What are Roofing Google Ads?
Google Ads, formerly known as Google Adwords, refers primarily to Google’s online advertising platform but may also denote a specific advertisement appearing on Google search results or elsewhere on their display network. For roofing companies, in particular, a Google advertisement promotes roofing services within a defined service area.
PPC Advertising With Google Ads
Google Adwords is a form of PPC (Pay Per Click) advertising. It’s Google’s brand of PPC that allows your ad to show up on relevant SERPs. Let’s say, for example, that you operate a roofing company in Muncie, Indiana. Now someone in the Muncie area hops on their computer and does a Google search for “roofers in Muncie” or “roof repair near me” or something to that effect.
With Google Adwords, an advertisement for your company could come up at the top of the results list, which would garner you a ton of clicks. So instead of spending months trying to claw your way to the top of the search rankings, you can pay for an ad that will display near the top of the results page on relevant searches.
Why Roofers Purchase Google AdWords Clicks
Running a successful roofing business is all about being seen. Making people aware of your company and your services is crucial. And in the digital age, being seen usually means showing up on SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages).
And for a new roofing company, showing up on the first page and near the top of SERPs is very difficult. Difficult but not impossible. Many savvy business owners turn to Google Ads (sometimes referred to as Google Adwords or simply Adwords) to help them get noticed by the potential customer when they are first starting.
Google Ads for roofers is a smart choice that has important benefits, which we will get into a bit later. So if you are interested in Adwords to promote your business, you should definitely read on as we explain how Adwords works and how you can leverage them to gain more customers for your roofing business in today’s guide.
Why are Google Ads Important?
As we alluded to just now, most people have to scratch and claw to get to the coveted top spot (or near it) on SERPs. The top search results get almost all the clicks and, therefore, the highest chance to convert customers. So this presents a lot of important advantages to small businesses, including:
Immediate Exposure
When you’re first starting, you will need all the exposure you can get. Organic SEO could take months, but with Google Adwords, you can immediately reach the top of the search rankings and get noticed by your local market.
Ad Targeting
With Google Adwords, you can make sure that the ads you pay for reach people who are most likely to need/want your services as a roofer. You can target audiences by geographic location, age, specific keywords and even make sure that your ad shows up at a certain time of day.
Pay Per Click
Google Adwords runs off the pay-per-click model. This means that you will only have to pay Google when someone actually clicks on the ad – not every time your ad is displayed.
Market Insight
When you use Adwords, you can see statistics of how your ads are doing. This can provide you with invaluable market insight like who is clicking on your ads and taking action.
Getting Started with Google Adwords
The setup process is fairly easy, and the prompts will guide you through the entire thing. All you have to do is sign up here to get your first campaign started. We won’t bore you with the sign-up details that are self-explanatory. Instead, we will provide tips for some of the finer points of setting up your ad campaign.
Geographic Location
We described earlier how Google Ads for roofers could be advantageous because they allow you to target your ads toward a specific location. And as a roofer, your business is very much a local one. So when you come to the “Location” option of the setup process, you can enter a specific city name so that your ad shows up only for people in that city. But if you click the “Advanced Search” option, you can better target your ads based on postal code or region. You can also select a radius in miles for how far you want your ad display from your actual location.
Search and Display Networks
You will also have the option to choose your ads to be shown on a Display Network or a Search Network. The Search Network is the favorable option for new roofing companies because it will ensure that your ad shows up on relevant searches on the actual Google page. Display Network ads show up outside of the actual Google search site on websites partnered with Google ads.
Keyword Selection
The next thing that most people have trouble with is selecting keywords. These are the search phrases that will trigger the display of your ads so you have to choose wisely. Think about your popular services and how people might search for them.
Choosing Target Keyword Terms
Google Ads gives you multiple keyword selection options such as broad match, broad match modifier, phrase match, and exact match.
Broad match
Allows your ad to display on searches that are remotely related to your actual keyword. This allows you to reach more people, but the downside is that the ad might reach people who really aren’t interested in roofing services.
Broad Match Modifier
Works by placing a “+” before the keyword. If a search is conducted that contains the phrase after the plus sign, your ad will show up.
Phrase Match
Your ad will show up only on searches that contain your phrase is the exact order in which you typed it. For instance, if one of your phrase match phrases is “shingle repair Des Moines” your ad will not show up for people who search “Des Moines shingle repair service.”
Exact Match
Your ad will only appear when someone does a search that contains your exact keywords as they are listed.
It is probably the best idea for local roofers to choose the broad match modifier for most keywords.
Landing Page Optimization for Google Ads
You also have to think about where the visitor lands once they click on your Google ad. This is what’s known as a landing page, and here are some essential tips for crafting an effective landing page:
Make it Relevant
As much as you can, make the landing page correspond with the ad. If your ad promotes your shingle replacement service, don’t make the landing page it leads to about new roof installation – make it about shingle replacement.
Well-Written
Make sure the content on your landing page is well written. About 350-400 words should do.
Calls to Action
Your landing page has to have an attention-grabbing heading and call to action. Most visitors will read your call to action if they read your heading, so make sure it inspires the visitor to make a move.
