# SEO companies???? Advice please.



## bama boy

Hey there guys & girls. I've been contacted by several companies offering me SEO services....they are all basically the same.....about $180.00 a month to put you on the first page of Google, which I know isn't possible. my question is...they say they design & build a Quality website for free basically if you agree for a 6 month term. that sounds pretty good to me, beings I've had few Web designers give me some heavy prices to have one built, any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks


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## RoofingbyMidsouth

From my experience most are scams. They put you on "page one" of google through ad words and also using low volume keyword searches. Anyone can pay google to advertise and show up on page one through an ad word campaign!


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## cjsewell

My best advice is for you to invest in learning SEO and applying it yourself. Doing it by yourself will require a lot of your time and effort. This is a long process and probably even difficult as there are always a lot of changes as SEO progresses day by day. You always need to stay on top and be aware of the new updates and guidelines to be successful and remain competitive. And even some SEO strategies may not work for you. You just have to find out which works for you. 

As technology continues to advance, search engines also are getting smarter. You can’t fool Google to get on top. The only real and possible way to boost your ranking is to embrace Google updates and work hard to have new and regularly flowing quality web content that is focused on what your target audience wants and needs to know.
 
But if you don't have the time to do this yourself but have the money then go find yourself someone or some company to do this for you.

Although there are a lot of scams out there, there are also legit companies and even online freelancers/individuals out there but it may be difficult to find one. You need to do screening and it could even be a trial and error phase because there are those that promise results but don't deliver them.



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## Johnbr

If they have good portfolio and case studies then this is very reasonable budget to go with. Assuming that they only work with white hat methods $180 is very reasonable price to let them to do the leg work by contacting bloggers, directory listing, posting your blog posts, dong on-page optimization and so on.


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## CyFree

Hi Bama Boy, 

I suggest you be very careful of any SEO company that promises you "first page on Google" because there are basically only 3 ways a company *might* be able to accomplish that. 

1. Through SEO best practices -- which is a labor intensive, time-consuming, on-going effort that includes on-site and off-site optimization. I can't think of any serious SEO company OR SEO professional that can survive charging only $120 a month from all their clients and delivering quality work to all of them. My bet is, you will get what you are paying for. 

2. As RoofingbyMidsouth pointed to the fact that the company might be able to get you the "first page" with PPC advertising -- personally, I seriously doubt that 120 a month can provide for effective PPC campaigns -- even for the less competitive markets. Ask them if PPC is included in this price. 

3. Through so called "black-hat" SEO techniques: attempts to game the search engine algorithms to artificially boost your rank with things like mass directory listings, spam commenting on blogs and forums, artificially inflated social media audience, etc... This is a very dangerous approach that can be effective for a minute, until the next search engine update catches up with it, and punishes the spam practice by making your site completely disappear from results for months and even years -- even after you spent a lot of money trying to clean up the mess generated by the SEO company.

There is also another thing to consider. "First page on Google" doesn't necessarily translate in actual relevant traffic -- and above all -- doesn't necessarily translate into qualified leads. 

If qualified leads are the reason why you are publishing a website, then I'd suggest you look for a company that will guarantee* real performance* for the price you pay. In other words, a consistent flow of qualified leads at an allowable cost for you. How much can you pay for a qualified lead? Crunch your numbers and find someone that can deliver that. 

$120 a month may sound like a bargain -- but if you're not getting leads, or if your site is going to disappear from search results in a few months, it is a waste of money.


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## VisibleRoofer

$180/month sounds awfully cheap in a heavily searched area like Denver. In most cases, companies go low so that they can build numbers. If it's not showing results within 90 days, most companies will continue to pay it because it's cheap. Most SEO companies these days are not willing to put their money where their mouth is. Hope you got things worked out in your favor.

________________________

Roofing Internet Marketing



bama boy said:


> Hey there guys & girls. I've been contacted by several companies offering me SEO services....they are all basically the same.....about $180.00 a month to put you on the first page of Google, which I know isn't possible. my question is...they say they design & build a Quality website for free basically if you agree for a 6 month term. that sounds pretty good to me, beings I've had few Web designers give me some heavy prices to have one built, any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks


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## UpTheLadder

Nobody legitimate is going to do SEO for $180/mo. If you can't afford to put a company like Distilled Media, et al. on retainer then you're better off doing it yourself. You'd be hard-pressed to find a legit SEO outfit who works for less than $100/hour.

Any firm who claims they'll put you on the first page of Google is a scam. Even if your area has low/weak competition and it really is possible to get on the first page, real SEO firms don't make these kinds of claims.


