Blog

May '18

Spring is The Season For Roofing Leads

Spring Roofing Leads Graphic As the weather warms up, most homeowners begin budgeting for potential roof repair or replacement. Winter weather is one of the primary sources of roofing damage, and your potential customer’s property almost certainly sustained some extent of its damage during the coldest months. Capturing leads during spring also allows roofers to fill their schedule for the rest of spring, all of summer, and the beginning of fall. Booking jobs in advance prevents down time, and encourages a consistent flow of revenue, which helps your company reach its business goals in 2018.

Roofing Webmasters helps contractors throughout the United States secure exclusive leads. As an internet marketing company that has been helping roofers for years, we understand the seasonal fluctuation that comes with your industry. Lining up leads during the spring months is an ideal scenario for companies, and our services which include SEO, content marketing, PPC, and web design, place your company in the best position to succeed. Reasons why spring is the best season for roofing leads include:

Job Scheduling

Because repairs, installations, and replacements are difficult or impossible to complete during winter, maximizing the rest of the calendar year is critical from a business perspective. Lining up jobs for the months in which conditions allow for work to be done efficiently is the best case scenario. From a budget standpoint, your company must account for the winter months in which business will be particularly slow, and find ways to make up for that downtime in the surrounding months. Another consideration is the projected length of a job. For example, a massive commercial roof repair must be completed before winter. Scheduling impacts the following:

Budget: Allows contractors to set a defined budget and map out financial projections
Efficiency: Booking jobs in advance allows business operations to run more smoothly
Performance: Leaving time for job completion before winter ensures peak performance

Weather Conditions

While early fall is probably the most ideal roofing season, spring or summer jobs are much better than winter ones. Some jobs are going to take a long time, and contractors want to ensure its completion before cold weather sets in. Failure to finish a job before late fall or early winter can spell doom for your project. Conversely, spring and summer provide favorable weather conditions for repair, replacement, and maintenance. Sure, rain will be a factor now and again, but it will usually only last a day or two. Weather conditions impact roofing jobs in the following ways:

Duration: Repairs and replacements are completed more quickly in fall, spring, and summer
Equipment: Lack of freezing weather means equipment doesn’t have to be winterized
Quality: Winter weather can impact the quality of installation and the longevity of materials

The #1 Internet Marketing Company For Roofing Leads

Roofing Webmasters is the premier online marketing service for lead generation. The leads produced from our services are exclusive to your company and empowers you to set a schedule for your peak business months. Maximizing your market reach allows you to secure leads from every channel imaginable. Whether it’s Google (SEO), content marketing, or social media, the returns will be favorable. Each of our clients receives a custom website, optimized for mobile devices.

Investing in marketing services is not a decision to take lightly. After all, the quality of your choice will likely make or break your 2018 numbers. With this knowledge, trust should be a top priority. Who better to trust than a company that works with roofing contractors all of the time? As you might have guessed from our name; Roofing Webmasters, we specialize in internet marketing for roofers. With experts in web design, PPC, and SEO, we can help you secure leads in 2018. Call (800) 353-5758 for exclusive roofing leads.

May '18

5 Qualities of a Strong Backlink For Roofers

Roofing Webmasters Performs Actions That Help Earn Quality Backlinks

When people speak about SEO they mostly refer to on page optimization like keyword placement, and content marketing. But the most influential characteristic of a website’s search visibility is not keywords, or even content. It is inbound links, often referred to as backlinks. These connections are formed when external domains (other websites) deliberately link back to your website. Roofing contractors should be weary of the nature through which links are formed, since Google has vehemently denounced manipulative link building tactics. Before some of Google’s major algorithm updates, websites routinely purchased links as a way to improve their search ranking — and it worked. In 2018, that is no longer the case, as these tactics are now easily flagged by Google and can lead to a penalty and severe rankings drop. But backlinks still hold great influence over search ranking — when they are generated ethically. Here are 5 qualities of a strong backlink:

