Almost every roofer I’ve talked to in the last 3+ years can tell me how the Internet has affected changed their business. Most of them are currently attempting to secure more internet marketing leads for their business.
Some do ok – most don’t. Those who do well are getting advice from people who can prove they’ve helped others to achieve their goals. The ones who don’t do well often get advice from friends or on some forum (RoofingTalk comes to mind) from others who aren’t doing well either.
An old scribe wrote about “the blind leading the blind – both fall into a pit.” I think this is what he was talking about.
One of the problems these business leaders face is BS. It presents a major stumbling block that too often prevents success.
Now, before you get yourself worked up over nothing, my meaning of the initials is probably not what you think it is.
There is a lot of that kind of BS thrown around and consumed by roofing contractors, and it does have an effect on their results, but I’ll need to talk about that in a future post.
Your BS About Internet Marketing Leads Can Kill Your Success
Today I want to focus on a different meaning of BS. I’m talking about your “belief systems.” There are many forms of it – and some are more deadly than others – but let’s look at three things today that might be hurting you.
1) People don’t really use the internet to choose a contractor to work with. Since this type of thinking fits into both columns of BS, let’s start with it.Roofing Contractor Magazine, in their State of the Industry webinar last year told us that 80% of roofing projects start with an internet search. It’s possible that it’s even higher than that, but let’s go with their numbers.
8 out of every ten people who have a roofing issue today will go online to find someone to help them. One of the big lead gen sites speaks to this with a line in their ad about roofing contractors by saying “how do you find a roofer, anyway?”So if you think that your customer is different and that they don’t know quite a bit about you BEFORE they ever call you, that is a belief system that hurts you and is costing you business. Both homeowners who need a residential roofer and building owners and property managers who need their commercial roof replaced or repaired are looking online.They look for someone the think they can trust and that they like. Which leads us to…
2) My website? I built a website already, in 2003 (or 2009). We don’t need anything more than we already have.If this is true for you, you’re paying a very high price for your belief. Chances are excellent that half or more of the visitors to your site are using mobile phones or tablet computers when they look. And your site probably looks awful for them. It’s impossible to read, and the navigation doesn’t work correctly. So they leave as fast as they came.
Game over… thanks for playing.
The mobile version of your site that you bought in 2012 or so isn’t helping either. You want your site to be “responsive” to mobile browsers, not redirect to a mobile version of your site. Chances are it’s not even presenting the same info as your regular site because it doesn’t get updated regularly.
Do yourself a favor. Find out, right now, if Google sees your site as “mobile friendly” or not. Just click here, enter your domain on the next page and get your site analyzed.
Remember: People use the internet to solve their problems. They use it to research and learn about things. Your site tells them about you. So if they found your old site (mobile or not) in their search and you don’t offer them valuable info, you lose. You need info on your site that both separates you from your competitors (your uniqueness) and helps you to sell them on your company without you selling.
There is an unlimited nature of the web, so providing more info is better than less info almost every time. The exception is on your AdWords landing pages which are intentionally limited in the info they provide. We’ll talk about this in detail some other time.
You’ll want pages of content on your site that:
- Describes your ideal customer
- Talks about the problems they’re dealing with that you can solve.
- Shows pictures of the process you use to solve problems (or at least shows before-after pics)
- Includes reviews from satisfied customers
- Details what areas you serve
- Provides information about you, your team and the people who your customer will meet when they hire you.
Know that all buyers feel a need to check you out. Those who don’t do their research are often only looking for the lowest price, and they might not be a good fit for your business anyway.
The Mighty Strength Of Customer Reviews
One awful review has been known to so badly hurt a contractor that they had to close their business. One company I know went from getting 20+ leads per week to none – all because of a review left at the BBB from one of his customers. Don’t underestimate the power of what people say about you. It’s far more important that what you say about yourself.
3) I’ve tried to get internet marketing leads already – it didn’t work. Total BS (in every respect) but let’s just deal with facts. If your site isn’t providing all the leads your company needs to keep your guys working and your business growing and profiting, it’s not working FOR YOU. That’s different than saying it doesn’t work.
Smart, savvy roofing business owners, want to be found everywhere someone might look for a contractor. In AdWords. In the local maps. And in the organic search listings (the ten blue links at the bottom of search pages). At Top Ranked Roofer we call that “triple-optimization,” and it provides you with the greatest chances of attracting more business. Provided you’ve accomplished the things I spoke about earlier.
My clients know, with confidence that we make their phone ring with quality local roofing leads. In some cases lots and lots of them.
So there you have it – some sweet tea to soothe your soul. If you correct the BS that block your path to success, you’ll improve your chances of finding what you’re dreaming of when you get up to run your business today. If you’d like to chat about your business goals, I’m happy to make time for a call with you. Go here, pick a time that works for you and we’ll do it.