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## ReubenD

You are not going to get decent SEO for $180 a month- period. It is far to labor intensive to do quality SEO work to get real results for anything near that. If that is where your budget is at, get a couple books and do some reading and do it yourself - try to write some decent content and get links published in it - as a goal 4-5 a month which would take you 3-4 hours to write and contact relevant bloggers on a weekend or even each week. As a verifiable roofing professional you could accomplish that easily. 

The other big thing is in residential roofing what do you care about being on page 1 of google for? All you really care about is local SEO which is a bit different than being page 1 google for some obscure longtail search. Try to get some content published by other local businesses on their websites and keep your keywords to the local area. Hiring an Indian company to write bad content and spam forums for you is not going to do much good and that is all you will get for $180.


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## rinksrat

Being in and around the SEO business and from past experience, I can say, "don't do it". For some reason these kind of marketing tactics and ramped up in 2014. The back story on this. What these companies do is normally use a scraper and scrape the web for say "roofing companies". Once they have this list, they then outsource the cold calling portion and try to land a sale.

I have talked with some of these companies and acted like I have never heard of SEO, Adwords, etc and then they would give me there whole sales pitch. I would ask them pretty advanced questions that they could either not answer or they would feed me a bunch of crap. I also work with one company (not roofing related), but similar niche who signed up for this kind of service. They messed up his website so bad that it took me months to dissolve links and get his SEO back in good standing. These companies will also call clients I work with who rank not only in the Top 10 (1st page), but rank on the first position. My clients will tell them they are already ranking. You would think the caller would do a little research on the company there about to call, but they don't. So after several of these calls I came to a conclusion these where garbage.

I would have to respectfully disagree with UpTheLadder though when he says;



> Any firm who claims they'll put you on the first page of Google is a scam.


I have working in this industry, especially roofing and can guarantee 1st page "white-hat" organic placement. I even offer my clients a "double your money back guarantee." I understand what he is saying about companies making these claims and at times I would normally agree with him, just not with this local niche. 

@ ReubenD, you say:



> The other big thing is in residential roofing what do you care about being on page 1 of google for?


You should care about being on the first page and yes also be different. Companies on the 1st page will increase their business by ~90%. Thats a big number and can help your bottom line on your business. 

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions


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## bpgbo

I'm not a big fan of SEO for the roofing industry. In fact, according to google adwords, very few people search the internet for roofing. More people search for dirt bikes than do roofing. 

Definitely get a website and make it look good, but find a different way to drive traffic.

here's a hint to get on first page of google. if you google "roofing <zip code>" you'll see map results there on 1st page. I suggest verifying your business with google so you show up on the map results as well, on 1st page. Go to google dot com slash business to get started. its free.

PM me if you have any ?'s Good Luck.


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## midmich

bpgbo said:


> I'm not a big fan of SEO for the roofing industry. In fact, according to google adwords, very few people search the internet for roofing. More people search for dirt bikes than do roofing.
> 
> Definitely get a website and make it look good, but find a different way to drive traffic.
> 
> here's a hint to get on first page of google. if you google "roofing <zip code>" you'll see map results there on 1st page. I suggest verifying your business with google so you show up on the map results as well, on 1st page. Go to google dot com slash business to get started. its free.
> 
> PM me if you have any ?'s Good Luck.


I have to chirp in here. I'm no SEO expert, but I have learned a little about it from our SEO guy, as I'm sure he has learned a little about roofing from me.

While there may not be as many people searching for "roofing" on Google than "dirt bikes", I guarantee there are some. And for the ones that are, do you want your listing on top or your competitors? While there may be better, more expensive ways to get leads, your viewpoint seems rather narrow.

As for just verifying your business and showing up on Google Maps, it's not that simple. Normally there are no more than 7 local listings on the first page of Google. Unless the competition in your area is virtually nonexistent or ignoring it completely, getting into that top 7 isn't that easy.

I know there's a strategy that our guy uses that I don't understand completely, but it's working, so I'm not going to complain. He's very select with who he works with and I'm glad we have him.


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## rinksrat

bpgbo said:


> I'm not a big fan of SEO for the roofing industry. In fact, according to google adwords, very few people search the internet for roofing. More people search for dirt bikes than do roofing.


You may or may not be correct about the fact that more people search for dirt bikes. However, my website system produces over 100 live roofing phone calls a month for the Portland Oregon area and roofers who buy my leads can't even keep up...

Feel free to PM me if you would like to see how I generate this many leads.


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## stormcentral

bpgbo said:


> I'm not a big fan of SEO for the roofing industry. In fact, according to google adwords, very few people search the internet for roofing. More people search for dirt bikes than do roofing.
> 
> Definitely get a website and make it look good, but find a different way to drive traffic.
> 
> here's a hint to get on first page of google. if you google "roofing <zip code>" you'll see map results there on 1st page. I suggest verifying your business with google so you show up on the map results as well, on 1st page. Go to google dot com slash business to get started. its free.
> 
> PM me if you have any ?'s Good Luck.


