{"id":1163,"date":"2021-08-12T16:34:19","date_gmt":"2021-08-12T16:34:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ari.app\/?p=1163"},"modified":"2024-12-18T16:18:46","modified_gmt":"2024-12-18T16:18:46","slug":"how-to-optimize-a-google-my-business-profile-for-an-auto-repair-shop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ari.app\/2021\/08\/how-to-optimize-a-google-my-business-profile-for-an-auto-repair-shop\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Optimize a Google My Business Profile for an Auto Repair Shop"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Get more leads for your auto repair business!<\/h1>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The competition among auto repair shops is fierce and more and more it seems that customers are choosing their mechanic based on a Google search.\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It may seem inconsequential but optimizing your Google My Business profile could be the deciding factor in driving customers your way.<\/span><\/h3>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Google My Business profiles of relevant businesses just below a Google Map when someone makes a search that references their location. Two examples of these type of searches are: \u201cauto-repair shop in West Chicago\u201d and \u201cauto-repair shop near me\u201d<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1165 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/ari.app\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/autorepair-shop-gmb-listings-ari.app_.png\" alt=\"google listing results for auto repair shops\" width=\"891\" height=\"943\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ari.app\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/autorepair-shop-gmb-listings-ari.app_.png 891w, https:\/\/ari.app\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/autorepair-shop-gmb-listings-ari.app_-283x300.png 283w, https:\/\/ari.app\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/autorepair-shop-gmb-listings-ari.app_-768x813.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 891px) 100vw, 891px\" \/><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The listings here are all of Google My Business profiles<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A Google search of this kind will return a few million results, however at the very top of the page will be the Google Maps response, complete with links to local Google My Business Profiles.\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A well optimized Google My Business profile is therefore a free means to jump right to the top of the search results. There are three key ways in which you can optimize your My Business profile and direct customers to your business:<\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Completing your My Business profile accurately and with as much information as possible.<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Using consistent citations for your business across directories.<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Maximizing your profile\u2019s click through rate.\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Below is a guide on how to do this.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Completing your Google My Business profile in full<\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Google is designed to provide its users with the most useful results possible. This means that the search engine is more likely to serve users up Google My Business profiles with complete information, so users can make the most informed choices about which businesses to use.<\/span><\/h3>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When filling out your profile you will be asked to complete a large number of fields, these include your business address, opening and closing hours, website address and photos of your business.<\/span><\/h3>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While you do not need to complete all these fields to set up your Google My Business profile. With all else being equal, Google will give more prominence to profiles that are more completed. It\u2019s well worth spending a bit of extra time making sure that you fill out as many of these fields as possible.<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One field that you should definitely fill out in full is \u201cservices\u201d. Make sure that you complete this field with all the services that you offer. This will give you the opportunity to rank when someone searches for specific services such as \u201coil change near me\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1164 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/ari.app\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/gmb-services-tab-example-ari.app_.png\" alt=\"google my business for auto repair shop\" width=\"1602\" height=\"758\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ari.app\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/gmb-services-tab-example-ari.app_.png 1602w, https:\/\/ari.app\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/gmb-services-tab-example-ari.app_-300x142.png 300w, https:\/\/ari.app\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/gmb-services-tab-example-ari.app_-1024x485.png 1024w, https:\/\/ari.app\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/gmb-services-tab-example-ari.app_-768x363.png 768w, https:\/\/ari.app\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/gmb-services-tab-example-ari.app_-1536x727.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1602px) 100vw, 1602px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Having consistent citations of your business<\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To maximize the potential of your My Business Profile, Google needs to confirm that the information you are providing is accurate.\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They will do this by comparing the information on your profile with other online instances of your business\u2019s name, address, and phone number. These instances are commonly referred to as \u201ccitations of your business\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One way of building out these citations is by registering your auto repair shop with relevant online directories. Relevant directories are either:<\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recognizable \u2018big\u2019 brands for example yell.com.<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Directories specific to your local area.<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Directories that are specific to your industry.<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You may find that some local directories will ask for a small annual fee, don\u2019t let this put you off. By paying that small fee you will be included in a directory with a much smaller pool of businesses and may reach a market that your competitors are overlooking.\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There is a technical side to citations that you will need to give some attention. The search engine will not make connections between citations unless they are identical.\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example, Long Street and Long St would not be recognised as the same address; this is also the case with phone numbers. Decide which format you want to use for your business address and use this across all directories.\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Click Through Rate<\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Click through rate refers to the number of times that your Google My Business Profile is clicked on compared to your competitors following specific searches.<\/span><\/h3>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If people click through on your profile more than your competitors, this informs Google that your business is the best result for that search and as a result your business will rank higher in future searches.\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Having a large number of positive Google reviews is the most effective way of improving your profile\u2019s click through rate. This is because your average star rating from Google reviews is displayed as part of your Google My Business Profile in a search engine results page.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To increase the number of positive reviews for your business you can set up an automated system which will request reviews from your customers. A <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/ari.app\/features\/auto-shop-clients-management\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Customer Relationship Management system<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> can help you to do this.<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Summing Up<\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Remember that when running a local business, the Google My Business rankings for local searches are separated by the smallest margins. Consistent optimizations is how you end up above your competitors in local search. If you want to take the next step you can use\u00a0 Google Search Console to view the number of clicks that you are getting from local searches and chart your progress.<\/span><\/h3>\n<h3><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mike Skoropad is the CEO of online automotive parts retailer <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.utires.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">United Tires<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/i><\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Get more leads for your auto repair business! The competition among auto repair shops is fierce and more and more it seems that customers are choosing their mechanic based on a Google search.\u00a0 &nbsp; It may seem inconsequential but optimizing your Google My Business profile could be the deciding factor in driving customers your way. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-announcement"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ari.app\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ari.app\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ari.app\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ari.app\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ari.app\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1163"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ari.app\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1163\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15033,"href":"https:\/\/ari.app\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1163\/revisions\/15033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ari.app\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ari.app\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ari.app\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}