SEO is a competitive space in 2021. Local roofers in New York compete on Google to rank for terms like “roofer in new york” or “roofing contractor ny” and other related terms. The goal for each local contractor is to show up on organic results and the local map pack. This is best achieved using Contractor SEO services that involve on-page SEO, local SEO, content writing, web design, and more. Google looks at various signals to determine where a local business will rank on search results.
Google’s Local 3-Pack Helps Generate Leads for New York Roofing Companies
Search Engine Optimization Guide for NY Roofing Companies
SEO is one of the most essential aspects of marketing your website online, yet so few really know how to truly implement it. SEO for roofers in New York can be the difference between success and failure for those businesses.
This is where local SEO comes into play. Dominating SEO for roofers in New York is necessary to stand out among competitors, develop leads that are the lifeblood of any business, and bringing in those conversions that can have the biggest impact on the bottom line.
But how can you dominate SEO for roofers in New York? What steps can you make to turn the local SEO game into something that benefits your business and helps you to generate those leads that you need to keep your business buzzing?
Here is a guide to dominating SEO for roofers in New York:
1) Optimize Google My Business
One of the most effective tools out there for SEO for roofers in New York is Google My Business. These listings allow users to get all the relevant information on businesses in the keyword that they are searching for. These listings can make a huge difference in the ability of a company to generate the leads that they need to continue growing.
The first step is to claim your business on Google My Business. This will establish your business’ presence on the massive search engine completely free of cost. Even better, it also means that your business will show up on Google Maps. Allowing users to find your business during those local searches can make a huge difference when searching.
The key here is to make certain that all the information you provide is both complete and accurate. Far too many businesses establish their Google My Business listing but don’t provide accurate information.
Doing this not only frustrates the end-user, but it also knocks down your value in the eyes of Google SERPs. Google has the goal of providing the most accurate, relevant information possible to its users, and having incomplete information won’t make the cut.
2) Get Regular Reviews
Perhaps the most important aspect of the online presence of any business is the ability to generate reviews. The vast majority of those reviews need to be positive, too, because no one wants to go with a business that has overwhelmingly negative reviews.
Why are those reviews so important? More than anything, customers are looking to verify that the company they are looking into is a trustworthy and reliable option. They don’t want to spend their hard-earned money on a service that won’t provide great results.
It is also important to remember that a few negative reviews are not back-breaking. As a matter of fact, they can be quite helpful to your overall perception in the eyes of customers. A business with 100% positive results doesn’t feel “real” in the eyes of the consumer.
It is those negative results that make your business feel authentic and also provide an opportunity for you to respond positively. Being able to positively respond to those negative reviews shows that your business is willing to go above and beyond to provide a positive experience to the customer.
Amass those reviews any way that you can. Provide an incentive for your past customers to provide reviews because they can have a substantial impact on your SEO ranking as well as how you are viewed by potential customers. To dominate SEO for roofers in New York, this is an absolute must.
3) Optimize for Organic Search
The local map pack is great, but it is based partially on proximity, which is something you cannot control. If you really want to generate local New York area leads, you will have to show up on organic results in addition to mapping.
Organic SEO involves writing high-quality content within a logical URL website structure. It also requires on-page SEO techniques such as title tag and meta description optimization. Another important on-page SEO tactic is internal linking, which helps users navigate between relevant pages on your website.
Google asks you to write pages that clearly and accurately describe your topic, which is what you must provide in order to rank on organic. Never copy content from another source, and always ensure that it is written by someone with a background in content or roofing.
Keyword research is another critical part of the process since it reveals what your potential customers are searching for. You can use tools like MOZ Keyword Explorer, SEMRush, and UberSuggest to find the search volume for specific phrases. Keep in mind that some keywords are more competitive than others, and will require more work to rank for.
4) Optimize for Mobile
If you didn’t get the importance of mobile when discussing voice optimization, we will drive home the impact that it has on SEO for roofers in New York and elsewhere. Since 2017, mobile versus desktop trends have shifted starkly to the point where mobile is the favored origination point for searches.
As a result, this means that having a faster mobile site is more important than ever. With mobile searches continuing to grow at an exponential rate, more importance than ever is being placed on having a website optimized for mobile.
There are a few common tips for making certain that your website is optimized for mobile. Things like using bigger fonts to make it easier to read on smaller screens. Using images and copy sparingly since there is less room to work with on those mobile screens.
Perhaps most important is ensuring that your website loads quickly. If it takes longer than 3 seconds to load, the user will likely move on from your website. It might seem unreasonable, but that’s how mobile searching works these days.
Optimize your website for mobile and your position in SEO for roofers in New York should grow exponentially.
5) Use Location Pages
If your business has more than one location in a given geographical area, it is essential to have location pages. Not only that, those location pages need to be able to provide a number of informative bits:; store hours, name/address/phone number (NAP), individualized descriptions, promotions, testimonials, parking availability, and Google Maps attached to each location page.
And that’s just the start of it. If you have multiple location pages, you need to create individualized content for each of those unique pages. Repeating content will only serve to harm your overall SERP ranking, so don’t just copy and paste content from page to page.
If you have just one location, as many companies targeting SEO for roofers in New York have, then you definitely need an “About Us” page that focuses on local, relevant information about your business. That about us page can mention projects that you have undertaken in your town or city, information that is relevant to your business and location.
6) Designate Pages for Specific Roofing Services
The process of creating a website can be a large and taxing endeavor to undertake. For that reason, it can be completely understandable to want to lump all of your products or services together into one big page. Do. Not. Do this.
It is important to have one page that is dedicated to each of the products or services that you offer. This is because search engines will not see your authority in that area if you lump all of your services together. It lowers your ranking possibilities and hurts your overall SERP.
If you don’t have many individualized products or services but have multiple locations, this is where those location-based pages come in handy. You can provide unique content on each of those pages, improving your overall Google SERP.
7) Build Quality Backlinks
Backlinks are essential for SEO for roofers in New York and a litany of other searches for a reason: they help establish your authority within your industry and in the eyes of Google’s SERPs. When your website is authoritative, it checks off one of the major categories that Google uses to determine the most relevant search results.
Being able to establish that authority within your industry is essential because it means that others within the industry will refer back to your website. This can mean generating organic traffic to your website from people who may have been on the fence about your services but still trust your word on relevant topics.
Creating consistent, engaging content is one of the best ways to establish that authority. Talk about questions that your target audience asks on a regular basis and answer them in a comprehensive manner on your website.
Doing this creates a level of authority for your business within the industry and can even garner links from other authorities within the industry. This is beneficial not only in the eyes of the customer but in the eyes of Google’s SERPs as well, resulting in better opportunities to rank on page 1 of their relevant results.
SEO for window treatment companies is a process of improving your online presence in order to appear more favorably in search engine results, specifically on Google. SEO can be applied not only to your business website but also to your local listings and other digital assets.
How Competitive is Window Treatment SEO?
Regardless of your industry or location, competition is one commonality for all businesses across the globe. The fact of the matter is that business is a very dog-eat-dog world. For local businesses, the margin for error is smaller than ever, meaning you need all the help that you can get.
Going up against companies that are able to have auto-generated local listings can be a tough thing to beat. Not only that, local businesses need to do all they can to be near the top of Google’s ever-evolving list of ranking factors.
That is why having the right window treatment marketing strategy is essential for local businesses like those in the window treatment business. That is why following a few essential tips for SEO marketing can go a long way towards helping local businesses remain relevant and hit the top of those local Google business searches.
Check out these 9 tips for 2022:
1) Claim Your Business Listings
A great thing about the internet is that there are a ton of online listing websites out there. These allow users to perform searches based on specific industries, searching for all the businesses that are in that listing format.
Having listings for your business over the long term means that, eventually, duplicate listings will accumulate. It is essential that you claim all the listings that are under your business name and remove any duplicates.
