Case Study: Talbot Companies

Step 1: Competitive Analysis

Talbot came to us with a vision of what they wanted their website to look like and who they wanted to target for their ideal customer. Before beginning any work on the website structure, we did a deep dive analysis of the competitors in their area.

Roofing and painting contractors face a saturated market in Talbot's region of South Florida, an area booming with demand due to the harsh weather conditions, but also booming with competition.

Very quickly it became apparent that Talbot would need a large website in order to compete. We also learned that organic SEO alone would not be the right approach. Nearly every legitimate competitor in their region was spending on PPC ads.

With that information, we formulated a roadmap that would include a website consisting of detailed service pages for every major city they serve, and a robust content marketing plan that would include launching with over 25 blog articles and a schedule to post new content multiple times per week.

Step 2: Web Design & Development

The key to the Talbot website design was making sure to accomplish 3 main goals:

1. Target the right audience: commercial property owners and high-end residential homeowners
2. Provide substantial, expert information related to the services Talbot offers
3. Make the user experience simplified

To accomplish the first objective, we made sure to stay away from generic design styles. With a focus on higher end audiences, we chose a modern design theme utilizing Talbot's brand colors against a soft neutral color pallete. We avoided flashy colors and the "in your face" design style you might expect to see from a lot of general contractor websites. The design copy highlights Talbot's experience and focus on luxury painting and roofing services, and focuses on the quality of the work customers can expect to receive.

Accomplishing the second main objective was reliant on two things: expert information and deep content. We collaborated with Talbot for many weeks to get a full understanding of their craft. This collaboration resulted in very informative content which includes roof product and service selection guides, how-to content, detailed FAQs, and more.

Armed with this knowledge bank, we created over 350 pages on the site, keeping each page laser focused on the topic we intended to speak to. Hundreds of location-based pages were created to compete in the competitive local markets of South Florida, and each service got its own dedicated page for both residential and commercial customers.

To make the user experience smooth, we included simple RFQ forms in high visibility areas and incorporated an instant estimator that allows users to get a quote right on the spot. We also used intuitive navigation design to allow for easy access to all areas of the site within 1 or 2 clicks from any page.

The outcome of the site was a huge success. Talbot's upper management raved about the design choices and breadth of informative content, and heatmap data showed that users were not having any issues finding and completing RFQ forms.

Step 3: Organic SEO Management, Social Media Marketing, and PPC Ad Management

Because of Talbot’s highly competitive market, we needed a well-rounded omni-channel approach. Talbot manages their own Meta ads, so we combined our Google PPC research with the data they already had from Meta ads and came up with a unified plan, focusing on one of their primary service offerings first.

Because they do a lot, it was important to pick a target service to narrow the PPC focus and maximize the budget as opposed to targeting broader terms that encompass the entire service offering. Things like “roofing contractor” were expensive and competitive, and would have blown through their ad budget quickly for a site with little domain authority early on. Therefore, we focused on a specific type of roofing service they perform, which is much less competitive and expensive for PPC.

A lot of the on-page SEO work was planned during the web design phase by mapping out hundreds of pages based on the search term we intended to target. This approach streamlined the process as opposed to adding dozens of pages post-launch and gave Talbot a strong starting point right out of the gate. As the initial data rolled in, we did add more pages post-launch to either expand on popular search terms or pickup search terms we hadn’t targeted with the initial web design.

All technical SEO aspects were optimized, including schema markup, pageload speed, image compression, and alt text. This not only plays into the search engine algorithm, but also helps create a better user experience, which feeds into conversion rate.

Talbot had already been managing their social media profiles, so we didn’t want to take over. Instead we worked collaboratively with Talbot on a social media strategy that kept them involved while we mainly assisted by making sure post frequency was consistent. For all new content that went up on the site, social media posts were made, ensuring that users had easy access to it no matter their preferred channel.

The Results: $700,000+ in Average Monthly Lead Value

Today, Talbot is a long way from where they started, having no website and struggling to generate meaningful leads online in an extremely competitive market. They are averaging over 20 qualified leads per month from digital channels, and those leads have an average monthly quote value of over $700,000.

This is still the beginning for Talbot. We have only begun to scratch the surface. There is still a ton of room for improvement in keyword ranking and organic search traffic. But the results we have gotten early on have more than justified the investment in digital marketing and funded them to expand their digital efforts to achieve new milestones in the near future.

With a solid plan in place for growth, Talbot aims to exceed the $1M per month lead value very soon. We are excited to be on this journey with them.

The Supporting Data

One of the most important pieces of SEO is making sure search engines fully understand the content on the client’s website. Schema markup is one of the tactics we use to do this. Done properly, schema can make a website highly visible on search results and increase user click through rates.

Example of Service Offering Schema on Talbot’s Website

Rich Results on Google Search

Rich results like the ones shown above are an indication that the schema markup we implemented is doing its job, and that search engines have a clear understanding of the website’s content. Important pages are highlighted in the search snippet, which increases click through rates.

Talbot Featured in ChatGPT Responses

Below are several screenshots from ChatGPT that list Talbot as a preferred roofing contractor in their local market. See the full conversation for yourself here: https://chatgpt.com/share/68c1e132-e6c4-8000-8408-ef21a27fbda6

Here we see a prompt for ChatGPT to show the user the best roof companies in Jupiter, FL. Our efforts to highlight Talbot’s service area with a large catalog of service area pages on the website certainly played a role in Talbot being featured on a localized search in ChatGPT.

Further down the result, we see ChatGPT give an overview of the results listed and provide information about each of the service providers. Talbot’s result features their warranty and free roof estimates, which are key selling points highlighted on the website.

Continuing on, ChatGPT summarizes the options based on the user’s situation. Talbot is listed as the best option for commercial roofing with long-term durability and warranty. This is exactly the message Talbot wanted to deliver, speaking to a commercial audience looking for high end roofing services that focus on quality.

Finally, ChatGPT gives its final recommendation and lists Talbot first, again citing their high quality work and durable materials, as well as their free estimates. These results not only drive traffic to Talbot’s website, but they deliver the Talbot message accurately, which is a testament to the website design and branding work we did to make Talbot stand out to its desired market.

Local SEO Results

These reports, taken from Talbot’s Google Business Profile, show the upward trend in both clicks to the website made from the Google Business Page and calls made to Talbot from the Google Business Page. This again speaks to the local SEO efforts we implemented to make Talbot stand out in a very competitive marketplace. While not all of these clicks and calls may have turned into leads or jobs, the key thing to note is the trend vs the prior year.

Talbot’s trend in all aspects of digital marketing is going in the right direction, and this is exactly the kind of data we look for to validate our processes and predict growth for a client. The growth has panned out thus far for Talbot, and they continue to reinvest in their digital marketing efforts. We are truly excited to see what the next 12 months has in store for them.