A car that undergoes routine maintenance can last for hundreds of thousands of miles. Just like a well-made car, your business is in it for the long haul. To last, your business needs regular marketing maintenance. Luckily, we have a toolbox full of auto repair marketing tactics to help your shop flourish.
One multipurpose tool that we highly recommend is an auto shop blog. From building trust with readers to improving your website authority, blogging ushers in a wide range of rewards.
Keep reading to learn more about how crucial blogging is and ways to make it work for your auto shop!
- Why is blogging important for auto repair shops?
- 5 blog topics for auto repair shops
- Brainstorming tip: Finding auto repair blog topics using Google Trends
- Brainstorming tip: Find auto repair blog topics using Google Suggest and People also Ask
- Best practices for using auto repair blogs as a marketing tool
- Increase your blog’s reach with a turbo boost from the experts
Why is blogging important for auto body shops?
You have a limited number of hours each day to work on marketing your business. So why should you set aside time to blog?
Because blogging has long term effects that positively impact your business. A social media post or promotional offer can attract people to your shop, but the effects are temporary. Blogging is different because it offers a way to enhance your search engine optimization efforts.
Search engine optimization, aka SEO, is not a one-time campaign that you set up and leave alone. Rather, it is a set of practices that you can implement and continually improve to increase your visibility in search engines.
The value of appearing on the search engine results page is difficult to overstate.
A recent study by Bright Local found that 64% of local consumers rely on search engines as their primary source of discovering businesses in the area. And these consumers are not stopping after the search phase. Many go on to visit and patronize these local establishments. In fact, the same study found that 78% of local mobile searches result in an offline purchase!
If potential customers are going to find your auto shop, you need to appear on the search engine results page (SERP). This where blogging comes in. By creating blog posts about auto repair topics that people are searching for, you improve the SEO of your website and increase the likelihood of your website appearing in the search results.
Budget Auto Repair creates posts addressing specific car issues. This way, people experiencing these issues that turn to Google can find this website in the results and schedule an appointment.
SEO is all about creating the best user experience possible. As you create quality content that addresses the needs and questions of users, you can reap rewards of high rankings in search engines. On the road to more customers, blogging accelerates your business in the right direction.
5 blog topics for auto repair shops
Still on the fence about blogging? We’ve got a juicy piece of data for you.
Hubspot surveyed thousands of marketers and found those that make blogging a top priority for a business are 13x more likely to see a positive ROI.
If you’re ready to take the leap into blogging, you don’t have to start from scratch.
Here are a handful of auto repair blog topics to put your blog into overdrive.
Content for locals
We discussed the importance of local searchers above. Now it’s time to address this group using a prime SEO tool — your auto repair blog. Targeting local users is not as difficult as you might think. To do so, simply create posts for those in your area using location names like cities and towns that your target audience resides in.
These posts can cover a range of topics. For instance, a Michigan based auto shop can write a post titled How to Find a Great Auto Repair Shop in Grand Rapids. They could also address problems specific to the area with a post like 5 Car Tips Every Grand Rapids Driver Should Follow or Most Common Car Issues During Michigan Winters.
Milito’s Auto Repair is based in Chicago. The company blog features multiple Chicago focused posts from lighthearted fun posts about drives in the city to informative pieces on car care.
Area of expertise posts
Since competition is stiff, you need to highlight what makes your auto shop stand out from the rest. What’s your specialty? For instance, if your shop focuses on vintage cars, it makes sense to write about car maintenance for old automobiles.
Sharing information fosters trust between your shop and visitors to the blog. No matter what your specialty is, there is someone out there searching for answers that you have. Fill the knowledge gap with an informative blog post.
Cost focused articles
Auto repair shops often get a bad rap when it comes to price transparency. Set your shop apart with content surrounding the costs of repairing common car issues. You don’t have to reveal your full list of prices and it is perfectly fine to state that prices depend on multiple factors.
But you should provide a range of what a customer can expect to pay and give a detailed look into what factors affect the cost. Auto Service Costs ranks as the number one result for the search “how much will it cost to fix my car leak”.
Consider writing a few posts about the costs of car repairs, how to budget for car maintenance and ways to save on auto costs. These types of posts are in high demand as many are on the lookout for ways to be more cost-efficient.
Posts for the DIY crowd
Some people enjoy dabbling in handiwork and trying to fix their own car issues. Attract these car enthusiasts to your website by crafting guides on how to repair common car issues. This may seem like a bad idea, but it’s actually a thoughtful strategy.
People that search for DIY car repairs will need the help of pros sooner or later. If they turn to your blog for help with small car troubles, they’re a lot more likely to walk through your doors when serious car problems emerge.
Myth buster posts
Banish bad information with articles dispelling common myths or inaccurate facts about automobiles. You can write about the misinformed comments you often hear from customers or head online to uncover car myths that people believe.
