This is a sample report for a made-up auto repair shop.
Ridgeline Auto Care is not a real business. Your report follows the same layout, built from your own website, Google listing and mobile speed. It is free, and the preview needs no email.
Marketing audit
Ridgeline Auto Care
ridgeline-sample.example
Make it a one-minute job to book a drop-off from a phone, and show prices and the free inspection up front.
One booking page led by "Free inspection. Honest prices. Same-week drop-off in North Seattle.", with starting prices, a short form with a drop-off day, the warranty and three real reviews. Use it for the Google listing and search ads.
The services, the technicians and the free inspection already exist. What is missing is one page that makes booking easy and removes the fear of a surprise bill, and a new website would not change that.
This is what a customer sees when they search for a business like yours on Google, before they ever visit your website.
Location checked: Ridgeline Auto Care. 1 location checked.
| Business | Google rating |
|---|---|
| Ridgeline Auto Care (you) | 4.5★ · 47 reviews |
| Example Auto Repair A | 4.8★ · 320 reviews |
| Example Auto Repair B | 4.7★ · 210 reviews |
| Example Auto Repair C | 4.6★ · 118 reviews |
Your listing: opening hours set, phone number added, 4 photos. Comparable businesses nearby have a median of 210 reviews.
In one Google Places search for “auto repair North Seattle WA”, your listing was result 8 of the places returned. This is a limited sample from one search, not a verified Google ranking, which varies by searcher, distance and query.
On a phone, Google's test showed your main content after 4.1s (under 2.5s is good; yours is rated “poor”). Slow pages lose people on phones before they ever see your phone number or booking button.
Email from ridgeline-sample.example: sender record (SPF) found, spam-protection policy (DMARC) missing. Mail provider: Google Workspace. In plain terms, missing settings like these can send your emails to customers’ spam folders. Whoever manages your email or website can usually fix this quickly.
The service request form asks for 11 fields before anyone can book
/request-service: Fields: First name, Last name, Email, Phone, Year, Make, Model, VIN, Mileage, Service needed, Comments. Button reads "Submit".
/: The only button in the header reads "Request Service". There is no drop-off time picker anywhere.
Why it matters. Someone with a grinding brake wants it handled today and will not look up their VIN on a phone. Every extra field loses people, and a form with no time to pick feels like a message to nowhere.
What to do. Cut the form to name, phone, vehicle, what is wrong and preferred drop-off day. Reply by text within an hour, and ask for the VIN only when the booking is confirmed.
No prices, and the free inspection is buried in the footer
/services: Cards read "Brakes", "Tires", "Oil Change" and "Diagnostics" with no starting prices or time estimates.
/: "Free multi-point inspection" appears once, in small text in the footer.
Why it matters. People expect to be overcharged at a shop they do not know. A starting price and a free inspection are the quickest ways to answer that worry before the call.
What to do. Show starting prices for the five most common jobs, for example an oil change and brake pads per axle. Move "Free multi-point inspection" to the top of the home page and the booking form.
No customer reviews on the site and no warranty stated
/: No review quotes, star ratings or badges appear on the page.
/about: Text reads "Our ASE-certified technicians treat your car like their own." No warranty terms and no customer names.
Why it matters. Car repair is a trust purchase. Reviews and a clear warranty answer "will they take care of me if something goes wrong?", which is what most people are really asking.
What to do. Text every customer a review link after pickup, and show three real reviews with first names on the home page and the brake and tire pages. State the warranty in one line next to the booking button.
The home page is slow on phones
/: The home page loads a six-image slider and a background video; 8 of the 12 images have no description text.
Why it matters. Google measured the main content appearing after more than four seconds on a phone. Visitors on a mobile connection may leave before the page shows. Speed is one of several things that affect how visitors behave, and we cannot say how it affects your position on the map.
What to do. Replace the slider and video with one still image, resize the large images and add short descriptions to every image.
Your plan
Make it easy to reach you
Every extra step between a visitor and you costs enquiries, especially on a phone.
Cut the form to name, phone, vehicle, what is wrong and drop-off day.
Make the phone number tap-to-call in the header of every page.
- Put a tap-to-call phone number and one main button at the top of every page.
- Use one short form: name, phone or email, and what they need. Three or four fields at most.
- Say what happens next, for example "We reply within one business day".
- Repeat the button under each service, not only on the contact page.
- Test it on your own phone: can a stranger reach you in two taps?
Get more Google reviews
People compare ratings and review counts before they compare anything else. Asking at the right moment is the cheapest marketing you can do.
