SEO for Roofers in Letchworth That Beats Checkatrade

You're not losing to Checkatrade. You're losing to how people search now.

Right, so you're a roofer in Letchworth. Maybe Hitchin or Baldock. You've probably got a Checkatrade profile because everyone said you needed one. And look, it works. Sort of. You get leads. Some are decent. Most are tyre kickers who've messaged seven other roofers with the exact same copy-paste job description.

Here's what's actually happening. Someone's roof is leaking. They Google "roofer near me" or "roof repair Letchworth" and Checkatrade sits there at the top. Big brand. Loads of reviews. They click it, fill in a form, and suddenly you're competing with five other roofers for a job where price is the only thing that matters because the customer has zero connection to any of you.

You're not really winning work. You're entering a raffle where the prize is a customer who's already been conditioned to pick the cheapest quote.

And the thing is, Checkatrade isn't even the main problem anymore. It's just the most obvious symptom of the actual problem, which is that you don't show up anywhere else. When someone searches for help with their specific roofing issue, you're invisible. Checkatrade is visible. Google's AI is learning to send people to Checkatrade. And you're paying for the privilege of being one option among many.

What actually beats Checkatrade (it's not another directory)

I've worked with three roofers in North Herts over the last couple of years. All three had the same setup. Checkatrade profile. Maybe a Facebook page they posted to twice in 2024. A website someone's nephew built in 2019 that has six pages and approximately zero chance of ranking for anything.

The one who's doing best now, he's in Royston, doesn't even have an active Checkatrade account anymore. He gets about 15-20 enquiries a month just from search. Proper enquiries. People who've found his site, read about the specific thing they need, and decided he's the one they want to call.

How? He shows up when people search for the actual problems they've got.

Not "roofer near me". That's the Checkatrade zone. You can fight there if you want, but you're fighting on their turf with their rules.

He shows up for "felt roof leaking Royston" and "slate roof repair cost Hertfordshire" and "how long does a flat roof last". Specific stuff. The kind of searches where someone's actually trying to solve a problem, not just find the cheapest person with a ladder.

This is SEO. But it's also the bit that's changed completely in 2026. Because it's not just Google anymore.

AI search is eating "near me" searches

ChatGPT search launched properly late 2025. Perplexity's been around longer. Google's AI Overviews are everywhere now. And they're all doing the same thing. They're answering questions directly, and when they need to recommend someone local, they're pulling from the businesses that have the best information about specific problems.

Your Checkatrade profile doesn't help you here. At all.

AI search, or AEO if you want the proper term (Answer Engine Optimisation), works differently. It's looking for businesses that demonstrate expertise on specific topics. Not just "we do roofing". More like "here's what causes condensation in your loft in a 1920s Letchworth semi, here's how to fix it, here's what it costs, here's why it happens more in houses with the original roof structure".

That level of specific, useful information. The kind of thing you probably explain to customers three times a week but have never written down anywhere.

When someone asks ChatGPT "why is my tile roof leaking after 15 years" and you've got a page on your site that properly explains the causes, the typical failure points, what to look for... you're in the conversation. When you've just got a homepage that says "quality roofing services in Letchworth and surrounding areas since 2003", you're not.

The actual work (it's less than you think)

I'm not going to pretend this is something you do in an afternoon. But it's also not some massive mysterious thing that requires a marketing degree.

You need a website that isn't embarrassing. Doesn't have to be fancy. Just has to load properly on a phone and not look like it was designed when people still used Internet Explorer.

Then you need pages that cover the specific things you do. Not one "services" page that lists everything. Individual pages. One for flat roof repairs. One for tile roof replacement. One for chimney repointing. One for gutter work. Whatever you actually do day to day.

Each page needs to answer the questions people actually ask. What does it cost, roughly? How long does it take? What's the process? What are the common problems? What should someone look for when choosing a roofer for this specific job?

You know all this already. You've explained it a hundred times. You just need to write it down once.

Then you need to make sure Google knows you're in Letchworth (or wherever you actually work). That means your address visible on the site. Google Business Profile set up properly. NAP (name, address, phone number) consistent everywhere it appears online. Local pages if you cover multiple towns.

And then, the bit everyone skips, you need to make sure AI systems can find and understand this information. That's structured data. Schema markup. Making your content easy for AI to parse and reference.

Which sounds technical but it's mostly just formatting your information in a way that makes sense to both humans and machines.

What this looks like in practice

The Royston roofer I mentioned, his site has maybe 20 pages. Nothing crazy. But he's got individual pages for every common job type. Each one has real photos from jobs he's done. Rough price brackets. Explanations of why things fail and how he fixes them.

He added a chunk of content last year about specific problems with 1920s and 1930s houses in this area. Letchworth, Hitchin, that whole Garden City era of building. The roof structures are different. The tiles are often original. There are specific issues that come up. He wrote about them because he was seeing the same problems every month and got tired of explaining it.

Those pages get him about 40% of his enquiries now. People find them, read them, realize he actually knows what he's talking about, and call him directly.

No Checkatrade. No shared lead where he's option number four. Just someone who wants him specifically because he's demonstrated he understands their exact situation.

That's what beats Checkatrade. Not being cheaper. Not having more reviews. Just being the person who shows up with the right answer when someone asks a specific question.

The Checkatrade problem is really a visibility problem

Look, I'm not saying delete your Checkatrade profile tomorrow. If it's working for you and you don't mind the race to the bottom on price, keep it.

But if you're frustrated that every lead is a price comparison exercise, or that you're constantly competing with cowboys who undercut you by half, or that you're paying for leads that go nowhere... the answer isn't a better directory listing.

It's being visible in the places where people are actually looking for help with their specific problem. Where they're trying to understand what's wrong and what it'll take to fix it. Where they're in learning mode, not just "find me five quotes" mode.

That's search. Increasingly, that's AI search. And in Letchworth and the surrounding area, there's still a massive opportunity because most local tradespeople haven't figured this out yet.

The roofers who have, they're not worried about Checkatrade anymore. They've got enough work coming direct. Better work. Customers who actually want them, not just whoever's cheapest.

Anyway. If you want to have a proper conversation about what this would look like for your business, book a call and we can go through it. I'm based on Woolston Avenue here in Letchworth, I've been doing this for 15 years, and I'm probably more useful than another bloody lead generation service.