Roofing Reviews Survey (2020 Independent Marketing Study)

Google examines hundreds of signals to determine how credible a website is. Since any roofer can claim to provide the “best roofing services,” Google looks off-site to establish trustworthiness, and reviews are a primary signal.

Client reviews are one of the most reliable trustworthiness indicators. According to consumer research, approximately 78% of Americans trust online customer reviews as much as personal recommendations (Statista). We designed our surveys to find out exactly where consumers look—and how important review diversity is to them.

Most consumers prefer to consult multiple review sources before choosing a roofing contractor. Only 7.9% claimed to use a single source. Meanwhile, almost 42% said they don’t typically check online reviews at all—indicating a preference for personal recommendations or reliance on Google search rankings.

Women are slightly more likely to check reviews than men, and more likely to check multiple sources. But the more significant gap is generational—younger age groups are increasingly likely to check reviews before selecting a contractor.

The business case for multi-platform review presence is clear. More review listings create additional backlinks to your site and provide validation for the segment of consumers who cross-check multiple sources. You can’t afford to miss over half your audience simply because your review presence is thin.

The charts below reveal where consumers actually go first, and the generational split in platform preference is striking.

Each subsequent generation shows less preference for BBB or Angie’s List over Google Reviews. The 35–44 bracket also shows much higher Yelp usage than older groups. Roofing professionals can use this data to determine where to focus review collection efforts, and where to advertise.

One of the inevitable struggles with collecting online user feedback is the trickle of negative reviews. Many roofing professionals consider rebranding entirely after a few one-star reviews. If you’ve been hit with unfair criticism, don’t be so quick to shut things down.

People expect a few negative reviews. Even Google expects them.

A broad segment of consumers is willing to accept ratings between 4.0–4.9 stars. Males are especially likely to give sub-5-star contractors a shot. Below four stars, acceptance drops sharply. Let’s see how age factors into these findings.

From age 35 to 64, consumers showed intriguing comfort with sub-perfect ratings. This may reflect growing wariness toward fake reviews commonly associated with perfect scores, or a perceived link between lower ratings and more competitive pricing. Regardless, many consumers are quite willing to try contractors with imperfect scores. Don’t restart your business over a handful of bad reviews. Instead, double down on asking happy clients for feedback.