Originally published 1/7/20
Every roofing company needs a solid online reputation management strategy
The fact of the matter is that it can be difficult for a roofing company to acquire new clients. After all, it’s not like anyone needs a new roof on a monthly basis or even needs roofing repairs or maintenance all that often.
Roofing companies are unique in how seldom clients need their services, which means that, when someone is searching for a roofer online, you absolutely want your business to show up.
Making sure that your roofing business is visible is just the first step, though. There are a ton of different roofing companies consumers could choose from, and they need a reason to choose your business over the many others out there.
Give them a reason to choose you by building a strong online reputation.
5 reputation management tips for roofers
#1. Claim your listings
First and foremost, a roofing company absolutely must claim ALL of its business listings online. It’s not enough to just claim your Google My Business listing.
You want all of your information to be accurate across the web so that, no matter how someone finds you, they’ll always have the right contact information.
Ensuring that your contact information is accurate will help to establish trust with consumers and make your listings appear more legitimate.
If someone finds your listing on a directory or a review site and ends up calling a number that is no longer in service or visiting an old location, they’re going to think that your business is either invalid or has gone out of business. Either way, it doesn’t bode well for your business.
Another big reason why consistency across business listings is important is that Google looks at consistency when determining whether a business is valid or not. If there are multiple addresses and phone numbers across Yelp, Facebook, Angie’s List and other listings and directories, Google isn’t going to rank your business as high because it appears less legitimate.
Finally, when you claim your business listings online, it gives you more control over them. In addition to giving you the ability to update your contact information, you’ll also be able to update and optimize your business description, add photos and respond to reviews.
#2. Get more reviews
Reviews are the number one thing consumers will look at when determining whether or not they want to work with a roofing company.
Let’s face it, there’s a lot at stake when hiring a roofer. It’s not like going to a nail salon or finding a jewelry store.
Your roof is the only thing standing between you and the elements, and you want to be able to trust the company you’ve hired to take care of it.
If your business doesn’t have a solid average star rating — or worse, if you don’t have any reviews at all — it doesn’t bode well for your chances of attracting new customers online.
It also means that you should start working on generating more reviews for your business.
Although you should never bribe your clients for reviews or presume to tell them what kind of a review they should leave you, simply asking for reviews is perfectly acceptable.
Asking is a super-effective way to generate more reviews. While many people won’t write reviews on their own, believe it or not, the vast majority of people will write a review if you just ask.
#3. Generate content
A big part of online reputation management is controlling what consumers see when they find your business online.
When someone searches for your business name, ideally, your website should be the first thing that pops up, along with your listings on directories and reviews sites and your social media pages.
What you don’t want to pop up is bad press about your business, and that’s where SEO (search engine optimization) comes in handy.
By optimizing your website, business listing and social media profiles, you can ensure that consumers will find what you want them to when they search for your business online. And although SEO can get pretty complicated if you let it, the most basic and powerful strategy you can have is to simply publish content consistently online.
As a roofer, you have a lot of valuable knowledge to share with consumers. Your average Joe Blow won’t understand why a metal roof may be a better option for their needs than an asphalt shingle roof, or how important regular maintenance is for the longevity of your roof.
This is the perfect kind of content to publish on your website and social media profiles.
#4. Respond to reviews
Generating more reviews is a great step in the right direction toward maintaining your business’s online reputation, but your job isn’t done yet — you also need to respond to those reviews.
It’s important to respond to all reviews, whether they’re one-star, five-star or somewhere in the middle; however, you especially want to make it a point to respond to any negative reviews you get.
When you respond to negative reviews, it gives you a chance to share your side of the story with not only the person who left the review but with anyone who may happen to read it.
Unhappy clients often don’t understand why something happened the way that it did, and by simply explaining your side of the story, you might be able to effectively defuse the situation.
It’s important, though, that you always take ownership of the situation, even if you feel that it’s not your fault.
This doesn’t mean that you have to claim responsibility, but you should at least apologize that their experience with your business wasn’t what they expected or wanted.
Never argue with a reviewer or insult them. And, if necessary, give yourself a little time to cool off if you’re upset before responding to a negative review.
One of the best things you can do when responding to a negative review is to invite the reviewer to discuss the matter offline.
This will save you from having to argue or set the record straight with a client on such a public forum, and it shows other people that you’re willing to work to correct a bad situation.
#5. Sign up for Google Alerts
When it comes to your business’s online reputation, you can’t effectively manage it if you set it and forget it.
A good online reputation management strategy means ongoing, real-time management, which means that you have to be in the know about what people are saying about your business online.
One of the best ways to stay on top of what people are saying about your business online is to sign up for Google Alerts.
Google Alerts are totally free, and you can use them to monitor all kinds of things, including brand mentions.
You can even use Google Alerts to monitor what people are saying about your competition online, giving you a much-needed leg up.
Become a Top Rated Local® roofing company!
There are a lot of things that go into building and maintaining a strong online reputation, and it can all seem overwhelming when you already have so much going on.
Luckily, it’s easy to get started — sign up or claim your Top Rated Local listing.
Becoming a Top Rated Local business means that you’ll get real-time notifications when you get new reviews, the ability to reply to your reviews, a monthly breakdown of your online reputation overall and so much more. Get started today!
