[rooferking81]

I'm on the fence with putting a website together. I've been hearing the benefits of SEO marketing and such. I get good leads by word of mouth and referrals already?

Why should I invest in a website?

 

[TopRankedRoofer]

Why should I invest in a website?

It all depends on how many sales you can make on referrals from other customers compared to your desire to grow your company.

If a sale here and there is all you need, you probably don't need more than Google My Business. Set that up right, pay to optimize it correctly and get enough reviews and it might be enough to get you several more sales.

However, if you're looking to grow a big company than point to one who will operate in 2019 with a website they control. And keep in mind that if my friend refers me to you and I can't check you out online, I'll probably look for someone else. Over 70% of buyers check reviews before calling a contractor.

One final word though. Google is serious about quality. Their whole search engine evaluates the quality of your online presence (not just your site but everything with your name on it) and compares it to all the other roofers in your market.

In the future, they intend to filter out (down rank) those sites with poor quality scores. So if you do it at all - do it right. It's a powerful tool, don't hope to buy the cheap one and get good performance.

 

[JanisC]

I'm on the fence with putting a website together. I've been hearing the benefits of SEO marketing and such. I get good leads by word of mouth and referrals already?

Why should I invest in a website?

Agreed with TopRanked. If you're happy with your business growth or size as-is, there's no need to build a site. On the other hand, if you're looking to double or triple revenue, you need one.

If you choose that route, just putting up a website isn't going to cut it though. A website is like a business card - useless unless it's exposed to the right people. So, you'd have to be willing to invest in both a site and the SEO required to get it in front of the right customers.

 

[TopRankedRoofer]

Agreed with TopRanked. if you're looking to double or triple revenue, you need one.

...be willing to invest in both a site and the SEO required to get it in front of the right customers.

I agree with Janis and in looking at her site and Google reviews, they are doing well. A nice professional site optimized properly and Google is responding with lots of high rankings. Awesome Janis!

 

[JanisC]

Yeah thanks, I'll take 5% credit for selecting the right people to help :laughing:

 

[Kyle_Brigham]

I agree with Toprank Roofer with an exception

As the roofing industry in your area grows and becomes more competitive your business will begin to get flushed out if you don't have a quality online presence. I've worked with roofers who have received word of mouth business for years then over time talk around town dries up. Then there suddenly left with a marketing emergency.

Building a website is great because over time you build authority to it and turn it into a lead generating machine. I've even talked to roofers who couldn't handle the amount of inbound leads they were getting from Google so they sold them to their competitors. If you can start generating that type of additional income stream your business becomes two dimensional. I've seen this done primarily two ways:

1. High-quality informative service pages
2. High-quality value added blog

Yes, it's an investment to get a high-quality website set up with built out home, service, about-us, contact-us pages. After the initial set up cost, keeping a site up and running is cheap.

I actually wrote a blog post on the importance of a high quality website....check it out https://newpulsedigital.com/importance-quality-website/

Ultimately, if you're trying to keep your business up and running for good without the worry of where your next referral is coming from, i'd suggest getting a website.

Also, you don't need an agency to build it for you. Websites like Fiverr and Upwork have freelance website designers which can built you one optimized for the search engines for under $1000. Just be clear about what you want and show examples of websites that look good to you!

Hope this helps!

 

[DougEQR]

Having a "good" website is like having your own infomercial running for you 24 hours a day. And if you promote the website well, then that infomercial plays only to highly targeted, highly interested, customers.

A website should also be your #1 sales person in the company.

The big mistake that most people make though is that they hire a college student, or someone off of Fiverr, or worse...they construct one themselves instead of sticking to roof installations.

But a college student (nor 99.99% of the designers on Fiverr) is going to know the sales phycology behind what entices a person to pull out their cell phone and call, or to pull out their wallet and buy.

If your website doesn't convert cold visitors into calls and booked appointments, then ALL of your other marketing efforts will struggle.

Best of luck everyone!

 

[TopRankedRoofer]

But a college student (nor 99.99% of the designers on Fiverr) is going to know the sales phycology behind what entices a person to pull out their cell phone and call, or to pull out their wallet and buy.

