SuperstitionMotors.com

SuperstitionMotors Auto Repair Website
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URL: www.SuperstitionMotors.com
Time to prototype: 4 hrs 50 min
Start to finish: 18 hours

Went Live In: October 2011

Page Rank:
PR Check
PR stands for Page Rank, and is the public view of Google’s ranking of a site on a 10 point exponential scale, according to the number and quality of incoming links that site has pointed to it.		 Alexa Rank:

Alexa is a web information company and subsidiary to Amazon. The Alexa Rank represents the company’s ranking of a site’s traffic versus all the other websites on the Internet.

SuperstitionMotors.com was our first step into the field of automotive repair. The business, Superstition Motors Ltd. in El Cajon, California is owned by Jack Doherty. Jack wanted to revamp the company website, which at this point in time was a three-page static site. He had been unsuccessful in finding a web designer willing to work for a reasonable rate. Also important was our policy of working without a design contract–others had tried to lock Superstition Motors into a hefty bill before the designer produced so much as a design concept. We agreed to work with Superstition Motors on an hourly basis with no up-front cost. We wanted to make sure they liked the direction we had in mind before they invested any money. Now it was time to realize the vision.

The site we made for Superstition Motors is a blend of elegant usability with a touch of the raw quality you’d expect to find from an auto repair shop that is going to get its hands dirty fixing your car, while offering you honest, qualified advice. The goal was to communicate through design that this is a no-frills independent shop where you can go to get quality automotive service while not having to pay the salary of a customer service rep in your bill. The dust-filled background image preserved from the original site adds the unique personal touch, while the overlaid content, sliders and rotating tabs create the elegance and usability.

Built into the design are also several components that will be key from both a visitor’s and a search engine’s standpoint:

  • Testimonials from customers and partners are featured in prominent and recurring places throughout the site.
  • The company phone number and location (address and interactive map) are easy to see and to utilize.
  • The site is optimized to rank in the search engines for terms aimed at attracting new customers to their business (such as “El Cajon auto repair”).
  • The site is set up so Mr. Doherty can share his knowledge of automotive repair with the world in the form of articles in the “Repair Education” section, further attracting more eyes from around the Web and lending more credibility to the business in the process.
  • Each one of these future posts will be ready to rank in the search engines as well, thanks to an automated meta information foundation allowing them to publish and have the basic nuances of search engine optimization covered without an extra thought.

In its original state, Mr. Doherty did not want the business’ web address on its business cards. The early site had a very cool background image, but the rest of the design did not accurately reflect the quality the business offered, and it contained very little information beyond its address and phone number. Further, it was not professionally done and Doherty feared it would leave potential customers with a bad impression.

Now, Mr. Doherty and the whole crew at Superstition Motors have expressed that they want to show off their new website at every opportunity, because it now reflects the quality of the services customers can expect from the business.