How to Generate Roofing Leads With Search Engine Marketing
Have you ever wondered how to land your business website on the first page of Google results? The first-page rank is the ultimate goal every small business strives toward but few achieve. One way companies gain this coveted placement — and use it to generate roofing leads — is to employ search engine marketing, or SEM.
What Is SEM?
Before we dive into how to get to the first page, let's look at what SEM is.
Search engine marketing is the ability to gain traffic and visibility from search engines with both paid and unpaid efforts. SEM is the umbrella term for similar strategies like SEO (search engine optimization) and PPC (pay per click) marketing. While you can pursue results on any search engine, most businesses focus on Google.
As a roofing contractor, you have up to four locations on the first page of Google results where your business can be featured to help customers find you.
1. Google Local Service Ads
This is one of Google's newest additions to the first page of service-based business search queries. It requires businesses to pay Google per lead instead of per click. That means you only pay for potential customers, not for every person who clicks on your website. This form of lead generation rolled out for select markets in 2015 and is now nationally available (with some limits).
If you aren't seeing these ads in your area, there's a catch: At least three validated contractors per market must qualify before ads are displayed. Once three businesses apply and are accepted into the program, your business listing will become active. Once activated, this is by far the easiest way to generate leads for your company.
2. Google Search Ads
Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords) has developed into a complicated platform where you can quickly spend thousands of dollars if you don't know how to set up an ad campaign with all the correct details (like geo-targeting, keyword optimization and proper landing pages).
One solution is to hire a reliable agency to ensure your campaign is properly set up and driving leads. Google awards certain active, experienced agencies Premier Partner status to highlight their skills. Look for this badge if you're considering hiring an outside company to help manage your web presence.
3. Google My Business
Google My Business is also known as the Map Pack within Google's first-page display. Business listings used to be a way for users to get directions to a physical business. Now, expanded listings let business owners share details that help customers learn more about the business before even visiting their website.
Some of these items include:
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Business website.
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Phone number.
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Directions and hours.
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Photos.
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Reviews from past customers.
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Frequently asked questions.
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Offers, events, articles and more.
4. Organic Search Results
Appearing on the first page of Google is what many roofing business owners think of when they say they want first-page placement. Although this is a critical location to be listed within search engine results pages (SERPs), it is no longer the only option. Historically, there were up to 15 slots for websites to be showcased on the first page, but now some search results include so many diverse results (with other features like answer boxes) that only seven slots remain.
Organic placement — for example, being the first search result for "Madison local roofers" — is enviable, but hard to achieve. Working to have a fast-loading website, great user experience, strong links and a strategy to retain the top placement are other critical priorities. Part of that strategy for placement in SERPs might be publishing strong content, since factors like domain authority and a low bounce rate help you rank higher. If you have a first-page rank for key search queries, this will help ensure your Google My Business listing will remain at the top of the Map Pack.
With four places to win on the first page of Google, it's no wonder why even small roofing companies are throwing more efforts into SEM. True search engine marketing will allow you to drive leads quickly to your sales pipeline and gradually build up your web presence.