Great advice! That's called Local SEO. And yes, an SEO expert can get you on the first page of Google using natural, organic SEO tactics through blogging, Google and Bing Webmaster Tools, and social media but it's damn hard work and I would never do it for $180 a month, and throw in a free website? No way Jose. 

My last two clients, CountryHerbals.com and RoofingSalesJob.com, I got them on the first page of Google within one month by working my tail off everyday. It can be done.


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## midwestrestoration

Check out footbridge media

I have three websites by them and two of them that are active rank on page one


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## rinksrat

midwestrestoration said:


> Check out footbridge media
> 
> I have three websites by them and two of them that are active rank on page one


Nice and keep up the good work. I am trying to get my 15th roofing website to page 1 of Google. All various cities. One site broke 100 leads in December. My roofing company who I rents the site to couldn't believe it.


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## DKMarketing

Bama Boy.. just my two cents.. Marketing and SEO is much like anything else - you end up getting what you pay for. $180/month for effective, legitimate on-going SEO is a red flag. We have several customers that asked us to help them fix what the previous company did as it got them penalized by Google (and fixing is much more time intensive than doing things the right way from the start.). If you're interested in more information on SEO, we were recently asked by blogginpainters.com to write an article about recent Google changes and how they can impact local contracting businesses - click here to check it out. www.dkmarketinggroup.com


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## tredRITE

Have to agree with DK, *"you get what you pay for"*.

Do research before you hire any team. But don't just look at their clients that they advertise on their site, find out on review sites if there are any sites that they have harmed because of blackhat SEO techniques, or dodgy practices.

Hope that helps.


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## CalvinT

For $180 you're most probably going to get a turnkey blackhat SEO package. Either through the latest hacks or whiz bang software, which will eventually get you penalized by the all mighty Google.

An accounting client of mine was roped in to having an SEO package implemented on his site against my advice and now has 120,000 backlinks for viagra and other phallic enhancing tablets.

He had no idea how to track the work that was being done. Completely unaware of the damage until he complained to me that his sales were dropping dramatically, that's when I investigated and found out what had happened.

Sitting down with a prospective client and mapping out an SEO strategy for 3 hours is way over budget for $180 already. So here's how to test them.

Ask them to jump on a call and discuss your business goals, then collaboratively decide the best course of action to get you there.

(They should be asking *you* a ton of questions until you have nothing left to talk about.)

Agree exactly what work is going to be done and confirm how the outcome is going to be tracked and what reports will be provided on a weekly/monthly basis.

Knowing and agreeing what these companies intend to do and how you can check the work being done is the only way to not get scammed.


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## anand

@OP

Always stay away from SEO consultants who offer packages, worse that are this cheap. SEO consulting is most often customized - the kind of work that needs to be done depends on your website profile, your competition, your audience needs, etc. It cannot be sold on a package. 

Do your due diligence, ask your SEO about their strategies, do a bit of googling about these strategies yourself and only when you are sure that what they are going to do is totally legit should you hand over the reins to them. 

As someone else mentioned, yeah, you sure can learn and do SEO yourself. But on similar lines, your customers can learn roofing too. The reason there are specialists is because they can avoid mistakes that laymen do. Plus, it would be a distraction if you are going to learn and do everything yourself. 



bpgbo said:


> I'm not a big fan of SEO for the roofing industry. In fact, according to google adwords, very few people search the internet for roofing. More people search for dirt bikes than do roofing.


You can't compare searches for 'dirtbike videos' with 'roofing contractor'. According to Google, there are close to 550 searches a month from just Denver for roofing contractor related keywords. Now, AngiesList says the average roofing contractor job is around $1500. At 5% profit margin, you make $75 per job. Which means, you only need 3-4 conversions from Google to break even. And if you are doing SEO, you can stop this investment after a 6-7 month period (once you start ranking) at which point, every enquiry you receive off Google is a profit.


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## Cid-87

anand said:


> @OP
> Do your due diligence, ask your SEO about their strategies, do a bit of googling about these strategies yourself and only when you are sure that what they are going to do is totally legit should you hand over the reins to them.


If you listed the legit ways here, the OP would be able to ask the relevant questions.

What was legit 3 years ago are big no no's now. There are a LOT of companies doing naughty things that are outdated but not published online as being all that bad.

We're going to build 10,000 backlinks may sound good to someone that isn't in the know as to where those backlinks "Should" be coming from.

----------------------

*Cid King* - www.RooferMarketing87.com
Roofer Marketing & Website Designs for Generating More Leads

Free Orientation report - Get more Roofing customers


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## anand

Cid-87 said:


> If you listed the legit ways here, the OP would be able to ask the relevant questions.


