Whether you already have an ATRA supplied member website, or you have a website that you built or you paid someone else to build, how do you know if you are actually attracting new customers?
More than likely, your answer to most if not all of these questions is “I don’t know”. Don’t feel bad, because many transmission rebuilder shop owners are in the same boat as you. You learned how to rebuild transmissions because either someone showed you or you learned by years of experience. Building an effective website is not something that you were taught and so you left it to the experts to guide you. Many web developers will sell you a website with very little thought put into the type of business you run and how a transmission rebuilder shop attracts today’s customers.
Not all businesses are the same and business websites shouldn’t be treated in the same way. A shop that only does brakes and mufflers doesn’t deal with customers who need immediate help. Their customers are searching for the cheapest shop for their impending repairs while they continue to drive their car until they find what they’re looking for. Transmission rebuilder shops are dealing with customers who’s cars have broken down and need help now. These customers are looking for the first shop they find that they feel they can trust.
Carl’s 7-Keys To Highly Effective Transmission Rebuilder Websites
A transmission rebuilder website does not need the entire toolbox thrown into it to attract new customers. In fact, the simpler your website is to navigate and read, the more likely the customer will call. Your website should follow these expert guidelines:
- Keep the page count low. Most websites only need 4 pages: a Home page, Specials page, Reviews page, and Contact page.
- Include a large exterior photo of your shop right at the top of the home page. This allows the customer to make a visual connection to your business so that they remember your shop every time they drive by. Think of it as a billboard that you drive by every day.
- Include a photo of the owner or shop manager on the home page. This shows your customers that you are trustworthy and that you stand behind your work. Photos of your team in action also helps build trust. People relate better to photos including people versus photos of transmission parts or an empty shop.
- Use photos as reference to the services you provide. Show a photo with a caption of each of the primary services you provide right on the home page. This helps educate the customer to better understand what these services are.
- Include coupons and specials that will attract certain customers who will only select a business just because they offer coupons. Make it simple and use a few small offers that you are okay with running all year long.
- Recent customer reviews are extremely important to customers who rely on reviews to help them decide which shop to trust their automobile with. Word of mouth is the best form of advertising. Ask your happy customers leave reviews on your website. Print new business cards that for reviews on the back side of the card and point this out when you hand your card to the happy customer when they check-out.
- Minimize the amount of detailed information on each page. As a rule, customers don’t read much beyond headlines and bold text. Adding more than necessary will only clutter your website and cause confusion in your customers mind.
Additional components that your website should include are: all payment and financing options you offer, associations that you are aligned with such as ATRA or ASE, and an interactive map with clear contact information. Don’t make it hard for customers to find your phone number and hours of operation.
If you feel your website needs more than the 4-pages mentioned in this article, pages can be added at an additional cost. Just keep in mind that additional pages may not necessarily help you get more customers.
Stay tuned to Gears for the next article in this series where I’ll unlock more valuable tips and explain some of the terms mentioned in this article such as, “Mobile Friendly” and “SEO”. The next article will outline how to get your website noticed and what a paid Google search campaign is and what it can do for your shop.
To find out more about the ATRA member websites or to receive a complimentary analysis of your current website visit members.atra.com and go to the members website page.
Carl Borsani has been in the Marketing and Communications industry for over 30 years. His company, Graphic Home, is a full service design and marketing studio based out of Dayton Ohio and serving customers nationwide.
Carl has worked with ATRA members for several years helping them improve their online presence while developing strategies to drive more traffic to their doors.
