IS NAPA VISION RIGHT FOR MY SHOP?

Napa has rolled out a new set of online tools for repair shops, ranging from blogs to videos and beyond.  Is it worth purchasing? We’ve been using it at our shop, and here’s our report…

What Does Napa Vision Do?

Similar to AutoNetTV’s web services, Napa Vision provides regularly published articles and videos.  The articles link to your shop’s website and provide some useful content.

However, the downside of AutoNetTV is that the articles are nearly identical from shop to shop, so there is no SEO benefit for unique content because there is no unique content.  It appears that Napa is doing things the same way.

Napa also provides two types of videos.  The first is also similar to AutoNetTV.  It’s a live-action video where actors describe preventive maintenance services.  The second is a series of animations that help show the viewer how a vehicle component works.

Is Napa Vision Worth Getting?

Depending on how your shop plans on using it, Napa Vision can be a helpful service to purchase.

The blog content might be helpful, but we think it should come with a few warnings.  It does provide your website with a relevant incoming link, and that’s an important part of SEO.

On the other hand, because the content isn’t unique, Google probably won’t rank the Napa Vision blog pages very highly, so it probably won’t do much to help your site.

The live-action videos feature a lot of Napa product placement, and showing those videos to your customers might hurt your business more than help.

If your customer sees the part that they’re featuring in the video and call the local Napa store to price it, they might end up feeling that you’re overcharging them.

The animations, however, have been helpful at our front counter as a teaching tool for our service writers.  They show cutaways of parts and can help a service writer show the customer just how a part has failed and why it needs to be replaced.

Used as part of your shop’s teaching tools (like fluid samples, pictures, and even parts they can put their hands on), this can be a valuable addition.

The Bottom Line

Used in moderation as a teaching tool at the front counter, Napa Vision provides some great benefits for shops.  However, it shouldn’t be used as a major component of your shop’s internet marketing.