- Before you hire someone to run Google Ads for your roofing company, ask how they track signed jobs, who owns the account, and how they handle wasted clicks.
- A roofing-only manager brings shared negative keyword lists, so every account benefits from what's been learned across the others.
- Watch for long contracts, vague reports, and anyone who won't give you admin access to your own account.
- Good answers are specific and plain. If you can't follow them, keep looking.
Handing your Google Ads to someone else can free up your nights and weekends. It can also burn through budget fast if you pick the wrong person. The good news is that a few direct questions will tell you most of what you need to know before you sign anything.
Fully Armed Marketing is a Google Ads management agency for roofing companies, serving Erie, PA and roofers nationwide. These are the questions we’d ask if we were in your boots.
1. Will I own my Google Ads account?
You should. Ask for the account to be created under your business, or for you to hold admin access to it. If you part ways, your campaign history, conversion data and audiences stay with you. A manager who insists on owning the account makes leaving expensive, and that's a red flag worth taking seriously.
Ownership matters more than most roofers realize. Years of conversion data help Google find the right homeowners, and starting from scratch costs time. Get admin access in writing before any money is spent.
2. How will you track leads that turn into signed jobs?
A good manager tracks calls, form fills and booked inspections, then connects them to jobs you actually sign. Ask how they'll set up conversion tracking and how they'll learn which leads closed. Clicks and impressions are easy to report. Signed roofs are what pay your bills, so that's the number to manage toward.
Expect questions back about your CRM or how your office logs calls. If nobody asks how you close jobs, the account will end up optimized for cheap leads instead of good ones.
3. Do you work with roofing companies specifically?
Ask how much of their work is roofing. A roofing-focused manager already knows storm seasons, insurance-claim searches and the difference between a repair lead and a replacement lead. They also keep shared negative keyword lists built across roofing accounts, so you don't pay to relearn which searches waste money.
Generalist agencies can do good work, but they often learn roofing on your budget. A niche manager has already seen searches like DIY questions, roofing jobs, and supply-store lookups, and blocks them from day one.
4. How do you keep my budget off junk searches?
The answer should mention negative keywords, regular search term reviews and tight location targeting. Your manager should be checking which searches triggered your ads and blocking the ones that will never hire a roofer, such as job seekers, DIY shoppers and people outside your service area. Ask how often they do it.
Weekly reviews are a reasonable expectation for an active account. It's also fair to ask for an example of the kinds of terms they typically block for roofers.
5. What will your reports show, and how often?
Reports should be short and plain: what you spent, how many real leads came in, what each lead cost, and what changed since last month. Ask for a sample report before you sign. If it's a wall of charts with no clear answer about leads and jobs, it won't help you make decisions.
Monthly reporting with a quick call is common. The best reports also say what the manager plans to try next and why.
6. How are you paid, and what's the contract length?
Get the fee structure in writing. Common setups are a flat monthly fee, a percentage of ad spend, or both. Ask whether there's a setup fee, how long the contract runs and how you cancel. Month-to-month terms keep a manager earning your business instead of coasting on a long commitment.
Also confirm your ad spend is paid straight to Google from your own card, separate from the management fee, so you can always see exactly what went to ads.
7. Should I run Local Services Ads, Search Ads, or both?
A good manager answers based on your business, not a package. Local Services Ads charge per lead and reward strong reviews and fast phone answers. Search Ads charge per click and give more control over services and landing pages. Many roofers run both. Ask how they'd split budget for your market and season.
We break down the trade-offs in Local Services Ads vs Search Ads for roofers.
How to vet a Google Ads manager in five steps
- Confirm account ownership. Make sure the Google Ads account is in your business's name or that you hold admin access.
- Ask how leads are tracked. Have them explain how calls, forms and booked inspections connect to signed jobs.
- Check roofing experience. Ask how much of their client work is roofing and how they handle storm-season and insurance searches.
- Review a sample report. Look for plain numbers on spend, leads and cost per lead.
- Get terms in writing. Confirm the fee structure, contract length and how to cancel.
Why a roofing-only manager makes a difference
Roofing has its own search habits. Homeowners search differently after a hailstorm than they do for a planned replacement, and plenty of roofing searches come from job seekers, DIYers and people shopping for materials. A manager who only works with roofers sees those patterns across many accounts.
That’s the real advantage of a niche agency: shared negative keyword lists. When one roofing account turns up a search that wastes money, it gets blocked for every roofing client, even in different service areas. You start with what’s already been learned instead of paying to learn it again.
How Fully Armed Answers These Questions
Fully Armed works with no long-term contract and no minimum term, and you can cancel with 30 days' notice. Monthly fees are billed after the work is done, there's a $500 one-time setup fee with the first month's fees waived, and you keep your Google Ads account and everything in your own Google accounts.
- No long-term contract. There's no minimum term. Cancel any time with 30 days' notice.
- Billed after the work. Monthly fees are billed after the month's work is done, so you only pay for work already done.
- Simple start. A $500 one-time setup fee, and the first month's management fee and ad-spend fee are waived.
- Your account stays yours. You keep your Google Ads account and anything created in your own Google accounts, like Analytics, Tag Manager and Ads conversions. Fully Armed-provided extras, such as landing pages, click-fraud protection and tracking tools, switch off if you leave.
See current pricing on the Fully Armed Marketing homepage.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to hire someone to run Google Ads for a roofing company?
Pricing varies by manager. Common setups are a flat monthly management fee, a percentage of ad spend, or a mix of both, with your ad spend paid to Google separately. Ask for the full fee structure in writing, including any setup fee and contract length, before you sign.
What should a Google Ads manager for roofers do every week?
They should review the search terms that triggered your ads, add negative keywords, check that calls and forms are tracking, adjust bids and budgets, and watch lead quality. Weekly attention keeps money off junk searches and puts it where real homeowners are looking for a roofer.
Is a roofing-specific Google Ads agency better than a general agency?
Often, because a roofing-focused manager already knows the seasons, services and wasted searches in the trade. A niche agency also keeps shared negative keyword lists across roofing accounts, so each client benefits from what's been learned elsewhere instead of paying to learn it again.
What are red flags when hiring a Google Ads manager?
Watch for a manager who won't give you admin access to your own account, locks you into a long contract, can't explain how they track signed jobs, or sends reports full of clicks and impressions with no clear lead numbers. Vague answers before you sign rarely get clearer later.
Want a second opinion?
If you’re weighing a new manager or wondering whether your current account is working, talk to Fully Armed Marketing. We’ll give you a straight answer, even if that answer is to keep what you have.
