How to rank your collision repair
website #1 on Google
Column by VENESSA DI VITO
With a big thanks to search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing, there is an infinite amount of information available to all of us at the simple touch of a button.
With 98 percent of people worldwide actively using the internet every single day, according to Hootsuite’s 2022 Digital Trends Report, this tells us that when a resident of your city gets into a motor vehicle accident and needs a collision repair facility to support them, chances are high that they’ll be on the digital hunt for a business just like yours to service them.
Do you know if your business is showing up properly online, and in the right spots to service these potential customers? And if you’re not sure, are you aware of just how easy it can be to make your business more visible?
One of the most crucial factors to ranking your collision repair facility high on Google is for you to be aware of the terminology, and importance of something called SEO, or Search Engine Optimization.
SEO is a results-proven marketing technique that you simply cannot ignore if your goal is to have your website be discovered through search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo.
I can’t express the number of websites I have looked at, that are beautiful and well-designed, but ranking low in the eyes of the major search engines—simply because adequate SEO practices have not been factored in.
The more effort you put in to optimizing your website according to best SEO practices, the higher your business will rank on these search engines, and this will ultimately drive more visitors to your website—ideally resulting in more leads and sales.
There are four simple SEO tips you should pay attention to for your business to rank as high as possible in search results. So, let’s begin!
FOCUS ON RELEVANCE
Google’s vast network of “robots,” also known as “web crawlers,” are hard at work 24/7, combing through and analyzing the content of every website on the internet and evaluating each one against specific parameters. Parameters include quality of information, ease of use, loading speed and so much more. The end goal? To rank each page according to its overall ability to give searchers information of the highest quality, and that most closely matches what customers are looking for.
To rank as high as possible in search results, your content must include strong keywords that your customers are using in their own search queries. Once these keywords are established and inputted on your website, Google will deem that content to be more relevant and worthy of inclusion in the search results.
ENSURE QUALITY
After identifying all the relevant keywords, Google gets to work by prioritizing those websites that it deems likely to be the most helpful to the public. To do this, it relies on complex algorithms to identify content that demonstrates value, expertise, and trustworthiness.
When Google notices that other sites have chosen to include a link back to your site as an authoritative source of information, Google takes this as confirmation that your own content is valuable, useful to the reader and worth elevating in search results.
How else can you use this expert technique to your advantage?
In addition to online linking, think about non-digital opportunities for sharing your URL and driving traffic to your website, such as local newspapers, community boards and other local businesses. Do not underestimate how much these simple strategies can assist in building your authority and helping your business rank as possible in Google search results.
USABILITY IS KEY
Google loves legitimacy and always considers the usability of content.
Assuming all other factors are relatively equal, content that is high quality and easily accessible for the user will always equate to stronger online visibility.
For example, Google would look at the overall page experience aspects. Is this content mobile-friendly? Does this content load quickly?
Speed and responsiveness are so important in ensuring your customers enjoy a positive user experience. To find how your website is performing, take advantage of Google’s speed check, as well as other performance indicators, with a quick online search.
Your website should be fully visible and accessible within three seconds or less to avoid the risk of impatient users bouncing away from your site!
CONTEXT MATTERS
It’s important to remember that Google search results also consider the searcher’s hobbies, interests and more—all based on searches they have performed in the past. Information such as location, past search history, and search settings are all considered to ensure the results presented are as useful and relevant as possible for the searcher at that moment in time.
All in all, Google loves to determine what information is most useful to you and deliver these pinpointed results. Consider how you can present your business to your community in the best possible light by focusing on how it presents itself within these context searches.
So, for your business to rank as highly as possible in Google search results, you owe it to yourself to implement some of these simple SEO practices, Relevance, Quality, Usability and Context. Taking the first few steps can seem a little daunting, especially for those not technically inclined.
But remember: Any forward motion— even a slow-but-consistent approach—will yield results. Putting these four steps to work does not have to be an overnight process to bring success.
My best advice for executing effectively is to work at one task at a time and to gradually start elevating the presence and reach of your business online. In time, and by using consistent keywords and SEO practices across your website and social platforms, you will soon see the difference that quality SEO and a higher ranking on Google can really make to your long-term success.