1) Relevant

An easy way to spot spammy links is when the source and destination have nothing in common. For example, a national content farm that posts celebrity gossip should not link to a local roofing website. Instead, links should originate from relevant sources. For example, a link from a materials manufacturer would be a sensible connection to a local roofing site. Relevant links are:

Contextual: Are exhibited within the context of the page’s topic
Helpful: Serve a purpose to the reader of the source webpage

2) Trustworthy

Links from spam sites have the opposite impact of an effective backlink. Google rates websites based on their level of spam, and determines their trust level accordingly. A content farm is likely to have a poor spam score and therefore would not serve as a helpful backlink. Conversely an established website with no spam can have a very positive impact on the page it links to. Trustworthy links are:

Organic: Did not require financial incentive
Spam-Free: Lack any kind of on page spam

3) Engaging

The fundamental object of a backlink is to provide the user / reader with a useful anecdote. The engagement level of link can be determined easily by the number of users who decide to click on it. If the link is properly integrated into the page’s content, it should encourage more clicks. Conversely, a backlink that seems random and out of context is unlikely to be interacted with by the user. Engaging links are:

Appealing: Worthy of the user’s attention
Facilitating: Ease the user’s web experience

4) Unique

Having all of your inbound links coming from a single domain is not conducive to higher rankings. The most valuable backlinks come from a unique source, unrelated to your current library of backlink sources. SEO tools like MOZ categorize unique sources as Linking Root Domains, and the number of them outweighs the number of total links. Unique links are:

Isolated: Are an individual entity
Original: The first link from a particular domain

5) Non Reciprocal

“Help me Help You” is not a mantra Google adores. Link exchanges, for lack of a better term, occur when websites form an agreement or “understanding” that they will create inbound links to each other’s’ sites. While this won’t merit a Google penalty, it fails to provide any meaningful value to either website, rendering its use ineffective. Non reciprocal links are:

Earned: Based on the linked page’s value and merit
Genuine: Born out of necessity rather than incentive

Internet Marketing For Roofers

Are you a roofing contractor hoping to earn quality inbound links to your website? If so, investing in Roofing Webmasters is a great option. We use content marketing, SEO, and social media management to foster intriguing backlink opportunities. We never engage in manipulative tactics or black-hat SEO, which will incur an official Google penalty. Instead we focus on creating the best possible website with the best possible content, which will naturally lead to more inbound links from quality sources. Although earning quality links doesn’t happen overnight, consistent and productive actions will eventually secure valuable connections. Call (800) 353-5758 for internet marketing services for roofers.

Apr '18

Should Roofers Worry About Google Algorithms?

Google recently rolled out a search algorithm update, something the search engine says they do routinely throughout a calendar year. Though some roofing websites might be affected, Google stresses that there is no “fix” for pages that suffer a rankings drop. Instead, the internet powerhouse urges web developers to focus on creating great content, a recommendation that speaks volumes about the direction of internet marketing through the first quarter of 2018. With each official statement from Google, it becomes more evident that “staying the course’ is the best strategy for small businesses that market services online.

The consensus from Google, and other marketing experts, is that those impacted by recent algorithm updates should not react at all. Micro-level changes to Google’s algorithm should not worry roofing companies, and their focus should remain on macro-level philosophies endorsed by Google, namely user experience, and responsive website design. While we can’t know exactly what tweaks are made in each algorithmic update, we do know the goal of the updates, and that’s what we can work towards in our own website development. In summary, roofing companies should not concern themselves with each Google algorithm update, and here’s why:

Algorithms Change Regularly

Reacting to every single algorithm update would mean constant changes to your website, something not conducive to brand development, search engine optimization, or customer retention. Aside from the fact that exact parameters of algorithm updates are not released publicly, being proactive rather than reactive is a better overall strategy in the long term. Google’s overarching philosophy is well documented, and websites that continue working towards it have the least to worry about going forward. Some of the ways in which roofing companies can be proactive with optimization include:

