If your roofing company wants to rank higher on Google, generate better leads, and lower your cost per click, you need to focus on high-value keywords. But how do you find them?
That’s where keyword research tools come in. The right tools can help you uncover the exact phrases homeowners in your service area are searching—along with insights into intent, competition, and ROI potential.
In this article, we’ll break down the best tools to identify high-value keywords for roofers, how to use them effectively, and how these keywords fuel both your Google Ads and local SEO strategy.
What Makes a Keyword “High Value” for Roofers?
Not all keywords are worth targeting. High-value roofing keywords share three key traits:
- Relevance: Closely aligned with your services and location
- Intent: Searched by people ready to hire a roofer
- Profitability: Likely to convert into high-ticket jobs
Example of high-value keywords:
- “emergency roof repair in Frisco”
- “best roofing company near me for hail damage”
- “shingle roof replacement cost Plano”
Top Tools to Find High-Value Roofing Keywords
1. Google Keyword Planner
Best for: Foundational keyword research and search volume insights
This free tool from Google Ads shows estimated search volume, competition level, and cost-per-click (CPC) data. You can filter by location to find relevant keywords in your service area.
How to use it:
- Enter seed terms like “roof repair,” “roof replacement,” or “storm damage”
- Use the location filter to narrow results to your city or county
- Look for keywords with high volume and high intent (e.g., includes location, service type, urgency)
2. Ubersuggest
Best for: Long-tail keyword discovery and SEO difficulty scores
Ubersuggest gives you keyword ideas, content suggestions, and SEO competition insights. It’s a great tool for finding long-tail keywords homeowners are actually typing into Google.
Pro tip: Target keywords with low SEO difficulty but strong intent. These are often overlooked by competitors and easier to rank for.
3. SEMrush
Best for: Competitive keyword research and PPC planning
SEMrush allows you to see which keywords your competitors are ranking for—and which ones they’re bidding on in Google Ads. This gives you a clear look at what’s already working in your market.
Key features:
- Keyword gap analysis
- Ad copy and landing page review
- Local keyword filtering
4. Ahrefs
Best for: SEO keyword tracking and backlink opportunities
Ahrefs is a powerful tool for SEO-driven roofers. Use it to find keywords with strong ranking potential, evaluate search difficulty, and build content around keyword clusters.
Bonus: Track keyword rankings in real time so you know what’s working and when to pivot.
5. Google Search Console
Best for: Seeing which keywords are already bringing traffic
This free tool from Google shows which search terms are generating clicks and impressions on your site. It’s a goldmine for finding high-intent phrases that you’re already ranking for—and optimizing them for better performance.
Action: Look at pages with high impressions but low CTR and update meta titles to better match searcher intent.
6. Google Autocomplete and “People Also Ask”
Best for: Real-time keyword ideas and content inspiration
Type roofing-related terms into Google and pay attention to autocomplete suggestions and related questions in the “People Also Ask” section. These are real queries from homeowners in your area.
Examples:
- “How much does roof replacement cost in Texas?”
- “What to do after roof hail damage?”
You can build blog content and service pages directly around these search terms.
7. Your Own Google Business Profile Insights
Best for: Identifying local, service-specific keywords
In your Google Business Profile dashboard, go to the “Performance” or “Insights” tab. You’ll see the search queries that triggered your listing in the map pack.
Pro tip: Use those exact keywords in your Google Posts, review responses, and website content to improve rankings.
How to Prioritize Your Roofing Keyword List
Once you’ve gathered a list of potential keywords, prioritize them using these criteria:
- Includes city or service area
- Indicates someone is ready to hire (e.g., “get estimate” vs “types of roofs”)
- Easier to rank and cheaper to bid on
- Aligned with high-ticket services like roof replacement
Organize keywords into groups based on service (repair, replacement, storm), location, and buyer stage (research vs ready to buy).
How HOWL Identifies High-Value Roofing Keywords for Clients
At HOWL, we don’t just find keywords—we find conversion keywords. Our keyword strategy includes:
- Geo-targeted keyword research by zip code and neighborhood
- Search term mining from real-time intent data
- Segmentation by residential vs commercial roofing
- Weekly performance tracking and keyword optimization
We build PPC and SEO campaigns around the exact words your ideal customers are already searching—so you show up first when it matters most.
Final Thoughts: The Right Keywords Build the Right Leads
You can’t dominate search if you don’t know what people are actually searching. With the right keyword tools and a strategy built around buyer intent, your roofing company can outrank competitors, lower ad costs, and win more of the right jobs.
Apply to work with HOWL and let us build a keyword-driven lead system that brings in high-intent roofing leads ready to book, not just browse.