When it comes to roofing SEO, things have changed a lot in the last 10 years. There was once a time when Google would reward content for the sake of it. Why? Because they had so few choices of what to crawl, index, and ultimately; rank. But since the whole “content is king” mantra became mainstream SEO, everyone and their mother has created some form of web content. Since Google’s success is dependent upon the satisfaction of its users, trash content no longer does the trick. Not only does Google have countless amounts of superior pages to rank over yours, but your over-saturation of their index is also only polluting their search engine and making your website less appealing overall. In today’s Roofing SEO podcast, Nolen Walker goes off on trash SEO content for roofers and why you should transition to other forms of content that are far superior for both the end-user and Google’s search crawlers alike.
Do Roofers Still Need Content?
Roofers still need content marketing in 2020 but the type of content is now much more dynamic. Mediums like video, podcasts, check-ins, user-generated reviews, and testimonials are just a few of the new waves of content that roofing companies should focus on to grow their business. An inherent problem with text-based content is that it’s boring. But quality text content can actually still serve a purpose. However, the vast majority of content published online in 2020 is pure and unadulterated garbage. And no other industry is more guilty of exercising this practice than roofing contractors. Luckily, they now have new ideas about what content is.
New Types of Content for Roofers
Check-ins
If you didn’t know by now, reputation management for roofers is very important. But one aspect of reputation is proof. And with online check-ins powered by BrandRevu, roofers can enjoy the social proof of job site check-ins. Every time you perform a service at a verified location (via your BrandRevu tool) you will see that check-in populated on the corresponding page of your roofing company website. As users and Google see that you’ve worked on specific services in specific areas, they will be more confident about using your services in the future. Additionally, Google will acknowledge your location pages as legitimate since verified check-ins in the corresponding locations now populate the content of the web page. It’s a win-win for everyone involved.
Images
When you perform a check-in, for example, you can snap a photo of your job site and of the roof you are working on. As you showcase to your audience real-time imagery, you prove your worth as a legitimate roofing contractor and gain their initial trust. When you combine images with reviews, videos, and check-ins, you begin to establish a level of credibility that your competitors lack. Images are important for SEO as well and are made more impactful by the inclusion of alt text which describes the image to Google and also to users with visual impairment. Having unique images is critical since stock photos are pure trash and will make your roofing business look like a joke and an utter disgrace to society. Furthermore, nobody will trust you. Commit your focus to images of your team, trucks, equipment, and logos.
Reviews
As you may know, reviews are the integral part of the aforementioned reputation management. BrandRevu, in addition to providing check-in technology, also helps you generate reviews from satisfied customers. The software tool sends text and email reminders to recently serviced consumers with links to review your business on Google or Facebook. These reviews are then showcased on your roofing contractor website for potential customers to see. Not only is this beneficial for SEO purposes, but also for conversion rate optimization. The best part about reviews is that they are generated by verified users, rather than a roofing company or their hack content writer. Prospects are way more engaged with how a previous job went than how great your content writer can describe your services.
Videos
YouTube is one of the largest platforms on the internet and a place where consumers spend much of their day. This is true both through mobile devices as well as desktop computers. Embedding YouTube videos on your website is beneficial for multiple reasons. First, Google ranks videos in a separate algorithm on its search engine. Surrounding your video with other forms of contextual content, helps it rank as a video, and vice versa. When you integrate Google and YouTube you can get great results on both platforms. In addition, website users are more likely to engage with visual content. If you can show one of your services or provide an inspirational description, on camera, you are far more likely to succeed with converting web traffic into lead generation for roofers. 2020 is the time to appeal to users visually.