Content Marketing: Crafting high quality content through pages, posts, and social shares
Responsive Design: Implementing RWD so your website can be accessed through any device
Structured Data: Organizing content so it can be accurately interpreted by web crawlers

Google’s Priorities Are Clear

Since exact criteria is not released, crafting a website around Google’s algorithm is implausible. What we do know however, is that Google’s overarching philosophy is the enhancement of user experience, and that’s a methodology applicable to every aspect of a website. By implementing elements that cater to user experience, roofing companies can fundamentally improve their site’s ranking potential. Consistently publishing great content, and meeting the needs of your target audience with mobile usability, both contribute to marketing success in 2018. Google’s priorities are:

Mobile Usability: Accessibility to mobile users
Site Speed: Lighting fast loading speeds
User Experience: Presenting users with relevant information quickly

Roofing Webmasters

We are a leading online marketing company for roofing contractors throughout the United States. Our years of experience marketing on behalf of roofers equips us with notable insights that cannot be replicated with other services. General marketing firms often represent a wide range of industries, preventing the level of focus found with a specialty company like ours. We help roofing companies reach their online potential through SEO, web design, PPC, and social media.

For a proactive internet marketing campaign, sign up with Roofing Webmasters. Our team of web designers, content marketers, social media specialists, and PPC managers, collaborate to put contractors in the best position to succeed for 2018 and beyond. By increasing visibility on Google SERPs and generating valuable traffic through PPC and social media advertising, leads will start to increase exponentially. To learn more about Google algorithm updates, and how they affect your website, call us today at (800) 353-5758.

Apr '18

5 Ways To Improve Online Presence

Roofing contractors are often wondering “How do I establish an online presence?” The answer depends on your resources and willingness to venture into uncharted territory. If you haven’t joined the digital revolution, it’s not too late. The team at Roofing Webmasters can help you get on track in a short period of time. We offer a wide variety of online marketing services that can establish your company in its local community. Check out these 5 ways to improve online presence:

#1. Create a Website

It’s easier than ever before to create a website. Several DIY website builders like Weebly, Wix, and Squarespace offer visually pleasing templates that can be edited without knowledge of HTML. These services do not come without a downside however. Since the coding is pre-designed, sites like these tend to lack the SEO potential of a “from-scratch” website. They also present limitations over the control of your source code, as well as your hosting, depending on the setup. Hiring a professional web designer is a better choice, for the following reasons:

Brand Development: Have a designer craft your website with your company’s logo, color scheme, etc.
Custom Design: Stand out in an oversaturated market, filled with stock template websites
SEO: Rank higher on Google search results

#2. Join Social Media

The internet is different than it was 10 and 20 years ago. In 2018, roofers can establish an online presence even without a website. That’s thanks in large part to social networks like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube. These platforms offer free promotion for brands and companies across the world (not to mention paid advertising opportunities). With so much access, having a predetermined social media strategy is recommended and something Roofing Webmasters can help you with. Social media marketing can include the following:

Customer Interaction: Converse with customers through digital platforms
Media Sharing: Curate content from other sources, or share your own through posts
Social Networking: Connect with other businesses, or new and current customers

#3. Start a Blog

It seems like everyone has a blog nowadays. But research shows that blogging is beneficial to businesses. As an informal channel of communication, blogs help companies market themselves in ways that would not be possible through a traditional website. Generally speaking, there are two types of blogs, an external blog, and an internal blog. External blogs are hosted on 3rd party platforms like Google, WordPress.com, and Tumblr. Internal blogs are extensions of a primary website, and therefore hosted on the same server. At Roofing Webmasters we include internal blogs with each of our custom website designs. More benefits to blogging include:

Fresh Content: Publish new posts regularly to keep your website active
Keyword Targeting: Rank for niche topics that aren’t appropriate for your main site
SERP Indexing: Earn indexed posts that appear on Google search results