Most of all, ensure that your listings have accurate and up-to-date information. That is one of the biggest issues that plague businesses: inaccurate information.
2) Improve Your NAP Consistency
There’s an acronym out there that maybe you aren’t the most familiar with: NAP. This stands for name, address, and phone number. And the thing about your NAP is that it should be consistent everywhere that you place it.
This information is the most vital when it comes to customers contacting you. If your NAP is wrong or inconsistent, there are repercussions to be had. The first is that customers will not be able to reach you. The second is that you risk frustrating your customers with inaccurate, inconsistent information.
Don’t fall into the trap of inaccurate NAP. It can be some of the most valuable information that you present on your website and social media listings. Don’t let it hurt you when it is meant to help you.
3) Add Location Pages to Your Website
Search engines, like Google, are constantly crawling your website and finding the most comparable matches to provide for the results on each search engine results page. When you have a specific landing page for each of your business locations, this allows search engines to easily locate your listing and then deliver the appropriate location to the person performing the search.
As is the case with NAP consistency, the key here is to provide accurate information. Include any suite numbers for your building, and make sure to be consistent when deciding if you want avenue, street, road, etc., written in full or have them abbreviated.
Remember: how you have the information presented on these pages will determine how it is your information will be updated everywhere else. Consistency across the board is essential, and any inconsistencies can hurt how your pages rank.
4) Reviews, Reviews, Reviews
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: reviews are essential. Well, this is because they are absolutely essential to your website and your business as a whole. There are two primary reasons that reviews are so important.
The first is that they dictate your business’s reputation. If you have many positive reviews, you will be able to gain customers’ trust far more easily. Most customers are just looking for a dependable business to fill their needs, and positive reviews are the best way to achieve that.
The second is that your reviews actually help your local pack ranking factor. If you have great reviews, you stand a stronger chance of standing out in those local packs, helping you to rank near the top of the rankings for those keywords in those areas.
The former is known as“social proof.” It proves to searchers that your business is highly recommended and that it is trustworthy as well. Those factors are nothing to scoff at, proving to be highly valuable for your business.
5) Optimize Google my Business
One of the most essential tools for any local business is its Google My Business listing. This is essentially Google’s answer to the business listing websites that are out there. Your Google My Business listing will have all the essential information necessary for consumers to find your business.
This includes your name, address, and phone number (NAP) and can include things like pictures, hours of operation, and a link to your website. The key, like your NAP consistency, is to ensure that all of your information is as accurate as possible.
Inaccurate information is one thing that plagues those with GMB listings. If you can ensure that all of your listing information is accurate, that your pictures are clear and high-quality, and that your link is accurate, you stand a cut above the rest.
6) Create Local Content
Content is one of the biggest factors for successful window treatment SEO. This is because Google places heavy emphasis on content, looking to provide the most authoritative and informative websites possible in each of its search results.
Creating localized content can be a determining factor for your business in those local search rankings. That local content is niche in nature, meaning you have to create content that appeals to the local audience.
Knowing what to focus on can be essential. Pick topics that appeal to your audience and will help you establish your authority within the industry. This is the key to having appealing, niche localized content.
7) Network for Backlinks and Partnerships
One true way to establish authority within your industry is to get backlinks from trustworthy sources. There are no doubt other authorities within your industry. Getting them to link to your website would give you the authority boost necessary to make your website an authority in its own right.
That is why building partnerships with other businesses in the area is so imperative. You can link to one another’s websites, giving each other a sense of authority and trustworthiness. Get enough of those backlinks, and you will see a substantial difference in your website’s authority.
The key here is to take the low-hanging fruit. You can even take part in or create charitable or fundraising events in order to raise the profile of your business. This way, a charity gets additional help, and your business gets additional exposure. That’s a win-win if there ever was one.
8) Utilize Free SEO Tools
Anything that you can find to help you optimize your website for local searches is something that you should be taking advantage of. For smaller local businesses especially, every little tool can mean the difference.
Take all the help that you can get; the competition for local search results can come down to the smallest things.
9) Engage in Social Media
There are far too many local businesses that simply ignore social media. This is usually for one of two reasons: they either think social media is too broad to be able to help with their local results, or they don’t’ like what the platforms represent.
While the latter is certainly a discussion for another time, there is one thing that needs to be made clear: social media platforms are highly beneficial marketing tools. There are few avenues, in fact, that are as effective as social media.
This is because you can have direct interaction with your audience. On Twitter and Facebook, you can share links to your website or services, hear directly from your audience, and even respond back to negative reviews.
The ability to reach your audience in short order, to address those concerns, and to share content that can lead back to your website is invaluable. Don’t be like those small businesses that refuse to join the times; make certain you have an established voice on social media.
Focus on Optimization in 2022
There are other methods companies can utilize to improve window treatment SEO, but following these tips can do more than enough to get your local business well-established in the local search rankings.
Understand this: being strong in your local search rankings will not guarantee that your business blows up to massive heights. What it will do, however, is ensure that your local business stays strong in localized searches, allowing your target audience to keep finding you with relative ease.
This is what keeps a local business strong and healthy for longer than others who do not take these factors into consideration.
Masonry SEO is a series of digital marketing efforts aimed to increase visibility and ranking position on Google search engine for concrete and masonry businesses.
The Importance of SEO in The Masonry Industry
In an industry like masonry, it is important for your business to stand out amongst the competitors in your industry. This can be difficult as most masonry companies offer similar services. The key is to make certain that your website is properly optimized.
SEO has changed the way that businesses of all sizes compete for that all-important website traffic. How has SEO managed to do this? Through local SEO.
Local SEO provides businesses to target specific keywords that have what is known as “local intent” – that is, users within a specific geographic location search for those keywords. This allows businesses within that geographic range to strengthen their foothold thanks to keywords in that location.
There are a few keys to gaining a foothold in local SEO rankings. This guide will give you a brief overview of the things that you can do to strengthen your masonry business’s reach in the local SEO game.
Improve UX (User Experience)
Before we get into it, you need a deeper understanding of what Google is here to do. Like any other search engine, its primary goal is to show the best results for any user’s query. Think about it: if Google produces results that are irrelevant or low-quality, those users are unlikely to return to use that search engine.
If your website doesn’t have a high enough quality to it, you will have a very difficult time ranking for your target keywords. There are a lot of factors that go into having a website that is of the highest quality; take all of those factors into consideration while trying to rank for your target keywords.
Increase Site Speed
One of the things that can really hamper a website is having less than optimal loading speeds. And guess what? That doesn’t even mean that your website is necessarily slow, it just is slower than customers want.
If your website speed is more than a few seconds, most users will move on to another website. Not only that, site speed is one of the ranking factors in Google’s search engine algorithm. An emphasis has been put on site speed that reaches all platforms, including mobile.
Best of all, Google offers a number of different tools in order to help you improve the overall speed of your website. This includes PageSpeed Insights in order to help developers improve their overall site performance, Think with Google to help gauge the responsiveness of your website, and a number of different things.
Optimize for Voice Search
What you might not have realized is that an estimated 50% of all searches will be conducted by voice within the next year. That means that millions upon millions of people are not typing their queries out in Google; they are using voice-assisted technology to do that job for you.
This means that it should absolutely play a factor in your masonry SEO strategy. Voice searchers tend to have different habits than text searchers and the devices that they use – Siri, Google Home, Amazon Alexa – will take data from SERPs to replay information from featured snippets back as their answer of choice.
The biggest difference between a text search and a voice search is that the latter tend to be question-based in nature. That’s why you want to answer questions on your website. One in six Americans now owns a smart speaker. That means more question-based queries made to search engines.
You can optimize your website by tailoring your content around long-tail keywords. Voice searchers generally use long-tail keywords when they are searching for information through Google; these terms are generally at least 3 or more words in length as well.
