People seek roofing services for different reasons. They may need a new roof installed or an existing roof repaired or maintained. In this regard, they will likely start their search online as it offers more convenience instead of relying on word-of-mouth recommendations.
Considering the intense competition in the roofing industry, roofing companies need to take advantage of every opportunity to stand out. SEO is one valuable investment that increases your chances of being found by customers who are actively looking for the services you provide.
This article walks you through the basics and benefits of SEO for roofing companies. You’ll also learn some SEO best practices, mistakes to avoid, and other essential information to get started in the right direction.
What is SEO for Roofers?
SEO, which stands for search engine optimization, is a digital marketing strategy that basically aims to make your roofing website appeal to search engines like Google.
This is done through various practices ranging from creating quality content to keeping your website mobile-friendly. The result of these efforts is your website appearing higher in search results.
As more people within your location see and visit your website, your brand awareness increases. This will likely result in more leads, which translates to more roofing services being acquired.
Benefits of SEO for Roofing Companies
Without SEO, a roofing company would miss out on opportunities to effectively reach its target audience and they fall behind those who are already ranking on search. Investing in SEO may require time and effort in the beginning — but the benefits outweigh the costs.
Here are the ways SEO helps your roofing business:
Increased online visibility
Local businesses like roofers need a strong online presence, especially since many customers nowadays search for roofing services while on the go. SEO primarily focuses on organic visibility. This means that your roofing website appears in search results without paying for placement, unlike advertising.
Enhanced credibility and trust
Given that roofing projects involve working on the most critical aspects of a home or building — the roof — customers know that they need a company they can trust. You may have the expertise to do the work effectively, but without SEO, this expertise might go unnoticed.
A well-optimized website signals professionalism to potential customers. This can build trust and credibility with roofing customers who perceive the website as a source of roofing information and services.
Local market domination
If you operate in an area where there’s high demand for roofing services, it’s likely that you want to dominate the local market — in other words, get the larger share of the market.
In that case, SEO can be an effective means of getting targeted traffic from a specific location. As you optimize your roofing website for specific keywords and phrases related to your services, you’ll be able to connect with potential customers.
Long-term growth
Rather than focusing on short-term gains, most roofing companies want sustainable results. This could mean being able to offer additional services, winning more contracts for roofing projects, and getting repeat business.
SEO helps achieve these results for long-term growth since it involves staying updated with changes. These changes don’t just occur in search engine algorithms, but also in your audience’s behaviors and industry trends.
How to Do SEO for Roofing Companies
As a roofing company looking to achieve these benefits through SEO, you must gain an understanding of SEO principles. We outlined some steps below, which encompass various aspects of SEO:
1. Keyword research
Keyword research entails identifying certain keywords and phrases that people type into search engines when trying to find a product or service. For roofing companies, these search queries may include terms like:
- “Roofing repair near me”
- “Best roofing company”
- “Roof replacement cost”
- “Residential roofing services in [city]”
- “Commercial roofing services in [city]”
Identifying these keywords and tailoring your content around them allows you to address the needs of your potential customers. Content you can create that target these keywords include blog posts and service pages.
2. Quality content
Speaking of content, quality content is one that your target audience considers relevant and valuable. In other words, it helps meet their needs and interests.
Here are some examples of quality content that your potential customers would appreciate:
- An educational blog post discussing the common signs a roof needs to be repaired
- A comprehensive guide on yearly tasks to keep roofs in top condition
- An “About Us” page that communicates your roofing company’s mission, values, and commitment to quality
- Service pages with detailed descriptions of each service, its benefits, and photos of completed roofing projects
As you can tell, these types of content focus on informing and engaging people. These unique insights that you offer will set you apart as an industry leader.
3. On-page optimization
On-page optimization, as the name suggests, involves maximizing the elements of individual website pages. Pages on your roofing website that are well-optimized have better chances of gaining higher visibility in search results.
Various on-page elements that are to be optimized include:
- Placement of keywords – This means incorporating keywords strategically and naturally in a way that improves the readability of a piece of content.
- Header tags – Also known as heading tags, these help organize content on your web pages. They make it possible to break up content into sections so that it’s easier to understand.
- Meta description – This is a snippet of text, about 150 to 160 characters long, that reflects the content of a page. For example, the meta description “Get expert roof repair and replacement services in [City] from XYZ Roofing. Our experienced team specializes in residential and commercial roofing solutions.” informs people about the services offered by the company and includes a clear call-to-action.
- Internal linking – This is the practice of linking to other pages within your roofing website to lead visitors to discover relevant pages. Besides promoting other pages and improving user experience, internal linking allows search engine crawlers to index new pages.