#4. Claim Your Listings

Nobody looks in the Yellow Pages anymore. Instead they look on internet directories like Google My Business, Facebook, HomeAdvisor, and Angie’s List. Claiming and optimizing your listings on these platforms can increase your likelihood of generating relevant leads. Niche platforms like HomeAdvisor and Angie’s List, cater specifically to the service industry, including roofers. Branding your company listings with a logo, description, and link to your website, can really enhance their value. Regardless of which platform you’re listed on, ensure accuracy and consistency of the following:

Company Address: The exact postal address of your business, including the suffix
Company Name: The verbatim spelling of your company name, including abbreviations
Company Phone Number: The exact phone number listing with its area code

#5. Respond to Reviews

Webmaster Prepares Internet Presence — Call (800) 353-5758 To Sign Up For Services

Review platforms closely parallel listing directories, and sometimes are one in the same. Yelp, for example, is both a listing directory as well as a review website / app. It’s no secret that online reviews significantly impact a consumer’s perception of your business. This includes the nature of the reviews (positive, or negative) along with the presence or absence of them. Companies with zero testimonials have trouble earning trust from potential customers, and usually lose out to more established competitors. One way of improving online presence is to respond to reviews you do have. Follow these guidelines:

Be Professional: Use appropriate, business-like language
Be Encouraging: Offer solutions and work towards a resolution (if negative)
Be Grateful: Regardless of the nature of the review, thank the customer for taking the time to comment

Roofing Webmasters

If you’re intrigued by any of the concepts above but don’t have the time and / or resources to pursue them, contact Roofing Webmasters today. We are an internet marketing company for roofers and offer a wide variety of services including search engine optimization, social media marketing, website design, and much more. We’ve been working with contractors like you for years and have the knowledge and expertise to establish an internet presence on your behalf.

Roofing contractors can be stubborn, and many have resisted the encouragement to establish an online presence. One reason why is that marketing companies don’t usually understand the roofing business, and how to appeal to its consumer base. Roofing Webmasters is different. As a marketing company that specializes in roofing, we understand the nuances of your market and how to best pursue lead generation moving forward. Call (800) 353-5758 to establish an online presence.

Apr '18

Do Roofing Keywords Still Matter?

Content Team Reviews Keyword Channels — Roofer SEO & Internet Marketing Are Always Evolving

If you’ve invested in internet marketing services in the past, you’ve likely been conditioned to believe that keywords are the gateway to online roofing leads. While they cannot be discounted entirely, Google’s evolution provides several reasons to reevaluate the usage of keywords. It helps to understand what a search engine, and more specifically; Google, actually is. In our race to exploit it for our own personal gain, we’ve lost sight of its primary intention, and it’s coming back to bite us. The goal of Google is to provide the most relevant information possible to its users. As its algorithm has gotten smarter, and has developed a greater ability to understand language, context, and overall user intent, the information it relays to those users has changed.

It’s poetic justice that roofing companies who’ve been attempting to generate leads ethically for years are finally being rewarded for their behavior and those that have engaged in manipulative tactics are now suffering the consequences. Still, there exists a massive grey area between websites that are designed entirely for the user’s benefit, and those whose only purpose is to trick search engines into improving their rankings. If we’re being honest, most roofing websites lie somewhere in that grey area, and the question becomes; “what should we do?”. One thing is clear, it’s time for roofing companies to start moving away from keywords, and moving towards user experience.

An Emphasis on User Intent

Back in 2012, Google shifted its focus away from its primary algorithm (PageRank), and began considering “semantic search” which means that the presence of verbatim keywords are no longer necessary to prompt relevant results. Sites stuffing”cheap roofer” in their content no longer have an advantage over websites that refrain from using such terms. Instead, websites that provide engaging and valuable content and inform users of their roofing services, prices, and contact information can still rank without verbatim keywords. Aspects of user intent include:

Context
Relevance
Semantics

For roofing websites, this means that filling on-page content with “affordable roofer” is not as important as creating a website about your affordable roofing service. What would your content look like if keywords were not a consideration? If your only goal was to inform the public about your roofing company and the services it offers, what would your website look like — and read like? These are the questions you should be asking and answering as you decondition yourself from an antiquated philosophy.

