The #1 challenge for any roofing business is consistently generating qualified roofing leads. Once you have a system that works, however, the possibilities for growth are endless.
These days, businesses in the roofing field also find it difficult to recruit skilled labor. This will only be a problem for you if you’re getting more new business than you have workers to cover. Whichever way you look at it, this is a good problem to have! Once you have a consistent new business, you’ll have the revenue to cover hiring the labor you seek.
If you’re interested in learning how to build a consistent lead generation system for yourself, the content on our website and elsewhere is really all you’ll need to get it up and running.
Below, we’ll go over how we get non-stop exclusive roofing leads to our clients daily.
Understanding the Definition of a “Lead”
Before we discuss how to generate leads, let’s ensure that the definition of a lead is understood.
One of the main problems we see with roofing contractors when they pay for leads is they’re unhappy with the company they purchased from because they can’t seem to convert any of them into sales.
Many times, it’s the fault of the lead company that provided a poor-quality lead. On the other hand, there are even more times when the contractor fails to understand what they’re paying for:
A sales lead is a prospective consumer of a product or service, created when an individual or business shows interest and provides contact information.
Many salespeople and marketers disagree over the true definition of a lead. But the most important thing to remember is that a lead is not a sale or an appointment. A lead is only someone who has shown interest in something and provided contact information to learn more about it.
But leads turn into sales. And to get sales, you need leads. And that’s why it’s important to have a system that can generate them consistently.
Residential vs. Commercial
There are two types of leads in your area of expertise: Business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B). More often than not, B2B or commercial leads will be more expensive than B2C leads.
Residential roofing Prospects typically have much less experience since they don’t deal with roof issues very often. They will generally be quicker to make a decision, and you will be competing against fewer other companies for bids, if at all.
Commercial roofing prospects, such as industrial and manufacturing businesses, will typically know what to look for and will get many different bids before deciding. The sales cycle is often longer for them, but the job value is often much more. So, you must weigh your options on the types of leads you’ll be going after and the type of work you do.
Here are 6 of the best ways to generate roofing leads online:
1. Local Maps SEO
Many people are wary of SEO. Some think it doesn’t work anymore, and others don’t think they’ll make it worthwhile for the money.
Well, we’re here to tell you that local SEO for roofers is more effective than ever. If you work to get your business to show up in Google’s local map pack when people type in searches like “roof repair in [your city],” your phone will ring off the hook. We use local SEO as one of the core strategies for obtaining quality leads for our clients.
Not only that, it’s also the most appealing spot for a searcher to click on. You’re not a paid ad; you’re a top pick on a map in their city. What’s not to like? Tell me you wouldn’t click on this first listing in the map pack picture below:
You can generate Google Maps leads from searches such as:
- roofing contractors
- roof repair [city]
- roof replacement [city]
- roofing companies near me
- roof installation contractor
In order to appear in Google searches within the map pack, you need to register your company with Google My Business. Make sure you fill out your profile to the fullest and follow their guidelines on how to get set up. Fill out all of the information provided, including your business categories, profile pictures, hours, address, and phone number. This is all a very important first step.
Getting Google Reviews to let customers know that you have a good reputation is also crucial to local SEO and generating leads from Google Maps. Make sure you request that your customers review your business after a job is completed. Here’s a great free tool from Whitespark that will generate a review link for you to send to them.
Once you’ve done that, you’ll need to write content about your services for your website and get backlinks from other websites.
2. Organic SEO and Content Marketing
Yes, there are two types of SEO for your business, in our opinion. Although a large chunk of traffic and leads will come from ranking your roofing business in the Google Maps section of any search results page, there are also many more spots below the maps that can be yours for the taking.
These can grab what we call “long tail searches” from your competitors for which they don’t think to rank. And this is where you can generate another 20 roofing leads per month.
This is where writing great content about topics within your business is a great idea. There are two types of content we rank in the organic portion of any search result.
First is your services plus the cities you cover. You’ll write a page of unique content about your services and the city where you serve residents. Yes, that means a page on our website about roof repair in EACH of the cities/towns/neighborhoods you serve. Just make sure the content is unique!
Some of the page titles would be:
- Roof Repair Companies in City/Town/Neighborhood, State
- Roofing Contractor in City/Town/Neighborhood, State
Second, you’ll also want to write more informative articles that you can get listed in Google’s search results.
