Who Should Build Your Roofing Website? DIY vs Hiring an Agency vs Your Friend Bob
Every local roofing company has a professional website and you’ve been thinking about creating one too. But asking Google how much a roofing website costs has left you with more questions than answers.
It turns out you could hire a web design agency and pay anywhere up to $5,000. You could build the site yourself for under $500. Or you could pay your friend ‘Bob’ $50 for a site.
As well as price, you’ll need to factor in how much spare time you have and whether you want your new site to make money, or if you just want to save money along the way.
To help you make the right choice we’ve compared your three options – DIY your own site, hire an agency, or pay your friend ‘Bob’ to build it for you. Read on to learn which is the best choice…
Deciding who should be in charge of building your new roofing website is a major decision.
And the worst way to approach this decision is to go with the lowest price.
You never want to overstretch your budget, but to figure out who should build your roofing site you’ll need to factor in more than cost.
You’ll also need to take into account the goals of your roofing business, what features you want to be included on your new site, how much you have to spend on a new website, and how fast you want to see results.
With that said, building a roofing site comes down to three options:
- You build it yourself (DIY)
- You hire an agency to build it
- You pay your friend ‘Bob’ a few hundred bucks to build it
Each of these strategies for creating a new site brings its own pros and cons, and we’ll unpack them all for you.
Three website building options
THE DIY OPTION: Doing it yourself means you save money – and if you pick a website builder you can launch a site with no experience over the course of a free afternoon. But will that site help you generate roofing leads?
THE AGENCY OPTION: Going with an agency means you pay extra to have your site professionally made. You might have to spend a few thousand dollars, but that cost can be worth it if the finished site comes with built-in marketing features that generate positive ROI.
THE ‘BOB’ OPTION: You ask your friend Bob to build your site. No offense to Bob, but you need to avoid this option at all costs (keep reading to find out why…sorry Bob).
To help you make an informed choice we’ve outlined the pros and cons that come with each build option. These apply whether you’re a residential roofer looking for more local work, or a nationally recognized commercial roofer chasing big contracts.
STOP SCROLLING!!! Don’t read on until you know what a successful roofing site should look like.
Discover the high-converting features all profitable roofing websites share
DIY your own roofing website: Pros and Cons
Building your own roofing site may sound like a challenge, but with the rise of website builders, it’s so easy anyone can do it with zero experience.
There’s a good chance you’ve heard of a website builder before (even if you didn’t know it), in the form of popular platforms like:
Instead of creating a site by typing lines of code, website builders offer an all-in-one solution. Everything you need is under one roof (pun intended) so you’ll start off by picking a theme you like. Most DIY website builders offer ready-made templates for each industry, so you can choose a ‘roofing’ template that will design your whole site.
You won’t need to decide what colors to choose (though you can change them if you want) or where to put boxes of text, as your ready-made ‘roofing’ template will install a fully designed site for you.
Looking for the perfect template? Access the top 10 BEST roofing website templates
Most website builders also come with hosting (which is where your site lives) so that’s one less cost and one less hassle to worry about. And from there you can add widgets and add-ons to customize your roofing site so it matches your business branding.
Using a DIY website builder, any roofer can launch a professional-looking site in just a few hours.
Building a DIY website can cost less than $500 per year
“How much do website builders cost?”
If you’re going with the DIY option it’s likely you’re looking to save money – and website builders offer excellent value.
Depending on your choice of website builder you’ll be able to create a site for under $500 a year.
“Can I build a DIY roofing site for free?”
It’s possible to build a roofing site for $0 with a free Wix website, but “free” is a loaded term online and when you opt for a free plan you’ll end up with severe design limitations and Wix ads on your website which can make you look unprofessional.
Paid website builder plans unlock extra design options and features to help you grow your business. For example, the Pedestal website builder comes with lifetime support and a free website rebuild after 24 months, making the small investment worth the money.
Keen to save 4 hours of research? Quickly compare the 5 best website builders for roofers [full pros and cons revealed]
| DIY Roofing Site: Pros | DIY Roofing Site: Cons |
|---|---|
| ✔ Highly affordable and cost-effective for roofers ✔ Launch a finished site in under 24 hours ✔ Easy to use with zero experience required |
✘ May lack SEO and marketing features ✘ Limited customization options ✘ DIY templates can look generic and may be used by thousands of other roofers |
Hiring an agency to build your roofing website: Pros and Cons
When your work vehicle starts making strange clicking noises, you take it to the local mechanic. And if your hot water heater breaks you call in a plumber to fix the problem.
The reason you outsource certain tasks is because they’re not in your wheelhouse. You know that saving money isn’t the ultimate goal – it’s fixing whatever problem you have.
Keeping a few hundred bucks in your pocket doesn’t help if you’re facing cold showers for the rest of the year because you couldn’t fix your hot water heater. And saving money on web design and development doesn’t help if your new site isn’t bringing in new work.
