7 Strategies for Successful Solar Lead Generation

Getting qualified commercial and residential solar leads requires much more work than paying for a billboard. Solar lead generation requires creating interest in your services, presenting your value proposition, and convincing solar energy leads to choose your business.

So, how should you generate solar leads online? On this page, we’ll share some of the top solar lead generation tips, so keep reading to learn more!

If you’re looking for help with solar lead generation, WebFX has your back.

In the past five years, we’ve helped our clients’ businesses attract more than 24 million qualified leads and earn more than $6 billion in revenue. Let us help you do the same.

Contact us online or call us at 888-601-5359 to find out more about our lead generation services!

Why you should avoid buying solar leads

Buying leads isn’t uncommon in the solar industry.

At a surface level, it sounds great: you pay someone for a list of “high quality,” “vetted” leads that you spend time cold-calling to pitch them on your products.

Unfortunately, the majority of the people on those lists aren’t actually interested in your products. In today’s world, many people see cold-calling as a spammy, disruptive, and underhanded tactic and won’t give you the time of day.

Buying leads only results in people getting angry with your business and potentially damaging your reputation by leaving a negative review.

Instead of buying solar leads, focus on using lead generation strategies that drive the leads to you.

With inbound marketing tactics like social media marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), and paid advertising, you can bring qualified solar leads to your business.

Hear What It’s Like to Work With WebFX!

“I have used several SEO and internet marketing companies in the past and WebFX seems to have a more comprehensive approach to online marketing. Their customer service is outstanding and they are very professional to work with.”

Solar Energy Contractor

7 tips for solar lead generation

Need some solar lead generation ideas? We’ve got you covered. Keep reading to see the list of tips for doing lead generation for solar companies!

1. Use local SEO to reach people searching for a solar company

If you want to reach people in your area interested in solar power, you need to invest in local SEO. Local SEO is one of the top solar lead generation strategies for reaching people that want to hire a solar company near them.

Here’s how you can start with local SEO for your solar company:

• Find local keywords: Local keywords are location-based keywords people search to find a company in their area. Terms like “solar company near me” and “solar company Los Angeles” are some local keywords people may search to find a solar company near them. Optimize your website for keywords like these to help drive local traffic.
• Optimize your local citations: Your local citations include information like your name, address, and contact information. This info appears across websites like Yelp, Google, and other third-party websites. Make sure it’s consistent, so people get the right information no matter where they find your business.
• Add location pages to your website: Adding location pages is a great way to show which areas you service, and will help you appear in relevant local queries.

2. Run pay-per-click (PPC) advertising to drive qualified leads

If you want to do solar lead generation effectively, incorporate PPC advertising into your lead gen strategy. PPC ads appear at the top of search results and serve as a great way to reach qualified leads ready to hire a solar company.

If you want to do PPC for solar companies successfully, follow these best practices:

• Choose long-tail keywords: Long-tail keywords, which contain three or more words, work best for PPC ads. These keywords are more specific, so they have less competition, cost less, and drive more qualified traffic.
• Use ad extensions: Ad extensions help you provide more information to your audience, so they’re more likely to click on your ads. You can use various types of extensions, including sitelinks, structured data, and location extensions.
• Create a custom landing page: When someone clicks on your ad, you want to keep them engaged. Creating a custom landing page tailored to your ad content is a great way to keep leads engaged and interested in learning about your solar company.

3. Claim and optimize your Google Business Profile

Want to generate more leads for your solar company? Then you need to claim and optimize your Google Business Profile.

Your Google Business Profile appears in local searches, along with other related businesses.

Here’s what you need to do to create a better Google Business Profile:

• Verify your information is correct: If you want to earn leads with from your Google Business Profile, you need to ensure your information is correct. Verify that your name, location, hours of operation, and contact information are accurate.
• Add photos to your listing: Adding photos to your listing is a great way to garner more interest in your business. You can share pictures of your team, your projects, and more, to provide an inside look into the work you do.
• Provide a short description: Add a short description about your company to give searchers insight into who you are. You can share your years in business, your values, and more.

4. Drive solar leads through content creation

One of the most valuable strategies with solar lead generation is content marketing. This strategy involves sharing your knowledge with your audience through blog posts, videos, and infographics.

Creating content enables you to share information people want, while establishing yourself as an authority in your field.

Here’s how to do content marketing successfully:

• Answer questions your audience has: People have a lot of questions about solar energy. Look at common questions people have about solar, like “Is solar cheaper than electric,” and answer those questions in content. It’s a great way to drive traffic looking for answers to those questions.
• Use different content formats: Not everyone consumes the same type of content. It’s important to create content in different formats to appeal to different people in your target audience. Try videos, ebooks, infographics, and other content formats to engage your audience.
• Publish content regularly: Regularly posting content shows you’re active and want to share your knowledge with your audience. Use a content calendar to help you plan out when to create and share content.

5. Run social media ads to reach qualified leads

If you want to do lead generation for solar companies right, consider running social media ads. Social media ads appear in people’s feeds as they scroll. It’s a great way to reach people who are thinking about going solar.

So, how can you create successful social media ads?

• Choose an eye-catching visual: Most social media ads use photos or videos to catch users’ attention as they scroll. Make sure you use a relevant, high-quality visual for your social media ads.
• Choose the right call to action (CTA): When you run your ads, make sure you choose a relevant CTA to accompany your ad. Choosing the right CTA will ensure people take the action you want them to take.
• Use a custom landing page: Like PPC ads, social media ads benefit from custom landing pages. Create a landing page unique to keep leads focused on what you’re offering.

6. Create lead capture opportunities on your website

Your website is one of the most valuable assets of your solar business. If you want to do effective solar lead generation, you need to optimize your website to attract and capture leads.

Here are some best practices to follow:

• Create an email-sign up bar: An email sign-up bar is a great way to capture leads. If people like what they see on your website, they can join your email list to learn more about your solar company.
• Create a contact page: Creating a contact page is a great way to capture leads for your business. It makes it easy for people to reach out with questions about going solar.
• Use CTA buttons throughout your website: CTA buttons help you guide users towards the actions you want them to take. Integrate these buttons throughout your website to guide users to fill out forms, contact your business, and more.

7. Create a referral program to earn new, qualified leads

To wrap up this list of solar lead generation ideas, let’s talk about creating a referral program. If you already have a list of customers that are happy with your solar installation, so why not turn to them for leads?

Here’s how to create a successful referral program:

• Offer a reward/benefit for referrers and referees: Offering an incentive encourages people to refer others. It also encourages the person who was referred to take action because they get something from it. The benefit can be a discount or something for free.
• Reward for action: When you offer an incentive, you only want to give the rewards when the referred lead converts. It ensures that people refer good leads to your business.
• Use email to run your referral program: Email marketing is a great channel to use to facilitate your email marketing strategy. You can use it to reach out to your current customers and promote your referral program to them.

Get more qualified solar leads online today

At WebFX, our expert team of Internet marketers knows exactly what it takes to execute successful inbound marketing strategies within the solar industry.

We’ve helped hundreds of companies reach new levels of success, and we’d love to partner with you and your company to help your business find, nurture, and convert high-quality solar leads into customers.

Contact us today to learn more about lead generation services for solar companies, plus why 91% of our clients make us their long-term partner.