JustTheBest

Hi Folks, I am going to apologize in advance because I am NOT here to offend anyone.. or make anyone feel dumb... or anything. So with that said, let me start by telling you that I've been doing web since 2004 - professionally - and before that for my own businesses and products. I have been very successful online. Now, I only do auto repair. But here's the truth. First, there are a LOT of things that effect ranking - and like just about anything else, it goes back to real basics. Really. First is the age of the domain. Google doesn't want to trust a new domain that was just purchased. On the other hand, a domain that's been around for 5+ years has (what they call) more authority. You're not a 1 hit wonder trying to spam the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) Secondly, there as a lot of little things that matter. I see these mistakes all the time... on sites built by the big guys and girls... and the little ones too. First is PAGE TITLE. It's like a book. If you want to be found for AUTO REPAIR , YOUR CITY STATE... then THAT PHRASE better be in your title. Make sense?? So you know, when you do a Google search, the big blue link is the title page of the site or webpage that Google is linking to. So putting YOUR SHOP NAME in the title is useless. Total waste of 'real estate'. Second is the META DESCRIPTION. It's the 2 lines of text that appears UNDER the big blue link. That meta description should 'support' what you're about. If you don't create it - then Google 'bot' just grabs a snippet from your page. Sort of 'hope and pray' After that, there's "alt" tags. They are attached to EVERY PICTURE (banners too!) See... Google ONLY READS the words. I can't say it any clearer than that. THEY ONLY READ... so they don't SEE pictures. They rely on the "alt" tag to tell them what the picture is. I see it all the time... they use "wrench" or "car" or "shop" or some lame one word "alt" tag. They're useless. On top of that, there should be a "Title" tag on each picture. That's a 'pop-up' box that appears on mouse-over to show the VISITOR what the picture is... but it helps in search. Above that, EVERY PICTURE should have a CAPTION. What's that a picture of?? The CAPTION should explain it. When somebody shows YOU a picture, don't they tell you what it's a picture of? Well, same thing on your website. All those tags and captions should include keywords that you want to be found for. Make sense?? Remember, Google and all search engines are bots - robots - that ONLY READ what's on the page. How else can they tell what it is?? Now here's the (sort of) bad news. I can't tell you that adding all that to everything on your page will skyrocket you to the top of search - but you certainly won't get there without them. I promise. Above that stuff, today you must include schema data. In short, that's a 'language' (if you will) that all search engines agree to be a 'standard' for getting to what the business is all about. Just about every shop website I see is missing schema data. It's like you're 'winking at the girls in the dark! You know what you're doing - but they don't!' - Treat that as Google being the 'girl', okay!?! (Sorry no offense intended) Above all that, if you're site isn't mobile friendly, then you may as well pack it in and go home before you start. Google now reports that over 60% of searches are done on mobile devices. No mobile - it's not worth it. So now if you've got all that... what's the USER EXPERIENCE LIKE. Look, I've done so many mobile sites for repair shops - but there's ONE THING that stays the same. It's the customer. When the customer gets to your page, they only want certain information. On the first visit, they don't care that you have a customer referral program, or that you'll give new customers a deal, or anything like that. The 'fast' track for most is phone (and it better be mobile friendly so I can click to call - not scribble down your number), map, hours, review, coupons and quotes (+appointments too!) Think about it - these people are going to a new business. Over 80% of people trust online reviews as much as a recommendation from a friend. If I can't find yours FAST, you'll lose. All the rest sort of just makes sense, no? Yes, you should have other info - but that's once I decide I'm interested in you - not off the rip! Another thing that I have to add here - and it's NOT seo thing (Search Optimization) - it's a PEOPLE thing. People do business with PEOPLE. Where's your picture on your website?? Remember, people (new customers) come into your shop with you pictured as a scary monster. Show people who you are - tell them a little about yourself - and be a real person. Quit hiding behind your website - well, unless you have to, right!?! Now if you're still with me here... I've got something else that I will share with you. I am just finishing some testing on what are 'Multiple-Dynamic-Home-Pages'. What!?! You ask!? Okay, let me explain it this way. When you optimize a site (or page - and your home page is just a home page) you can only really optimize for 2 or (sometimes) three keywords. So if you do oil changes, air conditioning, cooling systems, tires, alignment, check engine light codes, fuel injection, (almost forgot...) brakes, timing belts and wheel bearings, it's IMPOSSIBLE to rank well for all of them. So following Googles best practices, it's like a business with multiple locations that wants to rank for 'service, city one' and 'service city two' and 'service city three'.... I think you get the idea. Same business, different geo locations. What does Google say?? They want to see individual landing pages for each location - WITH UNIQUE CONTENT. How does that apply? Well, that means you should really have a home page that is focused on each of your major services. Brakes? Air Conditioning? Cooling System? Check Engine Light Diagnosis? Will Google display each of them?? Well, they will index them if you create a site map (sorry, that's a little deeper than I want to get into at 11:00pm ;-) but if it's optimized properly, they will. So basically, you're surrounding your site with highly optimized pages that focus on each of your services. Why don't web builders do it?? Because it's work. Not a lot of you understand what's important - but more work than they want to get their people to do. Does it work? From what we're seeing on the pages/ sites we are working on - yes. It's basically 'bolstering' the position of sites overall - with lots of details on the services and those multi-home pages are popping up for specific searches. Make sense?? Look, I speak with shop owners almost every day. I've worked with 100's of businesses online. If you're focused on having a cool and entertaining site - good luck. You have to be focused on what works - and it's not the glitter and the shiny objects - it's the words and structure. Hope this helps. I will do my best to address any specific questions anyone has. Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer"

