U-R-G On the Go
An informative podcast for the United Recyclers Group. Each week we will feature an entertaining guest that will share their knowledge and information with you, providing you with tips and tools to help you become a more profitable business.
U-R-G On the Go
What Happens When Google Can’t Read Your Site
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
A high-performing recycler website is more than a logo and a phone number—it’s a 24/7 salesperson that turns searches into paid orders. We sit down with Andy Alonso from URG Web Services to unpack how yards across the U.S. and Canada are modernizing outdated sites and unlocking real e-commerce with clean structure, secure hosting, and tools built for this industry.
We start with the foundation: WordPress sites powered by the IIS Auto Part Search plugin to surface real-time inventory, accurate pricing, and clear availability. Andy explains why SSL, supported plugins, and reliable hosting matter, and how quiet failures—broken forms, missing images, stale pricing—silently drain revenue. Then we dig into Google Merchant Center and nightly product feeds that force faster indexing, so new parts and updates show up in search sooner, right where buyers are already looking.
Mobile-first design takes center stage, with most traffic now arriving by phone. We cover what a frictionless experience looks like: fast search, tap-to-call, streamlined checkout, and clear policies. We also explore video’s growing role, including YouTube walk-around integrations that boost trust and conversions while expanding reach to the web’s second-largest search engine. For SEO, Andy breaks down practical basics—specific H1s, unique titles and meta, and structured data—so search engines and AI systems can actually understand your pages.
Looking ahead, the shift to full e-commerce continues as younger buyers skip phone calls and expect to buy in minutes, not wait on quotes. Refreshing design every four to five years, updating content monthly, and integrating orders back into your yard management system keeps operations smooth and customers happy. If you’ve wondered why your site isn’t selling more—or how to future-proof for AI-driven discovery—this conversation gives you a clear roadmap.
If this helped, follow the show, share it with your team, and leave a quick review so other recyclers can find it. Ready to modernize your site and sell more parts online? Subscribe and tell us your top upgrade priority.
Welcome one and all to the URG on the go podcast. This is your podcast. It's for the pros that have a need to know that are on the go. My name is Michael Guerra. I am one of the IT guys here at URG United Recyclers Group. We've also got Amanda, as always, who's uh joining us on today's podcast. And Amanda, why don't you go ahead and introduce who we've got with us today?
SPEAKER_00:Thank you so much, Michael. We've got Michael now as my co-host here on URG on the Go podcast. Thank you so much, Michael. I am Amanda Morrison and I am your director of customer success here at URG. So if you need anything regarding member benefits, anything that you have questions about regarding URG or the conference or anything URG related or industry related, I can help you out. And today we have a very special guest, someone that I enjoy working with thoroughly, Andy Alonzo, here with our Web Services team. He has helped develop a lot of our sites that we have here at URG and worked with our members. So Andy, thank you so much for being on the podcast today.
SPEAKER_02:Hey Amanda, yeah. Happy to be with you guys.
SPEAKER_00:Awesome. All right. We want to get to know you and learn a little bit more about you. Can you give us a little bit of a background? Give us a quick overview of your role at URG here, uh, URG Web Services, and what your team is focused on right now.
SPEAKER_02:Absolutely. So URG Web Services specializes in building modern, revenue-producing e-commerce websites for automotive recyclers across the US and Canada. Our focus is on upgrading outdated websites, improving performance, and leveraging the ISS Auto Part Search plugin to enable real-time online part sales, moving yards beyond simple quote requests to full e-commerce infrastructure. I lead the website development for URG web services. Our team builds modern e-commerce style websites for automotive recyclers on WordPress with the ISS Auto Part Search plugin. And right now we're actually focused on upgrading a lot of older yard sites, improving site speed, like helping them boost conversions. We also integrate into Google Merchant Center and helping recyclers get more online part sales, not just traffic.
SPEAKER_00:That's perfect. Yeah, and and you've been helping develop these sites and discovering these new ways. I know Google Merchant Center is a little bit newer of an ad, and we've had some really good luck with our members adding that on to their service. And you and you help guide them along there there as well with setting that up, correct?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, absolutely. Merchant Center has been a phenomenal tool that we've been integrating probably over the last 12 months to really help inventory um get indexed faster and be found quicker from the Google search bar.
SPEAKER_00:That's perfect. Exactly what you want in a website, right?
SPEAKER_02:Correct. Yeah, because the while the websites that we uh connect to uh with the ISS plugin, they automatically sync inventory every 24 hours, kind of like in the wee hours of the night. And so let's say a recycler inventories 50 parts today. If they are connected to a Google Merchant Center, then that account forces their inventory to be re-indexed daily as opposed to an ad hoc schedule that's Google search bots would just kind of come in periodically throughout the month or the quarter and re-index a website for changes.
SPEAKER_00:Right. And and Michael, I'm gonna get you in here too. You uh you help get that data feed and and those images uploaded as well on the URG data side, right?
SPEAKER_04:I do. Um uh Andy and his team send uh are gracious enough to send us emails uh as they're getting things ready for the yard, uh, you know, as they're building up these websites. And so, you know, we will connect with the the the members who are doing these sites to get their images or you know, if their data feeds out of date or whatever, we coordinate with them directly to get that information so that the website can get done quickly and smoothly.
