Website Development

# Full-Stack Website Developer – Modern, Fast, SEO-Focused, AI-Ready Roofing Websites (Long-Term)

We are an established roofing and solar company based in Vancouver, Canada. I'm looking for an experienced website developer to build a new website and hopefully continue working with us as we expand.

We've been in business since 2008 and have a substantial collection of completed roofing projects, photographs and industry experience.

I'm not looking for a basic template website. I want to invest in building something properly that will remain modern, fast, easy to manage and adaptable as AI technology continues to develop.

**We're moving away from WordPress.** I'm particularly interested in modern technologies such as Next.js, Astro and Sanity CMS, although I'm open to other non-WordPress recommendations if you can explain why they're better for our needs.

I'm not a developer myself, so I'm looking for someone who can recommend the right approach, explain it in straightforward language and help us make good long-term decisions.

## The Bigger Picture

Our first project will be a new website for West Vancouver Roofing & Solar.

However, this is not intended to be a one-website project.

My longer-term goal is to develop additional roofing businesses and websites in different locations.

Each business will have its own branding, domain, local presence, projects and unique content.

I want the first website built on a reusable foundation so that future websites can share the underlying technology and components without having to rebuild everything from scratch.

The websites must still operate as separate brands with their own content, SEO, tracking and appropriate access controls.

## Website Performance

The website needs to be exceptionally fast, especially on mobile devices.

I want clean development, optimized images and videos, minimal unnecessary JavaScript, appropriate caching and excellent Core Web Vitals.

Speed should be considered throughout development, not something we try to fix after the website is finished.

## SEO From the Beginning

SEO is extremely important to us, particularly local SEO.

We want the website structured properly from the start, including:

- Roofing service and material pages
- City and neighbourhood pages
- Completed roofing projects
- Detailed case studies
- Logical internal linking
- Clean URLs and metadata
- Appropriate schema and structured data
- Image optimization
- XML sitemaps, canonical URLs and redirects
- Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools

I don't want hundreds of nearly identical location pages created just to target keywords.

Our location pages should be supported by actual projects, photographs, case studies and useful information relevant to those areas.

I also want the website prepared for how people increasingly find businesses through ChatGPT, Google AI and other AI-powered search tools.

I'm not expecting anyone to guarantee rankings or AI recommendations. I want a technically sound website with useful, original content based on our actual experience.

## Roofing Projects and Case Studies

We have approximately 200 project photos and 20 videos available initially, with more being added regularly.

Our work includes:

- Standing-seam and other metal roofing
- Asphalt shingles
- Cedar roofing and cedar replacement
- Composite and synthetic roofing
- Flat roofing, including TPO and torch-on
- Skylights
- Solar installations
- Complex and unusual roofing projects

I want a structured project library that makes it easy to add and organize completed jobs.

A project could include its location, roof type, manufacturer, materials, colour, existing conditions, challenges, solutions, photographs, videos and customer reviews.

**The important part is that we should only have to enter the project once.**

The website should then automatically connect that project to the appropriate service, material, neighbourhood, gallery and case-study pages.

Our case studies should go beyond displaying photographs. They should explain the original problem, the options considered, why we recommended a particular roofing system, what was installed and the results.

Over time, I want our websites to become valuable resources built around real roofing experience.

## AI-Assisted Website Management

This is one of my most important requirements.

I want AI integrated into the way we manage and improve our websites, not simply used by the developer to write code.

**Our office staff should be able to manage routine website content without knowing how to program.**

For example, an employee should be able to upload photos and basic details from a completed roofing job, then have AI help:

- Draft the project description and case study
- Suggest appropriate photo descriptions
- Prepare SEO titles and descriptions
- Recommend relevant services and neighbourhoods
- Suggest internal links
- Identify missing information
- Prepare the project for review and publishing

We would review and approve AI-generated content before it goes live.

I also want staff to be able to make ordinary changes, such as editing text, replacing photographs and updating information, through a simple dashboard.

There must be a manual editing option as well, so we're not dependent on AI for every change.

I don't expect every advanced AI feature to be completed immediately. However, I want the underlying system designed for these capabilities, and I'd like applicants to explain what can realistically be included in the initial build.

