5 Things Your Roofing Website Must Have

Can it be argued that the roofing industry is perhaps one of the oldest forms of business in human civilization? Historians cite that the origins of roofing design and construction can be traced back to as far as 3,000 B.C. by ancient Chinese cultures who specialized in laying down clay roof tiles.

From then on, humans relentlessly continued to alter this essential component of shelter. First Century Roman and Greek civilizations favored slate and tile roofs, while thatched roofs were all the rage in Western Europe throughout the Eighth Century. The game-changing New England-style roofing architecture came to fruition in the 17th century with the sloped, shed-like roof accompanied by a chimney and perhaps the occasional chimney-sweeper accident.

While roofs have certainly come a long way since their inception over 5,000 years ago, what’s even more impressive is how rapidly roofer marketing has changed.

It was only years ago that customers would peruse the classified sections of newspapers, basing the decision of their substantial home improvement investment on who had the most convincing 25-word blurb across from the funny pages.

But now, with the swipe of a thumb, anyone can gain access to dozens – sometimes hundreds – of roofing contractors on the screen of their phone. And with so much competition to choose from, much of a consumer’s decision weighs heavily on the functionality, appearance, and performance of a roofing company website.

If your roofing website isn’t performing up to par, you’re easily missing out on plenty of leads, sales, and long-lasting customer relationships – all because your online presence is slacking compared to some of your nearby competitors. Fortunately, upgrading your roofing website isn’t nearly as daunting as it may sound.

If gaining more web traffic, converting leads into sales, and finding your company smack dab on the top of a “roofing companies near me” Google search sounds intriguing to you, take a look at these five essential things your roofing website needs to reach its full potential!

1) Distinctive Web Design

Look, appearance is everything. If a person interested in hiring you for a roof replacement drove out to your address and found an eight-by-six-foot wooden shack with no roof and roosters running around the driveway, you think they’d feel compelled to enlist your services?

The same can be said for when people visit your website. Studies have found that it takes literally 50 milliseconds (yes, 0.05 seconds) for visitors to form an opinion about your website, and nearly 40% of people stop engaging in a website they’ve deemed unattractive or off-putting.

First impressions are everything, which is why the first thing your roofing website needs is distinct, professional, responsive, and accessible web design.

When we say distinctive design, we’re talking about incorporating the following elements into the appearance and performance of your roofing website:

• Unique Composition: Don’t settle for any run-of-the-mill or cliche website templates!
• Reactive & Flexible: A professionally designed roofing website should look and perform at its best on all devices or platforms.
• Conversion Optimized: Your website should encourage engagement and influence prospects to enlist your services.
• Apparent Branding: Your company’s logo, message, tone, and overall identity should be extremely distinguishable to separate you from the rest of the roofing contractor pack.
• Certifications & Credentials: Specific certifications (GAF Certification, Owens Corning Preferred, NRCA Membership, BBB Accreditation, 5.0 Google Review rating, etc.) should be incorporated into the website’s layout to promote credibility and establish trust.

In addition to helping your roofing website give off a great first impression and user experience for visitors, all of these roofing web design elements will do wonders for how Google assesses and ranks your roofing website in any relevant search results.

2) Engaging Content

I know what you’re thinking. “It’s just a roofing website, right? All anyone needs to know is that I repair and replace roofs, and I’m the best in the business, so what do you mean engaging content?

Unfortunately, engaging, original, persuasive, and optimized content is not only essential for the visitors reading your website; it’s one of the biggest factors that go into how Google ranks your roofing website in its search results.

But before we cover the basics of how to optimize your roofing website’s content effectively, let’s review what accounts for engaging content:

Conversational Conviction

The tone and wording of your roofing website should demonstrate authentic confidence that convinces the reader of your expertise and appeal without coming across as too conceited or haughty. (Write as if you were talking to the reader in person.)

Define & Entice Your Demographics

Your content needs to define your target audience, answer all of their potential questions, and compel them to utilize your services.

Visually Accessible Layout

Avoid excessive paragraph blocks, utilize different headings and various font enhancements (Bold, Italics, Bullet Points, etc.), and avoid any font or image cluster.

UVPs & CTAs

Unique value propositions (UVPs) that outline what your company offers to customers (that competitors cannot) should be at the top of your pages. At the same time, calls to action (CTAs) buttons should be apparent and accessible throughout every web page.

These four elements are primary components to any forms of engaging, persuasive, and appeasing writing and design for the content of your roofing website.

3) Built-In SEO

Yes, digital marketing has its fair share of acronyms, but one you should get familiar with if you haven’t already is SEO (search engine optimization). This is the practice of optimizing the content of your website to perform better and rank higher in the eyes of the almighty Google.

A successful built-in SEO strategy that’s implemented into the content of your roofing website is what will make the difference between making that first “roofing contractors near me” Google search and getting lost in the shuffle.

Google’s algorithms will assess all components of your roofing website’s content, which dictates a variety of factors regarding your website’s online presence, ranging from how your website organically ranks in search results to reach your preferred target audience online.

In layman’s terms, if Google is a racetrack and your roofing website’s content is a race car, SEO would be the nuts, bolts, and any other automotive accessories that would help your car win the Google 500 race.

Here are a few of the elements that can dictate a successful built-in SEO strategy:

• Keyword Research & Optimization
• Headings (H Tags)
• Link Building
• Meta Descriptions & Title Tags
• Local Optimization
• Directory & Review Management and more

As you can see, there’s plenty of elements that go into an efficient SEO strategy. But taking the investment of time and energy to effectively incorporate these components into the content of your roofing website will only do wonders for enhancing your online presence over time.

4) Reviews & Testimonials

While the path toward successful marketing of your roofing company may have drastically changed compared to back in the day, there’s still one thing that remains vital to the success of your roofing enterprise as a whole: credibility.

And in order to establish that credibility online, you need to encourage your customers to write (preferably positive) reviews of your business.

User-generated content, such as reviews and testimonials, helps establish trust and confidence with visitors to your roofing website, and the more positive reviews your roofing website generates, the better it will rank and perform in relevant Google searches.

Bottom line: Your roofing website needs reviews and testimonials, and you should constantly be encouraging customers you’ve worked with to help you out by spreading the good word on your exceptional customer service!

5) Professional Video & Photography

It’s one thing for visitors to your roofing website to read about all the great work you can do on their roof. It’s also a completely different thing for those website visitors to see all the exceptional roof repair and replacement services you’ve provided for extremely satisfied customers in the past!

Showcasing engaging visuals on your roofing website is the icing on the content cake. Whether you post before-and-after roofing projects, professionally edited videos detailing an average day’s work, or even photography of staff or team, your original and polished content will do wonders for establishing credibility with your target audience and increasing your legitimacy with Google’s algorithms.

The less you can depend on generic stock photography, the more your roofing website will stand out amidst your online competition.

Upgrade Your Roofing Website with Triton Commerce!

Are you the owner of a roofing company reading all of this and thinking, “Hmm… This all sounds great, but how will I ever have the time to address all of these roofing digital marketing strategies?”

You’re not alone! Fortunately, there’s a resource you can count on to incorporate all of these components into your roofing website to help enhance your online presence and convert more leads into sales.

At Triton Commerce, we specialize in professional web design and digital marketing strategies for roofing companies looking to stand out amidst a sea of competitors.