<p>It’s no secret that every car buyer is different. They have specific tastes. Some look for a particular model and make, and some prefer buying their vehicles from local car dealers. The list of preferences each buyer has is quite vast. However, these buyers have one thing in common, and that is, most of them search for their preferred vehicles on the internet.</p><p>With technology becoming easily accessible to almost everyone, potential vehicle buyers resort to search engines to find vehicle dealers. The car businesses that they come across online are the ones that utilize search engine marketing for car dealerships.</p><h3>Are You a Digital Focused Dealer?</h3><p>Otherwise, your marketing campaign will be fruitless. It is precisely why car dealerships can utilize SEO in their favor.</p><h3>Automotive SEO – What is it?</h3><p>Automotive Search Engine Optimization is an excellent digital marketing strategy for a car dealership. It incorporates off-page and on-page optimizations to improve your service’s website ranking in SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages). With these optimizations, you can significantly increase your website’s online conversions, traffic, and, most importantly, sales.</p><h3>Why You Should Take Advantage of SEO</h3><p>No one has the time to go through an endless list of websites to find a car dealer that suits them. Most likely, they will look at four or five links and ignore the other sites. According to research, more than seventy-five percent of the clicks on various search engines do not go beyond the first two or three results. It highlights why you should give SEO a chance. If this was not enough to convince you to try this online marketing strategy, here are some significant reasons that could change your mind:</p><h4><em>It Provides You with Targeted Leads</em></h4><p>Incorporating broad keywords such as “car dealerships” does not work anymore. You have to use a more detailed strategy to improve your rankings on top search engines. Try adding keywords that are pertinent to your inventory and location. It is an excellent way to enhance your vehicle dealership’s overall ranking, especially for local searches. It helps to achieve targeted traffic after some time, which results in higher conversion rates.</p><p>SEO assists you in targeting specific audiences with the help of long-haul keywords. They are quite distinct and help you get your desired leads. Some examples of these keywords are: “white Toyota corolla” or “2009 used Jeep.” Of course, far fewer people will search for terms like these. However, the ones that do will be ready to buy.</p><h4><em>You Get the Upper Hand over Your Competition</em></h4><p>Using the right keywords can significantly improve your website’s ranking and make your dealership more searchable in comparison to your competitors. Of course, it leads to better leads and improved sales. If you are serious about improving footfall in your car dealership, automotive SEO is arguably the best way to achieve that goal.</p><h4><em>You Gain More Authority</em></h4><p>People view high-ranking websites more favorably. Why? They appear to be more authoritative and respectable than the rest. Once your car dealership website starts to rank higher, its online authority will improve as well, making sure that it becomes the go-to online destination for people searching for vehicle dealers.</p><p>People see higher-ranked websites as industry leaders that can provide them beneficial information, which gives you all the more reason to try car dealer SEO.</p><figure class="ql-card-editable ql-card-figure"><img src="https://cdn1.dealermarketing.com/wp/2020/05/dreamstimemedium_86532557-630x350.jpg?auto=format" style="display: block; margin: auto; user-select: auto;"></figure><p><br></p><h3>Helpful Tips for Your SEO Strategy</h3><p>If you are new to this online marketing technique, Automotive SEO will probably seem like a complicated procedure. Sure, the beginning will be slightly challenging, but if you work with an experienced team, you will ease into it in no time. The experts can walk you through the procedure, giving you a more detailed understanding of how SEO for car dealers works.&nbsp;With that said, here are some tried and tested tips that can help you execute your strategy with extra finesse:</p><h4><em>Focus on Content Quality</em></h4><p>Search engines love quality content as much as we do. Potential buyers will likely want to read about what your dealership offers after they come across the content you posted online. One of the best ways to increase traffic through content is by creating a blog. Create blogs that address various topics about your industry, and it will attract interest and increase conversions.</p><h4><em>Track your SEO Results</em></h4><p>Sure, you took the time to choose keywords, but are they working? You must have a tactical plan to monitor and track the SEO efforts of your car dealership. Once you determine your rate of progress, you can develop a plan to make the necessary adjustments.</p><h4><em>Be Consistent with SEO&nbsp;</em></h4><p>SEO is an ongoing process. You cannot ignore this strategy after implementing your keywords. Search engine requirements and people’s interests change very quickly, and you must be able to incorporate new keywords accordingly. Making search engine optimization a regular plan of your marketing strategy is the only way to succeed in the online car dealing industry.</p><h3>Success is a Step Away</h3><p>Successful car dealers do not get to the top of SERPs by accident. They have some of the best SEO experts on their side, optimizing their blogs and other online content. You can do the same and improve your automotive dealership’s ranking tenfold.</p>