Ask yourself whether your roofing business can afford a month (or multiple months) without regular leads. A professionally made website from a specialist agency means the final product is designed to bring in regular leads.
“Why would I pay for an agency website if you just told me I can build my own for under $500?”
Because a professionally-built roofing agency is more likely to generate revenue.
And that’s the goal.
If the goal was to spend as little money as possible we’d recommend going to Fiverr and paying someone from Timbuktu $5. But you want your roofing business to make money so you can invest in new tools or hire a new roofer or take time off – and that’s the #1 reason roofers outsource the job – to end up with a website that makes MORE money than it cost.
Professionally built roofing sites combine entire marketing teams. You’re not just getting a good-looking site, you’re getting:
- An SEO expert: Who helps your site rank on Google
- A marketing strategist: Who helps convert site visitors into leads
- A web designer: Who makes your site stand out against your competitors
- A web developer: Who makes your site fast, mobile-friendly and easy-to-use
It’s true that outsourcing your roofing site’s build will cost more than the DIY option, but remember, you’re not paying for a fancier website.
You’re paying for a lead-generating website that helps you recoup your upfront cost and drive revenue month after month. If you’ve got plans to grow your business year after year, a professionally made site can make sure you have leads and work coming in the entire time.
Curious about the cost of a professional roofing website? Check the full price breakdown on professionally made roofing websites
| Hiring an Agency: Pros | Hiring an Agency: Cons |
|---|---|
| ✔ Your finished site is designed to generate leads and bring in regular work ✔ A custom website design to stand out against template DIY websites ✔ Ongoing tech and marketing support |
✘ It’s more expensive than building your own website ✘ It takes longer than building your own website ✘ Less control over the design of your website |
Paying your friend Bob $50 to build your roofing website: Pros and Cons
We all know a ‘Bob’.
He’s the guy who knows a little about a lot. Whether you need help with your car or tips on decorating your spare room, Bob is the first to put his hand up and offer tips.
So when you’re thinking of building a roofing site and the ‘Bob’ in your life tells you he can build a site for a few bucks, it’s tempting to let him try. But it’s not worth it.
Bob probably does know a little about building websites.
He might have built some great-looking sites in the past for himself or his friends, but without a marketing background, Bob is going to make decisions based on what LOOKS good, not what attracts customers.
- Does he know how Google’s algorithm works in 2021?
- Does he know what conversion features all roofing sites need?
- Does he know how roofing customers think and what type of content they look for?
Building a roofing site is more than adding pages for roof repair or roof replacement, throwing up a gallery of your best-corrugated iron roofing jobs, and leaving your mobile phone number.
Roofing customers have specific problems, like trying to compare the price of tiles or sheets or how much it costs per square foot to re-tile a double pitch roof.
Your roofing website needs to be built around these problems from the ground up. This includes your URLs, the way your pages are internally linked, the keywords in your content, the conversion features you add to each page, even down to the placement of your ‘FREE ESTIMATE’ forms.
Plus, with 53% of people abandoning a website if it takes more than 3 seconds to load on their mobile phone, Bob will need to create a 100% responsive website that works on all devices.
So Bob might be able to build a website.
But unless he has the marketing knowledge to build a roofing website that’s designed to generate leads, you’re better off trying to go with the DIY or agency option. So when the ‘Bob’ in your life offers their help, it’s best to politely decline.
| Paying ‘Bob’: Pros | Paying ‘Bob’: Cons |
|---|---|
| ✔ Save money (possibly free depending on how generous your friend Bob is)
✔ You can have your design requests heard and followed ✔ Your website can be built quickly (depending on how much experience Bob has) |
✘ Your roofing site is NOT built with any marketing strategy, SEO features, or lead-gen tactics
✘ No support if the site crashes and Bob can’t fix it ✘ No hosting costs included |
Use these 3 factors to make your final decision
You already know that a new site is a must – especially as roughly 75% of people will visit a roofing company’s website before they commit to a sale.
But if you can’t decide whether to DIY your roofing site or go with a pro, ask yourself the following questions:
| What is the goal of your site? | What features do you want on your site? | What is your available budget? |
If the goal of your site is to generate consistent leads or use SEO to increase your Google rankings, we recommend hiring a professional agency. This will cost you more upfront, but the finished site will be purpose-built to attract leads, rank on Google, and bring in work. In the long run, you’ll be more likely to recoup your website cost and make a consistent profit.
If you’re on a budget – we’re talking $1,000 or less to spend on your new site, you can use a website builder that will cost less than $500. With no experience needed you can pick a theme and have your site live with one click. You’ll need to supply the pictures and text, but you’ll have a professional-looking site without the cost.
And if you want to throw your friend Bob a bone, feel free to ask him to build a website. Just don’t use it for your roofing business.
Keen to DIY your own site? Check this step-by-step guide to building your own site