If your website doesn't convert cold visitors into calls and booked appointments, then ALL of your other marketing efforts will struggle.

Great advice from Doug. Most of the problems I see daily with roofers websites are from unqualified (or cheapest) people being hired to build the site that has never built a roofing site or helped a roofer sell their work. Or hiring graphic artists instead of conversion and sales pros to help you design page layouts.

 

[joey1337]

Most people nowadays search Google when looking for a local contractor unless they already know someone or have been referred to someone. You're passing up good business if you neglect having some sort of presence online

 

[Gary Pullman]

Facebook leads are great for roof repair

You can get a really good return on investment if you do FB ads whenever there's a disaster such as a hail storm or hurricane.

Just make sure you get your ads out there quickly, and before your competitors start doing the same thing.

Hope this helps!

-Gary at https://www.panamacitypainters.org/

 

[straightup]

I would definately say that it can be a very valuable thing to have a website.

Consider this...

1) If you're happy with your current level of business, it's still good to have one even to just help your existing prospects and customers out. You can share usefull information and establish trust. It can strengthen the brand you have.

2) If you're not happy with your current level of business and want to grow, a website along with SEO will be a very powerful way to do that. I have done just that with several home-services based businesses, and I know it works. I've done it. People don't really use the YellowPages anymore... they're going to go to Google... and those who are seen get the action

 

[dway]

I'm on the fence with putting a website together. I've been hearing the benefits of SEO marketing and such. I get good leads by word of mouth and referrals already?

Why should I invest in a website?

Passive leads if you have a good lead generation system in place through a website. It's worth having.

 

[TopRankedRoofer]

Yes - a website can help.

I agree with DWay. If you see yourself as a leader in your market, then point to one competitor that isn't using the web. Then ask yourself why.

Once you're thinking clearly, understand that "any old website" will work, don't make that mistake. A site from Wix, or on Wordpress.com won't help. A site built on Google's GMB platform won't help.

Build a site using Wordpress.org, on a hosting account you control (skip the free hosting or the $3-5/mo kind, it's slow.) and use those pages to tell your story.

Use LOTS of pictures of your work. Avoid, if possible, stock photos.

Finally, while some SEO can help - 95% of those who offer it to others have no idea what they're doing. Find someone who works with roofers and can prove results in recent campaigns.

 

[FullSpectrum34]

My website was put up about 4 months ago and it has helped alot with my ranking on google! Heres a link to mine, I have a guy that does websites and can optimize you google for you heres the link I can be reached
www.fullspectrumroofers.com

 

[TopRankedRoofer]

Rankings?

It appears that you rank for two terms:

norman storm damage #68
mooresville roofing company #81

I'm sorry to tell you but customers with roof problems will NOT find your page if it's listed at #81.

It doesn't appear that you rank in BMB/maps for your terms or that you're running google ads. Where are you getting roof jobs from?

 

[BirminghamRoofs]

I'd say a website wouldn't hurt you if its done right! Like some said in the comments, its basically an AD running 24/7. Creating one yourself can be a hassle so I'd look into finding the right person to help you create one if you have the budget.

 

[gregpalms859]

I'd say a website wouldn't hurt you if its done right! Like some said in the comments, its basically an AD running 24/7. Creating one yourself can be a hassle so I'd look into finding the right person to help you create one if you have the budget.

Agreed

 

[richkyhvac]

A good website can certainly help you generate business. But if you are happy with what your doing using only word-of-mouth, maybe just stick to a simple FB page.

 

[Young C.]

A great website can be your best asset especially as everything goes online. Not only that it should look good, have good information and be easy to use or people will get there and just leave. Your website should be your best salesperson, works 24/7, never goes on vacation, and never asks for a raise. I was watching Shark Tank the other day and one of the sharks said "making the shift to digital". If you're not online, how can your next customers find you? Answer, they can't. That's why the companies that are on page 1 are probably winning in your market. Google "best roofers near me" and see which companies show up and ask yourself if they are doing well or hurting for business. I know because it's what I do.