The Emergence Of New Channels

Another reason why keywords were once the be all end all of search marketing is because the top organic ranking was the only place to guarantee conversions. Today, many other channels exist in which to acquire traffic and generate new leads. Research even indicates that the click-through-rate (CTR) of organic results has diminished, as new and more engaging outlets have come to the forefront. Newer channels include:

Local 3 Pack: 3 Local results appearing on SERPs
Featured Snippets: A highlighted snippet from a chosen web page
Knowledge Graph: The top right portion of a SERP, showing a company profile
Social Media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and others

With so many new avenues to reach consumers, the premium on organic results has been somewhat deemphasized. That’s not to say it should be abandoned altogether. In fact, organic keyword ranking should remain a part of your search engine optimization strategy. The difference is that it should not be your only focus, as the manifestation of new channels has promoted diversity in online lead generation. Roofing Webmasters is eager to help you get started today. Call (800) 353-5758 to further discuss roofing keywords and what they mean for your business.

Apr '18

Hidden SEO Tips For Roofers

Roofing Webmasters Hidden SEO Tips Roofing companies who have invested in an official website have likely been faced with the task of search engine optimization. While some SEO techniques like keyword research, and NAP citations are common knowledge, others are less talked and written about. Roofing companies can take advantage of these “hidden SEO” techniques and take their online presence to the next level in 2018.

Do you manage your own website? Or do you pay someone to manage it for you? The first step to optimization is defining your goals and delegating responsibilities. It’s important to know who’s doing what, when they’re doing it, and so forth. As is the case with any business investment, properly attributing the source of your leads increases overall efficiency and revenue. Take a look at some of the hidden SEO tips for roofers:

Image Optimization

Images are a an often overlooked part of SEO, and can be the difference between a mediocre performing page, and a high performing page. There are several ways in which images can be optimized for search. Roofing Webmasters performs each one as part of our SEO services:

Alt Text: Keywords should be placed in alt text
File Name: Should be renamed to image-name.jpg
File Type: Should be in .jpg or .png format
File Size: Should be compressed using WPSmush or other tools

Featured Snippets

Every roofing company would like to rank #1 on Google. The reality though is that there are numerous competitors for a single spot. Traditionally, the only way to secure the #1 organic ranking was to have the best links, the best on page optimization, and the best off page optimization, not to mention a good reputation. There is now another way, the featured snippet:

Step 1: Pose a question in your title or header
Step 2: Answer the question in the subsequent paragraph text (in list or bullet point form preferably)
Step 3: Follow standard SEO protocol
Step 4: Hope you earn a featured snippet which appears on top of organic results

Most websites that earn featured snippets already rank in the top 10 for the given search query and / or keyword. That’s why step 3 is so important. Your entire website must be optimized — not just the section you are trying to earn a snippet for. Regardless of which, featured snippets present a new opportunity to rank #1 on Google.

Schema Markup

Ever wonder why certain search results appear more attractive than others? It’s because their data has undergone a process known as schema markup. The schema.org project was started by Google and collaborated on by some of the world’s top developers and companies. It is an agreed upon set of microdata tags that can better communicate your webpage content to Google. Examples of schema markup includes:

Reviews Snippets: An aggregate review rating of your roofing company underneath the result
Rich Snippets: Sub menus underneath traditional results
Video Snippets: Accompanying videos with search results

Roofing Webmasters

Want to take advantage of the hidden SEO in your market? Roofing Webmasters can help you get there. With our internet marketing services, we can give you the edge over competitors. In addition to the obvious optimization techniques like keyword placement, and on-page SEO, we also pay attention to every last detail, from Image optimization to schema markup. Our design team works collaboratively with our content team to form the ultimate marketing solution for roofers.

