101 Best Keywords For All Auto Repair Shops

How People Search Online for an Auto Repair Shop Near Them

In order for you to find the best keywords for an auto repair shop to use, it’ll be beneficial to understand how prospects are searching for you. Depending on what customers’ needs are, they tend to narrow down their searches to the problem or service they need + the name of the city where they are located.

Let’s think about “Joe” who lives in Austin, TX. Joe was involved in a collision and his 2019 Toyota Camry was damaged. He’s done with the insurance process and he’s ready to find a shop to fix the body issues. Joe will start his searches around “body repair shop near me” or “body repair shop in Austin TX”. The question to ask yourself is, are you on the top 3 of Joe’s options for him to pick your shop? If not, then this blog is perfect for you!

Near Me Keywords for Auto Repair Shops

Through extensive research and market analysis, we have noticed a big change in how consumers search for keywords related to auto repair. For example, for the last 5 years the growth of “auto repair near me” has exponentially grown compared to “auto repair shop” which has stayed consistent during the same timeframe. Similarly, this has affected many different types of auto shops which you can see in our auto repair market analysis.

auto repair near me vs auto repair shop search trends

So let’s analyze what will be the best keywords for you!

Auto Repair Shop vs Mechanic Shop Keywords Nationwide

Certainly, auto repair and mechanic keywords will be very similar to one another. However, let’s analyze how people think and search across the US when they need auto services.

Auto Repair KeywordsAvg. Search Volume per Month
auto repair near me246,000/mo
auto repair shop near me74,000/mo
cheap auto repair shops near me2,400/mo
car repair shops near me27,100/mo
auto repair services1,600/mo
Mechanic KeywordsAvg. Search Volume per Month
mechanic shop near me90,500/mo
car mechanic near me40,500/mo
auto mechanic near me60,500/mo
auto mechanic shops near me6,600/mo
find a mechanic near me880/mo

Just glancing at this list, “auto repair near me” is the winner… I mean, 246,000 searches per month in the country is far ahead of “mechanic shop near me” at 90,500 searches per month.

That doesn’t mean you have to pick one over the other; you can optimize for both. But understanding how people think nationwide will help us to drill down into a local level in your market.

Local Keyword Ideas for Auto Repair Shops

Now that we understand how people search at a national level, let’s analyze how people search for auto shops in different cities across the country. This will help you identify the best keywords to use for your city.

Los Angeles KeywordsAvg. Monthly Search Volume
auto repair Los Angeles210/mo
auto repair shop Los Angeles140/mo
mechanic Los Angeles170/mo
mechanic shop Los Angeles30/mo
car repair Los Angeles70/mo
Houston KeywordsAvg. Monthly Search Volume
auto repair Houston480/mo
auto repair shop Houston110/mo
mechanic Houston320/mo
mechanic shop Houston0/mo
car repair Houston170/mo
Phoenix KeywordsAvg. Monthly Search Volume
auto repair Phoenix590/mo
auto repair shop Phoenix90/mo
mechanic Phoenix170/mo
mechanic shop Phoenix0/mo
car repair Phoenix0/mo
Chicago KeywordsAvg. Monthly Search Volume
auto repair Chicago880/mo
auto repair shop Chicago210/mo
mechanic Chicago210/mo
mechanic shop Chicago0/mo
car repair Chicago0/mo
San Diego KeywordsAvg. Monthly Search Volume
auto repair San Diego480/mo
auto repair shop San Diego90/mo
mechanic San Diego320/mo
mechanic shop San Diego10/mo
car repair San Diego110/mo

As you can see, each city’s search behavior varies greatly on the number of people using “mechanic” keywords. However, for all the cities we analyzed above, “auto repair” + CITY has the most searches of all the keywords on this list. That means that if your shop were to be a general auto repair center your primary keyword could be “auto repair + YOUR CITY”. From our small test, this would get the most impressions of all on our list.

That applies if your shop is general repairs, but what happens if your shop is specialized in one area? Let’s break down the different verticals of auto repairs and figure out what keywords can help your shop the most.

Keywords for Brake Shops

When a prospect’s car is experiencing grinding, squeaking brakes or your steering wheel is shaking (at faster speeds) and your brake pedal feels spongy, it’ll be time for them to consult with an auto brake shop. As you know, brake shops offer inspection of brake components, the resurfacing of brake rotors or drums, the removal of brake fluid contaminants and air (bleeding the lines), and the installation of brake calipers and wheel cylinders.

But how are people searching for these services?

Let’s figure out what are the most used keywords for brake shops.

