12 Ways to Improve your Search Engine Ranking

Google will rank your website higher in search results based on a few different factors. In general, Google needs to understand your business, the main point of the website pages, and if the user finds value in your content. So you need content that speaks to both Google and the user.

If Google sees that all your customers land on your page but never convert (fill out a form), then it could communicate to google that users don’t find value in your page, and therefore it won’t show it in results.

Below, we'll look at a list of the best practices for SEO. I’ll explain what is required to bring your website up to a place where search engines will be able to find it and show it to your customers.

Regularly Updates to Improve Ranking

Improving your ranking in Google search requires a two-pronged approach: creating new, relevant pages and optimizing existing content. While this article focuses on updating existing content, these principles apply equally to creating new pages. All of these elements work together and hold significant weight in Google's ranking algorithms.

Research Relevant Keywords

You may be familiar with the term “keywords.” There are shorter keywords and what they call long-tail keywords. For example, a long-tail keyword would be something like “how to replace the roof on my shed.” These long-tail keywords provide a strategic advantage because they are very specific to the user's intent.

When performing keyword research, there are a few things to pay attention to. Such as how many times people are searching for that roofing term, how much content has already been created for that term, and how difficult it will be to rank for that roofing-related keyword.

There are strategic advantages to going after words like “roof replacement” because it has 60,500 searches each month. But the difficulty level is 81 out of 100.

There’s also an advantage to going after other keywords like “average cost to tear off and replace a roof" because, while it only has 5,600 searches per month, the difficulty for ranking is 60 out of 100.

There is a strategy to choose the best keywords. You'll want to choose keywords that are already performing well in your area. You also want to choose roofing keywords for which your competitors aren’t ranking.

A question to ask yourself is: Does your website show up on Google for the specific roofing keywords that you want? If you want more roof replacement leads but most of the keywords on your site are centered around roof repairs, your site might not perform as well.

Here is a list of some of the top roofing keywords.

Build Location Pages

Just as you would want to rank for specific long-tail keywords related to your services, you also want to show up for cities. Location pages are just that: pages that use the keyword of the city for which you want to rank. For example, “www.mywebsite.com/baltimore-roofing-company”.

When you create location pages for your roofing company, it helps Google know where your company does work. It's not enough to have a list of service locations on the homepage; you also need individual pages for each of your prime locations.

Each of your location pages needs to be specific to that location. So writing copy and adding photos and videos from those locations will go a long way toward improving the SEO of that location page.

Once you have your location pages created, you want to have a hyperlink on your homepage that goes to each of those pages. You don’t have to list all of your location pages. In fact, if you do, it could make your site look cheap. So stick with your primary locations. This will help Google identify them as more important.

Use the Right Headings

Since Google reads your website like a computer, the headings tell the computer, Google, what to read first and what is a priority. Google will understand the words on your site based on the difference between an “H1” header and an “H2” header, and it will distinguish that from a regular paragraph. So when you start your page with text that is an H1 header, you are telling Google, “this is the main point of the page.” So you want your keyword to be in the H1 header.

H1 headers are typically larger in appearance than the rest of the text on the site. When creating your roofing website, if you make the text visually large, it doesn’t mean that it will be an H1 header.

Here’s an example of the different sizes of headings.

Here is an example of a website properly using the headings.

You want your content to flow in a natural progression for both the user and Google. Also, you don’t want to overuse the H1 header. It’s normal to see multiple H2 or H3 headers, but the H1 is reserved for the main roofing keyword that you want to rank for. You want that keyword in the H1 heading.

Craft a Meta Description

A meta description is what potential customers will see on search engine results pages. It’s the words that describe the link that show up. As seen in the photo below, you have the meta title and meta description.

You need both to be specifically crafted to capture the attention of your target audience and entice them to click on your web page. This also helps communicate to Google what the main point of your page is.

But keep in mind that you don’t want to put something that is inconsistent with the content on the page. If someone sees a meta title that says, “Best roofing discounts in Florida,” but then the page only talks about roofing and not discounts, the user will most likely leave the page quickly and return to Google because they didn't find the discounts.

Google will take note of how quickly people leave the site and conclude that it doesn’t serve them well. So it will be less inclined to show your page. You want consistency in the meta title, meta description, and content on the page.

Add Alt Tags to Images

Every photo on your roofing website needs to be titled so that the computer, Google, knows what it is. So you don’t want your photo to be titled“image76329.jpg.” Rather, it needs to be accurately titled for what is in the photo and what the keyword is for your page.

