Most roofing companies get work from a mix of places: word of mouth, Google, trade directories and lead sites, and their own website. Each has a place. This guide looks at how they differ, and why the enquiries from your own website are usually worth the most effort.

The main sources

Word of mouth and repeat customers
The best leads there are, but you can’t turn the tap up when you’re quiet.
Trade directories and review sites
Usually a membership fee for a listing, with reviews that help you win work.
Pay-per-lead and job-board sites
You pay for each lead or each job you show interest in, and the homeowner often contacts several companies.
Google Business Profile
Free, and often the first thing a local homeowner sees. Calls and website visits come straight to you.
Your own website
Visitors who found you, through Google, your van, a leaflet or a recommendation, and came to look you up.

What makes a lead worth more

  • Whether you’re competing. A homeowner who found you directly is usually talking to fewer companies than one who posted a job for several to see.
  • What it costs. Your website is already paid for. Every extra enquiry from it costs you nothing more.
  • How much you know. A message saying “need a quote for my roof” tells you little. An enquiry with the job, the roof type, the size and a figure tells you whether it’s worth a visit.
  • Whose customer it is. Reviews and contact history on your own site and profile stay yours.

Getting more from your own website

Many visitors to a roofing website leave without getting in touch. Small changes help: make the next step obvious on a phone, say where you work, give each service its own page, show reviews and photos, and answer the cost question. There’s a full list in how to get more enquiries from your roofing website.

The cost question matters most. People want a rough idea of price before they’ll talk to anyone, and if your site can’t give one, they keep looking. An instant estimate gives them a guide range from your own rates there and then, and passes you their details and the job.

Answer quickly, whatever the source

However a lead arrives, the company that replies first often gets the job. Read replying to roofing enquiries for a simple routine.