In my last article in the January Gears magazine, I introduced Carl’s 7-Keys to Highly Effective Transmission Rebuilder Websites. The article explained what components to include in your website to attract today’s customers. In this article, I’ll discuss some terms such as “Mobile Friendly” and “SEO”. You may have heard these terms but may not completely understand their meanings. I’ll also explain what a Google Paid Search Campaign is and what it can do for your shop.
As a Transmission shop owner or manager, it’s extremely important that you understand how important it is to have a strong mobile friendly website. I’ll bet that you didn’t know that Google commands over 92% of the entire internet search world. Think of all the other search engines like Yahoo, Bing, Excite, or even AOL. All of those other search engines together share the remaining 8% of internet search engine traffic. Even more amazing is that in a very short time, 63% of Google searches are done using a smartphone. This has grown significantly over the past few years and continues to grow.
Carl’s 7-Keys to understanding what a Mobile Friendly website is and what it means to gaining new customers
- Make sure that all of your page content is large enough to read on a mobile phone. Many times, website developers do not consider that a large number of mobile phone viewers have difficulty reading text on a mobile phone. If a customer has difficulty reading information on your website, they will leave and continue their search for help.
- Not only should your logo be included on a mobile version of your website, but it should be large enough to still be recognized. This is a great way to continue to reinforce your brand with your potential customers.
- Of all the elements you include on a mobile version of your website, your shop phone number is probably the most important. Your mobile website should also make it extremely easy for a potential customer to call. We achieve this by adding a Call Now button to the bottom of all of the pages of the mobile version of your website.
- Making it extremely easy for a customer to find your shop is almost as important as it is a prominently displayed phone number. Our mobile websites include a Map button positioned next to the Call Now button at the bottom. This makes finding your shop as easy as a single touch on their smartphone.
- Keep your customer in mind when displaying how your menus will appear on mobile phones. Menus that are difficult to find and awkward to use are a recipe for losing another opportunity.
- While it’s important to include shop and relevant photos on the mobile version of your website, be careful to make sure that they are not simply scaled down versions of the photos on the computer version of your website. This will make your photos too small to matter and will not have any impact.
- The overall mobile website experience is everything to you gaining new business. What I mean by this is that is that if your potential customer has a poor experience visiting your website from their mobile phone, this will undoubtedly lead to a lost opportunity for your shop. You only have one opportunity to win over a customer. Make the most of your only opportunity.
What is SEO and what you should know
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. SEO is the keyword and page coding that search engines use to understand and properly index the content of a website for future searches.
It’s also a loosely descriptive way of determining if your website has met Google’s strict website guidelines. Google is in the business of promoting the best of the best websites. If your website doesn’t meet specific criteria, Google will basically punish you buy placing it very low on search results. How many times have you gone beyond page 1 or 2 of Google search results to find what you’re looking for? Probably not very often. Google knows this and forces websites to be compliant with their guidelines in order to have a chance at being found on the first or second page.
What is a Google Paid Search Campaign and why it’s important to all transmission rebuilder shops?
Imagine for a moment that you don’t own or operate an auto repair shop. You head out at the crack of dawn to drive to work. Old reliable starts on the first try just like every day. You put your car in reverse and your engine revs but your car won’t move. You check your parking brake to make sure it’s not engaged. You might even walk around the car to see if something is stopping your car from moving. You’re not exactly sure what’s wrong but you assume that it’s your transmission and then you say a little prayer to yourself that it’s nothing serious. The next rational thing you do is grab your phone and begin searching for transmission repair shops near you. You start at the top of the list of search results to find the first shop website that makes you feel comfortable that you won’t have to give up your first born to pay for the impending repairs. More than likely, a customer will find a level of comfort within the top handful of search results. In short, if your website search results are not positioned near or at the top of the page, it likely won’t be found and you’ll have lost another customer to your competition.
Stay tuned to Gears for the next article in this series where I’ll take a deeper dive into Google Paid Search campaigns and explain how they work, approximate costs, and how quickly you can see a return on your investment. I’ll also dive into Organic Google Search results and will discuss some tips about how to improve website and brand awareness.
To find out more about the ATRA member websites or to receive a complimentary analysis of your current website and marketing, visit members. atra.com and click on the Hosted Websites link within the Member Toolbox section of the 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.