If you are optimizing your roof replacement service page, you want photos of roof replacements on that page. You will also want to title those photos something like this: “roof-replacement.jpg.”

Get More Reviews

The first and most important place to get reviews for the sake of local SEO is on your Google Business profile. If you have more reviews than your competition, you will stand out, and your profile will show up more on Google Maps.

After you have enough reviews on Google Maps, you can start focusing on other platforms like Yelp, Facebook, and the BBB. Keep in mind that if you get reviews on Yelp, they prioritize reviews from users who regularly review companies. So if you see your reviews being hidden on Yelp, this is why.

Create Additional Content

The more content, the better, but it needs to be quality content. Content can be anything from the words you use to videos and photos.

When writing a blog post, for example, aim for more than 600 words. You want to provide a lot of information on the page because you are helping Google understand and inform your customers.

Part of roofer SEO is simply creating quality content that people would want to share. Have you ever read an article that was so good that you posted it on social media? This is one of the goals you want to achieve: creating content about roofing that is so good that people share your website. Or, better yet, other prominent websites link to your site.

Use photos and videos on your service pages and in your blog posts. The videos don’t have to be extremely high quality; they just need to be real. Your roofing customers want to see the work you’re doing. Google loves to show videos.

Fix the Page Speed of Your Website

Every second counts. Page speed affects SEO, so if your target audience lands on your page and it takes too long to load, they will leave the page. This impacts both user experience and your search engine ranking.

Google will also be less inclined to show your site in search results if it takes too long to load. It’s imperative that you address the speed of your site. Run a test on how fast it loads, get a list of what is slowing it down, and start addressing those issues.

For example, image files can be large, and as a result, it takes time for them to load on a customer's computer, slowing down the site.

There are also different load speeds for desktop and for mobile, and since half or more of your users are on mobile, it's important to optimize for both.

This can feel like a lot of work. But take these items to your roofer SEO specialist, and they will be able to address these issues. To learn more, see this article on 'Does Page Speed Affect SEO?

Acquire Backlinks

Backlinks are when other sites have a link that people can click on, taking them to your site. It’s like having other websites point to your roofing website, vouching for its place on the internet.

Your website needs other prominent websites that point to it. A prominent website would be something like a local news channel or a reputable brand. For example, Owens Corning, if they were to have a link to your roofing website, that would be an incredible backlink. Local news media would also provide a significant boost because of their extensive reach.

However, there are also cheap or poor-quality backlinks that can harm your site. Some websites may link to your site for no good reason. While this isn’t something to worry too much about unless it gets out of hand, it’s easy to monitor with SEO software.

Securing high-quality backlinks from reputable websites typically requires a lot of effort. When someone tells you they will get you backlinks, ask them for examples of what and how they will do this. Sometimes, they might be referring to “citations” or business listings rather than actual backlinks.

Set up Internal Linking

Since you have multiple pages on your site discussing different roofing services, you want to help your users navigate your site and find the information they need. This is done by adding hyperlinks, or internal links, to your pages.

For example, let's say you have a page on your site discussing roof replacements, and you mention your thorough inspection process. You could hyperlink the phrase “inspection process,” allowing customers to click on it and be directed to another page on your site where the inspection process is detailed.

Be intentional with these links; don’t overwhelm your page with them. Use them where they make sense. You can also link to external sites like GAF to provide users with more information. This can also help Google understand the content of your web page. So, an internal linking strategy benefits both users and search engines.

Avoid Duplicating Content

If you copy content from another page on your site or from another website entirely, search engines will recognize this, and it can limit or damage the effectiveness of your website. Your content needs to be unique.

If Google finds duplicate content between two pages, they will determine which page they think better serves your customers and show that page. The other page won’t get traffic. If this occurs frequently, Google might flag your entire site.

You can keep track of issues like this by using SEO tools and the Google Search Console to help track and maintain these things. To address duplicate content, you can change the content on the pages, expand them with more unique content, or implement a 301 redirect to have them point to the preferred roofing page.

Get Citations

A citation is another webpage that lists local businesses. Some are well-known to roofing contractors, like Houzz or Yelp, while others are less common but still valuable. There are numerous sites of this type, and they contribute to your SEO ranking.

Whenever you have a business listing on platforms like Yelp or the Chamber of Commerce, you want to ensure that your roofing company's website is listed there along with all your business information.

It’s crucial to ensure that all your information is identical across platforms to avoid confusing Google. Your company website URL, phone number, and address should be exactly the same on all platforms.