Using “Search” for Car Dealers

<p>Automotive SEO is complex, period!!</p><p>Yet, most dealers will make the mistake of trying to perform SEO themselves rather than hiring a professional for the job, or even worse… just let their “Dealer Website Provider” handle it. In some cases, the do-it-yourself approach towards digital marketing and SEO may work, but even a simple mistake could result in your site being penalized. To ensure your car dealership doesn’t end up in a ditch and you benefit from consistent and proper marketing attention, consider hiring a professional automotive SEO agency. Below are some reasons that might convince you to outsource your car dealership search engine optimization to an agency:</p><h4>SEO Takes Lots of Dedication, Time and Effort</h4><p>When it comes to creating a successful and effective automotive SEO campaign, you need to be prepared to invest significant dedication, time, and effort. This can be a tough task, especially if your car dealership is in its growing phase. It will become difficult for you to manage both: your online and brick-and-mortar presence. By outsourcing your SEO, you will gain enough time to observe, control, and manage your business, along with the optimization campaign. You won’t be overwhelmed or sidetracked on your aims, goals, and aspirations. This ensures that you stay motivated to do what it takes to boost the visibility of your site.</p><h4>Experience and Knowledge is Crucial for SEO Results</h4><p>To get good results from your SEO campaign, it is crucial that you utilize state-of-the-art and advanced tools and technologies. If you don’t have any prior knowledge in SEO, choosing the right tools can be a difficult challenge. This can result in great confusion, especially when you want to generate traffic reports, keyword competition reports, keyword density reports, and click-back rates info. Skilled automotive SEO agencies have a suite of optimization tools for keeping up and executing reports. Professional consultants create roadmaps and strategies to successfully market client websites, which is essential for any SEO strategy. They also stay up-to-date with the latest SEO trends, ensuring you receive a higher Return on Investment (ROI) in lesser time.</p><h4>SEO Requires Great Planning and Preparation</h4><p>Search Engine Optimization requires planning. Google has changed the way sites must be optimized numerous times. Now, it’s more about architecture, strategy, and method. Therefore, SEO is more like a form of engineering. True SEO engineers will stay up-to-date with the latest policies, protocols, and strategies of Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and SEO. By outsourcing your automotive SEO, you can feel assured your car dealership follows the correct trends. Professionals will use their best practices, historical methods, skills, and experience for successfully marketing your products and services.</p><h4>SEO Services Are Not Very Expensive</h4><p>Many automotive businesses have this misconception that investing in SEM and SEO might break their bank and result in them getting broke. However, what most don’t know is that optimization campaigns are relatively affordable as compared to other advertising avenues like TV ads, print advertising, and broadcast advertising. You can find plenty of professional services online that can match your marketing budget and needs. By comparing different automotive SEO services, consultant rates, and reputation, you can get a fair and honest deal that ensures you remain satisfied.</p><h4>Outsourcing Improves Website Visibility</h4><p>When you outsource your automotive SEO to a reliable firm, you can rest assured that you will gain better ROI in the form of increased traffic, improved visibility, and boosts in ups &amp; sales. If you select a leading&nbsp;<a href="https://im814.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">automotive SEO agency,</a>&nbsp;they can help get your website through the ranks and land your website in the first or second positions of Google for the best keywords. You can even tell the agency to focus on increasing rankings from different search engines, but we always focus on Big G first.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><figure class="ql-card-editable ql-card-figure"><img src="https://cdn1.dealermarketing.com/wp/2020/03/dreamstime_m_34384664-1024x768.jpg" style="display: block; margin: auto; user-select: auto;" alt="SEO Optimization "></figure><h4>Give You a Competitive Edge</h4><p>By outsourcing your SEO, you can gain an edge over your competition. Your website will naturally outrank your competitors who use the do-it-yourself method of SEO, or the “website company” SEO platform. Trust me, we have destroyed those dealerships for our clients... and they never understand why! Although it may take a few weeks for the results to start showing, you can quickly see a boost in overall rankings and traffic. Since SEO professionals are aware of effective coding techniques that streamline your optimization of website homepage, Meta titles, Meta descriptions, alt image/video tags, and all forms of content – they can still work hand in hand with your dealer website.</p><h4>Best Bang for Your Buck</h4><p>Search engine optimization costs peanuts compared to other advertising methods like direct mail, and Tv/Radio broadcasts… and is far more targeted than Cable. Since everything in SEO is done naturally, professional agencies will ensure that your website isn’t using any black hat techniques. Still, your internet sales rep might get you in trouble if doing your SEO. Professional SEO companies will only use legal and approved SEO techniques and tools for business promotion, avoiding the risk of penalties altogether.</p><h4>Treat Your Website as a Business</h4><p>Therefore, if you want to take your car dealership to the next level, perhaps it’s time you considered acquiring the services of a professional automotive SEO agency.&nbsp;</p>