I have not listed anything specific because the correct answer to this question is always the vague "build links naturally and do not manipulate". My go-to strategy has been sort of digital PR which is creating news-worthy things that will get linked by the industry. 

There are some who rely on guest blogging - not a bad strategy as long as you keep it extremely high quality and on authority websites alone. I would not want to suggest these specifics to OP because then they may end up hiring someone who does guest blogging on crappy websites or just releases press releases one after the other in the garb of "PR". 

Unless OP does their due diligence and educates themselves on SEO and the evil forms of it, it is difficult to hire the right service provider. It's hard work, but unfortunately the only way to go about it.


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## StormVenturesGroup

Do NOT use SEO companies. 

If you do a little research, you will find that boosting your web page can be done just by adding a blog section to your site. 

Blogging is the new "seo" way to get higher ranking on google. 

If you post a lot on facebook, you can take those posts and just throw them on the blog portion of your website. There is NO way to prove that an SEO company had anything to do with your ranking on google/yahoo/bing.


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## VisibleRoofer

StormVenturesGroup said:


> Do NOT use SEO companies.
> 
> If you do a little research, you will find that boosting your web page can be done just by adding a blog section to your site.
> 
> Blogging is the new "seo" way to get higher ranking on google.
> 
> If you post a lot on facebook, you can take those posts and just throw them on the blog portion of your website. There is NO way to prove that an SEO company had anything to do with your ranking on google/yahoo/bing.


You are posting misleading information. First, not everyone has the time to perform the steps necessary to obtain high rankings. Most contractors are busy running their business, not learning how to perform proper SEO. 

While adding a blog to your website certainly won't hurt you and can provide valuable information to a visitor while making you look like an authority, blogging is not the new "seo". It takes more than just blogging to obtain high rankings for more competitive terms. A blog is not going to get you high rankings for terms with lot's of competition and higher traffic queries. It can help you with more longer tail terms and more exact searches. If that's what you are targeting then yes, a blog can help you achieve that.

Most people do not realize that offsite optimization is in some cases more important than onsite optimization or what content is on your site. There is absolutely a way to prove 100% that an SEO company is directly responsible for a higher ranking. The proof is by being 100% transparent with your clients and showing them what type of offsite optimization is being performed on their site. In lamens terms, what types of backlinks where built and how many.


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## rinksrat

UPDATE: So I have managed to blow 2 of my current roofing companies out of the water and they can no longer handle all the leads I have produced as they are now booked up 3-6 months in advance. 

If you are a roofing company in either Portland OR or Seattle WA area and are looking for for more business or looking to grow your company, PM me and lets talk as I do not want to waste the leads I am generating. When I say waste, I mean have to sell them to Home Advisor or Angies List because you then ultimately get them anyways as they will sell them to you, but are competing against 4 other contractors.


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## Severe Weather Roofing

First, SEO and PPC DOES work in the roofing industry. Second, don't expect to pay someone $180 a month and get good results. That's crazy. To do SEO right there is so much you need to do from month to month. I recommend learning how to do it yourself, or hiring someone in-house to do it.


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## EugeneS

SeO works if you hire the right guy The problem is that the industry is so littered with the bad ones that you might not know the good ones when they come along. Genergally...(in my epxerience) the good ones keep it real up front. Let you know it cn take some time but with consistency and work, tehey can bring you in leads. It also varies from area to area what keywords will work best. I got my guy "free" but he now gets a % of my sales...which I don't mind. It' s way cheaper than adwords and abotu 1000x more effective dso far.


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## beerdtar

Even legit SEO companies aren't really necessary. You can do a lot yourself by trying a few things like:

Making sure you have the keywords "yourcity roofing company" and other localized keywords, in your titles, content and image tags.

Swapping links with other complementary contractors.

Getting on contractor directory sites like contractors.com and contractorstars.com. There are a ton of these sites out there and the backlinks help boost your rankings because they are relevant...which google cares about.

Get a Google+ account and verify it. Google loves business in the Google realm. And you'll get on the results map.

Upload interesting youtube videos, like how-to videos. Again google loves google, and content marketing is all the rage right now.

If you have the money to spare, an SEO consultant could help, but they don't know your business and they can get expensive. If you've got more time than contracts, time to build your own internet empire.


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## davidm

With every Google algorithm update it's harder to do it yourself. You don't have time to be up to date with all the SEO updates.

Don't hire an SEO. Hire a marketing partner that will help you grow your business.

SEO is just a one of the tools in a complex online marketing world.

