{"id":3297,"date":"2017-10-25T10:54:15","date_gmt":"2017-10-25T10:54:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/wordpress\/lavie\/?p=3297"},"modified":"2017-10-25T10:54:15","modified_gmt":"2017-10-25T10:54:15","slug":"cars-and-clicks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/2017\/10\/25\/cars-and-clicks\/","title":{"rendered":"Cars and Clicks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Written by Suzanne Hite, former publications editor serving the technology services sector<\/em><\/p>\n

Question: Back home, my dad runs an auto repair service. He does amazing work, and I\u2019m so proud of him, but he\u2019s starting to clear less of a profit lately–and I think I know why.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

My dad is great with cars, but he\u2019s not great with computers. His shop has a Facebook page that he never updates (I think I\u2019m the one that made it for him, actually–years and years ago!), but that\u2019s about it. He doesn\u2019t even have a website, which must make his business the last on Earth without one. Meanwhile, his competitors have decent websites and some even allow you to book an appointment through the site. I hate to say it, but if he wasn\u2019t my dad, I\u2019d probably choose the competitors, too–they\u2019re easier to find online and are more convenient for tech-savvy people to use!<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not like I know a ton about computers, though, and I can\u2019t just build a website for my dad. What can I do? I\u2019m worried about his business.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Answer:<\/p>\n

Your father is actually far from alone in his distaste for the latest tech: the number of small business owners who say they don\u2019t have a website is actually quite high, at <\/span>45%<\/span>.<\/span><\/a> But you may well be right that your dad\u2019s luddite tendencies are behind his business\u2019 decline. We know, based on stats from search engines like Google, that a web presence is vital to getting business. Potential customers tend to search for businesses, and they tend to do so from a mobile device (even, Google says, if a computer is available). Of those searching, <\/span>68% go the business in question within 24 hours, and 50% make a purchase<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

So it\u2019s quite likely that your father\u2019s tech illiteracy is hurting his business. But the good news is that neither you nor your father need to learn HTML or JavaScript to fix this problem. Outsourcing is a tried and true method in tech. Outsourcing is popular even with big tech companies themselves, according to the experts at <\/span>Polycom<\/span><\/a>, who have partnered with firms as large as Microsoft. So rather than do everything in-house, your dad can turn to local experts in web design to get his website off the ground.<\/span><\/p>\n

While he\u2019s at it, there are a few other things he may want to consider. A great web site should be easy to find on Google and other popular search engines, which is why any web designer he deals with should have a knowledge of search engine optimization (SEO). And he need not stop there: with scheduling software and number-crunching data programs, he can use technology to make his business more efficient. Data is transforming industries as diverse as oil and healthcare, <\/span>experts say<\/span><\/a>, and it no doubt can provide insights in auto care as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

The investment your father makes does not need to be massive: <\/span>63% of small business owners say<\/span><\/a> they spend less than a quarter of their budget on technology. But a bit of cash can go a long way for your dad\u2019s auto shop if he invests wisely. Good luck to him!<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written by Suzanne Hite, former publications editor serving the technology services sector Question: Back home, my dad runs an auto repair service. He does amazing work, and I\u2019m so proud of him, but he\u2019s starting […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3297","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-campus-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3297\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}