Google adwords

[Erb1]

I have recently started up a roofing & building business and Im looking for someone to point me in the right direction of how I can get listed on google, I have a nice website in place but its obviously not generating anything as its new. I understand that you can bring in a company to run your campaign.. could anyone recommend any to me?

Also is it worth looking into a seo?

Thanks!

 

[AllUpHere]

Seo for a local business like yours isn't difficult, but then it very much depends on whether you have any direct competition who knows what they are doing. Equally, there are a lot of SEO's who don't know what they are doing, so choose carefully.

If you are thinking of using adwords make sure you have suitable landing pages, regardless of whether you are managing it yourself, or paying someone to do it. Generally speaking website designers are no good at creating effective landing pages.

 

[WHGB Tom]

Maybe check what kind of search volumes / potential traffic you get first. You might have more results using Facebook to generate new business.

 

[lyonsdown]

Please contact me as i have a special program on my site which gets you Google first page, pretty much guranteed. I can prove how it works for me.
It's totally designed for companies that travel to customers, as it links your keywords to the towns you want to target.

 

[ChrisRM]

This will help you understand the basics of SEO.

Its a great post and will give you the grounding you need to understand what you need.

Being frank, it will take months for you to see substantial results from SEO. It is a long term game. Google doesn't like changes to happen fast, because they don't want people spamming the results. I'd it will be at least 6 months before your anywhere near the top with a brand new website.

AdWords is a good option in the meanwhile. It is usually relatively competitive for roofing. Would you like me to establish the average cost per click to website for the search relevant to you?

 

[yourmoneytree.co.uk]

I think what you're touching on is two different subjects and understanding the benefits both will bring is really important.

Firstly SEO - the free stuff (ish)

Ok that line is a bit misleading, just because you aren't paying for people to be on your site doesn't mean that getting them to view your site was free. You can cover off the basics, get free local listings for your business, use google plus to make sure you're location is known online, use facebook too etc - but if you want some real traction you'll have to optimise your site (get an expert to do it) and do some sort of PR/blogging to give your site increased awareness over time.

There's loads of ways you can do this, so my advice would be to read around and do everything free you can before you start to spend money - but time is the key thing here. It isn't going to happen over night or even within a few months.

This is where adwords comes in...

Adwords is where you pay to get traffic to your site - it's a great way to get your business of the ground but be careful it can cost a fortune and just because people see your site doesn't mean they will become a lead.

You need lead generation pages (on top of your normal site) and to spend some time narrowing down the things your potential customers will search for too.

Usually adwords agencies want a set minimum fee or a % of your spend - and they can soon become costly.

I know you'll be thinking that you have no idea how to use Adwords, so my advice would be don't jump at the first person that talks to you. 95% of adwords "experts" won't give you return on investment - so you might actually be better of learning the skills it takes yourself if you have a small budget.

Always happy to share my experiences with adwords/seo - from good to bad if you want to PM me.

 

[PropertyWebmasters]

As a new business you won’t become first on Google for a while.

It's important to carry out all ‘white hat’ SEO tasks for you new online business to ensure your website is fully optimised, if you want your site to rank on Google it is essential to carry out SEO.

I work for a company called Blast Digital who offer online marketing/ SEO services. To get ranking on Google the first step to carry is is keyword research, this will show you what keywords you want to be ranking for in Google. You can gather keyword search volumes using an AdWords account.

From here you can optimise your website using various effective digital strategies and soon enough, your site should start ranking on Google.

There is so much you can do to improve your website's Google rank, If you are not sure where to start, send me a message and I will be glad to help.

 

[wevet]

Don't forget to register on Google Places - one of the very few things free from Google

 

[London Gary]

Hello Erb1,

You're entering into a crowded market - I specialise in construction industry marketing and every sector is saturated with hopefuls.

Here's my advice:

1. If you're operating at a local level then SEO can work to some extent because you're competing mainly with roofers in your area. Of course, you're only going to be found by customers looking for roofers in your area - and I doubt you want to be restricted to one town. So SEO your site for your local areas but then do other things.

2. Create - or have created for you - an effective, benefits-heavy Google ad that will appear when people search for roofing services. Don't try to combine roofing services and building services in one ad - you want a specific ad that will definitely come up for your chosen search terms. Tip: create ads for each specific service that you offer - niche it down a bit even so that instead of 'roofing services' your ad should zero in on people who search for 'asphalt roofing' or 'pitched roofing' or similar. When people make very specific searches you'll be the one whose ad appears.

3. For the love of gawd, make sure that when they click on your ad that they are then transported to a properly written landing page or website - one that deals carefully with their scepticism about roofers (sorry mate - it's true), their fear that they don't know how to judge one roofer from another, their natural resistance to buying etc. The moment they click you are charged for that click. If they end up on a website full of the usual self-promoting tosh they will just click back to the Google page and try another one. You, though, still have to pay for that click.

