As a roofing contractor, your job is relatively straightforward–at least to you. You understand how to find out whether or not a roof still has plenty of life left in it, how to tear off an old roof, and how to put on a new one.
Not so long ago, word of mouth advertising was the primary vehicle through which companies like yours brought in new business, and you understood how to make that happen: by providing great service to your customers. Now, however, reaching new customers involves more than just getting word out about your business.
You need to optimize your website for search engines in order to be sure that interested customers in your area can find your business.
1. Take Content Production Seriously
One of the primary methods for increasing your search engine ranking is simply creating content that highlights relevant keywords. You’ll want to rank for both long-tail keywords and short ones. For example, “roofing contractors in [your local area]” is important, but so is, “How can I tell if my roof needs to be replaced?” Take the time to research the keywords that are most relevant to your business–both those that your buyer personas are using to search and those that your competitors are highlighting. Keep in mind these basic strategies for content creation.
- Content should be genuinely relevant and useful to your readers. When you write, address serious pain points for people who are looking for answers.
- Long-form content gives deeper answers to questions. Short-form content provides checklists and other references that readers can use quickly. Using both can help benefit your readers.
- “Content” doesn’t stop with blog posts. You can also use infographics to showcase things like how to know when it’s time to replace a roof, videos to answer key questions about roofing, and even webinars that help answer common customer questions.
- Produce a variety of content on a range of topics. Take the time to brainstorm. Listen to your customers about the type of content that matters to them, then produce it!
- Post on a consistent schedule. Search engines and customers both reward consistency!
2. Optimize for Mobile
Mobile optimization doesn’t just add a layer of professionalism to your website. It also increases the number of customers who are able to find you–and it’s about more than the fact that Google penalizes websites that aren’t mobile-friendly no matter what type of device the searcher is using. Interested customers don’t just remember that they need work done on the roof when they’re sitting at home with access to a personal computer. It might occur to them during a break at work, while they’re out in town, or while they’re waiting on a friend at a local restaurant: in short, all the times when they’ll have their mobile device, not a desktop. Being mobile-friendly involves a few key elements.
- Your homepage should be easy to load, with elements that will load quickly from a mobile device.
- Your page should contain a minimal number of pop-ups so that customers can get to your site quickly and easily.
- Your site should be easy to resize in order to fit into the right size frame for the customer’s device–including zooming in or out as needed to view content.
3. Focus on Local Information
As a roofing contractor, you deal with a comparatively specific geographic area: if you’re working in Minneapolis, you’re not going to go to Houston to put on a roof! For that reason, you need to specifically target local search terms in order to maximize the reach of your business.
- Remember your Google My Business page. Make sure that the information on it is accurate for your current address, phone number, and other contact information.
- Expand your reach by noting other terms for local areas: cities close to the one where you work, the county name, and so on.
- Create local content that’s relevant to people in your geographic area, not just to people looking for roofing contractors. This will help maximize your local search ranking as well as highlighting your business for people who may not need a roof replaced now, but will need this service in the future.
4. Consider PPC Ads
Pay-per-click ads allow you to quickly raise your website in search engine ranking. You pay for each visitor who clicks on your ad and visits your webpage, but ideally, those clicks will pay for themselves over time. A great PPC ad campaign includes:
- Specific keywords that are most likely to lead to conversions (for example, you might be more interested in searchers who want to find someone to replace a roof than searchers who want to know whether or not their roof needs to be replaced)
- Local keywords that will ensure you get visitors from your target area
- Negative keywords that avoid clicks from visitors who are looking for services that your company doesn’t offer (for example, you might not specialize in handling steep roofs)
Optimizing your website for SEO is an ongoing process–and it’s not one that you should tackle alone. Just like you know most homeowners should leave roofing to the professionals, if you need to leave your website design and SEO in good hands, contact us! We’ll work with you to produce a website that will meet the needs of your customers, optimizing your search engine results so that you’ll be able to more easily bring in the traffic that your webpage needs in order to help your business succeed.
