Nowadays millions of consumers are searching online for local businesses in their areas. This has led to a change in the business marketing landscape. The use of search engines like Google to find relevant information has become a major factor in having an effective online presence.

As a result, just having a website isn’t enough. A roofing company website needs to be “optimized” for local search. Or in other words, it should show up well in search results when local terms such as “roofing contractor Augusta Georgia” or “flat roof repair northeast Ohio” are used. Roofing companies that incorporate this will have a strong edge over competitors.

Follow the Numbers

If this is unconvincing, it’s a worth a look at the numbers. Here are a few reasons why local search is important:

• 80+ million people are looking for information online in the U.S. alone
• 3 billion searches done per month include localized terms, such as city, state, or regional references
• Over 90% of online searches have local business information content from social media platforms like Facebook
• Over 50% of mobile users seek out local information online

As a result, if a roofing business isn’t easily found online, the outcome is undeniable. That roofing contractor is missing out on several business opportunities that could come from online information-seekers.

Strengthen Online Presence

There are many local search strategies which a commercial roofing contractor can take to bolster his or her online presence. Here are a few effective ones:

• Routinely produce new, consumer-friendly content. One powerful way to boost a website’s search engine results is regular content production. A company blog is an ideal medium for getting new, engaging content on your website. Publishing a blog post weekly will do more than just satisfy consumer demand for quality information. If the blog post has geographic terms in its content, it will also help the website perform better in local search engine rankings.

• Understand “Search Engine Optimization” (SEO). SEO is an important component of any online marketing efforts. Make sure your website is optimized for local search. Your page titles, URLs, content, links, and headers should be optimized for keywords that consumers use when looking for local roofing companies.

• Embrace longer keyboard phrases that include local terms. When it comes to selecting keywords, it’s in your interest to include long keyword phrases, or “long-tail keyword phrases.” Why? Because they are an effective strategy for promoting local search. When you’re going to include geographic terms in your keyword phrases, use variations of location names. Examples of this include “Atlanta, Georgia,” “central Georgia,” and “Atlanta metro.”

• Make sure your website is mobile-friendly. Increasing amounts of mobile users are looking for local businesses online (over half now). Your website should be “mobile-optimized,” or able to seen easily on mobile device screens, so it reaps the benefits of connecting with these mobile information-seekers.

These are just a few methods you can incorporate to move a roofing company website from online anonymity to first-page Google results.

Commercial Roofing Marketing Firm Available

The online marketing landscape is constantly changing. It helps to have access to knowledgeable marketing professionals who can provide guidance on these evolving trends. And with a capable marketing firm handling your company’s needs, you’re free to turn your attention on what’s more important: growing your business at hand.

Top Roof Marketing is the only nationwide marketing firm with an exclusive focus on the commercial roofing industry. Backed by hundreds of hours of research and a number of innovations, our team is fully committed to client needs. And since we understand the dynamics of the commercial roofing industry, we’ll help you come up with online and real-world marketing strategies that get results. Our team is also just a phone call away if you need personalized support.

To learn more about how we can serve you, call us today at (800) 795-2187. We look forward to earning your business, starting with our first interaction!

When you need a service provider in your area, where do you go? Not the yellow pages unless you’re aggressively anti-technology. The answer, of course, is most likely Google. Perhaps even Bing or Yahoo. These search engines are one-stop shops that are perfect for finding anything you need – they are the modern day yellow pages, only much better.

Now, imagine a local business owner in Cincinnati, Ohio who has a roof leak. They head to Google and search for “Commercial Roof Repair Cincinnati OH.” What do they find? Do they find you on the first few search results? Google and other search engines have complex algorithms that determine the order websites are listed after someone performs a search. The details of those algorithms are far too mundane, but when someone searches for the aforementioned phrase, what they’ll likely see is a front page filled with local business directories such as Super Pages, Yelp, and Angie’s List. These online local business directories are the real 21st century yellow pages.

Maximizing Online Lead Opportunities

The internet has made information so easy to find that most of us never venture past the first page of results. Perhaps to a fault, we trust Google almost completely. We’ll click on the top few search results, which will often be online business directories containing contact information for local companies. The first business that has good reviews often gets the phone call. At the very least, they’ll receive a website visit or at least some memory space in that business owner’s mind. So the question becomes: How do you get on those online directories? How do you get that client?