Should Your SEO Be Outsourced?

<p>What does SEO (search engine optimization) have to do with your car dealership and its ability to sell more cars? Plenty! SEO drives every search online today. Search engine optimization is what Google and other websites utilize for organic search results, when people are looking for a product or service (ie, car dealerships). For example, when someone goes to Google and types "Best Houston salesman for Audi or BMW," there are specific keywords that are being typed, for someone looking for a make/model, in a local area. If your website isn't properly optimized, with the right keywords, relevant content, and value-added descriptions for visitors, you're site isn't going to pop up in the first 10 results on Google. That's a bad thing, as you want to be the first result, but at the very least, should strive to rank on the first page.</p><p>So, how does properly optimizing your page up the chances that people will find your local car dealerships, for different makes/model vehicles you sell in a specific area? And, what's important to include on your website as it relates to increasing organic SEO results? Let's see.</p><h3><strong>It's Local</strong></h3><p>Today, local SEO is imperative, especially for something like car dealerships who are trying to drive more visitors to their site (and ultimately, the dealership). In focusing on proper SEO for your website, it's important to</p><p>·&nbsp;Include city, state, locality, phone number</p><p>·&nbsp;Local landmarks, nearby attractions</p><p>·&nbsp;Local cities/nearby towns where other car dealerships are located (if you operate more than one)</p><p>·&nbsp;Cross streets, and major intersections</p><p>The more information that helps people find the dealership easily, the greater the chance is they will visit. And, people who are shopping for a new car, 9.9 times out of 10, are going to enter a city/state/location with their search. They want to visit, test drive, and see the car before buying. So, you'll want to include local SEO tactics to increase your visibility online.</p><h3><strong>It Legitimizes the Business</strong></h3><p>It's important for car dealerships to maintain a Google My Business Page. Doing this is free, and it verifies you are an actual business. Google is "promoting" your company as a legitimate, trusted company. It's important to claim your business page, and maintain accurate information about your car dealerships. The phone number should be the same on Google as it is on your website, and on the doors of the dealership. The address should be correct, and website content should be accurate. Claim your listing, update inaccurate information, and this will instantly help increase your site's rank for organic SEO searches and local searches.</p><h3><strong>You're Viewed as a Leader</strong></h3><p>People who are shopping for anything online, use Google to help them find sources they can trust. For car dealerships who want to be viewed as leaders, or locally trusted businesses, you want to land at the top for SEO searches performed, revolving around car dealerships, cars, used/new, pricing, and so forth. By optimizing your site with the right keywords, blog content, updating the product descriptions for cars on your website, and including information regarding transparent pricing and financing, you'll do just that. People want to deal with car dealerships which are honest and forthright. Not those that lie online, and tell them a completely different story in person. Make sure your site is well-developed, has appropriate links, the content is valuable to readers, and is well optimized for SEO keyword searches revolving around cars and dealerships.</p><h3><strong>People Trust You</strong></h3><p>Not only as an industry leader, but they'll believe what you're selling is valid. Think about yourself as a consumer for one minute (outside of the realm of car dealerships and buying a car). If you're looking for a local dog sitter, when you search for "dog sitter in Houston for low prices," you're going to click on the first result that pops up. At worst, you'll scroll down the first page of Google and stop there. People are doing the same thing when they're searching for car dealerships. So, you want to be the top, or at least on the first page, to ensure your website is at least seen. The higher up your site ranks because of great SEO, the more chances are potential buyers will click on it, and eventually visit your dealership.</p><p>There's no way around it. Today, you have to rank highly for organic SEO searches in any industry. And, in such a competitive industry (car sales), you have to include local SEO keywords, phrases, and location terms, to guarantee your car dealerships are outranking competitors. If you're not sure where to begin with optimizing your site, hiring a professional SEO and web design team is a good starting point!</p>

