Alex

Happy New Year! Wishing everyone a Happy, Healthy, and Successful 2017!

Merry Christmas! My girls are eagerly waiting for Santa to come tonight.

Merry Christmas!

Tapatalk has been updated to the latest version.

Scott, good catch...thank you, I've edited my first post. Since the start of this topic back in 2007, we have changed the strategy here at ASO and only show the first post in a topic to guests. You must be logged in to view additional posts in a topic. You are correct that it will not help with backlinks.

_2080, you need to keep it professional here.

_2080, please keep it professional. Thank you.

Very nice site and I see you are using a wordpress SEO plug-in which is excellent. You are using good page titles and the site is (as most wordpress themes today are) mobile ready. You have a good amount of images, I would consider caching your pages. This can be done with your server/hosting. Below are a couple of tools everyone can use to see how their site is and correct or share with their developer. Not everything is as important and the reality is that you are only competing with local sites that are in the same market when trying to get to the top of the list in searches, so fix what you see if its going to make a difference. I would type in keywords and phrases you think your customers would use to search for auto repair into Google, Bing, and Yahoo. http://seositecheckup.com/ - search engine optimization test https://search.google.com/search-console/mobile-friendly - Google mobile-friendly test, see if your website layout is mobile friendly The web is changing and primarily because of new/improved coding languages and screen sizes. It is important to keep web site scripting up to date to minimize issues, hacking, and layout issues with modern web browsers. So this means updating the programs/scripts that run your sites or making sure your web developers keep them updated to the latest versions. Google is giving more weight to mobile friendly pages because of phones and smaller screen sizes. When you look at your site, don't only look at it on your desktop or laptop, check your phones and tablets and see how it looks. Are you happy with it? Is it easy to navigate? Will your customers like it? Lastly, are you running any analytics on your site? Ask your developer to add in Google Analytics, its free. You can get great insight to how your website is found, what pages are frequented, and other useful info such as ranking, demographics, etc.

Welcome to ASO!

Topic moved to HR Topics, Hiring, & Firing & Training Forum

Moved to Automotive Shop Tools & Equipment Forum

Topic moved to General Automotive Discussion Forum

I'm going to chime in on this topic and just make sure that everyone is aware that this site has always been open to those who are current shop owners, future shop owners, managers, technicians, service advisors, etc... We've created specific forums for members to participate in as they like. This topic was posted in the General Automotive Discussion forum, which is fine. I like these types of scenarios because it gives me an opportunity to rethink some of the categorization of forums and what we have available. However, I don't think alienating prospective new owners is part of the strategy, but as I mentioned to another member, I can create a forum for "getting into the business" or "starting a new shop", something like that, which may help categorize these types of topics. Our registration form has always included other shop decision makers, other than actual owners. See screenshot below.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well said Joe. It is because of all of the members here that take the time to participate in our community, that makes ASO a real success. Definitely more to come! Happy Thanksgiving!

2 more days left....maybe they can all be friends again.

I moved this topic to our member feedback forum. I think we can come up with something, we will discuss on our end. If you have any additional ideas on this, please post. Great feedback, I think it could be beneficial for many shop owners to have a specific area to discuss these topics.

Great topic! I manage a few sites like this one and mostly use Google Analytics and Quantcast for insights. I think that there are a few things that are important for every shop website and I think it needs to be looked at it more locally than across the internet when making edits. I've been working with websites for over 10 years and manage not only this community but a few others as well. The difference is that the geography of the audience is broad, of course targeted, but broad. So you adjust top level page titles and content accordingly for who you are targeting. When you own a local business website that is targeting a few towns, counties, etc., in the serviceable area... you really need to have a website built around that. I see way to may auto shop websites that are beautiful but not optimized for their local service area. You don't need many clicks, you need conversions to jobs. This means targeting with page titles and content for the areas that you service and the services that you perform. Think about what people are going to look for on google. That's where you want to be, in the top 3 results. Just a tip really, because you can look at clicks all day long and if it's not someone clicking in your area, it's not going to bring in business. GeoTargeting ads are also a great way to bring in business and see a good ROI as well as Facebook and Twitter (local) social marketing, build your followers. Also, think about the domain names you have, and try to secure the main area you are servicing..example: www.mytownautorepair.com and build a secondary site that links to your main site, but don't just redirect because its doesn't get picked up in searches. You'll have an additional "silent salesman" working for you. Today, just about anyone can build a basic website easily with the online tools available from sites like godaddy and wix. It really depends on how far you want to go with it. For more customized sites, you need a web developer. Lastly, business listings are very important as they come up on top of the search engine results. Make sure that your business is up to date. Think about business listings on sites like Google, Bing, Yahoo, Yelp, Facebook, Better Business Bureau, Angie's List, Merchant Circle, LinkedIn, YP.com.

Crazy times we are witnessing. With just 30 days left to the election and the second presidential debate tonight, how's everyone feeling? Don't forget to vote in our poll attached to this thread. A little SNL humor for you, if you didn't get a chance to see..

Please read our policy on promoting your company on ASO http://www.autoshopowner.com/topic/6587-promoting-your-company-on-aso-please-read/ Thank you.

Honda sent this to us along with the attached pdf poster. Attention: Please Post This Important Safety Information for Your Customer Last year, American Honda released a poster designed to help keep your customers safe. That poster identified certain Honda and Acura vehicles that may have been affected by the Takata airbag inflator recalls affecting customers at that time. Since then, the inflator recalls have expanded, so we have provided an updated poster below that includes additional Honda and Acura vehicles that were not part of the earlier recalls. Please expect the physical copy of the poster inside the following publications in the second week of September: Brake &Front End, ImportCar, Underhood Service, Tire Review, BodyShop Business, and Counterman. It includes a toll free phone number and web addresses where you or your customers can check a vehicle’s recall completion status. Please replace your existing posters with this latest version, and if you do not already have a poster on display, please share this information with your employees and customers right away by placing this poster in a visible location. Please note that the new poster also distinguishes those vehicles considered to be of highest risk of rupture. This determination was made by the federal government based on scientific analysis by Takata of PSDI front driver airbag inflators – so-called “Alpha” inflators – removed from recalled 2001-2003 Honda and Acura vehicles in the state of Florida revealed a very high rupture rate in laboratory testing. Based on this analysis, Honda concurs with the U.S. Secretary of Transportation’s recommendation that this particular sub-group of 313,000 “Alpha” vehicles should only be driven to a dealer in order to have their Takata airbag inflators replaced as rapidly as possible. There is an abundant supply of replacement inflators and the repair is free of charge and can be completed quickly. With your help, we can help ensure that our shared customers are driving a vehicle that is safe. Please check VINs at recalls.honda.com for Honda vehicles and recalls.acura.comfor Acura vehicles or call 1(888) 234-2138 for open recalls. If a vehicle needs a recall repair, please advise the vehicle’s owner to contact their local dealer immediately to arrange the free repair. Again, please keep this poster in a convenient location for your staff and customers to see. American Honda Motor, Co., Inc. appreciates your support and cooperation in this effort to help keep our shared customers safe. 09TG_16HondaPoster.pdf

I always suggest to use an up-to-date internet security suite like Nortons and have browser protection enabled. It should warn you and sniff these things out.

Topic moved to Regional Automotive Shop Management Discussions > Northeast Auto Repair Shop Management

Topic moved to Shop Tools and EQP forum.

FYI....I removed your duplicate topic on this.