You have far fewer Google reviews than the shops near you. More recent reviews can help people choose you, though Google does not say how reviews affect map position and other factors count too.
Send the text at pickup to every customer. Do not screen who gets asked.
- In your Google listing, copy your review link ("Get more reviews").
- Ask every eligible customer within a day of their visit or purchase, while it is fresh. Do not pick and choose who to ask. A text gets more replies than an email.
- Send one ask and one reminder three days later. No more than that.
- Reply to every review, good or bad, within two days.
- Do not offer discounts or gifts for reviews, and do not only ask customers you expect to be happy. Google can remove reviews and penalize listings for both.
Hey Sam, thanks for trusting Ridgeline with your car today. Would you share your experience in a quick Google review, good or bad? It helps neighbors choose a shop: [review link]
Make your site load faster on phones
Slow pages lose visitors before they read a word. Most of the gain usually comes from a short list of fixes.
Google's mobile test showed the main content after 4.1 seconds; under 2.5 is good.
Start with the home page slider and the background video.
- Compress and resize images. Photos are the biggest cause of slow pages.
- Use modern image formats (WebP or AVIF) and load images below the first screen only when scrolled to.
- Remove plugins and scripts you do not use: sliders, old chat widgets, extra trackers.
- Turn on caching, and use hosting with a content delivery network if yours does not.
- Re-test at pagespeed.web.dev after each change so you know which one helped.
Your landing page brief
A landing page is one page built to get a single action, such as a call or a booking. It is not your whole website. This is the plan for yours.
Audience: North Seattle and Shoreline drivers with a brake, tire or check-engine problem who want it handled this week by a shop they can trust.
Offer: A free multi-point inspection, a price before any work starts, and same-week drop-off.
Headline options:
- Free Inspection. Honest Prices. Same-Week Drop-Off.
- Car Trouble in North Seattle? Get a Price Before We Start
Proof to show:
- Starting prices for common jobs
- The warranty in one line
- Three real reviews with first names
- ASE certification, hours and address
Main button: Book a drop-off
How to find new customers
Google Business Profile and local search
People with a car problem search on a phone and pick from the map results. A complete, well-reviewed listing puts the shop in front of them while they are choosing.
Start with: This week, add hours, services, starting prices and photos of the shop and the team to the listing.
Google search ads
Brake and check-engine problems are bought on a search, and one job is worth hundreds of dollars. Ads on "brake repair Seattle" and "check engine light near me" reach people ready to book.
Start with: Once the booking page is live, run a small search campaign limited to your service area and track every call.
Text message follow-up
A car needs service again every few months. A reminder text for the next oil change or tire rotation brings customers back without new ad spend.
Start with: Start sending a text at pickup asking for a review, then a reminder text three months later.
Directories and review sites (Yelp, Angi, industry sites)
Review sites and local directories often show up next to the map results and add trust.
Start with: Claim the listing on the two or three review sites you already appear on and check that the hours and phone number match.
Google Business Profile and local search + Google search ads + Text message follow-up
First, fix the listing and collect reviews by text. Then send ad clicks to the new booking page. Each finished job adds a review and a reminder, which makes the next search click and the next repeat visit more likely.
Skip for now
- Facebook and Instagram ads. Social ads reach people who are not thinking about their car today, so most of the spend would go to the wrong audience.
- Helpful content that ranks on Google. Articles take months to rank, and your customers search at the moment of the problem. Do this after the listing and ads are working.
Next steps
- Cut the request form to five fields and add a preferred drop-off day.
- Show starting prices for the five most common jobs and move the free inspection to the top of the home page.
- Text every customer a Google review link after pickup, and put three reviews on the site.
- Count calls and form requests so you can see which searches bring real jobs.
How to know it's working
- Calls from the site and the Google listing, counting calls over 60 seconds
- Booking requests per week
- Booked jobs that came from a call or form, asked at drop-off
- Cost per booked job by search term, once ads are running
Do you need a new website?
A landing page, not a new site. The site already has service pages, a phone number and an about page. It needs one page built around booking and a few fixes, not a rebuild.
Not sure what a term means? Read the plain-words guide.
What we couldn't see from your site alone
- Call volume, ad spend, rankings and conversion rates cannot be seen from the website alone.
- We could not tell whether the shop already runs ads or uses a call-tracking number.
- Prices, certifications and warranty terms beyond what the site states were not checked.
Get this for your business
Enter your website and see your own first move in about a minute.
Questions about how it works? Read how it works.