How SEO will Help your Car Dealership Improve Sales

<p>All of your marketing efforts are intended to get more ups on your showroom floor, and search engine optimization (SEO) is no exception. It may feel like it’s one step removed, however, because its primary focus is getting more people to your website, but the more customers who visit your website, the more are going to eventually visit your showroom.</p><p>SEO is constantly in flux, with new developments happening all the time. What do you actually need to know in order to get more people in your dealership with your SEO? Here are four key steps.</p><h3><strong>1. Keep a blog </strong></h3><p>What does a blog have to do with getting more people to visit your physical dealership? When you get more people to visit your website, you will naturally see more ups on your showroom floor. Keeping a blog is one of the best ways to get more consumers to visit your website. A blog also does something that just about no other traffic-increasing tool can: It proves your worth to the people who read it. </p><p>When they read a well-written, informative blog post from a dealership, they immediately connect those attributes with your dealership, and are therefore more likely to put you at the top of their list when they start their search for a new vehicle. This isn’t exactly a new tactic, but it’s one that too few dealerships are utilizing. Don’t just write aboutindustry news on your blog. There are lots of places potential customers can find news about your brand. </p><p>Although you might want to create blog posts about updates to technology, changes in new models, or changes to your dealership, what most people look for is information about specific models and lifestyle articles that help them take better care of or get more out of their vehicles. Lots of bloggers spend too much time writing about what interests them, but not their readers.</p><h3><strong>2. Post on forums/question websites</strong></h3><p>This is by far one of the best and most-underutilized link building strategies, probably because it requires more time and effort than any other strategy. You have to search for relevant (preferably location-specific) forums, find questions that you can answer, and then write answers to those questions. And even after all that effort, you might not find all the questions and answers appropriate for including links back to your dealership’s website. This method has some of the same effects as keeping a blog — you start to establish yourself as an authority, which builds your reputation, ultimately making you a more popular (and obvious) choice when someone needs advice on purchasing a vehicle.</p><h3><strong>3. Focus on long-tail keywords</strong></h3><p>Long-tail keywords are the future of SEO. With more and more people using digital assistants and fewer trained to use the old short-form keyword search that most search engines encouraged at their inception, long-tail keywords are going to become increasingly important. These are keywords like “best place to buy a Jeep in Las Vegas.” Many people are now asking their phones a verbal question to initiate a keyword search, and many others are typing longer phrases into search engines. If you want to stay ahead, you need to start focusing on these types of keywords — they are essential to attracting customers to your website and into your showroom.</p><h3><strong>4. Don’t just write text</strong></h3><p>Written content is still highly valued by search engines, but this year, we will see a jump in how well Google can process and use other types of media to rank your website. Videos and images will become increasingly important, and provide you with a much better rank. This will be even more true when search engines gain the ability to quantify the information presented in that media itself, instead of just taking what the caption and tags say for granted. </p><p>When you have more engaging media on your website, you’ll not just rank better, you’ll also have more engaged site visitors, which means a higher likelihood of seeing those people on your showroom floor. SEO may be in flux, but that doesn’t mean your rankings have to be. Keeping up with the latest trends can ensure that you stay (or get) on top of the search rankings, resulting in more customers visiting your website and, in turn, setting foot in your showroom.</p><p><br></p><p><em>Adam Roseland is the founder of </em><a href="http://im814.com/services/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>814 Interactive</em></a><em>, a leading digital marketing firm that specializes in automotive SEO. Adam has been working in the advertising industry for the past 10+ years, primarily in the digital space helping local dealers get more ups.</em></p>

Articles by:ADAM ROSELAND