A homeowner who just got a $400 electricity bill searches "solar panels worth it" and reads three articles. Six weeks later they search "solar installation [city]" and request two quotes. Three weeks after that they sign a contract. The solar company that captured them in week one on the research query and then again on the city query wins the job — the company that only bought Google Ads on the bottom-funnel query paid $80–$150 per click to fight for a prospect who's already compared six other vendors.
The solar vertical is a long-funnel SEO game. The strategy has three layers: research-intent content that earns trust early, service-plus-city pages that capture the ready-to-quote searcher, and credentialing that closes the deal once someone arrives. Companies that collapse all three into a single "Get a Free Quote" homepage lose the top-of-funnel traffic entirely.
Every service-city page needs: the service + city in the title tag, H1, and meta description; a process section (site assessment, design, permits, installation, inspection, net-metering activation); realistic timeline (6–12 weeks from contract to PTO is the industry norm — say so); pricing band or financing monthly payment estimate; specific certifications visible; and a quote form above the fold.
Run Page Speed Grader on every service page before launch. Solar sites accumulate bloat fast — contractor photo galleries, financing calculators, and video testimonials pile up LCP debt. A 4-second LCP on a $35,000-average-ticket page loses real money.
The federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC), state rebates, utility buyback programs, and SREC markets generate consistent high-intent search traffic from homeowners doing their own math:
federal solar tax credit 2026
[state] solar rebate program
solar net metering [utility name]
solar SREC value [state]
how to claim solar tax credit
These are not vanity traffic. Someone calculating the ROI of a $30,000 system is 8 weeks from signing. A page that accurately explains the 30% ITC (with the phase-down schedule), the relevant state incentives for the installer's service area, and the net-metering terms for the two or three local utilities builds trust and captures the mid-funnel moment when the homeowner shifts from "is this worth it" to "who should I call."
Update these pages every January. Incentive content that references expired programs damages credibility faster than it builds it.
Roughly 65–70% of residential solar is financed. The financing options — $0-down solar loans, solar PPAs, leases, HELOCs used for solar — each attract their own searcher:
no money down solar [city]
solar loan vs lease
solar PPA [city]
solar financing options [state]
A dedicated /financing/ page that explains each option, the monthly payment math for a typical 8kW system in the local utility territory, and the credit-score thresholds for the available loan products is worth building. It intercepts the "how do I actually pay for this" question before a competitor's calculator does.
Solar buyers are writing checks for $20,000–$50,000 to a company that's going to cut holes in their roof. Credentialing is not optional.
The credentials that move the needle:
NABCEP certification (North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners) — the industry's most meaningful third-party credential. List the certified installer's name and credential number. Don't just say "NABCEP certified."
State contractor's license (electrical and/or roofing, varies by state) — license number visible on the site, not buried in the footer
NABCEP-accredited installer status (different from individual certification; applies to the company)
Utility interconnection experience — list the utilities the company has successfully interconnected with by name
BBB rating and years in business
Manufacturer-authorized installer status (SunPower, Enphase, Tesla Powerwall, LG, Q CELLS, etc.)
Insurance: $2M+ general liability, workers' comp — limits stated, not just "licensed and insured"
The observation that's consistently missed: list the specific panel and inverter brands the company installs, with the reasons why (warranty terms, efficiency ratings, degradation curves). "We use Tier 1 panels" is meaningless. "We primarily install Q CELLS Q.PEAK DUO panels with a 25-year linear power warranty and Enphase microinverters with a 25-year labor warranty" is specific enough to signal expertise to a homeowner who's been reading for three weeks.
Solar buyers read more reviews than almost any other home-services category. The numbers that matter:
Under 25 reviews: prospects will look elsewhere
25–75 reviews, 4.7+ rating: competitive for residential
75+ reviews with recent velocity: dominant; commercial buyers will consider you seriously
Review prompts specific to solar: ask customers to mention system size (kW), panel brand, whether they got battery storage, their utility (for net-metering validation), and how long the permit process took. These specifics populate the review set with exactly the keywords that close the next prospect's research loop.
Post-installation review timing: send the request 30–45 days after PTO (Permission to Operate) — long enough for the customer to have seen their first lower utility bill and be in a positive emotional state about the purchase.
The knowsAbout array pulling in specific installer knowledge — NEC code version, inverter families, utility-program terms — is the element most solar sites omit. Generic "Solar Energy" entries contribute nothing to entity disambiguation.
"Is solar worth it in [city]?" calculator pages without real utility rate data. Calculators built on national average rate assumptions produce numbers that don't match actual bills. Customers who calculate one number and get quoted another lose trust immediately.
Satellite imagery estimation tools embedded on the homepage. They slow the page dramatically (LCP impact is severe) and produce inaccurate shade analysis. Offer them as a second step after contact, not a first-page feature.
Generic "Save the planet" messaging as the hero copy. Environmental benefits are a secondary motivation for most residential buyers. The primary motivation is financial ROI. Lead with payback period and monthly savings, not values.
Blog content about national solar news. "Solar Industry Grew 20% Last Year" posts drive zero local purchase intent. Write about local utility programs, local permit timelines, and local incentive changes.
Service-plus-city pages for each offering (residential, commercial, battery, repair), NABCEP credentials with individual installer names and numbers, incentive content updated annually with state and utility specifics, a dedicated financing page with monthly payment math, schema with knowsAbout populated with specific panel brands and codes, reviews above 75 with ROI-focused prompts, and LCP under 2.5s on every high-ticket page.
Most solar installer sites get two of these right. The companies that ship all seven dominate the local pack before a national installer can outspend them on brand recognition.
