In a competitive industry like the roofing business, you need every advantage you can get to consistently earn business and beat out the competition. And while long-term success in this field ultimately comes down to the quality of your service and how you treat customers, surface details matter, too. In particular, you have to pay attention to your marketing.
When it comes to marketing your roofing business, you have plenty of options.
There’s social media, blogging, podcasting, PPC advertising, radio spots, sponsorships, and all of the other traditional techniques and strategies. But there’s one core piece to the puzzle that you can’t forget about.
We’re talking about your website, of course.
Your website is your brand’s “home.” It’s the place where you drive all of that traffic and exposure you generate from your other marketing activities. And if your website isn’t visually compelling, highly functional, and easy to use, you’ll squander leads and ruin your reputation.
With all of that being said, when was the last time you spent time with your roofing website design?
Have you ever had your roofing website professionally developed and designed? Or are you just sort of “winging it” and hoping that everything works out?
There’s a lot more to roofing website design than meets the eye. In this guide, we’re going to show you why it matters, what you can do to improve your website design, and some different options you have for building a website that generates more leads and, ultimately, turns them into paying customers.
Why Good Roofing Website Design Matters
When you think about sleek and advanced website design, roofing isn’t the first industry that comes to mind. (Most people think of Silicon Valley tech companies or trendy startups.)
But the truth is that good roofing website design matters just as much.
Here are four reasons why:
- Branding. Your website is one of the most visible extensions of your brand. Research shows that 75 percent of users make a judgment about a brand’s credibility based on visual design. And it takes a visitor just 50 milliseconds to form an impression of your website design. If your layout, content, and design is considered unattractive, 38 percent of visitors will stop engaging. The majority of them will never return. So if you want to establish a brand that has positive associations in your local market, it’s imperative that you pay attention to your site’s design.
- Trust. You might think you’re in the roofing business, but you’re really in the trust business. Not only do your customers invite you into their homes – which is the very definition of personal space – but they’re expecting you to treat them fairly by offering quality service at a fair price. Your website can be leveraged to build confidence and show prospective customers and homeowners that you’re worthy of being trusted. (Bad website design, on the other hand, can have the inverse effect.)
- Search rankings. Most people view website design and SEO as being two totally different branches of the same tree, but there’s more overlap than you probably realize. Roofing website design impacts user experience (UX), but it also influences search engine rankings. When the UX is positive, people spend more time on the site, click more pages, and show Google that they enjoy your site through their actions. When the UX is negative, the high bounce rate and low conversions signal that the website isn’t worth serving to searchers.
- Conversion rate. It all comes down to whether website visitors are filling out a form, placing a phone call, or scheduling a quote/service. You can have the best website in the world, conceptually speaking, but if it doesn’t convert traffic into paying customers, it’s a waste. The right website design will ensure you aren’t wasting traffic. It’ll help you move visitors through the conversion funnel so that they ultimately become profitable and loyal customers.
These are just a few of the benefits of good roofing website design. As you build out your website and invest more time and energy into optimizing your site, you’ll find it to be a powerful tool for growing your business (both online and offline).
10 Roofing Website Design Tips
As you design your roofing website, it’s important to remember the goal. You’re trying to elevate your company’s brand and ultimately turn traffic into customers. You do this by minimizing friction and making your website visually engaging, trustworthy, and informative.
Here are a few of our top roofing website design tips:
1. Establish Visual Hierarchy
In web design, there’s a concept known as visual hierarchy. It basically encompasses the size, arrangement, contrast, and visual layout of various elements and how prominent they are on your site when seen by visitors.
Every element on your website lands somewhere on a visual hierarchy spectrum. At one end of the spectrum, you have “low visual prominence.” At the other end, you have “high visual prominence.”
- Low visual prominence: small in size; located at the bottom of the page; low contrast and neutral colors; primarily text-based content; crowded and close together with other elements.
- High visual prominence: large in size; located at the top of the page; unique colors with stark contrast; primarily visual content (video, images, icons, and movement); surrounded by negative space.
It’s important to understand which items and elements need to be prominent in order to generate conversions, and which ones are better off serving supporting roles. The proper combination, layout, placement, and emphasis will ensure your website produces results.
2. Pay Attention to the Fold
Newspaper editors have always spent a great deal of time and energy emphasizing the fold (which is basically the crease where the paper is halved). The top half of the page is said to be “above the fold,” whereas the bottom half of the page is “below the fold.”
Anything above the fold is what people see when they go to the newsstand or gas station and see a newspaper on display. Anything below the fold is only seen after purchase. (It’s far less prominent.)