HotCars took to its blog armed with facts to address some off base ideas about cars.
These types of articles are valuable since they provide information that many people haven’t heard before. Additionally, the myth and truth format is more engaging and fun than a simple list of facts about cars.
Brainstorming tip: Finding auto repair blog topics using Google Trends
You didn’t think we’d leave you with just five auto repair blog topics, did you? We’re here to walk you through the process of uncovering new auto repair blog ideas with free tools. First up is Google Trends.
Google Trends allows you to examine the popularity of search terms over specific periods of time. If you’re considering a topic to write about but are unsure whether there is enough interest in it, Google Trends offers a straightforward way to find out. Here’s how it works.
1. Search for a broad topic related to your industry
The first step is to select a general topic to look up. Google Trends is best suited for short, broad terms rather than long and specific ones. We’ll head over to Google Trends and type in “car oil” to see what comes up.
The graph is set to display search popularity over the past 12 months to give a clear picture of long term interest. This term has high levels of interest and seems to be on an uptick as the end of the graph suggests. This term has potential, but it is much too broad. So it’s time for the next step.
2. Get specific with ‘Related Queries’
Beneath the graph on Google Trends is more information about the search term. Scroll down to reach a box with the label ‘Related Queries’. This is where we can uncover longer and more specific searches related to the broad car oil topic.
As you can see, these are much more detailed topics that you can create full blog posts around. The numbers to the right indicate the amount of recent interest in each term. You can repeat this process on Google Trends as often as you’d like so that your list of blog ideas is never empty.
Brainstorming tip: Find auto repair blog topics using Google Suggest and People also Ask
Let’s move on full speed ahead with two more ways to find blog topics. These two methods are incredibly quick to use. We’ll walk through them together below.
1. Get loads of ideas with Google Suggest
Banish writer’s block with a quick trip to the search bar. To activate Google Suggest, simply type out part of an idea or question in the space bar. Don’t type a complete thought here. The idea is to give just enough information, allowing Google Suggest to do the rest.
Let’s type “why is my car” and then let suggestions appear below.
Almost immediately, a list of common searches appears. You can select what topics to tackle on your blog or perform a search again with a different term to find even more ideas.
2. Dig deeper with People also Ask
To use this tool, perform a typical search on Google. Type in a question related to a topic you’re thinking of writing a post about. Let’s take one from the list above. We’ll type in “why is my car leaking oil”. This time, we will press enter.
This time a box appears near the top of the page. This displays similar questions to the one we searched. These questions reveal what type of information people are looking for in regards to the oil leak topic. You can use these questions as subheadings in a blog post or select one to be the main focus of your next piece.
Best practices for using auto repair blogs as a marketing tool
Just like putting the right type of gas in a vehicle to ensure a smooth ride, following correct blogging practices puts your auto repair blog on a successful track.
Put the following tips into practice.
Begin with clear goals. It’s best to approach your blog with clear and realistic expectations. What do you hope to get out of this content marketing strategy? If you’re unsure about what your blogging goals are, consider the goals of your auto shop as a whole. Align your blogging efforts with these overarching goals so that the blog bolsters your business.
Post consistently for better results. Posting sporadically is not great for SEO. The regular production of new content signals credibility to both users and search engines. Consider creating a content calendar detailing when each new post should be written and released. This visual representation of your schedule will help you stay on track with your content goals.
Address your whole website. What’s the point of having a brilliant blog if it is located on a run-down website? Your website serves as the house that your blog lives in. Make sure it’s in tip-top shape with technical SEO.
Technical SEO uncovers problems in your website and provides solutions to fixing them. For instance, if certain links on your pages are broken or your site has slow loading times, this damages your site’s credibility in the eyes of search engines. Using a tool like Search Console, you can uncover errors and work to remedy them for a healthy site that attracts users.
Are there underlying issues holding your website back? Find out with our free SEO audit.
Don’t skimp on word count. When it comes to SEO, quality is key. Search engines strive to provide users with valuable content that fully answers their questions. In light of this, longer pieces of content (1500+) tend to rank higher on the search engine results page (SERP). Not every topic warrants a long piece, but try to produce some long-form content that is chock full of relevant information.
Increase your blog’s reach with a turbo boost from the experts
With so many moving parts that contribute to a successful blog, managing your content can be overwhelming. There’s no reason to stumble in the unknown landscape of beginner blogging. Partner with a skilled SEO agency to drive laps around your competition.
At Markitors, we connect small to medium-sized businesses with customers thanks to our innovative digital marketing efforts. We understand that there is no one size fits all marketing plan so we tailor a unique strategy for each client based on their needs and the competitive landscape around them. Contact us today to learn how we can be of service to your auto shop.