Great info Joe. But I think the one that most miss right off the start is to go direct to your existing customers. I don't get it.. because those people are the ones that already know, trust and like you. They are the easiest to serve and sell to. They don't look at you like you've got 2 heads when you tell them the truth about what their car needs. Hope this helps! Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer"

Brian, I commend you for taking the time to call the customer back! Regardless if there was a problem or not, a simple follow up call goes a long, long way. The only other comment I have is that you claim the general population has a 'misconception' - but the fact is that their perception IS their reality. I am NOT saying they're right - in fact - I agree with you entirely. But the fact remains that their perception is their reality. That's why in one of my first responses to this topic was NOT to make it about your business model and all that - you've got to look at if from the customer point of view. That's their reality. Hope this helps! Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer"

Hi b1qwkbird! I commend you on your comments "Since marketing is not my strong point (at all) it makes sense to let the experts handle it to me." Business didn't come with an owner's manual - and you can't be good at everything. Good luck! Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer"

You don't have to employ an outside sales person unless you expect them to get you so many accounts that they will be busy (and pay for themselves) 12 months a year. You can do it in a lot of other ways. But first, do you have any fleet accounts?? I ask because you have to start with telling new fleet accounts what other fleet accounts think about your service. You don't send a bunch of testimonials from regular customers to fleets - because they have different needs. I have a client with a HUGE NAME fleet. It's not how much - it's how fast. So they have different needs. The other important thing is to get to the person that makes the decision. That's the biggest part of the job. You can get to them easily (and guarantee your message will get read) if you use a FedEx envelope. I know it's expensive, but try 3-5 and see what happens. The first job will probably pay for all the express envelopes. Above that - you have to be to the point and be ready to have a face to face with them. Also, watch that you don't make the mistake of 'perks'. Most companies that are worth dealing with frown on employee perks. Hope this helps! Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer"

Good to heare that UsedTireShop. You're right. It's a must in today's fast paced world. Besides, text messages get read! Almost immediately too! Every system we've set up for clients has delivered results. Good luck with it! Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer"

Sorry.. reposted by accident

Sorry... reposted by accident!

