Top 10 Website Design Mistakes to Avoid for Auto Shops: Expert Tips

1. Too Busy or Too Empty

We've all seen them: websites that have way too much going on. If your site is overwhelming and visually busy, you're increasing the likelihood that people will bounce off it a few seconds after arriving.



It's easy to understand why a business might cram a bunch of information into their landing page. They want to let their customers know about their services and their company. However, a crowded website with tons of text and images is going to take too long to load and ultimately be confusing.

On the other end of the spectrum, some auto shop websites commit the opposite design sin. While minimalism is all the rage in web design right now, that's different than having a basically empty website.

Don't let your customers have more questions than answers after visiting your site. Make sure the necessary information is present or else people will check out another auto shop with a more explanatory site.

2. Not Mobile Friendly

Having a mobile-friendly website is key for a number of reasons.



One, more and more people rely on their smartphones for their internet use. It's projected that by 2025 almost three-quarters of internet users will use only their smartphone to access the web. This means you're cutting out a lot of potential customers if your site isn't mobile-friendly!

Two, whether or not your site is mobile-friendly affects your Google search ranking. That means that even if someone is searching for you from a laptop, you'll still be punished for not having a mobile-friendly site.

3. A Horrible Call-to-Action

Having a sold CTA is essential to your internet marketing strategy. When a potential customer is looking at your site, your CTA is what drives their next action.



If your CTA is confusing, demanding, or hard to find, you're not doing yourself any favors. Ideally, you want to give people a couple of minutes on your page before the CTA appears.

Well-done CTAs improve your conversion rate. The best part about a good CTA is that you're giving the customer what they want. People appreciate being simple directives rather than facing confusion and decision making fatigue.

4. Confusing Brand Image

Is your site a showcase of every existing font, color, and theme? Then it's possible you're guilty of having a confusing brand image.



This isn't that uncommon when companies don't have a solid concept of their brand image. There are so many awesome ideas for website designs out there that it can be tempting to try a little of everything. Unfortunately, this only creates confusion and discontinuity from the user's perspective.

When you're designing a website for an auto shop, you want to have an overall design concept for the site and the brand as a whole. You need to pick one single logo, theme, and one or two typefaces that keep your site aesthetically cohesive.

To learn more about the importance of visual branding for auto shops, check out this article.

5. Irrelevant or Unsightly Images

Did you know that the human brain processes visual data 60,000 times faster than text? That just goes to show how important images are as a part of your website.



That being said, you don't just want any old images on your site. They should be carefully chosen. The pictures on your site will give people an impression of your company before they've even had the time to read one sentence.

Make sure that your images are aesthetically pleasing and also relevant to the subject matter at hand.

It's also essential that your images are high-quality or else visitors will be turned off to your site. Low-quality images will lead potential customers to think less of your company almost instantly.

As a last important point, you don't want to go overboard with images either. If your site has too many large visuals, it might slow down the loading speed of your page. People's patience for slowly loading websites is incredibly low, and if the site doesn't load fast enough they'll probably leave before they even see it.

6. Navigation Issues

There is no room for hidden or confusing navigation in auto shop websites. Have you ever been on a site where the navigation menu was nearly impossible to find? If you're like most people, it probably led you to look for your information somewhere else.

7. Poor Use of Content Marketing

They say "content is king" for a reason. Content marketing is essential for a number of reasons.



It can help boost your search rankings so that people find your website in the first place. It also can help you gain devoted customers who look to your company as an authority in your field.

Even if you have great articles, the design of your content pages might be driving people away. It's critical that you choose your fonts carefully and lay your content out on the page with care.

You'll want to use an attractive and legible font. It's also important to make good use of white space rather than displaying content in a wall of text. Big blocks of text can be intimidating and can lead to consumers leaving your page sooner.

Use short sentences and short paragraphs when posting content on your site. Break up text wherever you can and incorporate visuals where they are relevant.

Lastly, you should always keep your content updated. If a customer sees that your last blog post was from five years ago, they might wonder if you're even still in business.

8. Annoying Ad Placement

Some auto shops might make the decision to make some extra money running ads on their site. While that's an accepted part of the web design world, there are better and worse ways to do it.

If ads are too flashy or noisy, they'll distract and frustrate your visitors. If your site has endless pop-ups, you are likely losing customers who simply don't want to deal with it.

You'll want to look at your site very carefully. Are your ads costing you business? In most instances, it would be better to have no ads on your site and more customers at your auto shop.

Of course, there's hosting other people's ads and there are considerations about your own advertising. Use this resource to learn about what advertising channels your auto shop should use.

9. Impossible to Find Contact Info

This one is surprising, but it's not that uncommon for contact information to be hidden or non-existent on auto shop websites. You're not doing yourself any favors if you make it nearly impossible for a potential customer to contact you when they've decided to use your services.



Make sure that your "Contact Us" page is only one click away. Include your contact information in the footer of each page so they always know how to contact you if they need to.

As a business owner, you know how important it is to communicate with customers. You're only making it harder on yourself if they don't know how to get a hold of you in the first place.

10. Not Attracting Your Target Audience

An important aspect of your digital marketing strategy is that you need to attract your target demographic.



Understanding your target audience is the first step in learning how to attract them. The look and feel of a site will attract and repeal different kinds of people, and you want to make sure you hit the nail right on the head.

If you surf around and look at different companies' websites, you'll notice how varying the tone and vibe can be. You also might come across websites that try to appeal to too many different audiences, making them seem muddled and confusing.

Avoiding These Website Design Mistakes Will Help You Get More Business

It's great that you have a website, but optimizing your site could revolutionize your business. We live in a digital world now, and creating an online presence that appeals to your target audience is absolutely essential.

Are you making any or all of these website design mistakes? Is it time for you to overhaul your website?



If so, click here to learn how to order your new website today.