Highest-Ranking Automotive SEO for Car Dealerships
Analyze your marketing campaign efforts and results and look for ways to improve. Today’s automotive customers increasingly use the internet in various ways to conduct research and to make buying decisions, so automotive SEO will continue to be essential to your campaign. In fact, it may actually become more critical to running a successful online marketing campaign. Our team at Customer Scout is available to assist with all of your digital marketing efforts.
What is Automotive SEO?
SEO stands for search engine optimization. It is a collection of principles and methods used to improve the visibility of websites and particular webpages on the internet. Automotive SEO builds on that foundation from the perspective of the local automotive dealership and uses it not only to improve visibility of the dealership website but as a marketing tool and to generate more leads and business.
SEO refers specifically to organic results, which in other words are non-paid results. An alternative to this is paying Google to display your ad whenever someone, for instance, searches for information about new cars in your region. There are many advertising strategies that work for dealerships. Internet advertising is certainly among them, but search engine optimization not only delivers a significant visibility difference in the short term but lays a foundation that continues to benefit a dealership.
Many modern customers expect their first interaction with your dealership to occur on the web. Discovering your dealership online organically or finding the information they are seeking on your website is the first indication to them that you are a company they want to do business with. If your dealership lacks that point of access or it is hard to discover, then it is at a massive disadvantage to the competition.
While automotive SEO provides an online foundation for your dealership that will continue to provide benefits for your company in the years ahead, it cannot remain static. The reason for this is that search engines are constantly evolving. Google is a notable example as it is the most used search engine in the world, and as its algorithms evolve and become more advanced, the principles, methods and tactics employed have to evolve and become more advanced as well. The SEO strategies that worked well a decade ago are unlikely to provide you any real benefit at all.
Change does not mean that your investment now will lose value. It just means that the investment needs to be nurtured and matured in order to continue reaping those benefits. Once a potential customer arrives at your website, the purpose and strategies remain the same. Give visitors the information they want and convince them that you are the best dealership to sell them a car.
But getting them to your dealership is the difficult part, and your dealership has to stand out in search algorithms just as it has to stand out locally when it comes to prices and customer service. Modern search engines favor quality over quantity, consistent and creative content, prioritized user intent as opposed to simple keyword matching and wise and sparing use of links.
An excellent way to understand modern success online is Google E-A-T, which is a principle that is invaluable to search engine optimization in general and automotive SEO in particular. It stands for expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness. If you can make your website excel on these fronts, your website will gain visibility and will likely continue to perform well even as search engines evolve.
Automotive Local SEO for Car Dealerships
The SEO strategies that car dealerships use may be different than the strategies that are effective for many other businesses. Consider that your customer base is mostly comprised of local drivers, and this may extend regionally in some cases. Your digital marketing campaign must utilize localized strategies in order to be as effective as possible. There are numerous strategies that are increasingly effective at reaching local consumers, such as business listings.
Local SEO Strategies for Car Dealerships
One example of online listings are Google My Business listings , offered by Google. While business listings are essential to online marketing today, many businesses do not use them effectively. For example, they do not update their listing with correct information or utilize keywords, images and videos in the most strategic way. An effective automotive SEO campaign going forward will have a focus on business listings. Keep in mind that search engines have made numerous changes to these features recently, and this trend will continue. You can see that it is helpful to use the services of an experienced automotive SEO company like Customer Scout to keep up with changes and to maximize the benefits of these changes.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) l Automotive Marketing
There is more involved in generating exceptional online marketing results than simply selecting a few SEO keywords and stuffing them into your website’s text. Geo fencing is a specialized form of technology that uses the GPS location of users to deliver customized messages and responses to their queries. This customized content is optimized to boost search engine rankings based on relevancy. This requires careful and regular analysis of changing data. This innovative technology puts the information that your customers are searching for about your dealership or about your models into their hands immediately when they demand it through an online search.