Always a difficult situation - but the problem I have with the 'our business model' response is two fold. First, you take anything 'personal' out of it. Like, it's business (which it is), but I don't think the customer wants to hear that. Secondly, doing that you automatically make the issue about YOU. It's YOUR business model. Do you think the customer cares about YOUR business model? Not trying to pick an argument here - just trying to show you a different viewpoint. You can always ask them if they bring their own burgers when they go to McDonalds and have them cook them - but that won't help. My way of handling it was relative to warranty. We install your part and it fails; you pay to test, reinstall and fix the first problem Which way do you want to do the job? The other part is - I always made a point to not install customer supplied parts - but really, just for those reasons. Nobody pays you to do it again when it fails. Hope this helps! Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer"

There's a lot of great help and information here. It all boils down to this. Fix your sales and cashflow - then there's a lot more time to think clearly. When you're running a tread mill to make ends meet - you're never thinking clearly. Hope this helps! Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer"

Rule #1 - Don't think for your customer by saying things (to yourself) that you don't 'think' they will go for this or that. Rule #2 - Don't overlook your customers that already know, trust and like you. They need a nudge to get in - and they lead busy lives. They don't think about fixing their car... the way you do. Took a shop to 3x sales... yes, we did things that didn't work well. But the majority of things did work. Life a $1.8m and profitable makes for 9 happy employees (well paid - above average) and a shop owner that smiles. Hope this helps! Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer"

Moving? Do your marketing early. There's an old thing in advertising that you've got to 'touch' people 7 times before they really 'see' your ad. Don't think moving and letting your customer know the week before is going to work. Get your details down.. and provide SIMPLE AND CLEAR DETAILS about date and all that. You WILL have to remind people several times... and just because 'they' say 7 times... doesn't mean it's going to happen in 7. I did my own email campaign giving away a freebie that still got subscribers after 9 messages. Go figure. Hope this helps! Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer"

Joe, you make a good point. But the vast majority of shop owners I talk to are trying to figure out what that 'silver' bullet is to build car count... while they haven't done a stitch of marketing or promotion for years. Marketing and building a shop is a journey... not a destination. There are simple, cost effective things that can be done weekly... and they must be done regularly... that result in success. There isn't a single shot campaign that gets (profitable) results. Hope this helps! Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer"

Hi GENUINE! Thanks for your comments. First of all, to start, in the particular case that I noted, I would have to explain a lot to have it all make sense. Above that, I try to help here- not sell or force anything on anyone. I'm busy with clients. Jeff had it right - use the best customers and market to them. But market something that nobody else is. Don't use 'Buy-me, Buy-me' postcards. We used letters. Not email - not postcards - actual letters. Well written letters get response. Sorry if I sound vague - but like I said, I am not here to sell. The frustrating thing is that when handed a system - so many shop owners don't even TRY IT! GO figure - and I mean 'handed'. I install a text message system - totally private - and all the shop owner has to do is send a specific message out to a selected group. 10, 20, 30 text messages. Takes about 15 minutes. What do you think happens?? Right! Nothing. On the other hand, shop owners who have done it get "ALMOST 100% RESPONSE" Compare that to a 1/10 of 1% from a 5,000 piece postcard mailing. Sorry if I sound a little 'jaded' - and don't take it personally. I am not here to sell - but I do get frustrated when I hand a shop owner a 'fool proof' system and they're too ^&*^%%$ lazy to do anything. Hope this helps! Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer"

HI 3PuttFever! 17 minutes... Guaranteed!

Not trying to be difficult or offend anyone, but any idea is easy to add to your marketing. It's the implementation that counts. Getting it in the hands of customers, I've had a lot of experience with this type of card. I can tell you that all the other services don't matter. It's the oil change, because that is the ONLY service car owners think they need. So quit trying to give them discounts on exhaust and front end alignments and all that. Keep it Simple... oil changes. Hope this help! Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer"

Hi Nitrorocket, noticed you said "but rarely get messages". Technically, that's good. You don't want... and don't have the time to text back and forth to customers. That's not what you're looking for. You want to solicit a response. A phone call! That's all. So maybe you're sending out the wrong type of message. When you text customers, you CAN NOT do it on a 'blast' basis. You've got to.... 1) Keep it personal and TO THAT CUSTOMER. Use their first name 2) Don't make it salesy - like buy me! buy me! It's not going to work - or it will work as well as postcards! Ha! 3) You must have an easy call to action - get the response - because people look at their messages... so you've got half the battle done when you get them to see you... I hear comments like "Almost 100% response...." Try to get that with a postcard! Ha! Hope this helps Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer"