In order to have a shot at ranking for longer keywords, you need to create the kind of content that targets them on your website. Use a few processes to achieve this. Try identifying one long-tail keyword and then find 2-5 others.
When you have done this, write a long-form blog post that is informative and authoritative. Remember to properly format the content for readability so that it hits all the key checkmarks and make sure that you promote all that content as best you can.
Publish Great Content
It cannot be emphasized enough just how important quality content is to masonry SEO rankings. Content is one of the most important aspects of Googles’ search engine rankings algorithm for a reason.
You can do this by creating informative content that answers commonly asked questions from your target audience. Creating a blog through your website is perhaps the most important thing that you can do for your website.
This gives your audience a definitive place to go to find the answers to their questions. Most importantly, it builds trust in your brand. That trust is one of the most important aspects of marketing and one of the biggest challenges that brands have in appealing to their audience.
Google recognizes quality content above nearly all other search ranking factors. If your website consistently delivers quality, relatable, and informative content, it will greatly improve your website’s ranking.
Produce Self-Made Videos
One of the fastest-rising trends in SEO is video content. This is because it is optimized not only for search engines but for YouTube as well. And YouTube generates 3 billion searches per month, which surpasses Yahoo, AOL, and Bing combined.
Best of all, creating engaging videos is easier and more cost-effective than ever. Smartphones are equipped with high-quality cameras that allow you to shoot informative and interesting videos for your website on a regular basis.
Implementing videos into your marketing strategy means that you can significantly impact the amount of traffic that your website sees each month. This can be done by tagging the proper keywords, adding meta descriptions, and crafting a compelling video title.
All of these processes can help you properly optimize your website so that your local masonry business can compete in the digital marketing platform. A strong SEO game will keep your business relevant for a long time to come.
Contractor Webmasters Solutions
If you require assistance with your digital marketing campaign, consider investing in contractor SEO from Contractor Webmasters. As a leading SEO firm for contractors, we’ve developed and optimized countless websites and business listings for premium search engine results. Our process is all-encompassing in that we develop your website from scratch with custom code, create original high-quality content, and manage local business listings including GMB. Call 800-775-1250 to learn more.
Window treatment marketing is the process of promoting window treatment services and styles including window blinds and window coverings. Marketing efforts can be exercised through digital outlets using search engine optimization and paid advertising on Google, Facebook, and other popular media channels.
Why Window Companies Need Marketing
When thinking about how to start a window treatment business, it is essential to have a proper marketing campaign. After all, you could offer the greatest service or product in the world, but if people don’t know about it, it won’t sell. This is true whether you want to know how to market soda or how to market window blinds.
For a business like window treatments, the potential target audience may be very limited. This means that competition for that target audience can be fierce, and every battle won can mean a massive difference towards the health of the business.
Marketing your business is more important than ever. While word of mouth is still an important aspect of any business, it is no longer the only method of promoting your business. Having an effective marketing campaign can mean the difference between steady growth and clinging to life as a business.
Here are seven things that your window treatment business should be implementing into its marketing strategy.
1) Publish a Strong Website
A staggering 45% of small businesses still don’t have a website. This is for a few reasons like having a lack of familiarity with current technology, concerns about the cost, and concerns about the amount of time necessary to put one together.
But the fact of the matter is that any effective business these days has to have a website. There are no ifs, ands, or buts. This is because your website is often the very first introduction a customer has to your business. It sets the tone.
Your website doesn’t have to be custom-coded, but it does need to be clean and informative. Customers use your website as a source of information; providing that information easily and conveniently only increases the odds of that user becoming a client.
It’s not impossible to succeed without a website, but it makes the job of window covering marketing substantially more difficult than it has to be.
2) Create Valuable Web Content
Now, more than ever, content is imperative to digital marketing, particularly through SEO. Google puts a heavy emphasis on strong, unique content because they want to provide the most informative and authoritative websites possible in their results.
Creating a blog is a great way to achieve this unique, informative content. Having something like an FAQ or perhaps answering commonly asked questions from your target audience is a great way to draw in those additional views. From there, the odds only increase that you will convert some of those clicks into actual dollars towards your bottom line.
Relevant content can also help to make you an authority within the industry. If you are producing informative posts that other reputable businesses are referencing, it only strengthens your reputation as an authority in the industry and an opinion to trust.
That last factor is an underrated aspect of a business. Creating that authority, that brand recognition is what even the largest of companies strive for but so few achieve. When your audience recognizes your brand as an informative, authoritative brand, that will translate into dollars before you know it.
Optimizing that content with backlinks and selective keywords is a great way to rank highly in SEO, letting the content do the rest of the work.
3) Ask for Reviews and Testimonials
It should go without saying, but the reviews and testimonials about your business can make or break you. This is true not only from a reputation standpoint, where customers trust positive reviews more and more, but from an SEO standpoint as well.
Google especially gives great credence to positive reviews. They want users to get trusted websites when they perform a keyword search. But it can’t be just a handful; you have to have as many reviews as possible.
And that includes some bad ones. It is obviously important to avoid getting a ton of negative reviews but having some can make your company feel more real. Not only that, those negative reviews give you an opportunity to respond to adversity.
When there are negative reviews, respond to them professionally. This will show potential customers that you are willing to go above and beyond to resolve any subpar experiences. That reflects positively in the eyes of potential customers and makes them feel as though you are more trustworthy.
That trustworthiness is one of the most important aspects of any business. When you can achieve that, you have won a major battle in the marketing process and with your target audience.
4) Implement White-Hat SEO
One of the great equalizers for small businesses across the globe is SEO. This stands for search engine optimization and is the process of making your website more easily discoverable to search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.
This can mean a massive difference for small businesses that don’t have major marketing budgets. Keeping a strong SEO ranking means that you stand a greater chance of showing up on the first page for relevant search results.
That’s a major thing because research has shown that the vast majority of people never leave the first page of search rankings. So, if you aren’t on the first page of rankings for those keywords, you know you have a lot of work to do.
The concept of Contractor SEO is achieved through a number of factors like keyword research, content publication, metadata adjustment, and more. It takes a bit of refinement and works to find the sweet spot, but when you do your business should experience a noticeable impact thanks to improved search rankings.
Thankfully, there are a variety of SEO tools out there to help make certain that your website is optimized and in the best position that it possibly can be. Without it, your business could flounder, and your marketing efforts could all be for naught. You could also talk to professionals about window treatment SEO and other digital marketing services.
5) Invest in Social Media Marketing
Perhaps just as important as SEO marketing is social media marketing. This is because hundreds of millions of users around the globe each day use platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and others. This means a massive potential audience for your business to appear in front of.
There is the aspect of direct customer interaction that is appealing. Being able to address the concerns of customers in real-time is an invaluable asset. If you handle those instances successfully, other members of your audience begin to take notice positively.
Social media is also a great play to distribute links. These links lead back to your website directly, creating traffic to your website that could eventually generate actual revenue for your business.
The key is to be creative. Don’t just spam links; no one will pay attention or follow those. You have to be engaging as often as you can in order to get users to click on those links. Facebook is a bit more efficient because you can create a business page to attract customers to relevant services.
Having a social media presence is, these days, as important as having a website.
6) Launch an Email Marketing Campaign
One of the tried and true methods of any digital marketing campaign is email marketing. This is because almost every one of us checks our email on a daily basis. A proper email marketing campaign will put all the necessary information into the hands of the customer and allow them to make a decision.
Best of all, personalized email marketing allows the customer to feel like you are concerned with their needs and their needs only. This is best achieved after the initial e-mail newsletter has been sent out. Checking in a few weeks later lets the users know that you have not forgotten about them and that you are following up to answer any questions.