Given how much money you can earn from a single successful sale it is worth paying for the ad and the site (or landing page) to be properly written with plenty of emphasis on persuasive but subtle sales methods (although I would say that, of course).

Anyway, the answers so far have probably given you plenty to consider - let us know how you decide to proceed.

Best wishes,

Gary

 

[Rob Fagan]

I have used Google AdWords in the past. It can be very expensive for the return you get. There are a lot of things you can do that would be more effective in my opinion.

 

[IMAC IT Solutions]

Hi Erb1,

Long story short, SEO is a good investment to see results on your website in the long term. Google Adwords can provide almost instantaneous conversions in comparison, and is much easier to track. A smart tactic, with a larger budget is to do both of these simultaneously. I'd be happy to talk in greater detail because there's numerous pros and cons for both. Mostly pros on both sides

 

[Nochexman]

I have recently started up a roofing & building business and Im looking for someone to point me in the right direction of how I can get listed on google, I have a nice website in place but its obviously not generating anything as its new. I understand that you can bring in a company to run your campaign.. could anyone recommend any to me?

Also is it worth looking into a seo?

Hi Erb1, it is three weeks since you posted here, would be interested to know what you thought of the ideas people here suggested, and what you have actually done since you posted your question.

 

[StevePoster]

Roofing and Building business are competitive in its related field and to make things right don't be solely focus on getting listed in Google. Consider first the big problem in your business which is how can you provide the needs of your target clients that is not offered anywhere.

 

[Website Design Ltd]

I agree with Steve, you really need to be looking at a holistic marketing approach. At this stage we don't know what you are currently doing online, or offline to find new clients, however, it is important that you do both.

You won't make money if you don't know what you are doing. You either need to invest your time in learning how to do it right, or invest your money in someone who does.

 

[UK Business Directory]

If you do decide to go with Google Adwords, check online as they usually offer £75 free credit vouchers once you have spent approx £25 with them.

 

[Chris Needham]

Whats your budget? Most of the decent ones do not accept anything less than £2,000 per month.

 

[ShyFish Designs]

Hey,

I manage quite a few roofing companies and builders throughout the UK. They are all small businesses with reasonably small monthly budgets (£100-250 typically). This is what I've found usually works best for them.

Key points to take onboard:

1. Google Ranking (SEO) is long term.
2. Google Adwords can generate instant enquiries (if done correctly)

What do you need to attract customers through Google Adwords?

A relevant landing page (website) is KEY!

Make sure you landing page (website) is mobile friendly as most searches come from mobiles phones and tablets nowadays.

If you are a roofing company based in Bristol (example location), your Google Ads need to match what the customer is searching. For example, if your customer is searching "roofers in Bristol" your ads need to say "Roofers In Bristol - Get Your Free Quote" and then direct those people to a landing page which clearly states, you are roofers in Bristol - get your free quote here.

Make sure you set your keywords as "phrase match" to control your ad spend quality.

Start off with putting location names in the Google Ads titles (for example, "roofers in Bristol").

You need to spend at least £5 a day for most roofing Google Adwords campaigns. In my experience with roofing companies, the typical cost per click is over £1.

Sign up for a Google MyBusiness account and then use the free Adwords promotional code they give out to play around. For example, spend £40 get £80 free ad credit.

TIP: don't be afraid to spend money once you've nailed the basics. Just think of it this way, if you spend £200 a month on Google Ads and got 2 decent roofing jobs from it, you would easily make a very nice return on investment.

 

[Paulwestwod]

You said like you are new business. Then hire good SEO industry who follow pure white hat seo techniques.

Search in Google to get the strategies - White Hat

Before that set up Google Webmaster Account and Google Analytics Account - you can track your website by setting up these accounts.

 

[lucyl]

In terms of SEO, is your website optimised for key search terms? This could be a good place to start, as long as you make sure that you find the right keywords to optimise first. There are some useful guides available about finding the right keywords from Moz and Kissmetrics so these might be good places to start. SEO helps your website to improve its search engine ranking and therefore increases the traffic to your site.
There is a more comprehensive guide to this linked to my profile, if you're interested.
Keep us all updated with what you decide to do next!

 

[TheConsulter]

1. Use Google my business. It will make your website visible on Google maps and Google search results.
2. List your business in credible online directories. Yell, Yelp etc.
3. List your business on Trustpilot. It's a major and credible review site. They have measures to prevent false reviews. You can choose the option that only customers can give a review.
4. Use Gumtree to promote you services.
5. Be active on Social media. You can post pictures of jobs that you have done. You can upload pictures of happy customers. There are plenty of options.
6. Use Adwords. Here you have to work with keywords. They shouldn't be too broad or narrow. There are many guides on the internet that you can learn from.

Best of luck!