First, let’s start with which directories we’re talking about. Google+ Local, Yahoo Local, and Bing Business are the big three. If you’re a local business, you need your name in these online directories. Fortunately, the top three online business directories are operated by the three biggest search engine companies. While common search phrases (like “roof leak repair”) will undoubtedly return results of company websites, the reason you can always count on Google+ Local showing up when you use Google’s search engine is fairly obvious. The same can be said for Yahoo Local and Bing Business. The decision to list your business on these online directories then becomes a pretty easy one to make. If your roofing company isn’t listed in those directories, you’re not doing everything you can to be found online, and potential clients likely won’t even know you exist.

So back to our question: How do you become listed on online local business directories such as Google+ Local, Yahoo Local, and Bing Business? The answer is you – you simply have to take the time to list yourself or find someone else to do it for you. Every business is fighting for attention online – the more “real estate” you take up (i.e., pages with information relating to your company), the stronger your online presence will be. Not only is listing yourself on these directories important, but accurately, consistently, and completely filling in your information can be the difference between booking a new client and missing out. To get yourself as high as possible on these lists, it is important to have your company name, location, description, and contact information filled out in full.

What Actions Can You Take Today?

1. List your commercial roofing business on multiple directories, especially popular ones. We always do at least 50 of them for all our website clients at no additional charge because of how important they are.
2. Make sure all your listings are consistent. In other words, all of the information in the listings themselves must be the same across all online directories.
3. If you change locations, phone number, or anything else relevant to your potential clients, make sure to update your company listings accordingly and promptly.
4. Encourage customers to leave reviews for you on these websites. After all, wouldn’t you choose the company who has even just one positive review over a company with none?

A Full-Service Commercial Roofing Marketing Firm

We understand this is a lot to deal with. As with roofing, there’s a lot of work that goes into building and maintaining your online presence. That’s where we come in. As a marketing firm that’s focused exclusively on the commercial roofing industry, Top Roof Marketing can help you with your online needs. We understand the dynamics and nuances of the commercial roofing market, and our dedicated experts will work with you to develop a professional, online presence.

We can help you optimize your presence online and craft that needed professional image. This is achieved not only through online local directories but also through full-service website design that delivers a clean and professional image. To see websites we’ve done in the past, visit our Website Portfolio page.

Top Roof Marketing is the solution you’ve been looking for. With the amount of attention we can help you receive, you can turn that local business owner in need of commercial roof repair into your newest client. Give us a call today at (800) 795-2187.

Hiring anyone to do an important job can be intimidating if you are unsure of the right questions to ask. Getting answers to the right questions can make this important decision easier and can help to avoid future disappointments when it comes to desired results or price. Roofing marketing companies are similar to general marketing companies, but specifically cater to the roofing industry and so questions asked before hiring should address both marketing abilities as well as knowledge of the roofing industry.

Marketing Questions

There are many important questions to ask, including those surrounding background and qualifications. You need to know that the company has the ability to handle current and future needs and that they are capable of growing with your company. Ask questions that will address not only the marketing expertise, but also how successful past and current clients have been at achieving goals. In order to discover answers to these questions, the marketing company agent should be able and willing to share a current portfolio of work as well as complete references so you can verify their answers. Good questions to ask include:

• What type of clients have you been working with over the past year?

• What type of projects have you done within the last 6 months?

• Can you handle a full marketing package or do you only specialize in certain areas of marketing?

• How many clients do you typically work with at the same time?

• Do you provide ongoing services?

Roofing Questions

• Does the marketing company representative feel that the company understands roofing products? If so, why?

• How long have they been dealing with clients in the roofing industry?

• Another good thing to find out when making inquiries is to ascertain where the marketing staff turns when they need to know industry information. Do they have contact with a roofing expert so that the marketing material they create is credible to the roofers?

General Hiring Questions

General hiring questions that are important to ask before hiring a roofing marketing company should include questions that consumers should always ask before making any large dollar purchasing commitment such as:

• What is the reputation of the company and can the reputation be found easily such as reviews listed by previous customers on the company website, on Angie’s list, or on Yelp.com?

• Is the company listed with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and has the owner of the company provided information on the BBB website that puts a consumer at ease when dealing with the company?

• What can I expect regarding response time when I call in with questions?

• What can I expect regarding turnaround time for projects?

Conclusion

The questions you ask before hiring a roofing marketing company should be three-fold:

1. General Questions that pertain to the marketing company that will reveal needed information about the stability of the company, trustworthiness and can also help you to determine what it will be like to work with them.
2. Marketing and roofing questions are more specific in nature and will give you the information you need to decide if they are a good fit in regards to promoting your company.
3. Make sure that you ask questions that help you to compare how they stack up to other competing companies for your business. Compare price, mix of product and services, and also experience and recommendations.

Now that you know the best questions to ask, you should feel more confident about hiring a roofing marketing company.

