What should a roofer's website include to win more jobs?

What a roofer's website is actually for

Nobody browses a roofing website for fun. Someone has a leak, a slipped slate or a quote they don't trust, and they want to know three things quickly: do you do this job, do you work near me, and can I trust you with my house.

So a roofing website is not a brochure. It is a short route from a worried homeowner to a phone call. Every page, photo and button either helps with that or gets in the way.

This guide covers what to put on it, whether you are building it yourself, using a template or paying someone to do it.

The pages you need, and what each one does

You don't need twenty pages. You need the right few, each with a clear job. One page that tries to cover everything is weaker than several focused ones, because Google and customers both want to find the specific thing they searched for.

• Home page Say what you do and where, in the first screen. Something like "Roofers in Maidstone and across Kent" beats a vague slogan. Put your phone number and a call button where the thumb can reach it.
• Services Give each main job its own section or page: pitched roof repairs, flat roofs, re-roofing, chimneys and lead flashing, fascias, soffits and gutters, emergency leaks. Only list what you genuinely do.
• Areas covered List the towns and villages you actually work in, with a short line on each. This is what helps you show up when someone searches for a roofer in their own town.
• Gallery Real jobs, with a short caption saying what was done and where. Before and after photos work well for roofing because the change is easy to see.
• About A photo of you, how long you have been trading, and who turns up on the day. Homeowners are letting someone onto their roof, so they want to know who it is.
• Contact Phone, WhatsApp and a short form. Keep the form to name, number, postcode and a line about the problem.

Show the work, because roofs are hard to judge from the ground

Most homeowners can't tell a good roof from a bad one, so they look for proof that you are the safe choice. Your own photos do more than any amount of writing. Photos taken on your phone at the job beat polished stock images, because customers can spot stock photos and they say nothing about you.

Put proof where people are making their decision, not hidden on a separate page.

• Your own photos Show scaffolding up, work in progress and the finished roof. Include a mix of small repairs and larger jobs so people see you take both seriously.
• Reviews Show real reviews with the customer's first name and area. If you don't have many, our guide on how to get more Google reviews is a good place to start.
• Insurance and guarantees If you carry public liability insurance and offer a guarantee on your work, say so plainly and say what it covers. Only state what is true and that you can back up.
• Trade body membership If you belong to a trade body or competent person scheme, show it. If you don't, leave it off rather than implying you do.

Make it effortless to call or message

Most people looking for a roofer are on their phone, often in the garden or the street looking up at the problem. They are not going to hunt for your number or fill in a long form.

Put a tap-to-call button on every page and keep it visible as they scroll. Add a WhatsApp link too, because plenty of people would rather send a photo of the damage than talk it through. A photo of a stained ceiling or a missing tile helps you give a better first answer.

Then do your part on the other end. An enquiry is only worth something if it gets answered. Reply the same day if you can, even if it's only to say when you will be able to look at it. People often contact several roofers, and the one who answers first usually has the advantage.

Speed and mobile matter more than most people think

A slow site loses people before they have read a word. A homeowner with water coming through the ceiling will not wait for a page to load; they go back and tap the next roofer.

Heavy images are the usual cause on trade sites. Photos straight off a phone can be several megabytes each. Resize them before you upload, and don't put a dozen full-size photos on the home page. Template and page-builder sites also tend to load a lot of code you never asked for.

You can check where you stand for free. Our website speed test runs your site through Google's own test and shows the mobile result. If you are weighing up a builder against hand-coding, our guide on Wix or a hand-coded website explains the difference.

Tell Google exactly where you work

Local searches work best when your site and your Google listing agree. Use the same business name, phone number and area on both. Write your area pages as if you were explaining your work to a neighbour: the sort of roofs common in that town, jobs you have done nearby and how quickly you can get there.

Avoid copying the same paragraph onto ten pages and just swapping the town name. It reads badly to people and it doesn't help you rank.

Your Google listing matters as much as the website for local searches, so set that up properly too. We cover it in Google Business Profile for tradesmen.

Things that put roofing customers off

Most of the damage comes from small things that make a firm look careless or hard to reach.

• No phone number on show If people have to look for it, many won't.
• Stock photos of other people's roofs They suggest you have no work of your own to show.
• Vague wording "Quality service at competitive prices" tells nobody anything. Say what you do, where and how you quote.
• Pop-ups and clutter Anything that covers the page on a phone is annoying when someone is in a hurry.
• Out-of-date details An old phone number, a dead social link or a copyright date from years ago all make people doubt you.
• Hiding how you price You can't give a fixed price without seeing the roof, but you can explain how you quote and that surveys and quotes are free, if that is true.

Build it yourself, use a template or hire someone?

If you only need something basic, a template can work as long as you fill it with your own photos and wording and keep it fast. The risk is ending up with a site that looks like every other roofer's and is slow on phones.

If you would rather have it done for you, look for a fixed price, and check that you will own the site and the domain at the end. Our guide on how much a tradesman website costs explains what is reasonable to pay and what to ask about.

Scalar Digital builds hand-coded sites for trades. The Scalar build is a fixed £2,500 for five pages, including a gallery and a service-areas page, and a one-page Landing Page is £750. You own the code and the domain outright. You can see how that applies to your trade on the websites for roofers page.