U.S. Windshield Repair is a family owned and operated business located in Central Utah.ย ย Started in Southern California in 1990 as a full-time windshield repair service, they began designing and manufacturing products soon after as they realized there was a shortage of quality tools and products. Bill Penrod’s previous history is 12 years in the retail grocery industry, 8 years in law enforcement as a deputy sheriff and marshal and 6 months as a property manager in a ski resort.
Mike:ย With a domain name like WindshieldRepair.com, there is no denying that you have the market cornered.ย Tell me a little about your business.
Bill:ย Well that’s not true.ย The name has been a boost but today larger companies with their SEO efforts and budgets have more than leveled the playing field.ย In fact, it is I that have to work harder and harder to stay relevant.
Mike:ย The name is a perfect fit. Were you the first to register the name, or did you purchase it from someone.ย ย If the latter, walk us through the process you followed to obtain it.
Bill:ย I was the first to register it.ย A friend had told me the internet would be big some day and I should grab a good URL.ย I wish I could say I was smart and saw the potential, the truth is I had good guidance and a fair amount of luck.
Mike:ย Do you own any other domains?
Bill:ย Yes, www.uswindshieldrepair.com ( my actual business name) and a few others.ย I had hopes to grow several online businesses but find as time goes on I only have time for the one.
Mike:ย I imagine you get a large amount of type-in traffic, or people that just type in your domain name needing.ย Do you have any idea how much of your traffic comes from this source?
Bill:ย Roughly 30%.
ย Mike:ย Are you willing to share your overall monthly traffic numbers?
Bill:ย Hmmm, due to the extremely competitive environment I would rather not.
Mike:ย What’s been the most challenging part of running an online business?
Bill:ย Salesmanship.ย I get a large number of potential customers that visit my site, call me, ask questions and advice, then buy from my competitor.ย In almost every case they call back after making a purchase from that competitor and tell me two things:
1) I made a mistake I should have bought from your company in the first place and
2) Now that I’ve spent all my money elsewhere I have limited resources can you give me a break?ย I have agonized over the years as to what I am doing wrong, what the other guy is doing right and how to turn things around.ย Sadly I have not yet figured it out.ย I have gone through several incarnations and surveyed these customers but not found the answer.
Mike:ย Do you think there are still any good names out there for business owners to launch a site on?
Bill:ย Absolutely!ย With so many names already taken it is more challenging but certainly it can be done.
3 comments
I have to agree that lead generator type developments (Aka: Keyword domains) can be a great asset to any companies long term online marketing campaign. I’ve used that technique for years. However, I also believe that a company should have a less generic brand name that such keyword domains feed the leads to. At the end of the day, one of the reasons a potential customer leaves a keyword website to go to a competitor is because the competitions brand felt more authoritative.
To be honest, the website look is a bit outdated. It does not build trust nor authority in the niche.
If you know your customer lifetime value, check what means a 10% increase of conversion rate for the users who leave the site and don’t buy (10% being an increase due to website upgrade), you might consider an investment in redesigning the website.
I think that’s some valuable feedback for Bill. Thanks for making the point.