Keep in mind that even the most successful email marketing campaigns have struggled early when it comes to generating window treatment leads and sales. It is in those follow-up efforts where the biggest successes are to be had. Email marketing is also a great avenue for promoting sales as well as specials.
7) Record & Publish Video Content
Video is one of the fastest-rising forms of marketing available today because of an unprecedented level of ease and convenience in the video creation process. People now have phones and tablets that offer higher quality video than ever before.
With the ability to shoot your own marketing pieces as often as you like, you can try implementing video ads on your window covering business website and on your YouTube channel as well. This only adds to your potential audience and helps your SEO along the way.
Best of all, it is simple and cost-effective to shoot video content with your smartphone than it ever has been before.
Now, more than ever, it is more convenient and easier to understand how to market your business online. It still takes a lot of time and a lot of effort, but your business could be running an effective digital marketing campaign without having to break the bank to do so.
It puts small businesses on an even footing when competing with other businesses in the area and it does so by making the entire thing a far more cost-effective method. No more having to break the bank for expensive marketing campaigns when you can implement these steps now.
Being a small business owner in the United States means you are in a crowded landscape of like-minded individuals and businesses that are also trying to get their names out into the consciousness of the public in an attempt to grow their business.
Because every industry is generally crowded with several businesses that are looking to gain more of a foothold within their industry, making sure that your business has all the necessary tools has never been more important. Gaining online recognition has also never been more important given that Google generates a whopping 63.5% of all search queries in the United States.
In such a competitive space, particularly among search engines, you might feel like your business is out in the cold and left with nothing to help. Fortunately for many small business owners out there, Google itself offers a tool that is fantastic for small businesses that are looking to manage their online presence.
This tool is called Google My Business, and it is an absolute must for any company, let alone those in the home security industry.
Google My Business
What is Google My Business?
Google My Business is a tool that is provided for free by Google that will allow business owners to put together something of a profile that ultimately displays things like their company name, the address the company is located at, what the hours of operation are, and a website link that gets displayed in the search results such as Local Finder, Google’s Local Map Pack, and the organic rankings’ system.
The first and most critical step for any sort of local SEO strategy is to make sure that you claim and then verify your business’s GMB or Google My Business listing. Then, when someone eventually searches for your business on Google, the information that was used in establishing your GMB is pulled and used to populate the search.
Where will the information about my business appear?
The aforementioned information from your Google My Business page will then show itself in three different places on Google when someone searches for your business or the type of business that your company operates in. The most common of these is in the sidebar, which is also known as the “knowledge panel” that appears when someone searches for a specific company name. For mobile, this would appear at the top of the search listings instead.
You will also see this information displayed in the local results. When you search for a city name, Google will display three relevant businesses that are closest to the geographical location that is used. If your business is one of those three, that information will be displayed at the top of the Google search.
Lastly, Google Maps is one of the places where your information can be displayed. When someone does a search through their desktop computer for the Google Maps tab of their search, it will display your business on the map itself.
It is essential and critical that you claim your business and list a very specific category on your Google My Business listing. This makes it easier for Google to know what search terms to match to your business and will make it more likely that your business will be displayed for the right search results.
Review your GMB for relevant information
As mentioned previously, Google My Business is dependent on the information that you input into your Google My Business profile. If you omit information or leave things blank, you will ultimately hurt your overall search rankings. Make sure that every available detail of your business is listed as accurately as it can. Google will try to determine things like your location as well as other relevant information.
Setting up your business listing is easy, and it is free. There is no reason whatsoever to not partake in this as it is just another way for consumers to find out about your business and Google will rank you higher in its relevant searches as well. This is quite literally a win-win for your business and one that you would be dumb to not take advantage of.
Your reviews are essential
Once you have set up your Google My Business page, you need to make sure that you pay close attention to the reviews that have been left for your business. It is essential that you have your customers leave reviews for your business for two very important reasons:
Google uses reviews as a ranking factor to determine where your business fits in the search results. The better your reviews, the higher your ranking, and the better your overall visibility will be in relevant searches.
A massive 88% of online consumers will trust those online reviews as much as if they had gotten a personal recommendation. Needless to say, the more reviews you have (and the more positive, the better), the better idea that potential customers will have of how your business is to work with and if you are dependable and trustworthy. Those last two things are absolutely essential when trying to grow your local business, home security industry, or otherwise.
According to some online sources, the online reviews left for your business are thought to account for 10% of how Google, as well as other search engines, will decide to rank your business in the relevant search results. Obviously, there are other factors that are involved, but that is a pretty sizable level of importance placed on those reviews.
Even if you get negative reviews, so long as they are not plentiful, those are manageable, and manage them you should. Hiding from negative reviews or fighting those who leave them does nothing for your company overall. Address these negative reviews, but be certain that you do so in a quick and professional manner.
When you work with those who have left negative reviews, it gives the impression that your company is willing to go above and beyond in the name of quality service and that you listen to your customers, in any event, to make sure that their experience is as smooth as possible.
GMB factors
Organizing your online presence is easy
It cannot be stated enough how important it is to have an online presence in this day and age regardless of where your company is or what services it offers. Having an online presence is the most important way to show prospective customers what your business is about and what they can expect when using your company.
With the Google My Business tool, you can optimize the way your home security company stacks up within the related search rankings. It is by no means a guarantee that your business will be seen above all others in your area, but it will mean that you are giving Google more reason to rank your business higher. This is why it is so important to list all the information that GMB asks for; the more information that you include, the better job it does when Google compiles its search rankings.
And when your business ranks higher in Google’s search rankings, that means more potential eyeballs will become exposed to your website and your business. This leads to more prospective customers, which eventually leads to conversions or sales.
Small businesses need to do whatever they can to stand out in a sea of competitors in whatever industry that they are in. Because there are so many similar options out there, it can be difficult to differentiate your business from the others in the industry.
With an emphasis on positive reviews, both on your own website and external ones, you can now dictate how relevant your website is in the eyes of Google. When you have Google pushing you to the top of the relevant search results, you should start to see an uptick in traffic and the number of eyes that are viewing your business. If you can maintain this with any regularity, this should lead to an eventual uptick in business as well.
Google My Business is one of those tools that you would be a fool to ignore. This is mostly because it is a tool designed to help get more attention to your website and your business through the search rankings. It’s also free, and adding any tool to your repertoire should be of the utmost importance. When Google tries to give you help to optimize your rankings, definitely take it.
Make sure that you sign your home security company up for a Google My Business account today. The benefits that your company will experience in the long run are innumerable, and it is just another tool that will aid your business as you attempt to grow it within your community.
Your Google My Business listing is just the start, though. Grow trust with your audience and give them all the information they will ever need, and you will notice that more and more customers are calling upon your business.
How many articles can you read about marketing for contractors before you get sick and tired of them? In today’s podcast, we are going to discuss the top 10 marketing ideas for contractors as defined by experts in the industry. There’s plenty of misinformation out there about how to improve search rankings in 2019. Sometimes hearing from people who have been successfully applying these methods to countless contractors like yourself is the anecdote for the perpetual distribution of nonsense. Contractor Webmasters has hundreds of clients on board who enjoy the following marketing fundamentals:
1) Optimize for Search
Your contractor service must be represented by a custom website that is optimized for search. SEO for contractors is the most efficient and affordable way to generate leads, but it only reaches its potential with a custom design. Template websites are a disservice to SEO and will hinder your efforts to secure rankings for relevant keyword terms in your service location. SEO is worth every penny. Our websites include 100 schema markup points that help Google parcel your data and index it.
2) Create Great Content
Nobody wants to read through boring blocks of text, especially if they are grammatically incorrect, off-topic, and lack a satisfaction of the user’s search intent. The reader of your content came to your website for a reason. It is your job through content creation to make sure that reason is justified through their on-site experience. Do they have a question? Do they need a piece of information? If so, your content must clearly and conveniently showcase that to them.