David
www.ah-contractinggroup.com


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## emeraldstate

A lot of companies use the technique of having people cold-call to suck you in, thinking that you can get placed first page on Google inexpensively. In truth it is a variety of things that support your search engine ranking. It is possible to be on the front page, but it takes time and expense. I suggest talking to a couple of local marketing companies that can take the time to understand you and your clientele and what your marketing goals are. They should be able to help you create a manageable budget and help you do something's yourself to support their efforts. Hope this helps

Todd


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## azroofing

You have to hire a marketing agency. Your time as a business owner is much more valuable then wasting it on blog posts or Facebook posts every week

Josh
www.azroofingsystems.com


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## MABear

Wow, just thought I'd take a look at this thread and that is a whole lot of conflicting information and opinions.

Just my $0.02 - I personally think you should do some research, talk to some companies and get some estimates then hire an SEO company. For the exact same reason someone hires you to do their roof. Because you know what you're doing, it's your job and they trust that you'll do it properly for a fair price. The same goes with SEO. As someone else said, your time is better spent doing what you do best.


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## TopRankedRoofer

*I disagree...*



StormVenturesGroup said:


> Do NOT use SEO companies.
> 
> If you do a little research, you will find that boosting your web page can be done just by adding a blog section to your site.
> 
> Blogging is the new "seo" way to get higher ranking on google.
> 
> If you post a lot on facebook, you can take those posts and just throw them on the blog portion of your website. There is NO way to prove that an SEO company had anything to do with your ranking on google/yahoo/bing.



I disagree...

Ranking in Google comes from a combination of high (enough) quality score and the authority of the domain itself. 

And FWIW I can PROVE that we have a major impact on roofing companies results. I have one client who's positioned so well that in the recent hail event in TX, his phones lit up and in less than a month he had more than 500 qualified leads and has sold a years worth of roof replacement work in less than a month.


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## MABear

TopRankedRoofer said:


> I disagree...
> 
> Ranking in Google comes from a combination of high (enough) quality score and the authority of the domain itself.
> 
> And FWIW I can PROVE that we have a major impact on roofing companies results. I have one client who's positioned so well that in the recent hail event in TX, his phones lit up and in less than a month he had more than 500 qualified leads and has sold a years worth of roof replacement work in less than a month.


Nice job! I'm sure your client is happy. I've been hearing nothing but hardships here in the south. Granted, someone is going to get the business (what little there is).


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## JDD

If you have a google account add the my business app to setup your company within google maps. Then when locals search roofers by a location google provides mapping of local roofers after the paid ads and before the organic search in most cases.


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## RoofSolutions

TopRankedRoofer said:


> I disagree...
> 
> Ranking in Google comes from a combination of high (enough) quality score and the authority of the domain itself.
> 
> And FWIW I can PROVE that we have a major impact on roofing companies results. I have one client who's positioned so well that in the recent hail event in TX, his phones lit up and in less than a month he had more than 500 qualified leads and has sold a years worth of roof replacement work in less than a month.


I'd like to see the proof


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## hanerykroze

Be aware from scams.. and Do your own work and show interest in SEO. 




_________________________
PROJECT MANAGEMENT NORTH TEXAS


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## sellin

bama boy said:


> Hey there guys & girls. I've been contacted by several companies offering me SEO services....they are all basically the same.....about $180.00 a month to put you on the first page of Google, which I know isn't possible. my question is...they say they design & build a Quality website for free basically if you agree for a 6 month term. that sounds pretty good to me, beings I've had few Web designers give me some heavy prices to have one built, any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks


minimum wage is around $8.00 / hr. lowest of the low website developers using a famous CMS goes from $30/hr for a crappy one... Good ones are $65 an hour +.

You can build a quality site in 3 hours for $180. You can probably hire someone at $10 who will easily take 20 hours to build something, that will, first not be SEO friendly, second not have the aesthetics to users to hang around.... 

Now web development is easier.. SEO is not only hard, it's constant learning, it's out of your control -Google is god, we can only wish for-
and more importantly it's tedious manual intensive lot of nuances.

Find someone with that level of knowledge at $30 is rare. I run a firm and I can't find a SEO manager at $50 hour. If someone is that good, they are on their own. 

You see the problem. 

So these $180 SEO companies are bogus. How do I know, coz some of my clients ended up working with them and got burnt. 

First it's going to take 60 - 90 days to make google believe that you are an authority.... Any one would tell...if you find any one tell i will show you results in 10 days, Run ....don't walk

When it's going to take 60 - 90 days for real experts, these boiler plate SEOs would use that pitch... now you're already down 180 x 3 = $540.

They would find a cheap no knowledge developer or use weebly kind of seo non-friendly apps to build an OK website.

You will not tell them anything even in month 3 with zero leads... you know why, you are still thinking a website is going to cost you in 1000s and you are only down 540 in month 3.

They will let this go for another 3 months and you realize what a mistake at the end of 6 months

You just paid $1080 in 6 installments for a crappy, non seo-friendly website... and lost time... 

