The company: a roofer in Haarlem with more than twenty years of experience
Tolmeijer Dakdekkers in Haarlem, near Amsterdam, does every kind of roofing work, such as roofing, insulation, and lead and zinc work, for clients in and around Haarlem. The company has been in the roofing business for more than twenty years, gives a 10-year warranty on its work and runs an emergency service that's available 24/7. Owner Milo Tolmeijer is a perfectionist, and he works through the options with his clients until the best solution is on the table.
The case study
The challenge: expensive ads and a site almost no one could find in Google
When I started working with Milo, he had a simple website that got fewer than 10 visitors a month from Google's regular search results. For the most important search term, "dakdekker haarlem", the site was somewhere on page 2. For other search terms in the area, such as "dakdekker hoofddorp" or "dakdekker hillegom" for the nearby towns of Hoofddorp and Hillegom, the site didn't even make the top 100.
Every new client came in through Google Ads, and more than €600 a month went into that just to stay visible. The regular search results brought in almost no inquiries. Milo was looking for someone who knew SEO and could build his website properly, with copy that brings in inquiries and a plan behind it.
The approach: research first, then building and writing
I started by figuring out what sets Tolmeijer Dakdekkers apart from other roofers. In conversations with Milo, his strengths came up naturally: his years of experience, his precision, the warranty and the emergency service. What stood out most was the way he works through problems together with his clients.
With those strengths as the foundation, I put together an SEO strategy for Tolmeijer in three parts:
A new WordPress website with a clear structure
I rebuilt the site from scratch. Every page got a clear place in the site and links to the pages that belong with it, so Google can see how everything fits together. You can read how I handle the technical side of a site in the article on technical SEO.
SEO copy that sounds like Milo
The SEO copy had to get found in Google and, at the same time, show how Milo works. That's why it talks about his precision, his experience and the attention he gives every client.
Local SEO for Haarlem and the surrounding area
I aimed the site at Haarlem and the towns around it, such as Hoofddorp, Hillegom, Heemstede, Zandvoort and Nieuw-Vennep. For that, I used local SEO: everything that gets Google to show you to people searching in your area.
Milo did a lot himself, too. He took care of the link building, meaning other websites linking to his site, and did his own share of the local SEO. His craftsmanship also earned him a big stack of five-star reviews.
The results: from page 2 to the top spot
The first effect showed up quickly, and after that the site kept climbing:
Right after launch
Tolmeijer Dakdekkers went straight into the top 10 for many of the search terms people use to find a roofer. The number of visitors from the regular search results went from fewer than 10 to hundreds a month.
After one year
By then, the site ranked higher for more search terms, and inquiries came in every month through the regular search results. That let Milo scale back his Google Ads spend step by step, and after about a year he stopped running ads altogether.
After two years
At that point, Tolmeijer Dakdekkers was in first place for "dakdekker haarlem", and it also ranked high in Google for other search terms in the area:
- ▸Dakdekker haarlem: position 1
- ▸Dakdekker hoofddorp: position 6
- ▸Dakdekker hillegom: position 3
- ▸Dakdekker nieuw-vennep: position 7
- ▸Dakdekker heemstede: position 4
Traffic grew to more than 3,600 clicks a year from Google, and the site appeared 463,000 times in the search results. On busy days, especially when it rains, Milo sometimes gets as many as 10 inquiries a day through the website. Where almost no one used to find him through Google, he now gets dozens of inquiries a month.
Why this project worked
The result was a joint effort. I took care of a technically sound site and copy that shows how Milo works. Milo took care of the links to his site himself and earned his reviews with good roofing work.
Content clusters also played a big part: groups of pages on the same roofing topic that link to each other, so Google sees the site as a source that knows roofs.
You can read how I approach this for other construction businesses on my page about SEO for construction companies. For roofers specifically, see my SEO approach for roofers.
If your inquiries now come mostly from expensive ads, get in touch. I'll take a no-obligation look at what SEO could do for your business. If your current site isn't strong enough for that yet, the first step is a new website for your construction company.