This same terminology is used in web design. Above the fold content refers to all of the elements a website visitor sees without having to scroll. If a visitor has to scroll down to see it, it’s considered below the fold.
The fold is particularly important on your roofing website’s home page. Research shows that 80 percent of a visitor’s time is spent above the fold, so it makes sense that you’d spend the bulk of your focus here as well.
You never want to create a crowded design, but there are certain elements you should always include above the fold:
- Your company’s logo and name
- Your value proposition (ideally eight words or less)
- A specific call-to-action
- Simple one- or two-field email opt-in
The design and content below the fold still matters very much, but if you begin by prioritizing what goes up top, everything else will naturally flow out of this.
3. Keep Things Simple
The more you research website design and study various design principles, the more prone you are to develop a complex website. After all, it’s only natural to want to use all of these tips and tricks you’ve gathered.
But no matter how much knowledge and advice you amss, it’s always important to remember the KISS principle: Keep Things Simple, Stupid!
Nobody likes a complicated and busy website. You might be proud of the fact that you’re able to incorporate so many different elements, but your visitors will not be as fond.
Simplicity is all about eliminating visual distractions so that your visitors can focus on the elements that matter most. Don’t confuse it with generic or rudimentary design. Some of the simplest websites – visually speaking – are also the most advanced on the backend.
When it comes to developing a simple site, think about things from the visitor’s perspective. Is it frictionless and engaging? Is it clear what they should do? If you answer these questions with yeses, then you’re doing just fine.
4. Say More With Less
They say a picture is worth 1,000 words. And if that’s the case, a video might be worth a million words. As you design and develop your roofing website, consider when and where you can eliminate chunk paragraphs of copy and replace it with visual content that’s simpler and more engaging.
There’s nothing wrong with written copy – and it serves a key purpose throughout your website – but when it comes to prominent homepage elements, graphics and videos reign supreme.
5. Bring Your CTAs to Life
Your website is designed to generate leads and, ultimately, turn them into customers. But they aren’t necessarily going to do this on their own. You have to call them to action.
A call to action, or CTA, is a term we use in web design and marketing to refer to the phrase you use to provoke people to schedule an appointment, request a quote, give you their email address, etc.
The key to high-converting CTAs is word choice, design, and placement:
- Word choice. The biggest mistake we see businesses make is the use of generic and lifeless CTA copy. Nobody wants to click a button that reads “submit” or “sign up.” Instead, you should use lively words and phrases like “get started,” “count me in,” “join free,” “learn more,” “explore,” or “discover.”
- Design. The design of your CTAs matters, too. Color affects mood, and thus you should choose your color wisely. While context is everything, green and blue are often the go-to options for high-converting websites.
- Placement. Finally, think about placement. CTAs should be used throughout your website, but can be particularly effective when placed above the fold in the upper “banner” of the home page. They’re also useful when spliced throughout blog posts and used as exit-intent overlays.
The proper mixture of these elements, combined with other well-developed design elements, will allow you to increase your conversion rate and turn your website into a lean, mean lead generation machine.
6. Don’t Reinvent the Wheel
Web design is very much an art form. But just because you can get super creative, doesn’t necessarily mean you should. There’s something to be said for sticking with what works. In other words, there’s no need to go out there and reinvent the wheel.
According to a study by Google, websites that follow perceived standards are more likely to be “loved” than websites that try to do something atypical. As prototypicality increases, so does perceived beauty.
What does it mean to stick to standard layouts and design? According to one study, this means:
- Putting your logo at the top left
- Putting contact in the top right
- Placing main navigation in the header
- Placing your value proposition above the fold
- Placing a call-to-action above the fold
- Placing social media icons in the footer
- Using responsive website design
The good news is that most themes that you’ll find on a website builder or for sale are going to adhere to these standard principles. But if you are having a custom website designed, make sure you prioritize these features.
7. Avoid Rotating Sliders and Carousels
You’ll see them on a lot of websites – including many popular news sites and blogs – but rotating sliders and carousels aren’t a good idea for most roofing websites.
The problem with these sliders is two-fold:
- First off, many visitors only see the first or second slide. This means they miss out on seeing all of the information, which you clearly feel is important enough to place at the top of your homepage.
- Secondly, movement is distracting. It can take the visitor’s attention away from other important elements (like your value proposition or a CTA).
It’s better to use a featured image – the one that you feel is most important – and to feature the rest of the slide content below the fold and/or in other areas of your website.
8. Use Real Human Faces
People connect with people. More specifically, they connect with people that they feel to be genuine.
Stock photos used to work, simply because they were novel. But over the last couple of decades, they’ve become so overused in marketing and advertising that customers can spot them from a mile away.
