What to put on an auto repair website
A driver with a warning light wants four answers. They want to know whether you fix the problem and whether you can see the car today. They want a price to find out what is wrong and a reason to trust that price. Put all four at the top of your home page.
A warning light brings worry about the bill. Your page can answer that worry before the driver walks in.
What the driver sees first
A driver knows the light on the dash. The driver does not know the part behind it. Write your jobs the way the driver would describe them. The top of the page holds four things.
- The jobs you do in plain words such as brakes and oil changes and check engine lights.
- Whether you can look at the car today and until what time.
- What you charge to find out what is wrong and what that charge covers.
- A phone number the driver can tap.
Jobs you take and jobs you do not
Name the makes you work on. Say all makes if you work on all of them. Name any work you skip such as body repair or diesel or big trucks.
Mark which jobs a driver can wait for and which need the car overnight. Say whether you take walk-ins or need an appointment.
A driver who learns at the counter that you do not do the job has wasted a trip. So have you.
How a repair goes
Write the steps in order so the driver knows what happens after the keys change hands. Say how long the first step takes. A shop might use these five.
- You look at the car and find the fault.
- You write the price for the repair and send it to the driver.
- The driver says yes or no.
- You do the work and keep the old parts if the driver asks to see them.
- You tell the driver when the car is ready and what you did.
Price and warranty
Give the price in writing before the work starts and say so on the page. Add that you get the driver's yes before any extra work. State whether the fee to find out what is wrong comes off the repair price.
Tell the driver how to say yes to the price, by text or by phone. Write down every yes.
Write the warranty in one line. Name the months and the miles for parts and for labor.
Hours and where you are
List your hours by day and say when the last car can come in. Give the street address and one landmark, such as the gas station on the corner.
Tell drivers where to leave the keys after hours. If the driver cannot drive the car, say how it gets to you. Mention whether you offer a ride or a loaner car.
Show real photos of your bays and your people. Name the person who answers the phone. A driver wants to see where the car will sit and who will look after it.
The request form and what to leave out
Keep the request form short. Ask for the year and make and model. Ask for a phone number and what the car is doing. Let the driver attach a photo of the dash light.
Leave out the wall of logos for car brands you do not service. Leave out stock photos of mechanics who do not work for you.
Leave out old coupons. A coupon with a past date tells the driver nobody looks after the site.