3) Get On The Map
Getting your Google Maps listing to show up for relevant keyword terms requires full optimization of your Google My Business profile, company website, and the integration of them as a singular representation of your company. While a search of your brand name will prompt Google to display your Maps listing regardless, showing up for keyword terms that people search for organically requires a deep content structure on your website explaining services.
4) Advertise on Facebook
Targeting a referral group on Facebook narrows your audience and increases conversion probability. Facebook ads can be displayed to people based on demographics that are highly relevant to your business strategy. For example, someone who is listed as a “homeowner” is more likely to need contractor services than someone living in an apartment complex. These kinds of pinpoint marketing tactics can limit spending while increasing ROI.
5) Design a Custom Website
Template websites are becoming a problem online. Too many contractors use run-of-the-mill templates to showcase their services. These templates are not optimal for SEO and their coding structure leaves something to be desired. Custom WordPress websites can have full and in-depth schema markup while also optimizing for site speed, particularly on mobile. The code is custom and original and stands out to Google crawler bots among the sea of monotony that competitors utilize.
6) Pay Per Click
Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords) is one of the fastest ways to earn clicks online. Earn might be the wrong word actually, although well-designed ads to get credit over ones that lack execution. But for the most part, PPC clicks are paid for and therefore are not earned organically. PPC campaigns when managed properly can yield serious ROI but can also be a net negative when handled by a novice. PPC also lacks the sustainability of SEO.
7) Remarket and Retarget
Facebook is not only good for traditional advertising but also for remarketing. When someone visits your website their browser stores what is known as a “cookie.” Facebook can then track this cookie and advertise to users as they browse the social network. This narrows your audience once again to people who’ve already demonstrated interest in your services by previously visiting one or more of your published web pages.
8) Target Low Volume Keywords
Many contractors fall into the trap of only going for primary keyword terms through web pages. The truth is, contractors, especially those who are newer, should target low-volume keywords. These keywords are lower in search volume but have a greater chance of ranking higher, faster. For example, hose bib replacement is not something most people will search for. But enough will that having a top 5 ranking webpage for it can convert.
9) Keep Going, Keep Working
This might sound like a cliché, but it is actually quite literal when it comes to website work. Ongoing work on a website is what prompts Google to continue to crawl it and index its pages as they are updated. By displaying the most up-to-date pages, you can overtake competitors who have become stagnant. Google has always loved ongoing work, which is why contractors should too. Signaling to search engines that you continue to work is great for SEO.
10) Generate Reviews (The Ethical Way)
Contractors need reviews to turn visitors into leads and oftentimes to get the visitor to begin with. Local Maps results are often contingent upon the quality and quantity of business reviews. You can generate reviews ethically by installing the Righteous Reviews widget (included with Contractor Webmasters SEO package) which makes the review process more convenient for customers by having them directly on your website. They are dispersed to Google and Yelp and also send text reminders to customers.
Roofing SEO is the best way to spark your marketing campaign in 2022. In today’s digital landscape, service promotion looks far different from it did back 20 years ago. Tech-savvy companies like Amazon, Apple, and others have taken full advantage of everything the internet has to offer to businesses and brands in 2022. Roofers have been less aggressive in pursuing modern tactics that help grow businesses both locally and nationally. Many contractors don’t like to compare themselves to national conglomerates, and for a good reason. Attempting to become Amazon.com is not realistic emulation for a local roofer. However, roofing companies can still utilize many of the same concepts and apply them to their marketing strategy. You might be surprised by how impactful the results can be. The number one digital opportunity for local roofing contractors is Search Engine Optimization (SEO). It can help generate leads efficiently, quickly, and sustainably.
What is Roofing SEO?
Roofing SEO is the process of making your website (and other web properties) rank on search engines. Top rankings directly influence lead generation, sales, and revenue for roofing companies.
How Roofing Companies Benefit from SEO
If you run a roofing business in Denver, CO, your number one opportunity for lead generation is Google search. When residents search terms like “roofer in denver” on Google, they overwhelmingly choose one of the top-ranking results. On a Google search engine results page (SERP) there are multiple variations of results. There are Google Maps listings (The Local 3 Pack) and traditional organic results. Don’t forget about featured snippets and knowledge graphs. The more represented your company is on each of these variations, the better chance it has to receive clicks to its website or profile and to receive phone calls inquiring about your roofing services subsequently.
A click on your website, or in some cases, your Google My Business listing, does not automatically equate to a sales conversion. For this reason, SEO is a process enhanced by conversion rate optimization (CRO). Optimizing your web entities for conversion is an extension of SEO as a general principle. Examples of conversion rate optimization (CRO) include displaying an urgent call to action (CTA) and facilitating a convenient user experience. For roofers who frequently use PPC, they understand the importance of landing pages. Someone who clicks an ad won’t necessarily choose the service without a strong landing page. This same idea is accurate when drawing in traffic organically.
Before the internet’s emergence, most roofers got their leads through the Yellow Pages, word of mouth, and occasionally some door-to-door flyers. Fast forward to 2022, and the vast majority of leads come online. When would-be consumers come home to fliers, a typical reaction is shredding them into pieces and dumping them in the trash. The Yellow Pages? Those are burning up in a household fire pit. Word of mouth? Well, that has expanded online as well.
People still care about reputation, but their neighbor is no longer the go-to source. That’s because platforms like Google, Facebook, and Yelp provide verified reviews of businesses within a local community. If 20 verified Google users endorse your roofing services, you better believe it will have a direct influence over the amount of interest your company generates online. Word of mouth now travels at the speed of the nearest internet connection. And don’t think Google doesn’t notice. The overall reputation of a business heavily influences rankings. In short, reputation management is a factor in SEO.
Phase I: SEO Strategy
Every great SEO campaign starts with a well-researched and well-developed plan. Conversely, as-you-go optimization campaigns fail consistently. Before a roofing company website can rank, it must have a target keyword (or several of them). These keywords are targeted based on their relative search volume and opportunity. But keywords are not the only aspect of SEO preparation. As a roofing company, you must clearly define your services to research keywords appropriately. Service types and keywords will also instruct the basis of your site’s URL structure and hierarchy, both of which are incredibly influential in search ranking, primarily because of how Google bots crawl a webpage.
Several tools are available to assist in keyword research. Some of the most notable ones are MOZ, SEMRush, and UberSuggest. MOZ and SEMRush are highly intuitive tools that expand beyond simple keyword research UberSuggest is strictly a keyword tool but is also free of charge to use, which is not the case with the others.
If you run a roofing company in Baton Rouge, LA, the types of keywords you’ll want to target are “roofer baton rouge” “baton rouge roofer” and variations of that nature. The good news is that these keyword tools often suggest similar keywords and rank them based on volume and opportunity. Identifying the correct terms is not especially difficult if you understand what makes a keyword valuable in your industry.
Industry Keywords
Keyword research on a term like “roof repair” will yield national search volume, competition, etc. The difficulty many roofing contractors face is that their services are not on a national scale. Therefore, they service a defined local area, and the national competition is not indicative of what we’ll call “real competition.” So when studying general industry keywords, understand that competition level on a national scale will not mirror your service area. The main thing to analyze for national keywords is search volume. One can assume that if a service is in high demand across the nation, it will be similarly popular in your area. That is not 100% certain because of seasonal and climate disparities, which we’ll touch on later.
Local Keywords
The actual value of keyword research is identifying local keywords with high opportunity. For local roofers, the opportunity has several prerequisites. For starters, profitable roofing keywords are transactional, meaning the intent of the keyword is for the searcher to find a paid service. In contrast, informational keywords are far less valuable to a roofing company. For example, a query for “how to fix a roof” will yield high volume. But it is not going to be searched by people ready to pay for your services. They want information about how to perform their services on their own. With this knowledge, you can eliminate traffic from users who will not lead to sales conversions and focus on those who might.
