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Strategy   ·   5 min read

Google Ads vs. Local SEO for Auto Body Shops: Which First?

Ads get you jobs this week. SEO gets you jobs for years. Here's the order that makes sense for most shops.

This is the most common question we get. Here's the honest answer.

Google Ads: fast, but you rent it

Ads can put you at the top of Google today and book jobs this week. The catch: the moment you stop paying, you disappear.

You're renting the top spot. Great for cash flow now, but it never becomes an asset.

Local SEO: slow, but you own it

Local SEO gets you into the map pack and the organic results. It takes longer to build, usually a few months.

But once it's there, it keeps sending you jobs without you paying per click. You own it instead of renting it.

The order most shops should use

Start with ads to book jobs now. Build SEO underneath so that over time, more of your jobs come free.

  • Month 1: turn on ads, start booking jobs immediately.
  • Months 1 to 6: build local SEO in the background.
  • Month 6+: SEO carries more of the load, ad spend works harder.

We run both together for most shops, ads for speed, local SEO for the long game, so you're never dependent on just one.

If you can only do one to start, do ads. Jobs this week beat jobs someday when the bays are empty.

Want this handled for you? We run Local SEO for collision and auto body shops. Booked jobs in 45 days, guaranteed, or you don't pay. See how it works →

Keep reading
Local SEO   ·   6 min read

Google Business Profile Setup for Collision Shops (Step by Step)

For a body shop, this is the single highest-leverage thing you can fix online. Most shops leave half of it blank.

 Lead systems   ·   4 min read

The Real Cost of a Slow Lead Response (And How to Fix It)

A lead that waits an hour is often already gone. The math on this is brutal, and fixable.
FREE JOB-FLOW AUDIT Your next step

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A 20-minute call. We'll show you where your next repair orders are hiding and what it takes to book them. If we're a fit, you'll know. If not, you keep the plan either way.

or email daim@collisioncatalyst.com
STEP 01

You reach out

Two lines about your shop and your market is plenty.

STEP 02

We dig in first

We audit your search presence and lead flow before we ever get on the call.

STEP 03

You get the plan

Run it yourself, or have us build it with the guarantee attached. Your call.