Plain-English definitions of the 39 terms that come up most often when roofing contractors talk about leads, storms, insurance work and getting found online. Written for contractors, not marketers.

A

Aged Lead

A lead that was generated weeks or months ago and is being resold or reworked. Aged leads cost less than fresh ones but convert at a lower rate, because the homeowner has usually already spoken to another contractor.

Appointment Setting

The step between a lead and a sales visit: someone contacts the homeowner, confirms interest and eligibility, and books a specific date and time on the contractor’s calendar. A set appointment is worth far more than a raw phone number because the sales rep drives to a confirmed slot. See how our appointments are confirmed →

B

C

Canonical Tag

A line of code that tells search engines which URL is the master version of a page. It prevents duplicate-content problems when the same page is reachable through several URLs — common on roofing sites with many near-identical city pages.

Canvassing

Door-to-door prospecting in a targeted neighbourhood, usually after a storm. Canvassing is labour-intensive but still effective when it is aimed at streets that damage data says were actually hit.

Close Rate

The percentage of leads or appointments that turn into signed jobs. A contractor closing 1 in 5 inspections has a 20% close rate. Close rate is the number that tells you whether a lead source is genuinely profitable.

Cold Calling

Contacting homeowners who have not yet raised their hand, by phone. Done properly it starts with a good list, a compliant call process, and callers who know roofing objections rather than reading a generic script. Our lead generation service →

Conversion Rate

The percentage of visitors who take the action a page is designed for — calling, submitting a form, or booking an inspection. A roofing site with strong traffic and a weak conversion rate is usually a design and messaging problem, not a traffic problem. Roofing website design →

Core Web Vitals

Google’s measurements of real-world page experience: how fast the main content loads, how quickly the page responds to input, and how much the layout shifts while loading. They are a ranking signal and they directly affect how many mobile visitors stay.

Cost Per Acquisition (CPA)

Total marketing spend divided by the number of signed jobs it produced. CPA is the honest version of lead cost, because it accounts for the leads that never closed.

Cost Per Lead (CPL)

Marketing spend divided by the number of leads generated. Useful for comparing channels, but only meaningful next to close rate — cheap leads that never close have a high CPA.

CRM

Customer Relationship Management software: the system that stores every lead, the notes from each call, and the stage each job is at. Without one, leads are lost in text messages and notebooks.

E

Exclusive Lead

A lead sold to one contractor only. The opposite of a shared lead, and the reason exclusive leads cost more — you are not racing three competitors to the same homeowner. Are your leads exclusive? →

G

Google Business Profile (GBP)

The free Google listing that controls how a business appears in Google Maps and the local map pack. For roofers it is often the single highest-intent source of calls, and it depends on accurate categories, service areas, photos and reviews. Google Business Profile management →

H

Hail Mapping

Overlaying verified hail-storm data onto a map so contractors can see which neighbourhoods were actually struck, and how large the stones were. It turns storm chasing into targeted outreach. Hail mapping →

Hail Swath

The path a hail-producing storm cut across the ground, usually mapped as a long narrow band. Properties inside the swath are the realistic prospects for storm-damage work; properties just outside it are usually not.

I

Indexing

The process of Google adding a page to its searchable database. A page that is not indexed cannot rank for anything, no matter how good the content is. How indexing works →

Insurance Restoration

Roofing work paid for through a homeowner’s insurance claim rather than out of pocket, typically after storm, hail or wind damage. It runs on a different sales cycle from retail work, with adjusters, scopes and supplements involved.

K

Keyword Intent

What the searcher actually wants. “How to fix a roof leak” is research intent; “roof repair near me” is buying intent. Pages built for buying intent are the ones that produce calls.

L

Landing Page

A page built for one campaign and one action, with the distractions stripped out. Sending ad traffic to a homepage instead of a landing page is one of the most common ways roofing ad budgets get wasted.

Lead

A homeowner or property owner who has shown interest in roofing work and whose contact details you hold. Quality varies enormously — the word covers everything from a verified booked inspection to a name on a list.

Lead Magnet

Something genuinely useful offered in exchange for contact details — a free roof inspection, a storm damage report, a maintenance checklist. It converts anonymous traffic into people you can follow up with. Free roof assessment →

Lead Nurturing

The follow-up sequence for homeowners who are interested but not ready. Most roofing leads do not buy on the first contact, so the contractors who nurture systematically win jobs their competitors wrote off.

Lead Scoring

Ranking leads by how likely they are to close, using signals like property age, storm exposure, homeowner status and how they responded. It tells the sales team who to call first.

Local Pack

The block of three business listings with a map that Google shows above the normal results for local searches. Ranking here usually drives more roofing calls than ranking first in the standard organic listings.

Local SEO

The work of ranking for searches tied to a place — city pages, Google Business Profile, local citations, reviews and location-relevant content. Areas we serve →

N

NAP Consistency

Making sure your Name, Address and Phone number are written identically everywhere online — your site, Google, directories, social profiles. Inconsistent NAP data confuses search engines and costs local rankings.

O

P

Pay-Per-Click (PPC)

Advertising where you pay each time someone clicks your ad. It buys visibility immediately, which makes it useful during storm season when timing matters more than cost per click.

Q

Qualified Lead

A lead that has been checked against the things that actually matter — the person owns the property, it is in your service area, there is real damage or real intent, and they are willing to meet. Qualification is what separates a lead list from a sales pipeline.

R

Retargeting

Showing ads to people who already visited your website. Since most first-time visitors leave without calling, retargeting is usually the cheapest way to get a second chance at them.

Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)

Revenue produced divided by advertising spend. A 5x ROAS means every $1 of ad spend returned $5 in signed work.

S

Schema Markup

Structured data added to a page’s code that tells search engines and AI assistants exactly what the page is — a service, a business, a list of questions and answers. It is how a site becomes machine-readable rather than just human-readable.

Shared Lead

A lead sold to several contractors at once. Cheaper per lead, but you are competing on speed and price with everyone else who bought it.

Speed to Lead

How fast you respond after a lead comes in. Response time is one of the strongest predictors of whether a roofing lead converts, which is why after-hours coverage matters so much. AI receptionist →

Storm Restoration

Repair and replacement work generated by severe weather — hail, wind, tornado. It arrives in concentrated bursts, so the contractors who win it are the ones already set up to reach affected neighbourhoods within days.

Supplement

An additional claim submitted to an insurer for work or materials the original adjuster’s scope missed. Supplements are a normal part of restoration roofing and a common source of margin.

T

Technical SEO

The under-the-hood side of search: crawlability, indexing, site speed, mobile rendering, structured data and site architecture. It is what lets good content actually rank. Technical SEO explained →

X

Xactimate

The estimating software most US insurance carriers and restoration contractors use to price claims. Writing estimates in the carrier’s own pricing language speeds up claim approval.

Still not sure how a term applies to your business? Browse the resources hub, read our full FAQ, see how our SEO works, or call 507-501-5458 and ask.