SPEAKER_00:Perfect. Yeah, we we all work in unison and harmoniously. It's it's been a really great uh great result for our recyclers here. So, Andy, about how many websites have you built for recyclers now and and what patterns do you see across yards uh as of right now today?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, great question. Um, so today URG Web Services built about 140 you know plus counting um websites for recyclers across the US and Canada. Um and there's actually a lot of very consistent patterns across the industry. Most yards that we engage with are dealing with outdated sites, slow loading times, like limited mobility um for like mobile devices, cell phones, um, non existent or very poor on-site search and incomplete inventory presentation. A major part of the modernization that we're focused on right now is with the ISS AutoPart plug search plugin, which can connect to all three major you know yard management systems um natively. Um this integration is crucial because it enables members to transact online orders directly through your website, not just sending quotes um to requests they have in the past. So it really helps move recyclers toward toward you know true e-commerce with real-time availability, pricing, and product data pulled from their inventory system. So it's super cool. Um almost every yard wants more online sales, and these technologies uh really are the bridge that make that possible.
SPEAKER_00:Totally agree with that. Yeah, and I I think you know that's one of the main points as well, is a lot of these guys will have websites created and not necessarily have their full inventory on the website, as well as pricing and uh a checkout tool. I think that's you know one of the biggest things as well. Um, I've I've gone to a lot of sites uh whenever I'm doing my member benefits reviews. And if you guys are wanting to do a member benefits review, I'm always here. Please, please reach out. And that's something that uh really I want to hone in on and make sure that I'm doing with the members actively, even quarterly, reviewing your tiering, all of that. But uh whenever I do these member benefits reviews, a lot of times I'm clicking to their website to see what it looks like and how they're presenting themselves to the general consumer. And even, you know, body shops will go looking for specific parts on on our site. And if they're not represented correctly, or the biggest one is is is a non-secure site. So it'll have you know a circle with an X through it up at the top at the URL. And I don't even want to click further. Uh, you know, I I have all the safeties. Mike will make sure that we have all the safeties and everything's set up on our browsers to make sure we don't get hacked or, you know, anything's going on with that. But I don't want to go any further because I don't want to cause any issues on my laptop, you know. And I think that's one of the key pieces of what URG is doing is making sure you have a safe, secured site with that SSL certificate and and the search function that connects to your yard management system as well, pulling that inventory nightly, right?
SPEAKER_02:Correct. Yes, definitely. Um SSLs are actually super crucial uh to any modern website, and it's actually a very simple thing to have SSLs renew automatically if it's properly set up, if you're in the right hosting environments, and you have a team backing your website, which is what you have, you know, with the ISS support team and URG web services.
SPEAKER_00:Yep, perfect. And and so what are the most common reasons recyclers come to URG for a website? What would you say were the most common reasons?
SPEAKER_02:Uh well, three things come to mind rough top. Um number one, it's the simplest. Their site's just outdated, right? It was built a number of years ago. Um sometimes we, you know, we engage with members who their websites, you know, it's 10, 12, 15 years old, right? Um, and so it's just a bad face for any business to not have a modern website uh that functions well on the device, uh, content's easily readable. Um the products and services that you're offering are easy to engage with. There's simple call to actions. There are contact functions that actually work on the site, like forms, uh, phone number links, stuff like that. Um, I'd say number two is probably that they've you know they've searched the web and they know who their competitors are, either locally, regionally, or across the nation, uh, and they look more modern than them. And so they're just trying to kind of catch up.
SPEAKER_00:And keep up with the Joneses, right?
SPEAKER_02:Correct.
unknown:Correct.
SPEAKER_04:Oh, I've I've had I've taken calls on the support line from people from other members who said, hey, I saw the sites that were coming up, and I am now I I gotta keep pace. It is absolutely a real thing, 100%.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it very much is. Um, and then I think the third thing really is that they just want e-commerce style functionality um and sites that are you know uh better for Google traffic and indexing of their of their parts. Um that's a huge advantage that the IIS Auto Parts Search plugin offers these members. And you know, the ones have taken advantage of it, that have done website refreshes with us, they're on the other side. And so they're actually benefiting, you know, from all these um advantages that this that this setup can offer their business. And so being able to kind of you know offer sites, you know, members that have outdated sites, they want to look you know more modern and have e-commerce functionality, you know, with better Google indexing, yeah, I would say those are probably the three top reasons why they come to uh to us for help.
SPEAKER_00:For sure. Yep, I I completely agree with that. I'm on all these website calls with you, and I think that's that's definitely the main, the the main topic there. Um, you know, is is it's out of date too. And and do you do you have a recommended year mark? Oh, I think we're gonna go into that here. Um, like with the challenges that you see on old onboarding older sites, what what are the things that stand out the most to you for for the older sites that we are looking at?
SPEAKER_02:So I'd say uh you know, for older sites that either we migrate over to our hosting platform or that we have access to when we're refreshing um their website, um typically it's a collection of like just older legacy plugins, right? Something that was functioning, you know, four or five, six years ago. And you know, maybe the developer that plug-in has you know let it go. They're not they're not supporting it anymore. And so it's it's out of date. And um, you know, these plugins can actually create security holes in your website. And um, that's why it's super important to keep everything updated and on the latest version, which is what we do for members um for sites that we host. So you don't have to think about that as a yard owner or manager. You don't have to think about keeping your website updated. We handle that for you. Um but with you know, these older sites that are coming on board, um, a lot of them are using outdated themes, same thing. They're no longer being supported. Um, or the inventory just wasn't set up properly. Uh, and they don't have you know a modern e-commerce um functionality on their site. Um, another thing would be search, you know, could be limited on the site. Um, maybe the inventory is not syncing correctly to the site or it isn't you know on the site at all. Um and then, you know, hosting, you know, wherever they have the hot the site hosted, there's hundreds of hosting companies and uh offerings out there, but not all of them are you know right for for you know one specific business. And so we've tailored our hosting environments to make sure that the tech stack that we run on all of our websites function properly with the ISF plugin, also engage and work well with WooCommerce, which handles the transaction checkout process. Um and so you know, uh in our tech stack, we we tend to run uh fewer plugins uh because as they have updates released, there's a potential for conflict uh with new functions and and setups inside these plugins. And so the less plugins that you run, the you know, the more bulletproof your your website is basically. And so we've got enough experience, you know, handling these sites to know the right amount of um of plugins to run.
