Where Rubber Meets the Information Superhighway
The Foundation of Marketing
Hey there! Let’s take a second to create an image of your car in your head. Now think of the interior, paint color, engine, etc., and ask yourself, how smooth would your car ride be if the tires were worn and balding? Your lackluster tires would cause your vehicle to be unreliable in commuting you and your passengers. Having quality tires as the foundation for your vehicle’s performance is a lot like having a good website for your shop’s general marketing. If it is not up to par with the standard our competitive industry requires, your shop’s marketing will be unreliable and inconsistent in delivering cars to your bays. Over the next few weeks, we at Autoshop Solutions will be sharing industry knowledge on the importance of each marketing arm: SEO, Paid Search (PPC), Social Media, and Creative! But first, let’s continue to dive into how auto repair websites perform.
“Built to Perform”
What does it mean for a website to “perform?” We think about it like a racecar. Built for speed, grip, and handling, you could say these vehicles are “built to perform.” And we measure their performance in race results. What place did the car finish? Did it set any records?
Auto repair websites aren’t all that different. We build them to perform and show results. The difference is in the vocabulary. Instead of measuring speed or lap times, we look at site loading speed and search engine optimization (SEO) ranking. And instead of looking for trophies or sponsorships, we look for more phone calls and business.
What Do Websites Do?
How does a website win races or set records? In automotive marketing, we measure performance by profit generation. Did the website drive someone to spend money at your business? If so, then that’s a win on our leaderboard! Ultimately, an Autoshop Solutions website should increase business for your auto repair shop by converting more site traffic — that’s people who visit your site — to actual paying customers.
Measuring Site Performance
In a race, we look at average lap times to predict outcomes. Online, we measure user behavior on the website to understand whether or not they are engaging. Basically, we want to know if they are clicking to schedule an appointment, find your location, or call your shop!
What We Measure:
- How quickly a site comes up in a search
- What queries a site comes up for
- How long it takes people to find what they’re looking for
- What pages people come to first
If a vehicle owner found our auto repair website quickly, got to the website, and booked an appointment, that site won the race!
What Performance Isn’t
Website performance has nothing to do with file size or what file type an image is using. Other programs might use “performance” and other buzzwords to make you think this is important to website effectiveness. What these tools and programs point out has nothing to do with the purpose of your auto repair website.
At Autoshop Solutions, we focus on results that matter — what drives more cars to your service bays. We want to make sure your website is delivering results. So we use metrics like site speed and SEO ranking that show the weight and impact of the site and fine tune it to provide the best possible results without the cost of function. Think of it like a race car. If it were lighter, it should perform better, right? Well, not if you make it lighter by removing the engine.
What Matters in Automotive Marketing:
- Getting people to a site
- Getting people on the site to take profit-generating action
Statistics say that if a page doesn’t load in the first 3-4 seconds, about 50% of the traffic will entirely abandon it. It’s our job in site build and design to make sure your site gets found, loads quickly, and shows potential customers how to reach you.
Have Questions?
We don’t expect you to be the expert on your website or online marketing. That’s what our experts are here for! Contact Autoshop Solutions today, and we would be happy to talk with you about your auto repair shop website!
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