The Importance of Automotive Websites
To rank at the top of search engine results pages (SERPs), your automotive business needs a well-designed website that's regularly updated, attractive, and user-friendly so that potential customers can learn more about your products and services.
That's why we've created this guide on the importance of an automotive website and how best to design yours.
Why Do You Need a Website for Your Automotive Repair Shop?
Think of your website as your 24/7 service advisor. No matter the time or day, potential customers can visit your website to learn about your business and services. This information helps website visitors decide if they want to give you their business.
If you don’t have a website, you’re missing out on an essential way customers can find you. Look at it this way: In 2023, over 70% of businesses have a website. Without one, you risk losing those customers to your competitors who do have websites rather than bringing that business into your shop.
A high-quality website is helpful for more than just advertising your business. Your website will also help you establish credibility for your automotive repair shop and encourage potential customers to use and trust your business. When shoppers see your shop as legitimate and trustworthy, they are much more likely to become loyal customers.
Aspects To Look for in an Automotive Website
It’s not enough to simply throw together a website and call it a day, though. Your automotive repair shop website should be professional and reflect your business. As you consider building your repair shop website — or evaluate your competitors' websites — here are some key aspects to look for:
Simple and Appealing Design
If your design is overcomplicated, your website can look overwhelming visually, making it harder to navigate. Keep to a simple design that best represents your brand to your online visitors.
Some examples of elements to include in your design are:
- High-quality images: Internet browsers expect to see crisp, clean images that effectively highlight your website's text content. Ensure all website images are high-quality and load properly on your site without delays.
- Easy to read/understand text: Keep in mind that visitors won't read every single word on the page. Instead, most people will scan your website for key details, so keep your text scannable and to the point. Use headers and subheaders when applicable to help the text stand out. And make sure your text is large enough and not displayed in narrow or challenging fonts.
- Well-thought-out color scheme: Try to stick to three main colors or less. An overabundance of colors can distract website visitors and detract from the important information on the page.
Streamlining your website design is about more than ensuring everything is aesthetically pleasing. Most internet users are less likely to recommend a business to others if that business has a poorly designed website. If you want to keep customers’ perceptions of your business as positive as possible, you need to get your website design just right.
Ease of Navigation
People don’t want to spend a ton of time searching your website, looking for what they need. On average across all industries, a website visitor will stay on a web page for 55 seconds. That means you don’t have much time to convince visitors to stay on your website and further engage with your business. You need to make it easy for users to find what they need quickly so you don’t lose their attention.
Businesses often include a menu across the top of their websites to help with navigation. These menus typically include links to key pages on the site that may interest visitors, such as links to their service pages, "About Us" pages, and the contact page.
Consider what your visitors are looking for on your website, then make it as easy as possible for them to reach those pages.
When it comes to navigation, you want to keep things straightforward. Use familiar, recognizable title phrases when applicable. Include a search bar if possible so visitors to your site can search directly for the information they’re interested in. If your website isn’t easy to navigate, chances are good that visitors will click off and go to a competitor’s site.
Responsive, Mobile-Friendly Design
In 2023, over half of all internet traffic worldwide comes from mobile devices. Many users are searching for businesses and visiting websites via their mobile devices. Some of your customers and potential customers are likely in that group.
To get the most out of your website, you need to optimize it for mobile and desktop users. If your website isn’t responsive on mobile, that reduces your number of potential clients.
And you don’t have long to keep the attention of mobile visitors either. If your website doesn’t load within three seconds, visitors will likely consider that a negative experience with your business and be less inclined to return.
When optimizing your website for mobile devices, there are a few key factors to consider. Start by tackling these issues:
- Compress images: Images load differently on mobile devices. Compressing them will help them load faster, boosting your website speed.
- Limit pop-ups: Pop-ups frustrate customers on desktop, but they can ruin the user experience on mobile since they often take up the whole page. So avoid newsletter or promotional pop-ups when possible.
- Adjust button sizes: Make sure any buttons on your website are large enough to click with a finger instead of a mouse.
- Make sure all text is legible: You may need to increase your font size so it’s easy to read on mobile devices.
Automotive Websites With Optimize
If you’re concerned about tackling all these elements of an effective auto shop website yourself, don’t worry. You don’t have to create your website from scratch. Here at Optimize, we offer responsive website designs to fit your business's needs.
If you want to learn more about our website offerings, schedule a free consultation with one of our digital marketing experts today.