Long-Tail Keywords
Many times keywords that rank fastest are those that are long tail. A long-tail keyword is typically either a combination of two or more keywords or an extended version of a single keyword with qualifiers added. Take, for example, the keyword “roof replacement.” If a qualifier is added, like in dallas, the long tail keyword would be “roof replacement in Dallas”. Sometimes keywords like these are popular enough to register a search volume. If so, you know immediately that your local service area is typing that keyword in regularly. But if no volume registers, it doesn’t necessarily mean no volume exists. The goal for long-tail keyword research is to narrow a focus while maintaining a distinct relevance.
URL Hierarchy and Structure
Part of an SEO strategy involves URL structuring. Google and its users prefer a logical and hierarchical URL structure that drills down from top-level categories to lower-level services. For example, a roofer who does residential and commercial jobs might have a top-level section for each type. Both would then drill down to their service pages. You might have a residential roof repair page and a commercial roof repair page. Google crawlers will never mistake the roof repair pages for one another since they are solid underneath parent categories. The same goes for users browsing the site. They will be well aware they are in either the residential or commercial section of the website, which manifests through search.
Videos & Images
Google’s most recent algorithm update prefers websites that are unique and original. Part of uniqueness and originality is visual content. In 2022, visual content most commonly exists in the form of images and videos. Photos have been part of SEO for a long time, but it is relatively recently that videos became an essential factor. Keep in mind, Google owns YouTube, as you’ll notice when performing a video search on Google. As you can see, there are multiple YouTube results. Producing videos of your roofing contractors on the job can be valuable from an internet marketing standpoint. These videos can be uploaded to YouTube and then embedded directly onto your website. YouTube videos embedded on your website create a 3-pronged effect where you get credit on Google, YouTube, and your website. Both images and videos should be unique to your company for optimal SEO.
Phase II: SEO Application
Planning SEO sets the foundation, but real progress comes in its application. Because SEO is such a wide-ranging methodology, roofers should break SEO into several categories and even subcategories to organize tasks. You can’t possibly perform all functions at once, so it makes more sense to set a schedule. Compartmentalizing certain facets of SEO is as important as research and development. You cannot, as a roofing company, expect to become an expert in search optimization overnight. But you can intelligently implement a process. By taking it gradually, the result will be much cleaner than a rushed job.
Applying SEO with a pre-developed strategy is far easier than it otherwise would be. Because of the complications that can arise when executing such a vast range of methods, tasks, and principles, a guideline of sorts can be like a road map that keeps the optimizer on task and schedule. In this roofing SEO guide for contractors, our goal is to create that roadmap and empower you to follow it to a year’s worth of roofing success online.
There are no shortcuts when it comes to SEO. Every detail is essential, but it impacts the other factors that are reliant upon it. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts regarding SEO marketing for roofing contractors. When done right, it can pay significant dividends for years to come.
Accolades & Badges
Did you once win local roofer of the year in a nearby news publication? If so, you should showcase the badge somewhere on your homepage. Accolades build trust in the consumer and therefore increase the conversion rate. We know that prospective customers compare roofers based on reviews and that same confidence they get from reviews they can get from verified badges of honor. Roofers can get awards and certifications from all different kinds of sources. Some can even display their features from newspaper publications, magazines, etc. The more you can establish credibility based on external sources, the better you’ll be.
Analytics & Tracking
To measure website performance, you must track activity via Google Analytics. With Analytics tracking, roofers can estimate the traffic coming to their website and the various sources and channels through which that traffic originates. Installing Google Analytics is not difficult and is free to use. The data produced from it is precious because it comes from the most authoritative source; Google itself. Think about the goal of your website, which is to generate leads through Google. There is no better way to understand how to improve rankings on Google than by analyzing the data produced by Google’s very own tracking device.
Design
A website is the foundation of every roofer’s internet presence. Back in SEO’s infancy in the mid-2000s, a website was the only way of finding a roofing company online. Today in 2022, that is no longer the case. Now there’s Google My Business, Facebook, and many other business directories and social media networks, along with other web properties throughout the net. Despite these collective emergences, websites are still the central hub that cohesively connects all of them. Robust websites use a custom codebase and aesthetically pleasing visual display. They are also highly mobile-friendly and display correctly on every type of device. Template websites won’t be good enough in SEO.
Call To Action
What makes a website visitor call your office? A call to action. Once they like what they see on your website, the next step is to call your office. Roofing customers don’t want to read a novel about what your roofing company can do for them. What they want is an apparent and urgent reason to contact you. The best calls to action appear on a website’s homepage along with any other page that is frequently visited. Clickable phone numbers are a particularly compelling CTA because of the percentage of visitors that access websites via a mobile device. By simply clicking on the phone number, their smartphone will connect directly to your office line. The only thing left to do as a roofing contractor is to close the deal.
Company Information
Because a roofing website is a central hub, contact information must be listed on the website’s footer, if not in other areas. The info must be accurate, consistent, and visible. Matching this contact information with other business directories like Google My Business is one of the most critical considerations in SEO. Since all other web properties link back to your website, the information regarding your contact must be uniform. You’ll learn more about the importance of listing uniformity when discussing NAP citations later in this guide. Suffice to say that during the design process, you must account for the contact information space.
Customer Feedback & Testimonials
Badges build trust, but nothing builds more trust than customer feedback and reviews. Consumers can find your reviews on 3rd party platforms like Google, Facebook, and Yelp, but a robust website will showcase these testimonials directly on the homepage. You can even invest in a tool from Contractor Webmasters called BrandREVU. This widget populates reviews from around the web (Google, Facebook, etc.) and publishes them directly on your website. It also has built-in technology that sends a text reminder to serviced clients along with direct links to your reviews page. The convenience this plugin presents can increase the frequency of feedback which, as you may know, helps establish authority in your local market.
Multimedia
We cannot overstress the importance of videos on websites, but multimedia extends even beyond videos. Other forms of multimedia include audio podcasts and interviews as well as interactive web elements. If you’ve never thought about starting a podcast, you should do so now. With so many distributors available online, a weekly or monthly podcast can spread your roofing company’s brand around the web. There’s Apple, BluBrry, Spotify, and Stitcher, to name a few. What will you talk about on a podcast? Your work. Talk about the last job you did. Talk about the different types of roofing materials, the pros and cons of each. You could easily do a monthly episode on roofing. Make sure you specify a topic for each month and name the episode.
Mobile Design
Most users who access your roofing company website will do so on mobile devices. The number could be up over 50%, depending on which statistic you observe. When you think about the access consumers have to their smartphones and the WiFi internet connections, it’s no surprise that that number continues to increase. With that in mind, roofers must ensure their mobile website is fully optimized. It must appeal directly to the mobile user (most users) and be easy to navigate on a smartphone. Speed is also a significant factor for mobile websites. If a site takes more than 3 seconds to load, you can expect the mobile user to exit immediately, contributing to an increased bounce rate and decreased ranking.
Website Customization
Custom design is essential, but so is the customization of website elements. True customization goes beyond the design itself and extends to images, videos, badges of honor, etc. We spoke briefly about why unique photos are good for SEO. Let us make it even more evident. Have you ever seen roofing websites that use stock photos? If so, you’ve likely seen the worst of roofing websites. These stock photos are mass-produced and published on an excessive number of websites throughout the net. They evoke a sense of cheapness and, in some cases, downright comedy. Google can tell how users perceive these subpar images by their collective reactions to them in user behavior. Custom images, videos, and badges engage users longer for SEO.
SSL Security
Google Chrome warns any website visitor if the site they are currently browsing is not secure. These warnings strongly discourage the user from staying on the site and generally create a negative perception of your site and your company and brand. How do you prevent such an occurrence? With SSL security. SSL is a protocol that ensures your site is secure and gives visitors the comfort they covet when browsing. Sites with an address starting with https:// have this protocol installed while addresses starting with only https:// do not. Although it is not confirmed to be a direct SEO factor, users leaving your site can only hurt search ranking.