Think about it: How many people just look for general information on shingle repair before submitting a request for a quote? These people may not be ready to buy right now, but they’ll come back to your site later since it popped up!
Some examples of informative articles you might write and answer would be:
- Why is my roof leaking?
- What’s the best type of roof shingles for cold weather?
This is where you take your lead-generating system to the next level!
Below is an example of what a local search results page looks like on Google split into 3 different sections. (and yes, your roofing company can be in all 3 sections at one time):
3. Pay Per Click (PPC) Advertising
You’ve probably heard of Google Adwords before. Many contractors again have mixed opinions on pay for ads, some claiming it’s too expensive and others saying it works really well. Here are some stats for you that might change your mind:
- For every $1 spent on Google AdWords, the average business generates $2 in revenue (source)
- 89% of traffic generated by search ads is not replaced by organic clicks when ads are paused (Google)
- For higher commercial intent search queries, the top three ad spots take about 40% of the clicks on the page
As a lead generation company for contractors, we can say with 100% confidence that Google Adwords and other platforms like Bing Ads work like a charm. The issue is when the contractor is not familiar with the platform and how to get the most out of it for their money. This is when people tend to spend a lot of money.
And you can lose a lot of money doing PPC fast. You are paying per click. A click only sends visitors to your website or landing page and doesn’t guarantee a lead. Learning how to run PPC ads effectively is crucial to its success.
The cost for some roofing keywords on Adwords can sometimes rise higher than $50 per click. This is where it becomes crucial to figure out what keywords are important to you and can actually drive leads that will call you. You can use Google’s keyword planner to find the prices per keyword in your area. Calculating the cost per conversion is crucial to your success!
4. Facebook Advertising
There is a lot of money going into Facebook advertising these days. It’s more affordable than Google AdWords but also very effective.
It works better in some businesses than others. For roofing companies, it can be an excellent way to supplement your other lead generation tactics and convert prospective leads who didn’t take action the first time around when coming to your website.
Have you ever gone to Amazon to browse, and then later, when on Facebook, see those same items you were looking at on your Facebook feed? This is called retargeting. This is where we tend to use Facebook ads the most.
You can retarget all of your Adwords and SEO visitors that arrive on your website with an ad on Facebook (and also on Google Adwords). The ad might encourage them to come back to request a service appointment and you might give them an incentive such as a coupon to test out your services.
Here’s an example of a retargeting ad on Facebook. A similar format can be used for your roofing business to attract visitors who have already visited your brand’s site.
In order to set up Facebook Ads, you need to first create a Facebook Business page. Then, you’ll need to install the Facebook pixel on your website or landing pages to retarget them. Here are the instructions on how to do that.
5. Local Review & Directory Sites
Now, this isn’t a primary lead-generating strategy, but having your roof business’s Name, Address, Phone number, and service information listed on both local directories and Home Improvement review sites can help attract more visitors to your website, who in turn will become future leads.
Your online reputation is one of the most important aspects of becoming visible online. Many people will search the web for reviews of your business and more information before deciding to pick up the phone or submit a contact form.
Some sites we recommend getting a profile set up on are:
- Local Chamber of Commerce directory
- Better Business Bureau (It doesn’t matter if you’re accredited; you can still set up a profile. But we recommend getting accredited for consumer trust purposes if possible.)
- Google My Business
- Yelp
- Home Advisor
- Angie’s List
- Yellow Pages
Remember, these sites offer Paid profiles and services as well. Our personal opinion? Just get a free profile, load it up with info, and get some reviews on these sites.
6. Email Marketing
Email marketing? What?
Yes, every roofing business should aid its lead generation efforts with an email marketing campaign. Email has been around forever, but it continues to be the most effective online marketing channel time and time again.
For every $1 spent on email marketing, there is a $44 return on investment. That’s insane!
You should be following up with every single lead that comes through your website multiple times. You can use email to nurture leads and, in turn, generate more leads in the long run at a lower cost.
You can also offer something for free on your website in return for an email address to get them into your email sales cycle.
An example of this would be a free guide they can download from your website on the topic of “5 Things to Ask Before Hiring a Roofing Company” or something similar.
Want to Learn Even More?
The strategies above cover some of the ways to generate leads — but there’s so much more to it. If you’re serious about building your lead-generating system for your roofing business, check out our results-based roofing marketing program.