Time my friend is definitely a killer.

Iam not going to lie... $50 / hr X 20 hours a minimum is essential. And you must do more than 20 hours in the first 90 days...

There are other shady tactics that can get you results fast... but here is what you need to see... Risk / reward. 

It's like doing work on roof of a 3 floor building with the pitch angle more than 60 degrees.. with no fall protection harness/rope... you get the point.


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## TopRankedRoofer

*Proof? Sure...*



RoofSolutions said:


> I'd like to see the proof


Sorry for the delay in posting the proof you asked about. I've been transitioning from my home in Florida to a summer place in CO. 

This video shows several dates (project inception, most recent lead and the date of the recent hail storm). It shows the number of leads generated from the client's site at these different dates.

http://www.screencast.com/t/CVMcyKd9 

What's not reflected in my proof is the leads called in by phone, which average 3 calls for each lead form. If that's true, then in less than 3 years my client has generated almost 2800 leads.

I visited the client two weeks ago and he's scheduled out roof replacement starts through September and as insurance payments are approved, he's got work into January 2017.

If you want to know how I do that for roofing contractors, reserve your copy of my new book - it's free for a few days after it's published, so make sure you're on the list. 

http://toprankedroofer.com/free-book-offer/


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## Donald

cjsewell said:


> My best advice is for you to invest in learning SEO and applying it yourself. Doing it by yourself will require a lot of your time and effort. This is a long process and probably even difficult as there are always a lot of changes as SEO progresses day by day. You always need to stay on top and be aware of the new updates and guidelines to be successful and remain competitive. And even some SEO strategies may not work for you. You just have to find out which works for you.
> 
> As technology continues to advance, search engines also are getting smarter. You can’t fool Google to get on top. The only real and possible way to boost your ranking is to embrace Google updates and work hard to have new and regularly flowing quality web content that is focused on what your target audience wants and needs to know.
> 
> But if you don't have the time to do this yourself but have the money then go find yourself someone or some company to do this for you.
> 
> Although there are a lot of scams out there, there are also legit companies and even online freelancers/individuals out there but it may be difficult to find one. You need to do screening and it could even be a trial and error phase because there are those that promise results but don't deliver them.


I actually agree with him, I mean... You should better invest the money you wanted to spend on these services on you and learn something new. :thumbup:


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## sellin

[email protected] said:


> Not sure if this falls outside of the advertising guidelines, but I can help anyone here looking for help establishing an online presence.
> 
> I work for Home Advisor. I specialize in working with past clients because a lot of the newer reps have trouble setting things up properly. I'm very good at geo-targeting (targeting certain demographics).
> 
> We have partnerships with google and facebook, and make your profile with us very easy to find on our site (google roofers in your zip code and you can see what I mean).
> 
> We also offer targeted leads, meaning we make your phone ring with quality contacts who fill out a service request from our web site, who we have taken the time to educate on pricing and other considerations for large projects.
> 
> All here are welcome to call me at: 913.276.2736 and we'll see what we can do.
> 
> Good luck out there guys!
> 
> - Bobby
> 
> 
> *Phone number color definitions:*
> Purple = Phone number is not in BETTI
> Red = Phone number is in BETTI on an existing SP or Consumer
> Green = Phone number is a metered number owned by HomeAdvisor
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> HA Hunter


I think the OP is asking for SEO companies... HA, you are representing, is doing SEO for it's own good.

OP is not asking for a fish, he is asking us to teach how to catch one!


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## [email protected]

sellin said:


> I think the OP is asking for SEO companies... HA, you are representing, is doing SEO for it's own good.
> 
> OP is not asking for a fish, he is asking us to teach how to catch one!


I guess you can think of us as a fish delivery service. Knowing how to fish is a great skill to have, and you need it to make any marketing strategy work, after all you do have to sell your services to anyone you prospect, even referral business.

The benefit of an efficient lead-generation strategy is that you can have someone "fish" for you while you're roofing a 20-square. My guys that are the most successful with us are the ones who turn our leads into referral business.

I'm very good at what I do, which is important, because like any strategy, what I do is just a tool, and it needs to be in the right hands to be effective.

Let me know if you would like any fish.
*Phone number color definitions:*
Purple = Phone number is not in BETTI
Red = Phone number is in BETTI on an existing SP or Consumer
Green = Phone number is a metered number owned by HomeAdvisor







HA Hunter


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## Chi

Severe Weather Roofing said:


> First, SEO and PPC DOES work in the roofing industry. Second, don't expect to pay someone $180 a month and get good results. That's crazy. To do SEO right there is so much you need to do from month to month. I recommend learning how to do it yourself, or hiring someone in-house to do it.