You might be sick of promises made to you by various marketing companies. They might promise an abundance of traffic that turns out to be empty (doesn’t lead to conversions). They might promise an increase in metrics (click-through rate) that once again don’t lead to conversions. The best way to ensure good marketing services is to demand accountability. That’s what is done at Roofing Webmasters with our month-to-month agreements. You are never locked in long-term, so we are constantly evaluated and held accountable. Call (800) 353-5758 for more hidden SEO tips for roofers.

Mar '18

Making Your Roofing Website Mobile

Making Your Roofing Website Mobile Digital marketing is very much a trend-based industry. The trend most at the forefront of today’s market is mobile usability. In 2018, 79% of global internet usage is expected to occur on mobile devices. Advertisers have taken note, and begun to reallocate their resources to mobile advertising, rather than more traditional desktop promotion. Roofing websites who hope to increase their revenue stream in 2018 must join the mobile revolution ASAP, if they have not done so already. The presence of a mobile website is not enough — it must be highly functional and provide a superior user experience. Most of your leads will come from smartphones, so adapting your website to fit mobile dimensions is the ideal course of action. The below factors determine the quality of a mobile website:

Call To Action

One of the most profound changes in the shift from desktop to mobile is the call to action — both how it is consumed, and how it is delivered. In today’s mobile-first age, calls to action can lead to faster interactions than were previously plausible. Because mobile users are mostly accessing your website via smartphones, they can connect with your company by phone in a matter of seconds. With this in mind, mobile calls to action should be:

Clickable: Mobile calls to action should be as simple as clicking a button
Direct: Click to call functionality can take a smartphone user directly from your website to a phone call
Urgent: CTA’s should create a sense of urgency and encourage immediate engagement

Navigation

The biggest distinction of a mobile website from its desktop counterpart is the navigation. While desktop users will be navigating websites via mouse pad, smartphone users will be navigating with their thumb or other fingers. Needless to say this is quite a difference, and one that must be accounted for in the design stage. When creating your mobile-first website, you’ll want navigation to have the following qualities:

Convenience: Users should be able to easily navigate your mobile site without exerting much effort
Expansion: Expanded menus make navigation simpler and more user-friendly
Functionality: User’s should be able to navigate your site using only their thumb

Presentation

A mobile presentation will vary considerably from a traditional desktop display. Forget everything you once knew about web design. This is a new era of internet, and mobile presentations should be a major departure from the once dominant desktop layout. Today’s users prefer to consume information as cleanly and directly as possible. With this in mind, mobile website presentations should present the following qualities:

Aesthetics: Consider your layout from the eyes of your target audience
Interactivity: Include interactive elements like videos and responsive menus
Simplicity: Less is more in the world of mobile web design

Mobile Web Design From Roofing Webmasters

If your roofing website has not adapted to the mobile revolution, Roofing Webmasters can jump-start the process. Our web design team is well versed in mobile design and creates each website with a mobile-first philosophy. Our SEO experts create compelling calls to action and integrate them within the framework of your design, which by they way, will be unique from your competitors. Unlike many web design services, we don’t use stock templates. Our designers create a custom website, specifically for your roofing company.

If you’re worried about your mobile site translating to desktop, you shouldn’t be. We utilize responsive web design so that your website will adjust to the device on which it is accessed. That means your market of smartphone, tablet, and desktop users will all be reached, with extra special attention paid to mobile users, since they are the overwhelming majority of your visitors. Roofing Webmasters is a company that knows your target audience well, as we’ve been marketing on behalf of roofing companies for years. Call (800) 353-5758 for mobile web design for roofers.