Ideally, the system will support different employee permissions, an approval process and simple training for new staff.

## CallRail, Analytics and Lead Tracking

We want to properly track where our customers come from.

This includes CallRail, Google Analytics 4, Google Tag Manager and appropriate tracking for calls, contact forms and quote requests.

We want to understand which leads originate from Google organic search, Google Business Profile, paid advertising, Bing, social media, referrals and other sources.

CallRail Dynamic Number Insertion must be implemented correctly without compromising our business phone numbers or local SEO.

Eventually, I'd like to connect our marketing data to estimates and completed jobs.

The goal is to understand:

**Where the customer found us → which page they visited → whether they called or submitted a form → estimate → sold job**

I'm more interested in measuring actual business results than simply reporting website traffic.

## Lead Generation

The website should be designed to turn visitors into customers.

We need professional, mobile-friendly contact forms, quote request forms, click-to-call buttons and clear calls to action.

Forms must be reliable, properly tracked and protected against spam without making them frustrating for legitimate customers.

## Long-Term Management and Expansion

I'm looking for someone interested in an ongoing working relationship.

After launch, there will be opportunities to improve SEO, develop new features, monitor performance, improve conversions, refine AI workflows and help launch additional roofing websites.

However, I don't want the business to depend on a developer for routine content updates.

The goal is to have a system that is sophisticated behind the scenes but easy for our employees to operate.

## Security, Ownership and Documentation

The website must have appropriate security, backups and a staging environment for testing changes.

Our company must own and control the domains, hosting, source code, content, photographs, CMS, analytics, Search Console, Tag Manager, CallRail and other important accounts.

The project must also be properly documented so another qualified developer can maintain it if necessary.

I don't want to be locked into one developer or an unnecessarily complicated proprietary system.

## Working Hours and Communication

We are located in Vancouver, Canada.

You can work your normal hours in the Philippines, but you must consistently be available between **8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Vancouver time on working days**.

Outside that window, your schedule can generally be flexible.

Good communication is important. I want someone who can explain recommendations clearly, raise concerns and help solve problems rather than simply waiting for instructions.

## When You Apply

Please put **ROOFING 2027** at the top of your application.

Please answer the following questions:

1. Would you recommend Next.js, Astro or another non-WordPress platform for this project? Why?

2. Which content-management system would you recommend, and how easy would it be for nontechnical office employees to use?

3. How would you build AI-assisted content management so an employee could upload project photos and details and have AI prepare a draft for review?

4. Have you personally built an AI workflow that creates or updates content in a website or CMS? Please explain what you built.

5. How would you make the website extremely fast, especially on mobile?

6. How would you build technical and local SEO into the website from the beginning?

7. How would you organize roofing services, materials, projects, case studies and neighbourhoods so they automatically connect to one another?

8. How would you build the first website so we can efficiently launch additional independently branded roofing websites using the same underlying system?

9. Have you worked with CallRail, GA4 and Google Tag Manager? Please explain your actual hands-on experience.

10. How would you track calls and form submissions back to their marketing sources and eventually connect them to estimates and sold jobs?

11. What would you do differently today to prepare a website for AI-powered search?

12. Please provide three websites or systems you've personally developed, explain exactly what you did and identify which technologies you used. I'd particularly like to see examples involving structured content, modern frameworks or AI integrations.

13. What tools do you use to test website speed, technical SEO and overall quality?

14. What would you include in the initial launch, and what would you recommend developing afterward?

15. What is your hourly rate in USD, and approximately how long would you expect the initial website to take?

16. Are you interested in maintaining and improving the system after launch, including helping us develop additional websites?

17. Please confirm you can consistently overlap with our working hours between 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Vancouver time.

I'm not necessarily looking for the cheapest developer. I'm willing to pay more for someone who is genuinely skilled, reliable, communicates well and can demonstrate strong work.

I'm looking for someone who can help guide this project and hopefully work with us for years.

If you think there's a better way to accomplish what I'm describing, I'm interested in hearing your recommendations.

Thanks,

Doug