At Customer Scout, our online marketing efforts go far beyond GEO fencing to provide you with truly exceptional results. You may be well aware of the importance of having your website rank in the top spot on search engine queries related to vehicle purchases and related automotive services in your area, but you may struggle to reach that top spot or to stay there. Search engine analytics change regularly, and the efforts that your competition takes to boost their own rankings also changes. Effective automotive SEO requires exceptional and focused research on keywords as well as on customers’ efforts. More than that, the website itself must be optimized using meta tags, headers and more. We know how to get your website to the top spot that you need for maximum profitability, and we also know what it takes to keep your website in that premium spot.
Car Dealer Business Listings & Local Citations
Your automotive search engine optimization marketing campaign also should include a focus on blog content. Blogs are critical to search engine rankings because they
introduce fresh, relevant content to your website on a regular basis. They are also a selling tool that provides your customers with information about your new models, exciting features, safety ratings and more.
Blogging is an excellent way to keep the content on your website fresh and relevant. This can be SEO content that offers true value to your customers. Some dealerships believe that simply creating blog posts and using search engine optimization strategies will boost online ratings. However, there are eight unique elements that must be addressed in each blog post in order for top search engines to identify and rank your post in search engine results.
Social Media for Auto Dealerships
Social media marketing is another important component of an automotive marketing campaign going into the new year. You must select the right platforms that put you in direct contact with your target audience. Posts on these platforms need to be relatable, relevant and interesting to your target audience. Ideally, they will have links back to your website or blog, and they may also be keyword-rich for maximum benefits.
As you can see, updating your auto dealership’s marketing campaign for the new year should include increased focus on search engine optimization. There is more involved in a successful online marketing campaign than simply selecting a few keywords and stuffing them into your content. Search engine algorithms are increasingly complex, and they are updated regularly. We are your award-winning SEO company that focuses specifically on auto dealerships like yours. Through our specialization in this niche and through our devotion to providing each customer with excellent service and stellar results, we can take your marketing results to a new level in the coming year.
SEO can Increase Car Sales
These days Internet marketing is often seen as an extremely cost-effective method to gain laser-targeted traffic to your website. While there is no doubt that SEO technique and Internet marketing is a long-term sustainable marketing method, but getting a good ROI on your investment is a different ball-game.
Most businesses and car dealership are not able to utilize the full potential of their marketing budget because there are so many marketing methods. Unlike large organizations, car dealerships don’t have money to set up marketing trials; therefore, once the marketing budget is allocated to a specific stream, there is no way to change strategies.
Luckily, automotive SEO is becoming an immensely successful method to attract laser-targeted traffic for a car dealership without sacrificing thousands of dollars in a wasteful marketing exercise. The automotive SEO works by using a highly effective combination of local search engine optimization, generic search strategies, and specific marketing techniques to increase car sales.
How Does Automotive SEO Benefit a Car Dealer?
Customer Scout helps car dealers by focusing on specific demographics that attract individuals in your local area looking to buy a vehicle. The targeted approach uses such tools as Google My Business, Google Maps, and specific keywords to propel your business to the first page of Google results. This geo-targeting technique is highly effective, as search engines will show your business listing to people in the immediate vicinity of your car dealership when the search engines direct them to your website. To keep users on your website, they need to quickly be able to determine if your website has the information that they seek. More than that, the content must be perfectly engaging. Search engines now utilize stats like click-through rates and the amount of time a user stays on your site to determine relevancy and rankings.
Keyword Optimization
Keyword optimization should go hand-in-hand with engaging content that provides true value to your readers. However, the content should not be stuffed with keywords. You must carefully select the keywords based on detailed research, and these words must be placed naturally in the content. The use of associated keywords may also boost your website’s search engine rankings.
Enhanced User Experience
Because search engines consider the amount of time that a user spends on your website, in addition to the clickthrough rate, you must focus on enhancing the user experience. Your website design should be appealing to your target audience. It should also grab the user’s attention quickly, such as through headers or images. It also must have a fast load speed and be easy to navigate.