Thanks for the heads up. I am paying a friend of mine a small fee for setting up my site and having it rank. I do not want to pay a hefty fee that most SEO companies are asking for. She's a good friend and quite new to the business so I will show her some support. The website she designed is www.roofersrichmondhill.com. Pieces are still being added on, I am happy with what I see so far. Good luck to the rest of you and Bama boy the original poster.


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## Nic

You have to be very careful when it comes to SEO. There are two ways to get to page one: Loads of SEO work or paid ads. Both require a much bigger effort than what $180 will cover. Companies that use software to build black hat links will get your site ranked for a while only to disappear from the rankings for ever. If you like spending time online you can do it yourself. Most good SEO companies charge approximately $500/month.


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## Mattj

Nic said:


> You have to be very careful when it comes to SEO. There are two ways to get to page one: Loads of SEO work or paid ads. Both require a much bigger effort than what $180 will cover. Companies that use software to build black hat links will get your site ranked for a while only to disappear from the rankings for ever. If you like spending time online you can do it yourself. Most good SEO companies charge approximately $500/month.


that is a starting point. It really depends on the size of the area you want to target and local competition.

I would say it's between $500 - $2500


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## TopRankedRoofer

Mattj said:


> that is a starting point. It really depends on the size of the area you want to target and local competition.
> 
> I would say it's between $500 - $2500


I find the discussion of "cost" to be interesting. The most successful roofers do not think in terms of what it cost to generate leads for their business. They think in terms of ROI.

If it cost a dollar and consistently makes you two dollars -- what did it cost anyway?

As @Mattj said, his programs are between $500-2500 and mine is similar. It's also based on the size of the exclusive marketing area we're working with you on. All of our programs offer a guaranteed ROI. 

Begin to see your marketing as an investment and NOT an expense and 2017 will bring increased business growth.


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## Mattj

TopRankedRoofer said:


> I find the discussion of "cost" to be interesting. The most successful roofers do not think in terms of what it cost to generate leads for their business. They think in terms of ROI.
> 
> If it cost a dollar and consistently makes you two dollars -- what did it cost anyway?
> 
> As @Mattj said, his programs are between $500-2500 and mine is similar. It's also based on the size of the exclusive marketing area we're working with you on. All of our programs offer a guaranteed ROI.
> 
> Begin to see your marketing as an investment and NOT an expense and 2017 will bring increased business growth.


Completely agree!

I would add, if someone just gives you a blank price without looking at your website or competition, run away!


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## Brett322

*How we are crushing it with Google*

Guys if your not at the top of Google, you're leaving a ton of money on the table.

We just built a brand new website www.superiortyler.com and are in the process getting it to the top of the Google snack pack in a couple of weeks.

I have a friend that owns a plumbing company and this guy that taught us got him there in less than a month ( see photo below) by doing the following:

1. Submit your business to Google My Business



2. List yourself under all relevant descriptions. For example as a roofer would be we do roofing, roof repairs, gutters, siding, overhangs, patio covers, commercial residential, roof replacement etc.

3. Fill that baby out as thorough as possible, make sure and craft your business description so so that it contains the main search terms your best buyers are likely to search for.

For me it was roofing Tyler Tx, roofing companies, roof repair, roof replacement, siding gutters etc.

4. Upload as many pictures as possible on Google My Business account page. (pro tip)- save each picture as a file key word rich.

5. I haven't gotten this far yet but try to get some good honest reviews from past clients you have done work for. 

This is mostly for conversions they help people shopping see your the real deal and pull the trigger.

6. Add more unique content and multimedia to you website. A lot of contractors have itsy bity websites with almost no words or content.

The more you beef it up the better idea Google has of what your all about. Again, mention the services you provide that your audience is searching for online everyday in you content.

7. This one sucks, but you gotta do it. Go out and get citations. The more Google sees you name, address, phone number, show up OTHER places online, the more reputable you look and the higher you rank. 

Must have places include: Yahoo local, Bing, Yelp, you can also hire a company to do this for you. I used Yext along with my friend who owns plumbing and is now in the snack pack receiving tons of leads.

That's the process our phone has already started ringing. To illustrate in the past we have paid $4000 a month for Google adwords which now we are starting to get that traffic for free.

Anyways I really hope you guys jump on this, this could help all of us here tremendously, it'll explode your business and allow you to charge what you are worth and not beg for deals or take the low paying ones.

You can be picky and take the premium clients.

If you have any questions feel free to respond back here...below is the pic of my friend McCoy who is now in snack pack in less than a month and we are well on our way!!


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## choicesolutions

Any update on the rankings?

vince
http://choiceroofs.com/


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## visitorstoleads

Nic said:


> You have to be very careful when it comes to SEO. There are two ways to get to page one: Loads of SEO work or paid ads. Both require a much bigger effort than what $180 will cover. Companies that use software to build black hat links will get your site ranked for a while only to disappear from the rankings for ever. If you like spending time online you can do it yourself. Most good SEO companies charge approximately $500/month.