SPEAKER_03:Right.
SPEAKER_02:And so yeah, yeah, it's it's a it's a crucial part. It's something that, again, owners and managers of member yards really don't need to worry about. They just need to kind of know going into a website refresh with us that it's handled. Um, you know, we we study these things on the daily and and technology, as everyone knows, it changes so rapidly these days. And so um, you know, having having you know your team focus on buying the right cars, inventorying the right pro, you know, the right parts, taking photos of everything properly. Uh if you're running a YouTube channel, then you're you know, you're uh capturing video walk arounds of your vehicles, um, you know, having your operations focus on what's core to your business, and then we take care of your online presence. So it's a really, it's a it's a good, it's a good match, mate.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, definitely. And I think, you know, the I think that's key piece too, is you know, the fact that the technology around it, you know, it's mobile friendly as well. I know that that's been a big big factor for the yards and asking about the website refreshes too.
SPEAKER_02:It is, it's huge. Um, that's a you know, a real easy giveaway if you go to a website and it's it just looks like a condensed version of a desktop. Um, and you're like pinching and zooming uh to get to the content. So we've engineered all of our websites uh to be mobile friendly. Actually, mobile first design is what we've been using um because you know, we see traffic from all the analytics uh from these sites. Three out of four um visitors are coming in from a mobile device. Every year that number keeps ramping up. Uh we're really close to about 80% coming in from a mobile device. So um and that number's been, yeah, that number's been, you know, just it climbs every every year.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I mean, I I hardly unless I'm doing it from work, I'm I'm hardly on my laptop or on you know an actual computer. It's all all through mobile. So it's it's so important for sure.
SPEAKER_02:Yep. Yeah, that's where people live for sure. Um, but we also do have the ability to migrate existing websites. So if you've got a you know a functioning website and it's been refreshed within the last you know, four to five years, and you want to keep it maybe for another year or so. Um, we do have migration services. It gets you into our uh hosting environments and you get to take advantage of you know having a very close connection to our support teams. Um, you know, that way we can actually troubleshoot if there's any inventory syncing uh issues that may be going on. Maybe the e-commerce um you know setup needs to be tweaked. You know, if we have admin access to the back end of the site, super easy for us to go in and just kind of try and find um misconfigurations that can occur. And so um, you know, once the site is under our hosting and support, we can keep everything running smoothly and revisit modernization options, you know, when the time is right to refresh the site. And so, you know, on that point, you know, we we really recommend, you know, if your site has not been refreshed within the last four or five years, that's really a good timeline to kind of relook at your site from a design standpoint, from a content standpoint, making sure that you're keeping up with everything that's happening in that specific year. And so um, you know, internet standards evolve quickly, especially around mobile, security, and e-commerce. So periodic refreshes, you know, ensure members stay current and continue to benefit from improvements in speed, online purchasing, and even like real-time inventory syncs. So um, I can tell you from our experience that most yards tell us the biggest benefit isn't just upgrading their site or refreshing it. It's really just having us as a reliable partner moving forward. And so the result of a site that continues to improve over time, sells more parts online, and never falls behind the curve again is a real uh business um advantage that you can have.
SPEAKER_00:100%. Yeah. And and I think well, I was gonna ask you too, what's something recyclers don't know about web services? You know, what what's one of the pieces that you think that is kind of a hidden factor?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, uh I think I touched on it a little bit earlier, but yeah, just to know that it's it's not that we're just building a website for them and then you know we're walking out the door. It's the the partnership is there, you know, post-launch, and then ultimately, you know, we're helping them build a revenue-producing infrastructure, right? Most yards uh think of their website as marketing, um, but it's really an online sales channel, like an eBay store, or you know, if you're selling on Amazon or wherever else you have your parts, you know, synced to having your own website, you know, be kind of the base of your operations, right? Um You want to drive traffic to your site, convert them on your site. They're your customers. You have all the customers' information. So you can follow up with them, thank them for the order, ask them if they're any there are any of the parts that you can service them with. Um email addresses for all orders come in as well. And so you could take those email addresses and create email campaigns to blast you know out whenever you've got updates or to put them on a weekly or a you know a monthly drip campaign just to keep them engaged. Um it's it's important to understand, you know, it's so difficult to find a buyer online. And so when you do find them and you do take the leap of faith to say, okay, I'm going to give you my information because you have a part that I have. Now it's your opportunity to show them that they made the right decision, right? Um, follow up with them if you need to verify part fitments, right? Um ship out, you know, in a um, you know, in a fast, you know, timeline. Um, be there for them if there are any questions, you know, post-shipment, once they're trying to install the part. Um, you know, it's an opportunity to build a relationship with a buyer that may not be in your local area because your site's being you know looked at across North America. And so I think when it's handled properly, it could really turn into a true revenue-producing infrastructure.
SPEAKER_00:I completely agree with that. I completely agree with that. It's been it's been really cool to see the yards that have websites created by you know URG Web Services and all of that too. And and even some of them have they've been having them for four to five years now, too, actually. The the ones that we've refreshed. And and it might even be a good idea for them to kind of take a look at at doing, you know, even a website refresh for themselves as well, and and taking a look at the newer demos that we have. Uh, we've got you know, fun new demos that you guys come out with. Uh pretty much, uh, you know, we have at least one per year, I think, that we that we try to update and and have some some new content for them to choose from as well.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, no, absolutely. We try and um we try and we're recommending, right? Trying to refresh our stuff. Um you know, every um every year, you know, we try and release one or two. Um we've released um one just just last November. It's demo six. Um we're super proud of it's uh very modern looking. It's kind of like kind of like a black, kind of a darker theme. Um, I think it's gonna be.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_04:I love all the time. Yeah, being in dark mode on a website. Yes.
