How granular would you go with Roofing company service page content?

[Ben Walsh]

Hey Guys,

Curious about what the consensus on this is

In terms of breaking down pages, particularly for commercial roofing, there are keyword groups for all of the following but im wondering if it really warrants dedicated pages for each

For example

Commercial Roofing Contractor

Commercial Roof Installation
Commercial Roof Replacement
Commercial Roof Repair

But from that there is also keyword volume for things like

Flat Roofing contactor

Flat Roof Installation
Flat Roof Replacement
Flat Roof Repair

Metal Roof Contractor

Metal Roof Installation
Metal Roof Replacement
Metal Roof Repair

You can even go more granular than that with things like metal roofing and go with steel roof contractor etc

So I want to know how granular you would go and if you combine installation, replacement and repair keyword groups into one page and at what point you start to combine keywords into one page or is it best to create dedicated content for all keyword variations i.e

Contractor (top level)

Installation
replacement
Repair

Hope that makes sense

Thanks!

 

[xds40]

If flat and metal roofs are a big part of what you or your client does then I would certainly create content for that query.

Where the business is located may factor in. At least here in the US, flat roofs are popular in places like New Mexico so just because the search volume is showing a decent number, is it something the business specializes in?

 

[liftmarketinggroup]

You're keen to ask this question out loud. Our agency works exclusively in one industry, and yet we continue to ask & answer this question differently depending on the nature of each business service offering & market.

Does thinking about how the majority of people shop/search for the end product (or how you want them to shop/search) help you to identify a page structure?

For instance, if folks shop by both service & material/system type, then perhaps your main navigation contains:
- HOME (with "Commercial Roofing Contractor" as the main keyword; Flat/Metal/Steel Contractor mini sections & links; Installation/Replacement/Repair mini sections & links)
- SERVICES (with Installation, Replacement, Repair subcategories--delivered as either paragraphs on one page or pages, depending on the content volume)
- SYSTEMS (with Metal, Flat, Steel subcategories--delivered as either paragraphs or pages, depending on the content volume)

As xds40 mentioned, considering geography could also prove useful--not only from an offering POV, but also to beg the question or whether or not to create pages for particular geographies (perhaps landing in the footer to keep the main navigation simpler).

Once you've determined the structure you think is best, then you might also hunt down other roofing sites outside your client's direct competition to see examples of how different companies are structuring things. Seeing the different options in real life can oftentimes pull you into a lane that you can give your own spin.

Something to note: Yoast offers a training course as well as a free guide on the topic. (Their advice on related keywords feels relevant here, too.)

 

[GoLocal]

Does thinking about how the majority of people shop/search for the end product (or how you want them to shop/search) help you to identify a page structure?

Boom. Mic drop. I've done work for several roofers and this was exactly how it was.

 

[mattsmith]

I just helped a roofing company out last year, and had some great results from deep keyword research. The first thing I did was reverse engineer the top 5 companies and note what Google was rewarding. Now, my day job is actually residential and commercial roofing so once I had the keywords I set out to write quality and helpful content for the people searching in the city based on experience.

This was something I think was unique about our page: the first-hand experience and the keyword research, as well as building it to work seamlessly on mobile. I also did some interlinking between relevant site pages.

We're not #1 on the SERP but my plan is to build out one more level deep (5 more pages) to see if that moves things, if not I'll build another level deep (x5 pages each for a total of 25 supporting pages to my target page).

Each level will have local roofing-related topics unique to the target city, with virtual silo linking. At this moment I haven't decided if I'll be doing a parent-child URL structure.

Something else to consider, look at Google Search Console and see what keywords you're already ranking for and if there's search volume and clicks then consider making that a dedicated page, and de-optimizing your main page that was originally bringing in that traffic and those clicks. Don't forget to check the auto suggest, people also ask, and related searches for tighter related content ideas.

- Hope some of this helps.

Matt

 

[GoLocal]

I just helped a roofing company out last year, and had some great results from deep keyword research. The first thing I did was reverse engineer the top 5 companies and note what Google was rewarding. Now, my day job is actually residential and commercial roofing so once I had the keywords I set out to write quality and helpful content for the people searching in the city based on experience.

This was something I think was unique about our page: the first-hand experience and the keyword research, as well as building it to work seamlessly on mobile. I also did some interlinking between relevant site pages.

We're not #1 on the SERP but my plan is to build out one more level deep (5 more pages) to see if that moves things, if not I'll build another level deep (x5 pages each for a total of 25 supporting pages to my target page).

Each level will have local roofing-related topics unique to the target city, with virtual silo linking. At this moment I haven't decided if I'll be doing a parent-child URL structure.

Something else to consider, look at Google Search Console and see what keywords you're already ranking for and if there's search volume and clicks then consider making that a dedicated page, and de-optimizing your main page that was originally bringing in that traffic and those clicks. Don't forget to check the auto suggest, people also ask, and related searches for tighter related content ideas.

- Hope some of this helps.

Matt

Did you ever try just researching the ranking companies with low DR? Those keywords are going to be the ones we can fight for most effectively. Some people have that as their main strategy, i.e. Authority Hacker here:

 

[mattsmith]

Did you ever try just researching the ranking companies with low DR? Those keywords are going to be the ones we can fight for most effectively. Some people have that as their main strategy, i.e. Authority Hacker here:

that would be an excellent way to build out relevant supporting pages, so long as you don't end up competing with yourself and have pages ranking for the same keyword.

 

[Ray Litvak]

Great question! I used to work for YellowPages in Canada, and there are/were specific headings/categories considered suspect, roofing contractors being one of them, and locksmiths another, among others. After all, anyone can hang a shingle on their front door or business, claiming to be a Roofing Contractor, and fly-by-nighters come and go. I agree with one of the previous comments: creating dedicated sub-service pages (I.e., installation, replacement, repair, etc.) can work, so long as the pages are differentiated enough to avoid keyword cannibalization and or seem spammy to Google and Searchers. I would also highly focus on each page's content to follow Google's EEAT guidelines, especially regarding these categories.