Very good advice. If you use a company that's not that reputable you'll end up they will end up hurting you more than helping. Fiverr links are the same thing. You have to think that if someone is charging you $5 to build 200 links what kind of quality are you getting?

What would expect from a $5 nail gun? Not much good.

That's mainly all that I do is SEO, PPC, and Websites. I can tell you from experience there are a bunch of guys out there making it difficult for the rest of us.

The pricing does always depend on the competition/area for SEO and on the Budget for PPC.


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## Fred steam ice dam

I have hired so many seo Companies through the years. Almost all have been a huge waist of money. I just do my own but really wish I could get out of it. Time consuming


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## Fred steam ice dam

I agree it would be better to spend time doing what you don best than trying to do your own seo and learning a whole new trade when you are already good at roofing.


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## Fred steam ice dam

*Local maps does work if done right.*



bpgbo said:


> I'm not a big fan of SEO for the roofing industry. In fact, according to google adwords, very few people search the internet for roofing. More people search for dirt bikes than do roofing.
> 
> Definitely get a website and make it look good, but find a different way to drive traffic.
> 
> here's a hint to get on first page of google. if you google "roofing <zip code>" you'll see map results there on 1st page. I suggest verifying your business with google so you show up on the map results as well, on 1st page. Go to google dot com slash business to get started. its free.
> 
> PM me if you have any ?'s Good Luck.


This can work but there is a few things you really have to do to get it working much more effectively. Make sure wants you have a map listing you get as many reviews as possible from real customers. But at minimum 5-6 so that way google gives you a star rating. Then I personally pay for adware yo my website. Now as words can get very expensive but it is much more effective after you have reviews to your website. Not only that but reviews will give your site better rankings in local searches do you will get more calls for free.


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## thecoolroof

I mean that is a good idea and start, but you need to take into consideration that google only allows a certain number of listings to be shown like that. And sometimes doing just that isn't enough. I know, since I've tried it myself.

The Cool Roofing Company


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## ronaldo.s

Hi guys, new to the forums and wanted to offer some REAL advice to whomever needs it. 



Fred steam ice dam said:


> I have hired so many seo Companies through the years. Almost all have been a huge waist of money. I just do my own but really wish I could get out of it. Time consuming


SEO has received such a bad rap from people who burn business owners like you. It's really sad. Like was mentioned on the previous page, if some SEO company is giving you a base price without taking your city and competitors into consideration, then they have no idea what they're doing. 

There's so much research involve to really give the right price. If they can't give you a real analysis of your website backlinks compared to your competitors, it's really hard to tell if they have a grasp of what's going on.


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## 1stbayroofermarketing

For what its worth I work for an SEO company so I'll chime in... My post is probably not allowed on this forum but should be as I would not go to one of my fellow SEO colleagues and say "what's the best way to build a roof?" My peeps and I can barely swing a hammer let alone build a roof. I think I can offer up good advice on this and won't spam this forum. 

1) To get leads your focus should be 75% on PPC, not on SEO. Studies show when people are ready to BUY they click the paid ads up top. When they are doing *research *they click the organic, like reading blogs, forums, etc... 

2) Your best bet for SEO is to go after "long tail" unique, niche style jobs... not roofing+city name. It will take you years to rank for something like that with no guarantees. 

3) Your budget needs to be correct TOO. $2000+ for PPC is a good starting point... Many local areas are hyper-competitive... So don't look at PPC as throwing away money... You are investing in your business.

4) Have a script ready for incoming calls. Train your office mgr. or yourself what to say with rebuttals. So many campaigns fail because there is no inbound plan for calls.

5) Before you do the PPC, your website landing needs to be on par with a lead nurturing system. CTA Form on top of page, an enticing offer, Call tracking/recording, testimonials, mobile friendly, 3rd party credibility logos, your review ratings, etc. If your website is not 100% AWESOME don't spend ANY money. Don't settle for mediocrity, be the BEST.

6) Have a follow up system in place for all calls and email leads. This should include Re-marketing as they leave your site (those little ads that follow you), email drip campaign, call backs. 

7) Work the leads you get to squeeze every drop out of them.

8) Filter out bad prospects by wording your ads correctly and using negative keywords.

9) If you choose an Adwords company, have them show you which keywords and projected traffic. They should show you a formula something like this: Total impressions, Total clicks, Total leads based on those clicks... X number of New lead conversion each month.

Then based on your number of lead conversions you can pre-calculate sales... say X number conversions per month = and Avg. ticket amount of $. This is your ROI.

So long story short... be smart and well calculated. Leave as little to chance as possible.


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