SPEAKER_02:Well, check out demo six, man. You're you're gonna fall in love.
SPEAKER_04:I'll definitely go check it out after we're done.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. So it's just little things like that that you know, it's it's it doesn't seem very important to some people, but there's a lot of people that run their devices in dark mode. And you know, when they go to a site, it's like bright white and it's super bright, it's almost like everything's in cats, you know, and it's yelling at them. Um so yeah, it's been a fun project to build that one. That's great.
SPEAKER_00:That's perfect. And yeah, if you guys want any of our listeners, if you guys are wanting to check out the demos or want to see any example sites, I can send that over to you. Uh, I think we need to uh break here real quick. We'll come back with Andy Alonzo with our URG Web Services team here uh right after this break. Thanks for listening.
SPEAKER_01:URG can help you streamline your business for maximum efficiency and increased profits, access powerful software and unique tools, receive top-level training with industry experts, network with hundreds of recyclers, employ e-commerce solutions to boost business, receive support, resources, and discounts. Starting at just$150 a month, it's the smartest investment you will make for your business this year. Go to u-r-g dot com and click on become a member. Your path to a profitable future is just a click away. That's u-r-g.com.
SPEAKER_04:Welcome back, listeners. Of course, you know you're listening to the number one podcast in the automotive recycling industry, URG on the go podcast. This is a great one. I um I want to remind all of you we're available on Spotify, iTunes, Pandora, Stitcher, iHeartMedia, and wherever you get your podcasts and up for your listening pleasure. So make sure you download and listen. Um, Amanda's gonna pick it up here and continue our conversation with Andy with our web services team. Uh, take it away, Amanda.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you so much, Michael. I'm doing great with those intros. I appreciate you. So, all right, yep, we've got Andy Alonzo with our URG web services team here. And we are digging into developing websites and how URG goes about uh developing these for our automotive recyclers, our members, uh, and what that entails and and everything that goes into it. Uh, Andy, again, thank you so much for being on today. Can you give us some uh examples of yards with real issues on you know their sites that they've previous have previously had? And um I kind of want to dig into website security here a little bit. So uh what they've seen for security issues on on their older sites and and what they can expect maybe from URG services.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, absolutely. Um so I mentioned earlier outdated WordPress plugins and then WordPress core software is really the number one thing that you know needs to stay updated to the to the latest version. We have seen older sites, you know, get affected with malware, um, where you know they actually can redirect pages to spam pages that they've created that maybe mimic what the site looks like to try and capture customer data. Um, or they have like contact forms that actually have like quietly stopped working, you know, over the years, um, and the members not you know aware of it. So um inventory search pages could also go down without anybody noticing. And in some cases, pricing or availability, you know, doesn't update for weeks. And so, you know, a lot of yards, you know, will log into their site every every day, every morning. They'll go in, they'll check it, they'll do a couple test searches, make sure everything's functioning, you know, properly. Uh, if you do have enough sales coming in on a daily, then you're probably gonna get calls from your customer saying, hey, I can't check out or can't find this part, or you know, I can't submit the form. Um, but you know, we also see where you know plugins that haven't been updated in years. Um so you know, small changes may end up breaking, you know, large parts of the sites because if plugins you know go multiple versions without updating and then they get updated to the latest version, that also can break the plugin. It could also break the site. And so um, you know, more than a few yards have come to us, you know, after their original web developer either disappeared or just no longer you know respond to them.
SPEAKER_00:Um seems to be quite often, unfortunately.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah, no problem. You know, websites, it's um it's interesting. You know, we we go from um a pretty wide gambit of uh having you know members that come over with professional organizations that have built their website, right? Uh all the way down to you know, my sister's brother built my website. And you know, he you know, he was maybe he was doing it for a few years and then he just flipped out of it. Um so it's just it's just all over the place. And it makes it very dynamic when you know, having to, you know, engage with a new member and try to kind of understand. There's almost like a forensic analysis that that goes on to be like, okay, well, when did you have access? You know, do you have a you know any passwords? Like what's the email address to the accounts?
SPEAKER_00:It's you are detective in the beginning of some of these calls.
SPEAKER_02:Absolutely. Just trying to figure out kind of the scope. Um, and so you know, kind of leaving a site owner or manager, you know, a site with no access, um, you know, and an inability to update the website um really renders it unusable. Um, and you know, in 2025, maybe in 2026, I mean, that's unacceptable in my opinion. You know, if you're running a professional organization, um, you know, you wouldn't want someone coming into your facility and they're, you know, maybe the door doesn't open or um, you know, there's there's a mess in the lobby, or, you know, whatever. You think of like the worst case scenarios, if you apply it to your website and you kind of use the same parameters of how you run your brick and mortar, um, then I think you're kind of on the same page as we are with how your website should function. Um, because really, in the end, it's these they're all preventable. Um as long as you're setting up everything properly and you're using professional organizations and everything is set up to where you have the correct access to everything and and and everything can stay updated and working properly. Um, it's all preventable for sure.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and and how often should recyclers check for patches and and things like that?
SPEAKER_02:Well, if they're not hosted with us, um, they should at least have you know their email address set as the um as the admin uh email address on the site. And so just that simple step will uh the site will email you whenever an update or an issue occurs on the site. So that's step one. If you are hosted with us, you really don't have to worry about it. Um we manage all that for you. You know, all these uh all these sites that we run, there's you know, plugins that are run across all of them. There's WordPress core software that's that's run across all of them. Um we get notified. And so we handle all those updates uh for members without them having to worry about it.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and and I think that's what's nice too, is that it's all included in that price, that monthly price that we do. And we don't take any transaction fee. Um, you know, it's a it's a monthly price for the search function, for the maintenance, for all of that. And that's all included in, you know, they get an hour's worth of your time too, uh, for for any changes and updates. And I think that's that's a key piece here here as well. So when is a site too old to be effective uh when it comes to you know having an older site? What how how old is too old, quote unquote?