If you want your website to build trust with visitors, use real human faces – meaning actual employees and customers.
According to a study of website conversion rates, pages with real human faces generate a 47 percent higher conversion rate than those without one. That’s a massive increase (and a principle that you should really take to heart).
Speaking of human faces, they can be used as visual cues. Rather than having a face look straight ahead at the visitor, have it looking toward a CTA. When humans see an image of someone else looking at something, it naturally draws them to look at the same thing.
9. Be Smart With Color Selection
Most roofing companies choose their website’s design colors based on their brands colors and call it a day. And while it’s certainly wise to use your brand’s colors to create a consistent and recognizable image, you should also think about the psychology behind different colors.
- Red is stimulating, grabs attention, and conveys a sense of urgency.
- Blue is tranquil, trustworthy, and evokes feelings of safety and security.
- Black is professional, sleek, elegant, and glamorous.
- Yellow is fun, exciting, welcoming, and approachable.
- Green is healthy, sustainable, and relaxed.
Every color evokes a unique set of emotions. And how you combine colors can impact the way people feel about your brand. Keep this in mind as you design your website.
10. Use Digestible Copy
When it comes to website design, most people think about visual elements – such as the ones we’ve discussed in this guide. But copy/written text is also an important part of design.
Simplicity is the key to effective copy in today’s internet landscape. Chunky paragraphs and meaty blocks of text no longer work.
Keep things simple and concise.
One-line paragraphs work well.
At the very most, you should have two or three sentences in a paragraph.
Digestible copy forces people to move their eyes down the page. It’s less intimidating and more approachable.
Roofing Website Design: Real World Examples
Every roofing website is going to have its own unique look and feel. And while we’d never recommend copying and pasting what other companies in your industry are doing, it is helpful to study the techniques and principles they’re using to generate results.
With that being said, here are a few real world examples To consider:
Piney Orchard Roofing
- This website does a good job of letting visual content do most of the talking – particularly above the page.
- Notice the simple and concise value proposition: “Easy. Affordable. Painless.”
- There’s a clear CTA at the top right hand corner of the page.
- There’s social proof in the bottom left hand corner. (5-Start Google Rating)
Northface Construction LLC
- The value proposition is pretty compelling. They aren’t selling you a roof, they’re helping you “protect your family and home.”
- The opt-in form is prominent and the CTAs are good (“get a free quote” + “get started”).
- There’s plenty of social proof showing certifications and credentials (this builds trust).
- Scroll below the fold and you’ll see real pictures of the team (including spouses and kids).
North American Roofing
- This website’s design won’t work for every roofing company, but it’s a unique option that’s worth studying. They actually include the navigation menu below the fold. Everything above the fold is one big graphic with a number of different value propositions.
- Scroll below the fold and you’ll see lots of social proof and plenty of original images with pictures of employees and job sites.
Building Your Own Roofing Website
When it comes to building and design your roofing website, you have plenty of different directions you can go. Here are the five most common options:
- DIY website development. The first option is to build your own website from scratch. This is really only an option if you know how to code and develop websites. Unless you have a few thousand hours to spare, this isn’t something you’re going to learn on the fly.
- DIY website builder. Over the past few years, drag and drop website builders have emerged as a feasible DIY web design option for individuals and business owners who want to create cost-effective websites. This can work if you have very basic needs, but generally won’t suffice if you have lots of custom needs.
- Theme-based design. If you have some basic coding skills, you can always purchase a theme from a designer and then integrate it into your WordPress website development. This gives you a solid starting point, while allowing you to customize and tweak various elements to fit your specific needs.
- Hire a freelancer. Not interested in doing any of the work yourself? There are some freelance marketplaces online where you can hire your own website developer or designer to handle your project for you. This is a fairly cost-effective option, but you’ll have to go through the process of finding and vetting the right people.
- Hire a web design service. The final option is to hire a web design service or agency to handle the project from start to finish. This is going to cost more than the other options, but it’s the only way to guarantee you get a high-quality website that’s perfectly designed and optimized for generating conversions.
The path you choose to go will depend on how much time you have, what your budget is, and your experience with website design. No two roofing companies are the same, but the last two options tend to produce the highest ROI.
Partner With DEV.co
At Dev.co, we take pride in our ability to design and develop high-converting websites that generate leads and customers for roofing companies across the country.
If you’re looking for a team of experienced developers and designers to architect your brand’s digital experience, we’re here to help. We have built dozens of roofing and plumbing websites.
Contact us today and we’d be happy to discuss your project in more detail!
Connect with Ryan on Linkedin.
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