- External linking – This involves linking to websites or other resources outside of your roofing website’s domain. Although external linking does not directly contribute to a website’s SEO performance, it can improve users’ experiences by providing additional information related to your content.
- Mobile-friendliness – A mobile-friendly website displays properly on different screens and loads fast. If a screen is smaller, people viewing a roofing website should still be able to read the text and click the buttons. Moreover, roofers should keep mobile-first indexing in mind. It is a method where Google primarily considers the mobile version of your site when ranking and indexing content.
Focusing on these aspects not only helps improve your search engine performance but also enhances the experiences of people who visit your roofing website.
4. Local SEO
Compared to standard SEO, local SEO focuses on targeting people within a geographical area. This can be a particular neighborhood, city, or region. For roofing companies, local SEO is important given that roofing services are location-based.
Here are some ways roofers can optimize their website to target homeowners or businesses in a particular area:
- Local keyword targeting – This means choosing and optimizing for keywords that include location-specific terms or modifiers. A few examples are “local roofers in [city]” and “best roofing company in [city].” Focusing on location-specific keywords can help your company target a narrower audience. This will also allow you to differentiate yourself from less locally focused companies.
- Google My Business listing – Google My Business (GMB) is a free service provided by Google where you can maintain your local business profile. Since it allows you to provide your business details — such as your roofing company’s name, address, phone number, etc. — optimizing your GMB listing helps local customers easily find you.
- Online reviews and reputation management – When it comes to local search algorithms, online reviews are considered an important ranking factor. Given the fact that roofing is a service-oriented industry, potential customers check your reputation to make an informed choice.
- Local content and blogging – Roofing companies can create and publish articles about topics within your local area. This can include specific concerns about roofing and weather-related roof damage. Moreover, you can share success stories of your customers (case studies) and before-and-after galleries to highlight your work.
5. Link building
This SEO approach involves acquiring relevant and authoritative backlinks from other websites to your roofing website.
For example, you could reach out via email and collaborate with an owner or editor of another website that covers roofing tips. You propose to write an informative piece of article on “Choosing the Right Roofing Material for Your Home” that’s tailored to the website’s audience and editorial guidelines.
Within the content you create for the website, you strategically and naturally include a backlink to one of your pages or articles.
This simple link-building process can help increase your online visibility by placing your business in front of a wider audience. As your roofing website continues to earn backlinks, your traffic, authority, and relevance improve in the eyes of search engines.
Common SEO Mistakes to Avoid for Roofing Companies
A roofing company, like any other local business, can make mistakes that affect their results without knowing them. Errors may also happen in cases where roofers are unaware of the best SEO practices.
One common mistake is stuffing your roofing website pages with keywords to manipulate search rankings. Unfortunately, excessive keyword usage makes content difficult to understand and content then appears to sound unnatural or spammy.
Keyword stuffing doesn’t just create a poor user experience, but it also leads to penalties or your website getting completely removed from search results.
Another mistake having poor website structure and navigation. This could look like having too many menu options, unclear labels, URLs that are long and confusing, a lack of internal links, and slow page speeds.
These structure and navigation problems can make it difficult for search engines to properly index your roofing website. Moreover, you may have higher bounce rates since visitors have difficulty finding the information they need.
How to Measure the Success of Your Roofing SEO Strategy
Understanding the impact that SEO has on your roofing company website will help you make better future decisions. This is because you’ll be able to identify your key strengths and weaknesses, and therefore make adjustments.
Below are several key metrics and methods you can use to evaluate your roofing SEO strategy:
- Track the rankings of your target keywords
- Analyze trends in your organic traffic
- Measuring conversions, such as form submissions and appointment bookings
- Monitor metrics such as impressions, clicks, and click-through rates
- Tracking local search performance, such as local pack rankings and Google My Business impressions
Keep an eye on these metrics based on the goals you’ve set in the beginning.
How Long Does It Take to See Results from Roofing SEO Strategy?
You may start to notice some initial improvements from your SEO efforts within the first 3 months. These improvements may relate to your search engine visibility and traffic.
However, remember that the timeline for results will also vary depending on the market competition, the current performance of your roofing website, and the quality of your SEO campaign.
Conclusion
Roofing companies with an SEO strategy gain a competitive edge over competitors that are not as visible online. They convey trust and credibility and have higher chances of increased growth.
You can implement these strategies on your own — but by hiring an SEO team for your roofing website, you benefit from years of expertise. Remember that SEO takes time, effort, and resources.
If you lack the skill set and time, and prefer to focus on other aspects of your business, having someone do it for you can be a wise investment.