SPEAKER_02:Okay. Um I would say a site is usually considered too old when it's no longer keeping up with today's standards. Um we talked about um mobile responsiveness is one of them, right? Um having an active SSL certificate on a site would be another example, right? Um and so there are other few, you know, ways that it would show up. Inventory pages would stop loading correctly, um, you know, checkout stops working. Um maybe your your payment gateway got disconnected, right? And so all those things would definitely need the assistance of a developer to go in and kind of verify what's going on, see if it's a fix is available, and if not, you know, what would be a recommended, you know, second step? So um, we also see situations where Google has trouble indexing pages.
SPEAKER_03:Um right.
SPEAKER_02:And so um if if they aren't properly connected to a Google Analytics account, a Google Search Console account, a Google Merchant Center account, uh, then you're kind of at the search bots that Google uses to try and index your site on a limb, right? You're you're putting a lot to chance if it's not properly configured. Um if you want to, you know, kind of use the example of you open up any book, right, uh that's published here in the United States, more than likely it's it's it's you know written in English, and we read, you know, uh top left to bottom right, right? Um search bots that index sites use the same type of functionality to read and digest and index websites. And if it isn't in the proper format, it'll either get misread or not read at all, right? If if the bot has a lot of trouble digesting the content, it'll just dump it and go to the next one, right? And so if that happens too often, your search ranking will start to drop and um interesting, you literally fall off the map. So it's um it's really important to be able to, you know, make sure your site's not too old, make sure that it's working properly. And it's that's really kind of you know uh a benefit of having you know our teams here to back you up, as well as the recommendation that you know your website get refreshed every four to five years just to maintain uh today's standards.
SPEAKER_00:Makes sense. Makes a lot of sense. So I guess the the next question would be, you know, what should the site have? What should every modern recycler have on the site in 2026 going forward?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, that's a really good question. Um really just kind of break it down to the basics, right? Of what really defines a modern recycler. Um, I think the site really needs to be mobile first. Um, meaning that someone coming in from their phone, you know, can digest the content, can manipulate the site, can, you know, click on call to actions, can fill out contact forms, can click on phone number icons and actually call your facility, can do part lookup searches and check themselves out all from their phone. Right. Mobile first is super important. Um, quote requests have been a big part of the industry for a long time and they're still very useful, uh, especially for certain types of parts. Um, what the ISS parts uh autopart search plugin does is offer both, right? Checkout and quotes. And so it gives customers options, which they love. Um, we also recommend hiding email addresses from the site. We we do look at um a lot of sites for members when we're refreshing them, and there's just you know a laundry list of everybody's email address, right? Even exposing just one email address uh shows the structure of your email um you know nomenclature. And so we recommend not doing that because while there are search bots out there to index your site, there are also malicious bots that are out there scraping for email addresses. And if you have an exposed email address, you will find yourself on a spam list very quickly and no one loves spam.
SPEAKER_03:No way, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, we recommend not exposing email addresses and really just hiding contact, you know, behind a uh a professional, you know, well-formatted contact form um on the site.
SPEAKER_00:Okay.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. And I think, you know, as far as the search side goes, um location-focused search engine optimization really helps customers find, you know, the right yard. Um and it also integrates, you know, with Google Merchant Center and automated inventory feeds to make sure your parts show up where shoppers are already looking, right? With accurate pricing and availability. So I think when you have all those components in place, the website lines up with buyer expectations in 2025-26 and supports the way people you know shop today.
SPEAKER_00:Makes makes complete sense. And and you know, I think that's one of the key pieces as well with the IAS auto-per search plugin. We integrate with your yard management system, have your inventory pull nightly with your images and videos that you have uh uploaded as well. And then, you know, we also can get those work orders back into your yard management system if you have Hollander or Pinnacle. So that's also a big piece, I think, for a lot of these yards, too, is making it more streamlined for your salespeople to manage online orders as well. Um, so we spoke on SEO, and I kind of want to touch on that here when we come back for a break. Uh, we're gonna take a quick break here, folks, and uh we appreciate you listening. I hope you guys are all taking notes, as DJ used to say all the time. Uh, this is a master class in websites and learning about what we can do to uh upgrade our sites and make sure we are staying in the future in 2026. So we will be right back after this commercial break.
SPEAKER_01:The URG Scholarship Foundation was founded in 2014 in honor of individuals who give their talent, time, and very often their own finances to ensure the growth and success of the automotive recycling industry. We understand college is not for everyone, so each year the foundation offers substantial financial scholarships to auto-recycling employees and the children of employees that are attending four-year and technical or trade schools to assist with their education. Don't leave money on the table if you have a child or if you're interested in attending continuing education. This money is available to you. Go to U-R-G.com and click on the Scholarship Foundation tab. URG, keeping our industry strong through education.
SPEAKER_04:Welcome back from our last uh commercial break, folks. Uh, thanks again for joining us on the number one podcast in the automotive uh recycling industry, the URG on the go podcast. Uh, want to again remind everybody we are very Available on Spotify, iTunes, Pandora, Stitcher, iHeartMedia, and wherever else you get your podcasts. Uh, thanks for listening. And let's get back to uh our conversation here with Andy and Amanda and websites. Take it away.
