by Search engine optimization, or SEO, is a complex topic. Getting it right takes both expertise and time.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t start getting results quickly.
Even while some of the more complex aspects of the concept take time to build and implement, these quick wins can help your auto repair shop start to improve its rankings and gain visibility.
They don’t supersede the more in-depth strategies. But they allow you to see results quickly, gaining traction that can be invaluable down the road.
And here’s the best part: with the right approach, none of them take more than a few hours to implement.
So let’s get started, with these five easy SEO wins your automotive repair shop can implement today.
1. Find Your Low-Hanging Fruit
SEO is all about ranking for relevant keywords. Naturally, some will be more competitive than others. That makes one key to success finding out which keywords are easiest to rank for.
Using your favorite keyword research tool, look for a difficulty or competitive score of less than 20. You’ll usually find longer-tail keywords, often with more specific geographic information that naturally excludes other repair shops.
The search volume for these keywords might be lower, of course. But the relevance levels will be high, making these the low-hanging fruit you want to go for.
For example, you might need quite some time and effort to rank for a keyword like “auto repair in Pittsburgh”. But if you narrow it down to your specific neighborhood, the competition will go down drastically. That’s where you can find opportunities to rank more quickly, even with the search volume lower than some alternatives.
2. Add Internal Links to Key Landing Pages
Internal links are a core ranking component for Google, which considers them an indicator or page importance. The more pages from your website link to a central location, the more important that page must be.
Use that fact to your advantage. Find the landing pages you want to rank on Google and increase the number of other pages linking to them.
For example, you might want to prioritize ranking your Services page. Link to it from your homepage, About page, and other relevant pages. That way, Google knows about how important it is and will begin to prioritize it in rankings.
You don’t want to overdo it, of course. Too many links to and from all pages on your site, and search engines will begin to consider them spammy or manipulative. But if you can identify one or two pages central to your SEO strategy, a few well-placed internal links can do wonders.
3. Fix Your Title Tags
Google has gotten smarter about title tags in recent years. But in most cases, it still shows the exact title you choose for a page it wants to rank.
That means the headline for the page you’re trying to rank will be based on the title tag you’ve assigned that page. Even more importantly, the keywords you choose to include in that title become a core ranking factor.
The natural conclusion: it’s time to fix your title tags for all of your core pages.
Your title tag needs to include two core components:
- A description of the content that the page will feature
- A relevant keyword that users searching for that type of content might use
Most times, these two components overlap. That makes it simple to go through your core pages and assign title tags specifically related to your website, ideally shorter than 50-60 characters to avoid a cutoff on the search engine results page.
4. Create FAQ Content on Your Site
What types of questions would people looking for auto repair shops in your area ask? The answer to that question can guide much of your web content.
Some quick keyword research can combine with your own experience in working with customers to get this answer. Common questions might revolve around:
- The cost to fix specific parts of their car
- The types of makes and models you serve
- Your opening hours and inspection dates
- How far in advance they should make an appointment
- Whether you have a towing service
- And more
Once you have a good cache of questions, create FAQ-type content on your website. Make the question the headline, and provide succinct answers in no more than 2 or 3 sentences. That not only helps you rank for the keywords included in these questions, but also provides an opportunity to rank in featured snippets if the question is relevant and popular enough.
5. Claim Your Google Business Profile
Finally, let’s venture beyond your own website to an external property that’s key to local searches: the Google Business Profile.
If you search on Google for local services like auto repair, you’ll be familiar with the way search results are structured. The top is not just a listing of websites, but a map that shows the businesses offering a given service near the user’s search location.
Ranking in this crucial real estate requires claiming and optimizing your Google Business Profile.
A true optimization takes time and goes far beyond the scope of this guide. For now, the quick win is simply claiming your Business Profile and making sure the basic information, like address, business name, and contact info, is correct. You can go into nuances like reviews, keyword optimization, and more down the road.
Closing Thoughts
Don’t let the complexity of SEO scare you off. If you know where to start, you can still get quick wins that allow you to rise up the ranks fast.
And of course, you don’t have to take that journey alone. With a reliable partner by your side, you can take these quick wins even as you work on a more comprehensive effort with long-lasting impact on your website rankings.
That constant balance is exactly what makes SEO such a core tactic for auto repair shops. And if you need external help, we’re ready. Contact us today for a free consultation, and let us answer your questions on the way to a better SEO strategy with tangible business results.
