Six tests, ten minutes
Run these on your phone, on mobile data, away from the office wifi. Score each pass or fail, then fix in the order the failures come.
1. Send four photographs of damage in under two minutes
The test: find the estimate form, photograph a mark on any car, submit four images and the registration.
Pass: under two minutes, no failed uploads, and the images arrive legibly wherever they are supposed to land.
Fail: a contact form with a message box, a single attachment field, or an upload that rejects a phone-camera file.
The fix: a purpose-built estimate form with example images for the angles, browser-side resizing, and the registration captured for the paint code.
2. See that your paint matches
The test: as a stranger, try to satisfy yourself that this shop's repairs are invisible.
Pass: before-and-after pairs grouped by damage type, with close-ups under light showing the panel edge and the match.
Fail: a grid of whole cars photographed in a car park, or a gallery last updated in 2023.
The fix: ten jobs shot properly, in pairs, with a close-up each. Then a gallery you can add to from your phone, or it will go stale again.
3. Find out whether to claim
The test: pretend you do not understand your own policy. Can the site help.
Pass: an insurance-or-private page with the excess arithmetic and an honest statement of when not to claim.
Fail: "we work with all major insurers" and nothing else.
The fix: write the page, put a worked example in it, and link it from beside the estimate button.
4. Get a price for a bumper scuff
The test: search your own site for the smallest job you do.
Pass: smart repair and PDR have their own pages with a stated price or a tight range.
Fail: everything funnels into one services page and a request to call.
The fix: two pages, two prices. These are the highest-intent searches available to you.
5. Appear in under two seconds
The test: on mobile data, count until the main heading and the estimate button are usable.
Pass: under two seconds, even with a gallery on the page.
Fail: a hero video, a slider, full-size gallery images loading immediately, or a chat bubble.
The fix: correctly sized images in modern formats, lazy-load below the fold, chat off, booking script only where it is used.
6. Find out whether you can keep working
The test: look for the courtesy car answer.
Pass: stated plainly, with conditions, age and licence requirements. Or an honest no with what you do instead.
Fail: silence, or "courtesy cars subject to availability" with no detail.
The fix: one short section on the process page and one line on the estimate reply. For a working driver this is often the deciding factor.
Scoring
Six passes and the site is doing its job; spend on advertising rather than rebuilding. Four or five, fix the failures and leave the rest alone. Three or fewer and the structure is wrong, which means patching costs more over two years than rebuilding once.
Where this sits
Our body shop websites are built to pass all six at a fixed price. The version of this checklist for the wider trade is on the automotive page. Run the tests on the three shops nearest you as well. Most fail four of the six, which is the opportunity.