SPEAKER_00:Appreciate you, Michael. Yeah, so this has been a great informational session with Andy here from our web services team here at URG. I think it's it's important for everyone to dig into their sites and make sure that they are actively paying attention. Uh, I have, you know, seen yards that have websites that haven't been functioning for a year or so that we end up seeing. So uh making sure, and and they don't even know it until their customer says it. And I think that's that's a that's one thing that you want to make sure you're avoiding, that your customers aren't the ones telling you that something's not working. You want to make sure you're ahead of the game. So uh before the break, we talked uh a little bit about SEO foundations, but I wanted to dig in a little bit further to that, Andy. Uh, what is we talk about this on our development calls whenever we we discuss this with the members, and it is actually something that I show a lot of the times uh when I'm demoing the before I even get a call set up with you, is showing them, you know, copy and pasting it into Google and having it show the results. But what is H1 tagging and why does it matter?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, Adele, it's great. I'm glad we're talking about this. Um, so you know, H1 is basically the main page title, right? It's the thing that Google reads to understand what each page is about, right? So if your H1 tag is wrong or generic, Google just doesn't know what you sell. Um so very simply and as plainly as I could say it, you know, an H1 tag is simply the main headline of a web page. Um it's HTML, which is which is the code that's used for a lot of these websites. Um, and it's written as um and highlighted as H1. And so search bots know to look for that and they digest it. Now like, okay, well, I'm on a page for a 2022 Ford F-150 pickup engine assembly. Boom. They know that that's what this page is about, and so they're going to further index the site based on that H1 tag.
unknown:Right.
SPEAKER_02:So if products are part page listings, the H1 is often the name or the description of the part, like the 2022 Ford F-150 pickup, you know, engine assembly. So that tells both a visitor and search engines that this is the main thing that's on this page. Um, you know, we use uh Nordstrom's uhuto.com as an example site on a lot of our discovery calls. Um I think Shannon and his team did a really good job with us, you know, not only conveying what they want the site to look like, but also do. And so if you have um, you know, if you want to visualize any of these things we're talking about, just go to Nordstromsauto.com and just cruise the site, check it out, do some part searches, you know. Um, you'll see that it's well formatted, um, you know, that it runs really well, and it's a really good you know, representation of Shannon's business.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, very meticulous, just like his yard. That was a that was a good experience and and lots of feedback. So um, and you know, that's something that we're we're always wanting to you know work with you on too, is um we want to hear what what you're wanting to do with your site, and and you know, we have these templates that they can choose from and and um making sure and that's Nordstroms is my basic, my, my uh my example site. Anytime I'm showing off websites, Nordstroms is the one I go to. They have the tire search function on there, they have their YouTube links on there too. So um, you know, it's a it's just a great example site to utilize.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, no, absolutely. To that point, we're just really quickly on YouTube. Um when you go to Nordstrom site, definitely look for the watch video link that is presented under most of his inventory. And so this is a new functionality that was introduced um spring summer this year. That when you have a YouTube channel, we can actually link your inventory to your YouTube channel. And if you guys are doing like walk, you know, walk-around videos of vehicles as you're inventory them or prior to inventorying them. I think it's I think it's probably one of the best things that a yard can do is to establish a YouTube channel and uh post walk-around videos of their vehicles. Um, I know in years past, you know, uh recyclers were just doing like, you know, running engine, you know, videos, which is great, right? If you can, if you can do that and make that part of the walk around video, that's fantastic, right? Because it's a really it it removes an you know a question that a potential buyer may have is like, is this the engine even gonna run? Like, what's going on? Do I feel confident buying this used motor? And so the integration with with YouTube um and uh recycler having a YouTube channel, it basically puts you on the second most searched uh platform on the planet. So google.com is number one, YouTube.com is number two. And so by by integrating yourself into the YouTube platform with a channel that looks professional, it's got all your links to all your all your stuff, um, it's just another marketing channel for you, right? Um and so I think the integration that the developers did with with the YouTube um, you know, watch video links is is really kind of groundbreaking in the industry. I don't know if anybody else is doing that right now.
SPEAKER_00:Um it's definitely a cool thing to see. And a lot of people are are are looking at that and like, I want that, I want to start doing that.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Um, I think it's really, really good. And and um, you know, stay-up YouTube channel. I mean, you know, a 14-year-old son's got one, so it's it's not like it's it's not.
SPEAKER_00:We can ask our our uh our resident nerd, Michael, self-proclaimed nerd. I I will say I'm not calling him out there.
SPEAKER_04:I mean, yeah, I mean when you've done IT for as long as I have, you kind of have to own and be proud of that mantle. Absolutely. I do not have a YouTube channel though. Oh, I think somebody set one up for you. Well, I think I I'm pretty sure my family would have the highest levels of cringe available to if I were starting to broadcast things.
SPEAKER_02:You never know. Maybe you want to have like a cooking channel, right? Something cool.
SPEAKER_00:I mean, he does he does bake and he does cook. I do, I am, I have confirmed I eat his the cakes that his family makes.
SPEAKER_04:So now you're just making me blush.
SPEAKER_00:And gluten-free, to be honest. I'm I'm gluten-free, and he he even does that. So that's good. I love it. So um let's get back to the H1 tagging. So, what happens if the H1 is uh generic or it's missing at that part?
SPEAKER_02:Well, um, it just won't get indexed.
SPEAKER_00:Okay.
SPEAKER_02:Right? I mean, you're literally gonna mess out. So it's like someone's gonna come by your house to pick you up for the party and you're stuck in the bathroom or you're out back cutting your grass. You've missed the ride. Google has shown up, they're like, get in the car, we're going, and you're missing out. So uh it's crucial. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Got it. Yep. So I guess that that kind of means that you know, if it's if it's not, if it's not a part of it, then you're not gonna get you're not gonna get the traction you're wanting to see from from Google, essentially.
SPEAKER_02:You're not, you're not. And and it's also important to know that every single demo that URG offers has this natively built into every site. So it's not uh it's not like you have to you know get the most expensive uh option that we offer. Um it's it's been natively integrated to all of the uh all the demos, which means anyone that you pick will be natively integrated into your site.
