WALTHAM, Mass. — DealerRater announced the launch of the new Certified Service Center Program, a new suite of tools featuring a Service Center Review Page packed with service-specific information such as amenities, hours, photos and top-reviewed service employees. Dealers can also push out special offers and coupons through the site.

Officials at DealerRater said the new offering is in response to recent studies which show a 66 percent increase in online searches for auto repair and maintenance in the past three years. Searches have even surpassed growth in car and truck searches by eight percent in the past year alone, officials said.

“With the jump in online searches for auto maintenance and repairs, dealers need to differentiate their service business from independent service centers as well as local dealership competitors,” said Chip Grueter, president at DealerRater. “We’ve carefully designed our new Certified Service Center pages to provide dealerships with critical customer connection points — like service scheduling and special offers — while also benefiting from priority placement in service center searches on our site and improved SEO for key auto repair search terms.”  

Here are some key features of DealerRater’s Certified Service Center:

• Service Center Review Page: Comprehensive review page displays service center information such as amenities and hours, photos and top-reviewed service employees. Enables dealers to gain enhanced visibility for their service business and highlight differentiators to attract in-market shoppers.

Premium Review Page Ad Placement: Enables exclusive ad placement of the dealership’s display ad on its own Service Center Review page. The feature helps to brand the dealership’s service business to in-market consumers.

Service Appointment Requests: Enables the dealerships to receive online service appointment requests and book service appointments online.

Special Offers and Coupons: Enables the display of service-related special offers and coupons on the dealer’s Service Center Review page.

Priority Placement on Search Results: Provides top placement on DealerRater service center search results pages. In-market consumers will see the dealer’s Service Center first when searching for service in their local area.

Service Employees Highlighted: Displays top-reviewed service employees and associated reviews on dealership’s own Service Center review page. Dealers can use the page to post employee reviews, bios, testimonials, photos and videos.

Improved SEO: Helps boost search engine optimization results for a dealer’s service business and ensures in-market consumers find the dealership when searching for auto maintenance and repair online.

DealerRater Car Recall Page Links: Enables direct links to the dealer’s Service Center review page from DealerRater’s popular car recall pages, providing additional visibility for a dealership’s service business and service reviews.

Service-Specific Point of Sale Tools: Includes tools such as service reminder window clings, invoice stickers and service rating cards to encourage customers to write service reviews. Helps dealerships increase their total service review count and gets customers talking about the service department.

Certified Service Seal: A unique DealerRater seal differentiates the dealership from local competition by indicating participation in the Certified Service Center Program.