Mar '18

3 Ways Roofers Waste Marketing Dollars

Roofer Marketing Team Measures ROI — Roofing Webmasters Will Get Your Marketing On Track

For roofing contractors, the marketing industry is like a shop full of self-help books. Many of them are trying to manipulate you in some way, and a good percentage of them are proud of it. Still, they make bank off of unsuspecting contractors, many of whom operate under the illusion that these services care at all about the success of their business. Despite multiple algorithm updates, many of which penalized link schemes and thin content, there are still loopholes that create an unfair advantage for certain domains. The ones who suffer the most are the contractors, because they assume that the top results are the best services, and end up blowing their money on half-hearted efforts. Here are 4 ways roofers waste marketing dollars:

Automated Social Media

The social media industry has been a microcosm of internet marketing, and it’s evolution has moved much faster than SEO as a whole. Just 2 years ago, it was fairly easy to reach Facebook users organically through Company Pages. That is no longer the case. The inception of this algorithmic change stems from the preponderance of social spam on branded profiles. This is not limited to Facebook, but also includes Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and others. Automated social posts are fundamentally antisocial, and conflict with the very concept on which it’s published.

Black Hat SEO

The service industry seems to be stuck in the past, in a time when SEO meant something completely different than it does now. Yes, the definition hasn’t changed, but what it is defining certainly has. The search engine (SE) is the principal subject of SEO. Because the top search engines, and most importantly; Google, have evolved over time, the optimization process has followed suit. What once ascended your website to the top of results, can now have it slapped with an official Google penalty. Any manipulative search engine tactics are considered black hat SEO. That includes keyword stuffing, link scheming, hidden text, sneaky redirects, and more.

Guesswork PPC

Without measurement, your PPC campaign is a gamble. Try hitting the roulette table and putting a dime on 00, and then you’ll feel like what it feels like to invest in a PPC campaign on a whim. Companies that consistently succeed on Google AdWords have years of data-driven research to back up their actions. They aren’t “guessing” what will work, they are doing what has proven to work over time. If you don’t have enough data to create a projectable campaign, you can invest in a company like Roofing Webmasters who has decades of data to support your efforts.

The Roofing Webmasters Solution

There’s a simple way to avoid each of the common pitfalls above. Invest in internet marketing services from Roofing Webmasters. We don’t automate social posts, but instead craft real-time, socially acceptable content. There is a zero-tolerance policy for black hat SEO at our offices. We don’t even consider using manipulative tactics. Our PPC campaigns are 100% data driven, backed up by decades of accumulated insights, and executed by a Google certified manager. Get started with our services today by calling (800) 353-5758. You won’t be sorry.

Mar '18

Is Live Chat a Good Call To Action?

Pitfalls of Chatbots For Roofing Websites We have all navigated to websites only to be greeted by an apparent chatbot, asking us how they can help. A fair amount of service websites use chatbots or “live chat” on their homepage in an attempt to lure visitors into engaging in a productive dialogue with the hope of converting them into a customer. While the concept may make sense, in theory, most users find chatbots to be a total waste of time. In most cases, live chat is NOT a good call to action, and here’s why:

Artificial Ignorance

Though AI is presumed to stand for artificial intelligence, when it comes to most live chat systems, artificial ignorance is far more appropriate. Not only are these chatbots, not intelligent, but they are, at times, frustratingly ignorant. Why is this the case? Because most of these mechanisms are built on something called “decision-tree logic.” Basically, anticipated keywords are programmed into the system to induce a relevant response. Though technology is getting closer to developing bots that can learn languages and converse appropriately, they are still not quite there. For the decision-tree concept to work well, the programmer must anticipate an absurd amount of potential keywords, phrases, contexts, and more, a feat just not possible without a wealth of financial resources. The end result is that these live chats are not successful.

Context Matters

The biggest hurdle to be cleared in the world of live chat technology, is context recognition. As human beings we converse with people based on contextual cues that are dispersed back and forth between parties. Things like sarcasm, reference, presumed knowledge, and more, all go right over the head of a common live chatbot. This failure of the technology to interpret context can actually frustrate users on the other end of the conversation. When it reaches this point, not only is live chat not a good call to action, but it can actually serve as a deterrent to customer acquisition. When branding your roofing company website, personalization should be a major component. There is nothing less personal than a robot talking a potential customer in circles.

