A clean, lean website with inbound marketing is more effective than expensive design.
As a passionate car repair business owner, you most likely obsess about the appearance of your business and how the consumer perceives you. This is seen in the cleanliness of your service area, customer waiting room, and shop floor.
In the mind of the consumer, a clean business establishment subconsciously creates the impression of clean business practices. You know— untainted (fair pricing), organized (professional), straightforward (no surprises).
The same goes for your website. 
We’ve all been there: day after day looking at our own website, over-analyzing the look, colors and images, preoccupied with our modest presentation versus the bells and whistles of the big franchise down the street. Truth be told, if your website wins an award for web design, it will gain you zero new business. Your website design is probably ok.
That’s not to say your website isn’t key to your success. But investing thousands in your website design to compete with the big guys would be like trying to build a glass palace to complete with their grandiose dealership. The fact is consumers don’t want a multi-million dollar auto repair Taj Mahal, complete with coffee shop and movie theatre. Consumers want a clean and organized look. They want a clean waiting room and bathroom. They choose a car repair shop based on a value proposition that benefits them — a fair and honest shop with expert service that allows them to drive away with confidence.
Investing in establishing yourself as an industry expert effectively drives customers to your business. That means communicating effectively, and your website is where it begins. It should be the hub of your business. Your marketing efforts extend from this hub. Business websites started as digital brochures where consumers went to learn about your business. But, these days, a website has to be more than. Investing in the spokes that extend from your hub is significantly more valuable than investing in the hub itself. At least 70% of your marketing efforts should be focused on building lanes that drive traffic back to your website.
This is where inbound marketing comes into play. Inbound spokes—blogs, great email campaigns, landing pages and offers(not discounts and coupons) that build relationships- are stronger, last longer and create better overall results at a lower cost than outbound spokes. So, why focus on direct mail post cards, radio ads and pay per click marketing? Why distribute coupons and special offers?
An inbound marketing methodology will save your business thousands of dollars on wasteful spending like an unnecessary website redesign (remember, this is as long as you website is solidly built and has a clean look). It will shift your focus to the things that create value for your customers. In turn your customers will become an extension of your marketing engine.
Remember the good old days when customer relationships were more important than coupons on the homepage of your website? Those days are back, and the more you nurture those relationships, the more customers you’ll see come your way.
Think you need a new website? Contact us for a Free 15 Minute Consultation. We may be the only marketing company that tries to un-sell you on a new flashy website.