Good idea svauto! Good luck. You've got to stand out from the rest... and take a stand. By the way... I notice my first post had a type-o... it should read... FINALLY... a repair shop that FIXES $99 Brake Jobs! And don't forget to put a BIG ARROW on the sign pointing people. Signs with arrows generate a better response. Hope this helps! Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer"

carbtech72, don't overlook your current customers. They are best, most cost effective way to increase your car count and profits. Everyone wants to do the 'sexy' things like send out postcards and all that... going after new customers. The truth of the matter is that new customers (will) cost you between $125 and $150 each. (Ouch!) You say 'word of mouth'... but I promise nothing good happens by accident. There's strategies to easily turn your customers into "referral machines"... and do it without being a pain in the butt. But the key is, you've got to have a system. Just telling people you'll give them 10% off their next service if they send you a customer... will not work. Also, consider targeted direct mail. We started one campaign with a client (shop) where 76 letters generated just about $16,000 in sales. Not bad, huh? Again, the key thing was 'targeted'. Most don't realize that over 70% of the success of ANY marketing or advertising campaign is all about the target. When you blindly send out offers to a bunch of people... you get all the freebie seekers and bottom feeders. Look at your customer list. The money is in the list! Hope this helps Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer"

All good info and comments. I've been doing web for a long time... longer than I want to think about. Every time I set up a business owner with a bunch of stats to watch, they all told me the same thing. "Way too much information and I don't have time to figure it all out". Keep it simple. You can have a phone number that is tracked AND sends recordings of every call to your email address. Better than seeing who is calling, you get to HEAR what is being said. So many times auto repair shop phones are being answered as if it's a distraction. IT'S YOUR BUSINESS! Make it work and talk the customer in. Hope this help! Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer"

The truth is, when you think about it, what do YOU do when you get a text?? You read it. That's exactly what your customer is going to do. But the problem is that you can't make the message too 'spammy' or 'salesy' (if those are words). It's got to be a personal message to your customer. It's custom - it's targeted - and it works! One shop owner told me he gets "...almost 100% response". Compare that to postcards, ha! Hope this help! Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer"

Make is simple, easy to read and quick. Something like.... "FINALLY, A MECHANIC YOU CAN TRUST" Then your website address below. When you print your website address, make it EASY to read - even use 2 colors if you can and don't forget CAPS and lower case. Something like: YourAutoRepairShop.com or YourAutoRepairShop.com Either way, it's just easier to read and remember. And don't forget, most (over 60% - according to Google) of the local auto repair searches are on MOBILE devices. Make sure your site is mobile friendly. Hope this helps! Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer"

In response to "UsedTireShop", you posted "We have a regional chain store that often offer $99 brakes. We often place our sidewalk sign out and it reads... We Fix $99 Brake Jobs! I would suggest a small edit. Add (in big bold text) FINALLY... as shop that can... Just a suggestion. Hope this helps Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer"

Nice plan tirengolf (nice name too!). One of the big things I see all the time is that shops don't REWARD for the referral. Now don't take this the wrong way - but have you ever tried to train your pet?? No reward - you don't get anywhere. With that said, the reward has to be instant. Don't offer some lame discount the next time the customer comes in... or something like that. The reward has to be something I can touch (or taste) NOW. Movie tickets; coffee cards; fast food cards; it's your choice. But make the reward instant. Nothing good ever happens on it's own, does it? Hope this helps! Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer"

Thanks for sharing that information Elon! Good information. What I really found interesting is that the report states: "While the light vehicle repair outlet population fell nearly 5,000 from 2010 to 2015..." so many shops still struggle with their car count. I guess it's just a problem of doing all the wrong things... and then giving up. Good information. Thanks for sharing it. Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer"