Google Ads for roofers: repairs after the storm, replacements all year
Roofing has one of the highest job values in local search and one of the worst signal-to-noise ratios: homeowners, storm chasers, insurance questions and DIY searches all compete for the same words. A roofing account earns its keep by separating repair from replacement, following the weather, and landing on pages that talk about financing, warranty and proof.
A high-ticket, high-trust purchase driven by weather
Two things make roofing ads different. First, job value: a replacement justifies a cost per estimate that would be absurd for most local services, so bids on replacement terms can be aggressive as long as the landing page converts. Second, weather: wind and rain events in the Puget Sound produce a surge of repair searches for two or three days; an account that raises bids and extends hours during those windows wins them, and one on a fixed schedule misses them.
Trust is the third factor. Homeowners are wary of storm chasers and door-knockers, so the ad and the page have to prove licence, insurance, local address and real photos before they ask for the estimate.
The searches worth paying for, and the ones that waste budget
Repair and replacement searches behave differently and are bid differently. Insurance-claim searches get their own group because the page has to answer different questions.
- Repair & storm: “roof leak repair Tacoma”, “emergency roof repair”, “roof tarp service”, “missing shingles repair”
- Replacement: “roof replacement cost”, “new roof Puyallup”, “roofing contractor near me”, “metal roof installation”
- Insurance: “roof insurance claim contractor”, “hail damage roof inspection”, “storm damage roof estimate”
- Adjacent: “gutter replacement”, “skylight installation”, “roof inspection for home sale”
Negative keywords we add on day one
Roofing attracts a large volume of DIY, supply and employment searches, plus commercial roofing terms most residential roofers do not want.
DIY · how to · shingles for sale · supply · jobs · salary · roofing company for sale · commercial roofing (if residential only) · roof rack · roof box · free · course
| Search type | Example | What the searcher wants | Our response |
|---|---|---|---|
| Repair & storm | “roof leak repair Tacoma” | Someone fast | Call-first ad, storm-day bid rules |
| Replacement | “roof replacement cost” | A price and financing | Replacement page with estimate form |
| Insurance | “hail damage roof inspection” | Help with a claim | Insurance page and inspection form |
| Research | “how long does a roof last” | To learn | Not paid for, content instead |
How we build a roofing account
Three campaigns: Repair & storm (extended hours in wet season, service-area radius, call-first ads, a repair page with phone first and photos), Replacement (all-day, higher bids, landing on a page with financing, materials, warranty and a free-estimate form), and Insurance claims (a page explaining how you work with adjusters, with an inspection form). Roofers who do gutters or metal roofing get an adjacent campaign at lower bids. Each has its own tracking number and estimate-form goal.
Follow the weather, not the calendar
We set the repair campaign to raise bids and extend hours on storm days and for two days after, weather in the Puget Sound is predictable enough to plan it. Replacement campaigns run steadily, heavier in the spring and summer estimate season and lighter in mid-winter when homeowners defer. Geography is your real service area, with expensive far-flung suburbs excluded unless you genuinely want to drive there. Search terms are reviewed weekly; roofing throws up new negatives constantly.
- Storm-day bid increases and extended hours on the repair campaign
- Estimate-season weighting on replacement; lighter in mid-winter
- Service-area radius with exclusions for areas you decline
- Call assets on repair; form-first on replacement
- Weekly search-term review, roofing produces new junk searches every week
What the page behind the ad has to do
Repair page: phone first
Number and tap-to-call at the top, emergency tarping mentioned, photos of real repairs, service area.
Replacement page: the questions
Materials, what a replacement involves, timeline, financing, warranty, and a free-estimate form above the fold.
Prove you are local
Licence and bond numbers, local address, years in business, photos of your crew on local roofs. Storm-chaser fear is real.
Financing
Named financing options and monthly-payment framing. A replacement is often financed; silence loses the estimate.
Insurance page
How you work with adjusters, what the homeowner pays, and an inspection request form.
Before / after
A small gallery of real local jobs on each page, with the town named.
We build or fix landing pages under web design & development; a campaign is only as good as the page it lands on.
From leak to signed contract
High cost per lead, higher job value
Roofing clicks and leads are expensive. That is acceptable because a single replacement covers a large amount of ad spend, the account is judged on cost per estimate and estimates-to-jobs, not on cost per click. We size the replacement budget to your estimator capacity (there is no point buying estimates nobody can attend) and keep a reserve for storm weeks. Spring and summer carry most of the replacement volume; winter is repair-led and cheaper.
Illustrative budget weighting through the year
Illustrative, not client dataRelative emphasis only, a real plan uses weather and estimate data.
A hypothetical first 90 days
Scenario: a residential roofer in Puyallup with two crews, 120 reviews, a website with a gallery but no financing information, and no ads yet.
install call and form tracking, launch the Repair & storm campaign with storm-day bid rules, and build a repair page with phone first and local photos.
publish a replacement page with materials, financing and warranty; launch the Replacement campaign; add the negative list from the first month’s search terms.
launch the Insurance-claims campaign and page; review estimates by campaign; move budget to the campaign producing signed jobs at the lowest cost.
Every number in a real plan comes from your own account data; we do not publish or promise results.
What we report every month
Google Ads questions from roofers
Is roofing too expensive for Google Ads?
Clicks are expensive; jobs are valuable. As long as the landing page converts and the schedule follows the weather, cost per signed job is usually acceptable. We size budgets to your estimator capacity.
Should I bid on “roof replacement cost”?
Yes, with a page that actually answers it, ranges, what drives price, financing. Bidding on a cost search and landing on a homepage wastes the click.
How do you handle storm weeks?
Bid rules and extended hours on the repair campaign for storm days and the two days after; a tarp-service line in the ad copy.
We get calls from outside our area. Why?
Usually a county-wide radius and no exclusions. We tighten geography and add the towns you decline as negatives.
Do you charge a percentage of spend?
No, a flat monthly fee, and you own the ad account.
Get a free Google Ads review for your roofing company
Send us your company name and website. We will review your account for wasted spend and missed storm windows, or tell you what a first repair-and-replacement setup would look like.