Ethical Negligence

Many service websites that deploy the use of chatbots fail to make this fact known to their website visitors. As a result, a percentage of users mistakenly believe they are chatting with an actual human being. Though tech savvy users are likely to infer the chat’s robotic tone, older consumers with less digital experience may believe they are chatting with a real sales representative. This is unethical and will only create division between your roofing company, and potential customers. People value transparency, so if you do end up using a chatbot, it is imperative that this information is clearly displayed to visitors. That won’t prevent the intelligence of consumers from being insulted, but at least you won’t breach ethical lines with a misleading element.

Live Chat Alternatives

Until your company can afford cutting edge technology that learns language and interprets context, chatbots should not be an option. In the same breath, unless your company can afford to pay knowledgeable employees to personally attend to live chat inquiries 40 hours per week (at least), live chat should not be an option at all. But if live chat is NOT a good call to action, what can be used in its place? Consider the ideas below:

Click to Call Functionality: Embedded phone number links that connect mobile website visitors directly to your office phone line
Contact Forms: They may seem obsolete, but contact forms can at least move you closer to a meaningful interaction with a potential customer
Video Autoplay: Because video is the hottest content medium on the market, embedding an autoplay YouTube clip of your company imploring a call to action (i.e. calling a phone number), can engage target customers

To generate roofing leads with calls to action, call (800) 353-5758 for roofer internet marketing services.

Jan '18

How Google Assistant Will Impact Roofers

Picture of Google Ipad — Half of All Searches will be Voice Searches by 2020

According to ComScore, by 2020, half of all searches will be voice searches. Just as roofing companies were getting used to the idea of Local SEO and mobile optimization, yet another technological wrinkle has been thrown into the mix. This technology is not going anywhere either. The convenience of using voice commands to produce information on the spot is something everyone can utilize. With that in mind, as this phenomenon becomes more mainstream, a larger portion of the general public will rely on it for their information. But what will new voice technology products like Google Assistant and Amazon Echo mean for roofing contractors?

It means a new way to generate leads for your roofing company. Just as search engine optimization adapted to fit the mobile surge, it will have to do so again to account for voice recognition. Many of the same SEO practices remain important, but extra special attention will have to be paid to citation sources and company reviews. There has never been more access to business information than there is today, and it keeps getting easier to distribute with each new advancement in technology.

Google Assistant Local Lead Generation

Google’s voice recognition tool; Google Assistant now offers local lead generation by partnering with services like HomeAdvisor and Porch. Consumers will be able to say “Ok, Google, find me a roofer” and be prompted to communicate additional details like “my shingles are damaged” or “my roof is leaking”. From there the assistant will connect you with their best choice of roofer, or produce a list of reputable roofers for you to choose from. Roofing companies should account for this new technology by practicing the following SEO techniques:

Customer Review Management: Since Google will produce reputable roofing options, you must ensure your reputation is intact with positive reviews across multiple platforms
Directory Listing Optimization: Making sure your company is listed on local directories will be more important than ever, as will the accuracy and consistency of your contact information
Service Categorization: It will be critical to properly categorize your services, both on your website, and local directories, so that you can be matched with relevant consumers

Though Amazon Echo is still considered the most popular home voice recognition hardware, it does not currently offer a version of this lead generation feature. For that reason, Google Assistant may begin to increase in popularity and potentially overtake Echo as the #1 product on the market. It is also possible that Amazon Echo soon develops a similar feature for home service lead generation, and roofing companies must stay prepared to account for any additional features on the horizon.

The #1 Roofing Internet Marketing Company

Many options are available for online marketing services but generic firms don’t have in depth knowledge about the roofing industry. What your company really needs is a service that specializes in marketing for roofing contractors. That’s exactly what you’ll get with Roofing Webmasters. We work with contractors like you all the time, and know exactly how to appeal to your customer base.

2018 is upon us, and the rise of voice recognition in search engines is only going to increase. To ensure full optimization of your roofing company online, contact Roofing Webmasters today. We handle every aspect of your internet marketing, including; online citations, reputation management, SEM, and SEO. Call (800) 353-5758 to speak with an expert today!