Local SEO
Because the roofing industry is so location-specific, you must tailor SEO to a defined service area, i.e., geographic location. As a company in business, you understand which zip codes you can reasonably service. These are the ones you should target online. Keep in mind that Google observes whichever city that houses your address. It is this city that Google will give you the most credit, particularly on Google Maps results like The Local 3 Pack. There are ways to also rank for other nearby cities, which we will discuss as this guide progresses. Focus first and foremost on dominating the general area where you serve as a roofing company in 2022. You can expand after that.
What about roofers who have offices in multiple cities? Ah yes, the multi-location roofing company. There are certainly contractors successful enough to own and operate a 2nd and possibly even a 3rd location. In cases like this, local SEO becomes a little more extensive, but the general concept remains the same. The difference is that each location will have its own Google My Business account and Maps listing. These individual properties can link to an internal page on your website. For example, roofingwebsite.com/locations/houston would be the URL for your Houston location, while roofingwebsite.com/locations/galveston would be the URL for your Galveston address. They each have their own set of NAP citations and so forth.
NAP Citations
Although the Yellow Pages are dead in practice, their concept still exists, albeit in digital format. There is an online directly called the Yellow Pages. But there are so many more of them as well. The most well-known ones go far beyond the label of a citation. Google My Business, Facebook, and Yelp, for example, are all platforms to cite your company’s name, address, and phone number. But there are also smaller niche directories throughout the web like HomeAdvisor and Angie’s List. You might see cases where a directory publishes your information without your input. In these cases, the platforms pulled your information from data mining resources like Acxiom, which compiled your business info from public records. If you notice a widespread inaccuracy, you can correct your information directly with the data miners, distributing the correct NAP to the various directories.
NAP Consistency
The presence of citations is significant in itself, but the cohesiveness of all combined influences local SEO. Claiming sources across the web can be a massive project. That’s why tools like Whitespark, MOZ Local, and Yext exist. Any inaccuracy can be a hindrance to your roofing company’s local SEO. Not only does it confuse Google about your contact information, but in worst-case scenarios, it can create an opportunity cost through lost leads. A phone number off by one digit, for instance, can lead to would-be phone calls not getting through to your office line. To think about it from a logical standpoint, what is more trustworthy? A roofer who has consistent NAP information or one that has multiple variations that confuse consumers?
Google My Business Optimization
Google My Business is the most important local business directory on the internet. Because it is a Google property, the information submitted on My Business is of the utmost importance. When users perform a branded search of your roofing company, part of the SERP will likely feature a preview of your Google My Business listing. If properly optimized, this will help build trust and authority in your web presence. You can optimize a GMB listing beyond accurate and consistent NAP information. Roofers can add original company photos, answer frequently asked questions, and even create and publish Google posts. My business is also connected with Google Maps, making it a critical aspect of your local SEO campaign as you pursue clicks.
Location Pages
Roofing companies often have a single business address within a city but still wish to serve surrounding areas within reasonable driving distance. Since Google attempts to match local users with local roofers, consumers closest to your address will be the ones most likely to find you on search, particularly in the Local 3 Pack. There are ways to expand your reach on search engines. One of those ways is location page optimization. You can create city pages that are unique and well-written and appeal to users in that specific area. One way to specialize a location page is by displaying reviews from customers of yours in the corresponding area.
On-Page SEO
Roofers with a general understanding of SEO most commonly associate it with on-page optimization tasks. From the editing of title tags, header tags, and meta descriptions to the production of SEO-friendly content, on-page tasks are widely recognized, even by novice SEOs. On-page optimization is also closely associated with keyword research.
The keywords identified during the process are then inserted within the tags and content on a given page. As SEO has progressed in terms of Google’s algorithm, the necessity for diverse (semantic) keywords has become more prevalent. Still, on-page factors remain vital to search ranking. For roofing companies without many connections, on-page SEO becomes the easiest way to increase search traffic.
If there’s a criticism of on-page SEO, it is that it takes time to implement. Changing a title or meta tag won’t pay immediate dividends for roofers. Depending on domain age, SEO can take from a few days to 6 months. For this reason, many roofing contractors pursue a short-term solution in the form of PPC advertising. PPC ads yield immediate clicks. The problem is that each click drains your budget, and traffic ends up costing a considerable amount of money to sustain. Once established, SEO can begin to provide more traffic for no cost per click. The ROI resulting from this achievement is disproportionately more significant than any other form of online marketing as of 2022. SEO works well.
Alt Text
On-page SEO often delves into detailed minutiae, and one prime example of this is image alt text. Most people think that something so small cannot possibly make a difference, but it does. Google scans images, and since they cannot read the context of the image from a visual standpoint, they rely on its alt text to define it. Optimizing images for web use involves:
Renaming the file to lower case letters.
Uploading the file onto your web server.
Tagging it with appropriate alt text.
Let’s say your roofing company logo is the file. It should be called company-name-logo.jpg and then tagged with the alt text “Company Logo.” The same process would be used for all of your images, whether they are equipment, jobs, or anything related.
Header Tags
There are multiple kinds of headers in HTML. H1s are the essential heading from an SEO standpoint. Google pays close attention to H1s when defining a page’s relevance. H2s can also have some impact on how Google conceptualizes a topic. H3s and higher are more for formatting purposes. Still, because they help the user read your material in a more organized fashion, they can keep readers engaged longer and improve behavioral metrics that Google evaluates when ranking a page. Therefore, headers of any kind can have SEO influence, even if it is indirect in some cases. Make sure plenty of content exists beneath each header. Google does not want to see many headers stacked on top of each other, and neither do readers.
Keyword Placement
Keywords are a significant part of SEO, and placing them in the correct areas can determine where you rank on Google SERPs. The left-hand side of every on-page element (title, header, meta, image alt, etc.) should all have one instance of your primary keyword. Google crawlers read details from left to the right, making the first part the most important. Body content should also have at least one instance of a primary keyword. Google’s algorithm has evolved to weed out keyword stuffing, so don’t use the keyword more than 25 times. Instead, sprinkle in a collection of LSI keywords to add semantic relevance to the on-page content. Remember to place keywords naturally within page elements, so it does not compromise readability.
Meta Descriptions
Aside from the title tag, SERP results also display what is known as a meta description. The text appears beneath the title tag or, as you know it; the blue link on the SERP. Descriptions should also contain one primary keyword while explaining the page. For roofing companies, the meta description can also include a call to action, such as a phone number. What you’ll learn is that consumers with roofing issues are generally looking for a way to contact your service company so that they can explain their problem and find out whether or not you can fix it. With this in mind, don’t mislead the user through an inaccurate description. If they end up clicking through to an irrelevant page, they will quickly exit and increase your site’s bounce rate.
Permalinks
If you’ve ever visited a webpage that is not a homepage, you’ve likely noticed an extension at the end of the web address. Take, for example, roofingcompany.com/roofing-services. The portion of the URL that says roofing-services is known as a permalink or URL slug. These permalinks are very important to SEO. The slug should contain your primary keyword and nothing else. That means no stop words like in, and, or anything similar. The shorter the permalink, the easier it is for Google to crawl the URL, and the more likely they are to categorize it appropriately. Make sure the permalink is highly relevant to the on-page content as well.
Semantic Keywords (LSI)
We told you that Google’s algorithm has evolved to discredit pages that stuff keywords within the content. In 2022, Google prefers to see a few primary keywords supplemented by semantically related terms known in the SEO industry as LSI keywords. You can find which LSI keywords are associated with your primary word or topic by visiting LSIGraph.com and performing a basic search. The related keywords are sometimes synonyms and other times terms closely associated from a topical relevance standpoint. Either way, Google and its users enjoy more robust content and provide a superior user experience. A page about roofing repairs, for example, should also mention leak detection, mold removal, etc., since they are relevant to one another.
