How Important Is Content for Auto Repair Shop Websites?
April 22, 2022
Traditional search engine optimization (SEO) focused on website structure, links and content as the three most important factors for showing up higher in the rankings. At a time when people make quicker decisions than ever and it’s pretty easy to get a one or two page website set up, does content really still matter?
Yes, it matters. A lot. In this blog we’ll cover why it still matters, the elements of content that matter most and how you can leverage those parts to get your auto repair shop’s website to search well.
SEO Experts Weigh In
There are only a handful of people at Google that know exactly what goes into their algorithm to determine the organic search rankings of their search engine. However, there is an annual survey of SEO experts that gets us close. These are people who are doing this every single day for all types of businesses across the world and the survey focuses on what they see as the most important search ranking factors. Here are their top 20 factors from the survey that was released toward the end of 2021:
While this isn’t directly from Google, it’s a pretty darn good substitute based on the optimizing and monitoring that these folks are doing.
So, what does it tell us about content? Content elements make up three of the top five, and five of the top 13 factors highlighted:
- #2 – volume of quality content on entire website
- #4 – topical (product/service) keyword relevance across entire website
- #5 – geographic (city/neighborhood) keyword relevance of domain content
- #7 – website’s degree of focus on a specific niche
- #13 – volume of quality content on service pages
Three big content takeaways for auto repair shops from this list:
- You can’t just have a one (or even five) page website and expect it to compete in the search results. Google likes websites to prove their credibility and expertise. One way they can do that is to have a large amount of quality content throughout the website.
- Topical keywords are important. You need to have a good mix of all the keywords that are related to auto repair, or your specific focus area, throughout your website. This is another way to prove your expertise.
- Location keywords are also very important. This makes lots of sense. In almost all cases, people are searching for an auto repair shop in their area. Google wants to be sure it’s returning results that are relevant to the searcher and if I’m searching for auto repair in Raleigh, North Carolina it’s highly likely that I don’t want to see results for Nashville, Tennessee.
Leveraging the 5 Key Content Factors to Help Your Website Search Well
Volume of Quality Content on Entire Website
This is listed as the second most important factor, so clearly it’s extremely important. You want to build out your website to include as much quality content as possible. Create service pages for each of the services that you offer. Get as specific as you can and include detail. Tell the story of your business. Share images and descriptions of the work you’ve done.
Often repair shop owners will say they don’t know what to include on their website, yet they have a vast knowledge of all of the work that happens in their shop. To get started think about all of the questions that people ask about the services you provide and start capturing the answers to those questions. Feel free to design your pages with questions and answers like a Q&A page.
Topical (Product/Service) Keyword Relevance Across Entire Website
This one starts to get more specific to the actual searches that are happening. How relevant is your website to the specific keyword the user searched for and other related keywords?
The hardest thing for most auto repair shop owners to consider here is that you have to think from the standpoint of the potential customer. What do they call the services that you provide? Or what would they search for?
The big ones are the basics like auto repair, car repair, car mechanic (as much as you may hate that term), oil change, etc. However, if you are specialized you’ll want to consider keywords related to your specialization. Once you have your keywords you want to make sure they are sprinkled throughout your website…BUT, you want to make sure you are not overusing them at the risk of a keyword stuffing penalty.
Geographic (City/Neighborhood) Keyword Relevance of Domain Content
This factor is very similar to the one above, just focused on location instead of services. Make sure the cities, towns and areas that you serve are included all over your website. Include them in your service pages, testimonials/reviews and about sections.
You should also include landmarks and other local information, if possible. Highlight the local organizations you support and/or are active in.
Similar to topical keywords, when doing this you want to make the inclusion natural – make sure it doesn’t look like you are keyword stuffing.
Website’s Degree of Focus on a Specific Niche
This should not be an issue for most auto repair shops. If you are building out quality content across your entire website it should all fall in the same category.
There are two instances where you may look at it differently:
- If you are offering services that fall outside of the auto repair category. For ease of comparison, let’s say you run an auto repair shop, a self storage business and a powerwashing business. You would want to be sure you had three separate websites for those businesses and didn’t try to tie them into your repair shop website.
- If you are specialized. You want to make your website as niche-y as possible. So if you only do Honda repair then you want to highly emphasize Honda repair. This will decrease the likelihood that you search well for the more generic “auto repair” keywords but increase the likelihood that you search well for more specific keywords related to Honda service and repair.
Volume of Quality Content on Service Pages
This goes hand in hand with the first one. It also provides an important clarification opportunity – you should not just create service pages for the sake of having them. If you aren’t building them out with quality content then you are better to not have them at all. A page with 20 words on it will not achieve the desired purpose.
You want to highlight your expertise on the topic. If you are working on a page about brake repair, reference all of the parts of the brake system. What job does each part perform? How do they work together? What types of problems typically occur? What types of services do you offer?
Content Is Still the King
To compete for the 93% of consumers who use the internet to find local businesses, your website has got to have purposeful, informative content. By following the advice above you can build out the content that’s going to help your website perform better in search.
We can help you by building a website that’s optimized to help you get found by consumers searching for your services in your area. If you’d like to learn more about our services, please call us at 855-294-6397 or schedule a meeting with us at a time that’s convenient for you!
