7 Strategies for Generating More Web Leads in 2022

People are online more than they’ve even been in history and there’s no sign of this trend reversing. In fact, 81 percent of people in the United States go online on a daily basis(according to Pew Research) and 63 percent of shopping occasions begin online (according to Think with Google).

This trend is significant since face-to-face interactions with potential customers are less and less frequent. More transactions are happening though digital means such email, phone, Zoom, text, and a slew of online applications.

The smartest thing you can do for your roofing business before 2022 is to respect these trends and make sure your company’s online presence is set up for success.

I’ve put together list of seven proven strategies for roofing companies that you can use to generate more web leads in 2022. But before I jump into how to set your business up for success online in the new year, lets first go over the most important principle about digital marketing.

Understand Your Target Audience

If you do not understand your target customer inside-out, it is going to be very difficult to capture their attention with any of your online advertising. The more detail you know about your perfect target customer, the easier it will be to speak their language and show up where they get their information.

This is critical because you want to get your prospective customers to be nodding their heads “yes” as they make their way through your online lead funnel. This basic principle is true whether marketing online — or offline with billboard ads, radio ads, print ads, TV ads, or any other type of advertising.

When your message is on-point with what your target customer is thinking, then you’ll have a much better chance of converting website visitors to actual leads requesting an estimate for your services.

Now that we know how to best connect with your target customer, let’s dive into the seven proven digital marketing strategies for roofing businesses to get more web leads in 2022.

1. Improve Your Website Conversion Rate

There’s a good chance you have a few opportunities to improve how well your website converts a website visitor into an actual lead (someone who calls your business or requests service through a contact form of some sort).

The first simple action is to make sure your phone number is visible in the header and footer of your website on all different device sizes (desktop, laptop and mobile). You also want to make sure every time your phone number is visible on a mobile device, it is “clickable” so visitors can “click-to-call” with ease.

Next, when you increase your company’s trustworthiness on your website, you will also increase your chances to converting more visitors into leads. By using elements like social proof in the form of testimonials and customer reviews and also service awards, you will look more trustworthy to your target audience. When you add certifications, affiliations and partner logos to your site, you’re helping to bridge the trust gap even more. You only get one chance to make a good first impression, so make sure you create an impression your ideal customers can’t resist.

2. Optimize Your Google My Business Listing

Google My Business, formerly known as Google Places, is essential to local, targeted lead generation. Your Google My Business listing is your company’s most important online business listing by far. Be sure to claim your listing by going through the verification process if you have not done so already.

Next, you want to tell Google what your business is all about. Do your best to maximize all of the elements in your listing. Be sure to fill out each of the following sections in your listing profile in order to help you get as much organic visibility on Google Maps and Google Search for your business:

• Business name
• Phone number
• Address
• Categories (your ‘Primary’ category is most important)
• Business description
• Services
• Attributes
• Photos (try to add high-quality photos – it helps a lot)

When you fill out your Google My Business listing completely with all of the business information above, you’re giving Google the details it needs to index your business appropriately in their online business directory.

3. Improve Your Reputation Online

When you get more five-star reviews online for your roofing business, you will convert a higher percentage of website and brand visitors into service leads. It’s just the way human psychology works. The more people seeing others having success with a business, the easier it will be for them to trust the business as well. It’s the power of social proof.

So, the next thing to do with your Google My Business listing after you’ve established your foundation is to get more five-star reviews on your Google My Business listing. If your business does not have 10 reviews on Google yet, make this number your first customer review goal for your business.

But understand, it is very important to get reviews on more than just Google so your company can look as legitimate as possible to your prospective customers. You want to get five-star reviews on the reviews sites that matter most for the roofing industry, specifically Google, Yelp, BBB, YP.com, Facebook, Home Advisor, Thumbtack, Buildzoom, Superpages, and Angi, to name a few.

4. Professional Branding

How you present your brand to your target customers can have a big impact on your lead generation efforts. If your company does not have a professional-looking brand online, this can hurt your company’s credibility quite a bit, even though your brand design has nothing to do with how well you perform your roofing services.

Again, we’re going to think about the psychology of your target customer here. They will feel more confident using a roofing company that looks well put together online versus a roofing company that doesn’t.

5. Google Ads

The Google search engine is one of the most direct ways to reach your target customers online. This is why Google Ads would be a great place to get in front of them fast if your budget permits.

Google Ads is a pay-per-click strategy where you are able to buy placement on keywords like “roofing contractors near me” through an auction-based platform. After a quick search, I saw that the keyword “roofing contractors near me” is currently going for $18.45 per click, so if my budget was $2,000 for the sake of this example, then I would be able to get around 108 clicks to my offer for that $2,000 budget.

If you want to take your Google Ads efforts to the next level, be sure to work with a certified Google Ads professional to give yourself a better chance of generating more leads at a lower cost per lead.

6. Using Video

By using video in your digital marketing efforts, you’ll be giving your business a leg up on most of your competition, as most roofing companies shy away from creating videos.

There are huge benefits when you use video in your marketing efforts, as this form of media can be uploaded in multiple places online (allowing you to work smarter, not harder). For instance, if you add videos to your website that describe what your services are all about, you will increase your website conversion rates.

Videos can help you increase website engagement metrics, specifically how long someone stays on your site and reducing website bounce rates (people hitting the back button). Also, video allows your prospective customers the opportunity to see you and listen to what you have to say, giving you a much better chance of them getting to know, like and trust you than if you didn’t use video.

There are many other ways effectively use video in your advertising. We’re just scratching the surface here.

7. Sending a Monthly Email Newsletter

One of the best ways to generate leads for your business is by tapping into your existing customer list, especially since your customers already know, like and trust you. An email newsletter that goes out to your customer list once a month to help keep them updated about your business and any special offers you may have is a great way to generate more quality leads.

Understand that you will need to send more than one email newsletter to get results. Plan on committing to at least 6 months’ worth of newsletter (6 emails) to see what kind of boost you can give to your business.

In conclusion, there you have it — seven proven digital marketing strategies to help you generate more web leads for your business in 2022.

The Internet has leveled the playing field for roofing companies competing after the same prospects. Whoever takes the most action in the right places will win in 2022 and beyond.

About the author: Brian Horwitz is CEO of Online Visibility Pros. For more information, call (480) 442-9161 or visit onlinevisibilitypros.com.