SPEAKER_00:Perfect. Perfect. What are um, I was gonna ask two, what are some common SEO mistakes that people make uh with websites that they have?
SPEAKER_02:Oh, wow, there's so many.
SPEAKER_00:Um maybe just list a couple. I I don't know. Or maybe top three. Right?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. So H1's definitely uh one of them for sure. Um I think not having the right meta descriptions for your pages would be a second. Um and then, you know, unique page titles kind of goes along with the with the meta descriptions for your pages. Um I think slow loading times or outdated content can also hold a site back, right? So many older pages that don't include structured data like what we're talking about here, also called schema, um, which usually helps search engines understand what a page contains. You know, if it's not present or if it's if it's misconfigured, um, again, you're kind of you're missing the boat. Um but the good news is, you know, we've got most of these issues, you know, are definitely considered you know fixable on our end, and they don't really require yard to become an expert and SEO. Um, you know, the URG Web Services team, you know, looks for these things, you know, when we're managing a site, and we also can make sure that the basics are in place. Uh, and again, like the page tag H1 example we were talking about earlier, all of our sites come with properly aligned SEO configurations out of the box. And so what that ends up uh being is that you know, a lot of recyclers, you know, um are surprised that it's not so much about SEO, you know, stuffing in keywords into a page, but it's more about having clean structure that search engines can easily read. Um, and that's really the foundation of a good website. Um, you know, everything becomes a lot easier after that. Um, and it is something that we you know actively help members with.
SPEAKER_00:That's awesome. Yeah, and I know, I know people are seeing those results for sure. So when we talk about uh website updates and frequency, how often should recycl update their website? I know we kind of touched base on that. Um and and what needs to be regularly updated, I guess, through that.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Um so when kind of you know looking at refreshing your site as far as that update goes, we we definitely recommend as a good rule of thumb every four to five years. Um that's just to keep up with how quickly the web, you know, um is changing. Um and so, you know, as long as as long as you've got you know the underlying platform is is is stable, um, you know, your content should be updated monthly, right? If if your yard is changing that often. Um and then as far as like, you know, once the site's been refreshed, like what gets updated regularly from there, you know, we handle, you know, WordPress core updates, uh plug-in updates, we correct any issues that may be happening with inventory feeds. You know, sometimes the um the connection point that we have into the yard server falls off or needs to be restarted or reconnected. You know, the ISS support team handles that for the yard. Um we do updates and and check Google Merchant feeds, you know, for for members as well. Um, if there's any additional technical SEO that they are wanting, you know, we can do that as well. Um, we have some members that work with marketing companies, and so these marketing companies want us to um you know make changes, whether we're adding like you know, Google Pixels to the site to monitor and manage traffic a little bit better. Um and you know, be able to kind of fill out you know monthly reports so they kind of get a better view of what's going on. We help with that. Um you know, page speed is also very important that we maintain for for sites. Um and then you know, hand in hand with the website refresh is those design standards as they evolve, you know, updating those to to uh what's going on currently.
SPEAKER_00:That makes a lot of sense. Totally makes sense. And and that's the the nice part about having you to rely on our our URG web services guru to uh to do and take care of all of these for the for the sites that we host as well.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And so uh um I want to kind of just discuss what advice for recyclers, if a recycler has an old site, what's the first improvement they should make when it comes to this? Refresh, I suppose.
SPEAKER_02:To refresh. Um so you know, one is just kind of understanding that your site needs to be refreshed. Um, you know, we see a lot of yards that are family-based, right? Maybe the granddad started it, dad's running it, sons and daughters are coming up behind. Um, we've done a number of refreshes where there's uh an upcoming handoff, right? Where the dad is handing off the business to a son or a daughter, and the son or daughter, because they're younger, they just are more focused on web presence. And so, you know, that's that's been the reason for you know a handful of refreshes in the past is because as they take over uh a successful business that's that's doing you know um it's doing what it needs to revenue-wise on an annual basis, uh, and they want to maintain it. They also want to be able to speak to their generation, right? Um and so refreshing your site to match um to match those standards is always a really good idea.
SPEAKER_00:Definitely. Definitely. And so I'm gonna kind of go forwards into what are some future trends? So what's coming up next for recycler websites? What are you seeing in the trends of of what's happening with websites currently on um on a you know, within this next year?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. So we definitely are already seeing a shift towards full e-commerce uh part sales, uh, not just quote requests. Um quote quote requests tend to be falling off. You know, we live in a in a world that everyone wants everything like now and they're not gonna wait. And so the people that have been sending quote requests in the past are of a different generation. And the the generation that's getting to be the biggest buying sector, they want they want their part now. If they see it on the sites, they have enough pictures, if they click over to your you know, YouTube channel, they can see the the the part that they're seeking, you know, in real time. Um, you know, from a video experience standpoint, that's just gonna help convert the the the order, right?
SPEAKER_00:Right. And so especially the generation that's I feel like you tell them to make a phone call and they look like you're asked them to, you know, or you just ran over their dog. I have to talk to a human, what yeah, it's it's it's odd.