Nowadays, there are so many marketing strategies, it is hard to keep track of them all. Commercial roofing contractors are constantly bombarded with them. They get explanations of how a particular marketing strategy is “guaranteed” to get them the roofing leads they need.

Of course, there is no such thing as a guaranteed marketing success. But when different marketing strategies are carefully considered based on past data, blended together, and well-timed in their execution, there are much greater opportunities for not only bringing in leads, but also ones of higher-quality. When it comes to marketing, though, there is one critical thing that roofing contractors are not told, but that is essential to keep in mind.

The One Secret Ingredient Behind the Best Marketing Strategies for Roofing Companies

This key tenet is the following: “All marketing strategies and plans for executing them should be tailored to the commercial roofing industry itself.”

In other words, a marketing campaign should be geared toward the dynamics of the commercial roofing industry itself; namely the following realities or trends:

• Decision-making about restoring or replacing a commercial roof is typically a long, drawn-out process
• Because building owners can spend potentially tens of thousands of dollars, they are not likely to make decision about their roof in the moment or on the spot
• Marketing strategies and content should be geared toward telling a building owner specifically about how a contractor offers value, why his products are solid performers, and the benefits of all of this for the building owner
• There is no one-size-fits-all marketing solution for getting the attention of prospects
• Marketing strategies that have “proven records” in other industries are not a surefire guarantee of effectiveness in commercial roofing marketing

If a marketing professional or a marketing and advertising firm is trying to sell you on a particular marketing strategy or method, keep an eye out. It is advisable to see how beneficial the terms of the contract the marketing service or strategy would require would be for you.

If you would be forced to be locked into the contract for a year or longer, or if the contract would call for a huge baseline amount of something (e.g., thousands of “impressions”, or how many times an advertisement or promotion for your roofing company is seen), that company may not be acting in your interest. Also, marketing firms that are not willing to customize their service offerings or support to your needs or industry are to be avoided. They likely will not be the best marketing advocates for your company, either.

A Few Examples of Ineffective Roofing Marketing in Action

Here are a few quick real world examples in which the core principle mentioned above is not being implemented.

• A marketing firm offers to sell a contractor mobile banner ads. Banner ads run the gamut of the advertising world. They are diverse, and for the most part, they are not a good fit for the commercial roofing industry. Why? Mobile banner ads are about compelling consumers into impulsive purchases or buying decisions. With a commercial roof, however, thousands of dollars are at stake, and building owners likely will not rush in making up their mind about the roofing contractor they will choose. Because of the cost burden dynamics of commercial roofing, the buyer decision-making process is slower than other markets, and mobile banner ads’ “in the moment” are not conducive toward generating sales.

• A roofing contractor is given the option of taking a “spray and pray” approach with his direct mail campaign. Direct mail is one of the most effective marketing methods for roofing contractors. But using an unqualified mailing list for a direct mail campaign is likely to lead to only frustration and wasted precious advertising dollars. Why? Because the list is so untargeted. With a spray and pray approach, your direct mail pieces might get into the hands of people who do not want your services, such as local government offices (these locations often have very strict “no solicitation” policies). To better understand this, think of it in other ways—would a home remodeling company get many leads if its direct mail went to locations like small businesses or corporate headquarters? In that context, it is easy to see why targeted direct mail campaigns are so important.

• A marketing firm offers to design a top-of-the-line, customized mobile app for a roofing company. On the surface, this may seem like a great idea. After all, the more people you can get to download your company app and use it, the better, right? However, generally speaking, a roofing company with a mobile app likely will not be that productive or cost-effective. Here is why. In both the residential and commercial roofing industries, people look for roofing companies in two cases: when their roof is on their mind, or when it has problems that need caretaking. They are not likely to use an app store to find a roofing company for their needs. And if they go with a roofing company and download the company’s app while they are engaging that company’s services, after the job is finished, they likely will no longer use the app. In turn, that can translate into a big loss for the roofing company, in terms of dollars and time spent on having the app developed. After all, the company will not be getting any value from the app if customers do not continue to use it after their roofing job is complete.

Want a Marketing Firm that Understands the Commercial Roofing Industry?

At Top Roof Marketing, we have spent hundreds of man-hours looking at data and researching what works and does not work for the commercial roofing industry. Because we have handled so many marketing campaigns for commercial roofing companies of all sizes, we understand what is truly effective in this market space.

The premium we place on our clients’ success and satisfaction is huge, too. You will be hard-pressed to find a full-service marketing firm that is as dedicated to your needs and accountable for its services as our team is.

To learn more about how Top Roof Marketing can help you position your roofing company for success, give us a call today at (800) 795-2187. We look forward to earning your trust and business, starting with our first conversation about your needs!