Title Tags
A title tag or SEO title is the blue link you find on a Google search result. It is also the text that appears in the tab on your internet browser. Titles are tagged within the HTML to help Google define the page. Using the Yoast plugin on WordPress, roofers can add title tags without knowing HTML. A title should have a keyword within it but also have a sales pitch of sorts. The goal is to help Google define the page and give users a reason to click on it when they see it. An example of a roofing company SEO title would be Roofing in Detroit, MI | Request a Free Estimate Today!. You can use MOZ’s title tag preview tool to ensure your title will appear correctly once indexed by Google. You should keep titles under 60 characters.
Link Building
Link building holds influence no matter what type of site you are building. Links establish your company as an authority on roofing and related topics. It is also one of the most important factors that Google uses to rank your website for local searches. But acquiring links can be difficult. It takes time, careful strategizing, and effort. But the good news is that there are many ways to build a quality link base that will help get more eyes on your website.
What is Link Building for Roofers?
Link building refers to the links you have on your website that lead to other websites or other areas of your website, and it also refers to links on other people’s websites that lead to your site. That second part is the tricky one. Putting links on your site as you see fit is simple enough, but getting other people to reference your site is a different story altogether.
Internal Linking
Internal linking is a relatively simple concept and process. But for as simple as it is, some people still aren’t doing it correctly. So let’s get this out of the way first before we get into the more complex stuff.
You want to have a good amount of internal links (ones that lead to other pages of your website) because internal links also play a role in signaling Google to rank your site. But the links have to be relevant and enhance user experience and flow.
One of the most common mistakes that inexperienced web admins make is carelessly placing internal links. For example, one may establish a link to a contact page in some text that is not a call to action or has anything to do with getting in touch with the company.
Internal links should help guide your visitors to relevant pages that further drill down a concept or idea. If a searcher happens upon a blog on your site that deals with the different ways that gutters can become damaged, there should be an internal link somewhere in that blog that leads the reader to your gutter services page. You don’t want to send your visitors on a wild goose chase. Instead, you want to help them along the sales funnel with helpful and logical internal links.
Link Acquisition
Finally, look to industry leaders to see what they are doing right. Try searching for one of your target keywords. Click on the top sites that come up, copy the URL, and then use a backlink profile service (Moz has a great article about finding backlink sources yourself and free services you can use) to see where their links originate. Once you know where your top competitors are getting their links, you can start your campaign to get linked to those sources too.
Roofing SEO Services from Contractor Webmasters
Contractor Webmasters has a staff of 20 webmasters who are skilled in website design, SEO, and link building. We have hundreds of roofing clients throughout the nation and hope to add you to that group shortly. Whether you are a new roofer or possess decades of experience, we can help establish your web presence and create a sustainable lead generator that will serve your business well not only for years but for decades. The best part is that our services are highly affordable. No single person can perform all SEO tasks independently, which is why you need a team.
Think of your web presence as a multi-dimensional business asset. Google values businesses that attend to every aspect of their digital footprint in favor of those who narrow their focus on a singular task or concept. Contractors will sometimes inquire as to why they lost their Maps placement on Google, after having been ranking in the Map Pack for so many years. The most likely culprit of this precipitous drop is a lack of marketing channel diversity. It’s one of the reasons we discourage clients from investing in standalone services such as website design, pay per click, or even lead generation. The most profitable contracting businesses have their hands on all of these things, and allocate resources to account for each. Every contractor reading this should diversify their marketing channels. If you are looking for web design only, you will be disappointed with the results. Everything online works together, and a lack of cohesion between design, optimization, Google maps, and other entities, makes for a porous online presence and one that will more than likely fail to produce desirable results.
A healthy web presence has traffic from multiple channels but it’s not only because everything works in concert, it’s also to protect contractors from a sudden shift in a particular channel’s value and production level. For example, PPC was once an inexpensive item for advertisers, but as the fees began to increase, the affordability worsened, and contractors were unable to sustain their ROI. If PPC was their only marketing channel, it became a massive blow to their institution. Perhaps even forcing them into bankruptcy. Another example of this is a contractor paying for a lead generation service who then sells its rights to another company, who subsequently crates a spike in lead prices. If this was the basis of your contracting business, you’ve lost everything overnight. Meanwhile, competitors who had diversified with SEO, Google Maps, and Social Media advertising came out clean as a whistle, and in some cases, directly benefit from your lack of foresight. If this sounds familiar, there’s a way to start a new marketing campaign that will prevent it from ever happening again. Contractors should diversify with:
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO will be the foundation of your contracting businesses’ web presence. In contrast to many of the other items on this list, SEO is seldom considered a standalone service. This is particularly true when it’s coming from a reputable company. Still, business owners often view SEO as a waste of money, and prefer to focus on quick-money-grab’s like PPC. We noted in the introduction why attaching your entire business to a single item like pay per click is a poor idea. But with a strong foundation of search engine optimization, PPC, and other items like it, can become much more productive while not accounting for too great a percentage of your traffic.
Pay Per Click (PPC)
We discourage pay per click as a standalone item, but when used in concert with other techniques, we encourage it. In diversifying your marketing channels, PPC from Google Ads can be a valuable one. With parameters allowing advertisers to set constraints on budget, targeting, and things of that nature, a properly managed PPC campaign can yield a substantial ROI. The difference is that it is not the only source of traffic, and in fact, should not be. The Ad platform once known as AdWords can’t be the only source of traffic, but it can be a source.
Google Maps & My Business Optimization
Local SEO is a big deal, but did you know that Google Maps & Google My Business are the foundation of geographical SEO? To diversify marketing channels, having a well-optimized GMB profile and a verified Maps listing are non-negotiables. We strongly discourage the use of any single method for traffic generation, but if you were absolutely forced to choose one, it would be Google My Business / Maps optimization. With that said, it works even better when combined with other forms of marketing, particularly a strong foundation of organic SEO with a well-designed custom website for your contracting services, whether it be roofing, HVAC, etc.
Lead Generation
Some marketing platforms empower contractors to pay only for leads. Often times these services provide shared leads, which forces businesses to fight against one another for the same customer lead. Since these leads are being funneled through channels that are not owned by the exclusive brand, there exists a lack a necessary control over them. Leads are obviously imperative to contractors. Without them, none of the rest matters. But it’s important to understand that the rest is there to ensure that exclusive leads are in fact generated. SEO, PPC, Google Maps, and Social Media can all generate leads with sufficient strategic input.
Social Media
Have you ever had an Ad agency attempt to sell you on a Facebook Ads package that involved no other form of marketing? If so, run for the hills. While Facebook and other social platforms like Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, & Twitter, all hold value, both through organic marketing and especially paid advertising, they cannot reach their fullest potential as a singular entity. Instead, social outreach should be an extension of a rock solid foundation that is rooted in the highest quality SEO and is supplemented with PPC, Google Maps, Lead Generation, and other marketing ventures. For organic social conversions, consider integrating YouTube videos within your website HTML, and vice versa with blog posts on your social feeds.
Digital Synergy & Its Influence
Google favors brands no doubt. But what does Google consider a brand, especially in the realm of local contractors? For one, a company or individual who established a presence on a myriad of marketing platforms are more likely to be considered brandable from Google’s perspective. None only is brand diversity appealing to consumers and helps them recall your logo, but the inbound linking power of multiple incoming domains URLs is a strong signal to search engine crawlers. One thing is for certain, at least some of your competitors have more diverse marketing campaigns than you at the start of 2019. This can be the year you close the gap and root yourself in a strong and sustainable online presence. Contractor Webmasters can help you get there.
