize which aspects of your plans are not contributing to your company’s success.

Online Marketing Graph Information — Your Marketing Company Should Be Able to Show Provide Proof of ROI.

Now, hopefully you have enough control of your online marketing program that you can determine which elements are actually producing leads. If not, that’s okay. A lot of businesses who pay an agency to manage their marketing end up with little understanding of what’s actually going on month to month. In cases where your marketing company shows no results after years of work, it’s often best to simply walk away and start fresh.

As you restart your online marketing, there are a few crucial assets to maintain.

Your Domain Name – if you have a long-time domain name, don’t get rid of it!
Your Brand – closely tied to your domain, your seasoned brand may still offer value.
Your Social Media Accounts – again, seasoned accounts are important for your brand.
Your Local Citations – don’t get rid of your profiles just yet, even if you have poor reviews.

Some experienced companies mistakenly get rid of these valuable resources. Hold onto them for now, especially your domain name! It’s a source of credibility and trust for your business. Without it, you will truly be starting over in your online marketing efforts.

Step #2: Reassess Your Strategy

Have you built a solid foundation for your local search performance? Most businesses haven’t, assuming that their marketing company can just flip a switch and enjoy instant success. In reality, real results demand careful preparation, website design, and reputation management. It won’t come by paying another business for mediocre leads either!

Take a sheet of paper (or a digital spreadsheet) and write down every marketing channel you’ve directed funds to over the last year. Examine each channel, and determine whether it’s contributing to immediate leads or long-term business growth. Here’s what your sheet might look like…

Digital Marketing Expenditure Report — Notice the Relatively Low Investment Towards Long-Term Company Growth.

Are you actively investing money towards building up your brand value, or has your marketing been focused on creating immediate leads? Channels like Google Ads and Lead Sales won’t contribute much to your long-term company growth, especially if you don’t have an optimized website to support them! We actually love Google Ads at Roofing Webmasters, but they work best for supplementing your leads, not driving them.

If you think the above report seems a little too highly priced, you’d be amazed how many contractors spend tens of thousands of dollars per month without earning a satisfactory return on their investment. For now, focus on understanding where your funds have been going, so that you can remember which channels aren’t producing good results for your team.

Step #3: Step Towards Success

Now all of this careful planning is wasted if we simply throw up our hands and swear away marketing. Once you’ve gotten a clear picture of the digital marketing channels that aren’t providing real growth for your business, it’s time to start taking steps towards success. Baby steps, mind you!

If you’ve discovered some areas missing in your marketing strategy, now is a great time to fill in the gaps. Here are some extremely valuable actions you can start on immediately!

If you haven’t already, claim, complete, and register your Google My Business account.
Contact Yelp, the BBB, Manta, and other citation sources and get listed.
Start a Facebook Business page and provide your contact information.
Train your team on how to ask for reviews after every successful project.

A Google Analytics Showing Upward Growth Trend — Upward Growth Takes Time, But You Can Start Taking Steps Now!

Follow these steps, and you’ll be well on your way towards developing lasting growth for your roofing business! If you need an experienced web design team to help you with your website optimization, our seasoned pros at Roofing Webmasters would love to partner with you. We’ve supported hundreds of businesses across the US, producing better search rankings and higher traffic.

For a free consultation with one of our SEO professionals, call us at (800) 353-5758!

Other Resources From Roofing Webmasters

Related Podcasts and Articles
– Roofing, Marketing, and the Truth About Leads (Podcast)
– Skin in the Game with Roofer Marketing Dollars (Podcast)
– 14 Roofing Sales Strategies to Boost Income Potential (Article)

Helpful Services From RW
– Roofer SEO Services
– Website Design for Roofing Companies
– Online Citations For Roofers