Sometimes, consumers will spend a lot of time looking for an auto shop — doing research ahead of time and checking out multiple shops in their area. Other times, consumers have an urgent need for auto service and will click on whichever shop is closest.

To be visible in these kinds of local searches, you need to rank in Google Maps. To do that, you need a Google My Business listing.

Make sure that your phone number, address, hours, etc. are all up to date on your listing, and optimize it with a unique description and pictures of your shop and team.

In addition to getting listed on Google My Business, make sure that you have an up-to-date listing on every local site, directory and app that a prospective customer might use. These include Top Rated Local®, Yelp and Yellow Pages, just to name a few.

Most of the time, the search for an auto shop will begin on a search engine, like Google or Bing. Your ability to rank high when someone searches for a relevant keyword, like “auto shop near me” or “auto service in Denver,” will have a huge impact on website traffic.

Ranking for important keywords starts with identifying those keywords, and then optimizing your website content for them. Use keywords in the page titles, headings, metadata and content of your website.

Done incorrectly, optimizing your content for keywords can quickly become spammy. Avoid this by only using keywords that naturally fit in your content. As long as keywords are relevant to your service and shop, it shouldn’t be difficult to use them naturally.

Facebook, Instagram and other social media platforms have billions of users, many of whom log in every day and spend hours scrolling through their feeds. These days, social media is where many people are spending their time online. You need to be there.

Not only do social media platforms boast large, active audiences, but social media users are also actively searching for local businesses. Social media isn’t just where people go to catch up with old friends or see the latest pictures of their nieces or nephews. It’s where people go to find local businesses.

It’s not enough to simply have a Facebook or Instagram profile, either. You need to build an active social media presence. That means posting consistently and interacting with your followers on a regular basis.

The truth is that there are many different places your potential customers may go to look for an auto shop website. One key way to ensure that you’re visible wherever people in your area are looking for auto service is with multi-channel advertising.

Run ads on the channels most popular with your customer base. For auto shops, Google and Facebook are often the most important channels to advertise on, but you may also want to consider YouTube advertising, digital billboards and OTT ads (which run on digital TV).

Whatever channels you decide to run ads on, make it a point to target the right audience. Facebook especially offers pinpoint targeting, allowing you to target users by interest, location and other demographic factors.

Local services — including auto shops — can also benefit from Local Services Ads (LSA) on Google. These ads appear for only people in your service area, and you only pay when someone messages you or calls you directly through the ad.

In addition to optimizing your Google My Business page with a description, pictures, etc., another thing you can do to boost your rankings in Google Maps is to get more reviews — specifically five-star reviews!

Not only will getting more five-star reviews help you rank higher in local searches, but it will also help you build trust with prospective customers and new leads.

As unfair as it may be, auto shops have a bad reputation for misleading customers. Many people are wary of new auto shops for this reason, and they rely on reviews to help them identify trustworthy auto shops and steer clear of the wrong ones.

The easiest way to get more five-star reviews is to start asking for them. Follow up after an auto service with an email asking the customer for feedback on their visit. If they were happy, send them to Google or Top Rated Local to write a review. If they’re not, direct them to an internal form where they can give you feedback.