SPEAKER_02:Uh I think it's odd. Um, but yes, that's definitely a factor um in today's society. And so um, and plus also people are busy, you know. Uh I think I think, you know, if you if you think about a buyer profile, um, you know, let's say it's someone that is, you know, working all day, right? And they get home, they got kids to take care of, get, you know, fed, get showered, get in bed, and maybe they only have time to look for that part that they need when they're, you know, relaxing on the couch or right before they go to bed, and they're doing it from their phone. And, you know, if they find the part and it looks to be the right one, they want to get that task done so that part can get shipped so they don't have to mess with it, you know, at another another time and point during the week. And so, you know, a properly aligned website that's syncing inventory daily with images, uh, with a you know, a companion YouTube channel will do that for for members. Um, you'll be able to get those sales that come in at you know 9, 10, 11, 12 o'clock at night while you're sleeping. Um, it really turns into a 24-7 salesperson for you. So definitely full commerce, uh, full e-commerce part sales is is definitely trending higher. Um we're also seeing you know, you know, automation of your inventory syndication. So Google Merchant Center is a good example of that because we create a new inventory file for you every night. Um, pushing out that inventory file to your merchant center and forcing the re-indexing of your site has huge advantages. Um, we've already talked about mobile first um uh websites, but having a mobile first checkout experience um is also, you know, a really it's something that you really need to have today. Um yeah and then um you know there is um there's also like the way AI has been coming into every industry, right? Um yeah. Um it's been really interesting to see, you know, how how this industry has been basically kind of digested by AI-based products. Um and so I've got that earmarked for our team to research a bit more in 2026 because I think there are some some really cool ways that you can start getting traffic, you know, from a chat GPT or Google's Gemini or any other flavor of AI that someone may use. Um and it really basically creates another sales channel for you if it if you're properly aligned, right?
SPEAKER_00:Kind of what's on the horizon for like the next one to three years, right? Like what you see kind of coming up for them to prepare for, too.
SPEAKER_02:Definitely. Definitely. Yeah, because you know, kind of entering a period where search just isn't about Google's traditional indexing anymore. You know, the large language models that we were mentioning, like Chat GPT and Gemini. Um, they're reading and understanding websites every day. Uh, and they rely heavily on clean structure, accurate product data, and well-formatted pages, all the stuff we were talking about earlier. Um, you know, so recyclers should expect more emphasis on structured data and cleaner content organization and stronger compliance from you know uh with requirements from Google. Um, the Google Merchant Center actually does that, you know, it helps you get there. Um at the same time, you know, customers' expectations are rising. You know, people want to buy online quickly and confidently and without winning around for basic information. So, you know, I think that you know URG is really well positioned uh for member yards. They don't have to fight to kind of figure out all this you know on their own. Um, you know, we follow these trends closely. We're continually monitoring and proving how websites are built so they're easy for both search engines and these new AI systems to be understood by. Uh, that way members can stay ahead of you know where the industry is going and not be behind it.
SPEAKER_00:That's perfect. That's perfect. That's a great way to uh to explain what's kind of coming for the future and and the way we're gonna try to stay ahead of it. And that's what URG is about, right? Making sure that we're we're staying ahead of the curve and making sure we're keeping the recyclers ahead of the curve as well. So I appreciate you so much for uh coming on today, Andy. Uh do you have any other key takeaways that you want to share before we we wrap this podcast up?
SPEAKER_02:Um yeah, yeah. And I appreciate you asking me to be on this, Amanda. Uh thoroughly enjoy working with you, uh, Michael, everybody else on the URG team. You guys are amazing. Um I think you guys are doing a lot of really good things for the industry and helping people uh modernize, right? In a very friendly way. Everyone's so nice. It's so it's so cool to see. Um, you know, from Christy, you know, all the way down, it's just just an amazing team. Um I think my big takeaway from this conversation, I guess, would be that you know, recyclers website, you know, they're they're constantly evolving, you know, from basic, you know, marketing tools into full e-commerce platforms. And so while it may have been more of a um brochure site for recyclers in the past, like here's our logo and here's our address, our phone number, you know, call us, you know, for parts. Today, you know, that doesn't work. You have to have inventory, you have to have it, you know, displayed in an easily digestible format. And you also have a have to buy, you know, have to have the buy button uh to convert. Um the things we talk about, you know, with like mobile performance, uh, making sure your at your inventory is accurate and syncing daily. Um, the H1 uh structure that we discussed, um again, with the integration with Google Merchant Center, those are all essential in driving visibility um and more online sales. Um, I think another thing too that I just want to earmark is the AI that we talked about. I think I think for cyclers who invest in modernization um now are really positioning themselves for long-term success. And so if you've been thinking about refreshing your site or you know, it doesn't have to be with us, but you know, if just just do it because your business really relies on it, um definitely we'll see long-term success.
SPEAKER_00:I'll say it. It should be with us. I'll say it.
SPEAKER_02:Well, we definitely would love to have them for sure.
SPEAKER_00:Um honestly just just just working with you though, like I, you know, having my recyclers come to us for a solution when they've been so exacerbated with other opportunities and and different developers that have just kind of led them along saying that they can give them certain things that they they haven't ended up being able to give them. And I, you know, when you talk about working well with us, you know, it's just you work so well with our members. And I think that's um just such a key piece. And and so that's that's why I vouch for them to work for work with us and and work with you, Andy, specifically, because it's it's just been such a a blessing having you here and and being able to work through um these different these different development tools and and and having you host as well and having the support behind it, which is huge.
SPEAKER_02:Appreciate that. Thank you. I really enjoy guiding members through the transition, um, helping them keep an eye on industry changes, helping recycl adjust their websites, you know, so they can continue to perform well and you know stay current with evolving standards.
SPEAKER_00:Yep, I love it. All right. Well, that was a great, great, again, masterclass, like DJ always says, uh masterclass in website development and what you guys should be looking out for and and what uh what URG has to offer here in-house uh with Andy Alonzo. So again, Andy, thank you so much for being on today. We really appreciate all the information you've given us uh and and being on the podcast today.
SPEAKER_03:Thank you, man. I appreciate it.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you. All right, everyone. Thank you so much for listening to URG on the go podcast. We hope to hear or hope to have you here next week. Uh, and uh keep your ear out for for all the new podcasts that will be coming out in the new year. Thank you so much.