Sample report
Residential solar lead gen — United States
Demand & CPC metrics sourced from Semrush (US database). Recommendations are ours — labeled separately from the data.
Homeowner demand is real and large, but broad, high-volume search terms (e.g. “solar companies near me”) are expensive and dominated by brand-name installers. A $500 test only makes sense with a tight angle and a known lead value — not a broad “bid on solar” spray.
1. Decision summary
- Worth a ~$500 test? Only if you already know roughly what a sold/booked lead is worth, and you avoid broad, generic keywords dominated by national installers/marketplaces.
- Expected CPC band: ~$10–$15 on B2B lead phrases; ~$8–$24 on commercial consumer phrases.
- Top reasons: Demand exists at scale on the homeowner side; direct “buy solar leads” demand is smaller but commercial; paid search is crowded by well-funded installers.
2. Demand Data
| Keyword | Searches/mo | CPC | Difficulty | Intent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| solar panel installation | 40,500 | $7.98 | 52 | Informational |
| solar companies near me | 27,100 | $10.95 | 55 | Transactional |
| best solar companies | 14,800 | $8.57 | 38 | Commercial |
| solar leads | 1,300 | $14.96 | 23 | Informational |
| solar quotes | 1,600 | $24.14 | 66 | Commercial |
| buy solar leads | 480 | $10.32 | 26 | Commercial |
| exclusive solar leads | 320 | $14.82 | 32 | Informational |
| residential solar leads | 260 | $10.46 | 13 | Commercial |
Difficulty = how hard this term is to rank organically (0–100). We include it as a crowding signal for paid search, not as an SEO score.
Interpretation Homeowner demand is not the problem. “Buy solar leads” demand is real but narrow. A $500 test can buy learning — only on a scoped keyword set.
3. Economics
Assumptions: avg CPC $12, landing page conversion rate 8–15%, budget $500.
- ~$500 ÷ $12 ≈ 42 clicks
- @ 8% CVR ≈ 3 leads → CPA ~$167
- @ 15% CVR ≈ 6 leads → CPA ~$83
If your net lead value is under ~$80–100, this test likely loses. If exclusive leads clear ~$150–250+, a careful scoped test can work in principle.
4. Competitive snapshot Data
| Domain | Organic traffic | Paid KWs | Paid traffic |
|---|---|---|---|
| energysage.com | ~374k | 46 | ~881 |
| sunrun.com | ~175k | 3,352 | ~151k |
| modernize.com | ~149k | 126 | ~874 |
| palmetto.com | ~48k | 0 | 0 |
Interpretation Crowding is high. You’re not inventing a quiet niche — you’re finding underpriced niches or feeding an existing buyer network.
5. Angles to test
- B2B lead-buyer phrases: buy / exclusive / residential solar leads
- Comparison intent: best solar companies (+ geo in ads)
- Cost/quote intent with hard geo + negatives — only with a tight funnel
Avoid opening a $500 test on broad, generic keywords — you’ll be bidding directly against Sunrun-level ad budgets.
6. 7-day test plan
- Write down lead value and max CPA. If unknown → stop.
- One landing page, one offer, tracking.
- A small, tightly-matched set (≤15 keywords) from the angles above — avoid loosely-related broad terms.
- Cap $70–$100/day; kill wasteful keywords early.
- Day 7: scale, rewrite, or stop.
Sources & disclaimer
Demand, CPC, and competitive metrics in this sample are sourced from Semrush (US database). GO / CONDITIONAL / NO-GO recommendations and test plans are Semplistic interpretation, not Semrush output. Not financial advice; historical estimates ≠ future performance.