Google Ads for Roofers: A Setup That Doesn't Waste Money

1. Start with a Search campaign on Google search only

When you build a Search campaign, the Networks section offers to include the Google Display Network. Google’s help page says that with this on, your Search ads “can also appear on relevant website pages and apps on the Google Display Network” (Display Expansion on Search campaigns (opens in a new tab)). That’s banner territory, on sites and apps where nobody typed “roof repair.”

Search partners are the other add-on. They extend your ads to “hundreds of non-Google websites” and YouTube (Google’s search partners definition (opens in a new tab)). When you’re starting out, you want clean numbers from Google search alone, so leave Display unchecked and judge search partners later, once you have data.

2. Target people in your area, not people “interested” in it

This is the setting that’s easiest to miss. Under location options, Google’s default is “Presence or interest,” which reaches people in or regularly in your area, plus people who’ve shown interest in it (Google’s location targeting options (opens in a new tab)). Interest can come from what someone searches or reads.

That works for a bakery in Paris. But someone three states away reading about your town isn’t standing under a leaking roof there. Switch it to “Presence,” which limits the ads to people who are likely to be located, or regularly located, in your targeted areas. Google notes that changing from the default usually cuts impressions. For a roofer, that’s the point.

Then target only the towns your crews will actually drive to.

3. Set a budget you can live with for a whole month

Your daily budget is an average, not a ceiling. Google’s budget page says your daily spending limit is “two times your average daily budget for most campaigns,” and your monthly limit is 30.4 times the daily budget (how Google Ads budgets work (opens in a new tab)).

Here’s what that means with made-up numbers. Set $50 a day and you could see a $100 day, but the month should top out around $1,520 (30.4 times $50). So pick the daily number by working backward from what you can spend in a month, and don’t panic when one day runs high.

4. Build ad groups by job type

Roof repair, roof replacement, and storm or hail damage are different jobs with different searches. Give each its own ad group, keywords, ads, and page, so you can see which job type turns into signed work and push the budget toward it.

Start with the two or three jobs you want most and add the rest later. (Our post on roofing keywords groups the searches homeowners make by job type, which maps straight onto ad groups.)

5. Pick match types on purpose

Match types decide how loosely Google can stretch your keyword. Google’s keyword match types page (opens in a new tab) lists three:

• Broad match (no symbols, and it’s the default): ads may show on searches “related to your keyword,” even ones that don’t use it.
• Phrase match (“roof repair”): the search has to include the meaning of your keyword.
• Exact match ([roof replacement near me]): the search has to have the same meaning or intent. It gives you the most control and the fewest searches.

Broad match catches everything the narrower types do, plus more, and on a small budget “more” mostly means searches you didn’t plan for. Start with phrase and exact, and try broad later on a campaign where your tracking already works.

6. Load negative keywords before you launch

Negative keywords stop your ad from showing on searches you don’t want. Google’s own example is an eyeglasses store blocking “wine glasses” (about negative keywords (opens in a new tab)). Roofing has plenty of its own wine glasses. A starter list:

• Job seekers: jobs, hiring, salary, apprentice, training, certification
• DIY: how to, diy, video, youtube, tutorial
• Shoppers: shingles for sale, wholesale, supply, price per bundle
• The wrong roof: roof rack, rooftop tent, sunroof, rooftop bar, rv roof

Swap in your own. If you do RV roofs, keep that one off the list.

7. Write ads that say what you actually do

A responsive search ad takes up to 15 headlines of 30 characters each and up to 4 descriptions of 90 characters. Google mixes them into different combinations, and anything you pin to headline position 1 always shows, though pinning limits the combinations it can test (about responsive search ads (opens in a new tab)). Pin only what has to be there, like the job type.

Spend the headlines on specifics: the service, the towns you cover, warranties and manufacturer certifications you actually hold, and how fast you can really get out for an inspection.

8. Send each ad group to its own page

A roof repair ad that lands on your homepage makes the homeowner hunt. Send it to your repair page, with the phone number up top, a short form, real photos, and the towns you cover.

If your site doesn’t have those pages yet, build them first, because it’s hard to judge an ad when the page behind it is the problem. Every roofing website we build has a page for each service.

9. Track calls and forms before you spend

Without tracking, Google Ads can only report clicks, and clicks don’t pay for shingles. Google’s phone call conversion setup (opens in a new tab) covers three kinds of calls:

• Calls from ads, when someone taps the number in the ad itself
• Calls to a number shown on your website, after they clicked through
• Clicks on the number on your website from a phone

Add your quote form as a conversion too. Later, look at uploading offline conversions, which Google says let you match leads that close later to your CRM or sales records. That’s how you see which keywords turned into signed roofs.

10. Run ads when someone answers the phone

New campaigns run “All day” by default (Google’s ad scheduling page (opens in a new tab)). If nobody picks up after 6 p.m., you’re paying for calls that go to voicemail, and some homeowners will just call the next roofer. You can set the hours and days your ads show, or lower your bids for the times you’re harder to reach.

If you staff the phones late after a hail storm, open the schedule back up while it lasts.