Keywords for Brake ShopsAvg. Monthly Search Volume
brake shop 18,100/mo (Nationwide)
brake shops near me 22,200/mo (Nationwide)
brake repair shops near me3,600/mo (Nationwide)
cheap brake service near me2,900/mo (Nationwide)
brake services near me18,100/mo (Nationwide)
brake service cost2,400/mo (Nationwide)
brake pad replacement near me3,600/mo (Nationwide)

We clearly have a winner, again, the “near me” version of the keyword. With 22k searches per month, most people in the US search for “brake shops near me”.

Auto AC Repair Shop Keywords

Although seasonal, summer tends to spike the searches around auto ac repair shops in the US. Think about it, people can’t stand driving a car with a 90-100+ degree weather with no ac and the windows rolled down. It’s the worst! When that happens, these are the keywords they are likely to use to find you.

Keywords for AC RepairAvg. Monthly Search Volume
auto ac repair near me14,800/mo (Nationwide)
auto ac repair8,100/mo (Nationwide)
auto air conditioner repair near m4,400/mo (Nationwide)
car ac repair shop near me1,900/mo (Nationwide)
auto air conditioning service near me2,400/mo (Nationwide)
automotive ac repair near me1,600/mo (Nationwide)
car a/c service near me2,400/mo (Nationwide)

You’re probably seeing the trend that I’ve been taking all along this post; near me wins again! “Auto ac repair near me” is the clear winner with more than 14k searches per month in the US. This is just an annual average; we know winter won’t have anywhere close to that number of searches, which means summer could show 2x times more searches than the average shows.

Keywords for Transmission Shops

When it comes to all things transmission shops, whether that is repairs, maintenance, re-do, etc… people will look for a transmission shops. Let’s take a look at how those searches are happening nationwide.

Keywords for Transmission ShopsAvg. Monthly Search Volume
transmission shops74,000/mo (Nationwide)
transmission shops near me60,500/mo (Nationwide)
transmission repair near me22,200/mo (Nationwide)
transmission repair shops near me2,900/mo (Nationwide)
transmission shops near my location1,000/mo (Nationwide)

At first glance, it looks like for this type of auto shop the trend didn’t apply. The keyword without near me “transmission shops” shows 74k searches vs 60k when adding “near me”. However, I later found a different keyword that might spice things up. “Transmission repair near me” is technically searching for the same thing, but instead of looking for a specific shop, is looking for the service itself. If we count both near me keywords together (60K + 22k) “near me” keywords win again.

Auto Collision Repair and Body Shop Keywords

Accidents happen every day and most drivers will likely seek for help to get their cars fixed. Let’s look at the possible keywords they are using to find collision repair shops.

Keywords for Collision and Body ShopsAvg. Monthly Search Volume
collision shops5,400/mo (Nationwide)
collision repair near me40,500/mo (Nationwide)
body shop near me201,000/mo (Nationwide)
auto body repair near me27,000/mo (Nationwide)
auto body shop 110,000/mo (Nationwide)
auto body shops near me135,000/mo (Nationwide)
car body shops near me18,000/mo (Nationwide)
auto body collision repair near me1,600/mo (Nationwide)

Let’s analyze this table further. Stating the obvious, near me searches win again on both cases with collision and body shop keywords. However, further analysis is needed because this is the perfect example where you could pick keywords you feel right for your business. It might not align with how most people search for your services. This exercise started as “collision” but during the research, we found that a greater number of people search for this service as “body shop” instead of “collision shop”. That is a good insight for you to focus on body shop keywords. It is knowing how big the difference is compared to collision.

Keywords for a Car Electrical Repair Shop

Changing gears and analyzing how people search for electrical shops might be interesting. It’s a wide range of components that are electrical. So let’s take a look at how people search for this service.

Keywords for Car Electrical ShopAvg. Monthly Search Volume
auto electrical near me6,600/mo (Nationwide)
auto electric near me3,600/mo (Nationwide)
auto electric shop1,900/mo (Nationwide)
auto electrical shop near me1,300/mo (Nationwide)
car electrical repair shops near me2,400/mo (Nationwide)
car wiring specialist near me590/mo (Nationwide)
mobile auto electrical repair near me720/mo (Nationwide)
automotive electrical repair near me1,300/mo (Nationwide)

There you have it, another specialty shop and near me wins again.

The bottom line is that optimizing for near me is a big deal. We have proven throughout this article that people want to local places that are close to them. They like quick and easy. Make sure you’re adding these keywords to your strategy and to your keyword ranking tracker to monitor closely. You can also check our search market trends analysis for the automotive industry. Learn more about how these keywords perform in search.

At Woobound Automotive, we specialize in digital marketing and SEO for Auto Repair. We know what keywords work, how to optimize to rank for them, and we understand you well. If you need help to take the next step, contact us today!

Need customers? We can help!