Shareable Content
Search engine rankings are also determined based on the amplification rate. This means that the website may be used as an authority resource that other websites link to. It may also have numerous backlinks from affiliated websites. Keep in mind that the quality of the citations and backlinks is important. When reputable sources link to your website, your search engine rankings may jump higher.
Page Details
The page details associated with your website also impact the clickthrough rate. These details include a page title, a suitable URL and a meta description. These elements should ideally be keyword optimized. More than that, the details should extend to every page on the website rather than only to the homepage.
Snippets and Schema
Some of the newer search engine features also deserve your attention. Google now offers snippets, which are longer sections of text that are placed at the top of search engine results. The snippets are only available for the top listing in the search engine results, and the text is extracted automatically from the search engine. There are also other features, such as questions, that you can take advantage of.
There is a lot that you may not know about search engine optimization. While there are many resources available online that you can locate for personal education, be aware that the search engines continue to evolve rapidly. For example, only a few years ago, stuffing content with keywords was advantageous and was one of the primary steps to generate a desirable search engine ranking. Today, however, this can result in severe penalization from leading search engines.
. As a result of these activities, your car sales and ROI can significantly increase compared to typical marketing methods.
SEO Guide for Auto Dealers
To maximize the true potential of the Internet, you must master the important concept of SEO. Search engine optimization is a blanket term that covers several important concepts. When combined together, these concepts can have an overwhelmingly powerful impact on your website’s search engine rankings. As a result, these concepts directly impact the online visibility of your website. These are all powerful concepts, but they are not all equal. For example, you generally must have a firm foundation rooted in crawl accessibility and quality content before you can build on that with keyword optimization, a compelling user experience and more. While some or all of these concepts may be new to you, you can master them through your commitment of time and energy.
Crawl Accessibility
Search engines will virtually crawl through the Internet to locate websites. This must be done before your website can be ranked and accessible in search engine results. Therefore, your initial focus must be on improving crawl accessibility. Newer websites may not have been located by search engines, so time may be your best friend. However, even established websites may not be visible to search engines for various reasons.
Engaging Content
What will users find when the search engines direct them to your website? To keep users on your website, they need to quickly be able to determine if your website has the information that they seek. More than that, the content must be perfectly engaging. Search engines now utilize stats like click-through rates and the amount of time a user stays on your site to determine relevancy and rankings.
Keyword Optimization
Keyword optimization should go hand-in-hand with engaging content that provides true value to your readers. However, the content should not be stuffed with keywords. You must carefully select the keywords based on detailed research, and these words must be placed naturally in the content. The use of associated keywords may also boost your website’s search engine rankings.
Enhanced User Experience
Because search engines consider the amount of time that a user spends on your website, in addition to the clickthrough rate, you must focus on enhancing the user experience. Your website design should be appealing to your target audience. It should also grab the user’s attention quickly, such as through headers or images. It also must have a fast load speed and be easy to navigate.
Shareable Content
Search engine rankings are also determined based on the amplification rate. This means that the website may be used as an authority resource that other websites link to. It may also have numerous backlinks from affiliated websites. Keep in mind that the quality of the citations and backlinks is important. When reputable sources link to your website, your search engine rankings may jump higher.
The page details associated with your website also impact the clickthrough rate. These details include a page title, a suitable URL and a meta description. These elements should ideally be keyword optimized. More than that, the details should extend to every page on the website rather than only to the homepage.
Snippets and Schema
Some of the newer search engine features also deserve your attention. Google now offers snippets, which are longer sections of text that are placed at the top of search engine results. The snippets are only available for the top listing in the search engine results, and the text is extracted automatically from the search engine. There are also other features, such as questions, that you can take advantage of.
There is a lot that you may not know about search engine optimization. While there are many resources available online that you can locate for personal education, be aware that the search engines continue to evolve rapidly. For example, only a few years ago, stuffing content with keywords was advantageous and was one of the primary steps to generate a desirable search engine ranking. Today, however, this can result in severe penalization from leading search engines.
. As a result of these activities, your car sales and ROI can significantly increase compared to typical marketing methods.