Driving More Organic Traffic for Car Dealers through Geo-Targeted Keyword Research
At Dealer Authority, when we start working with a new SEO client, our team analyzes the dealer’s website for current keyword performance and determines a set of top keywords we should prioritize our efforts around. This is just one (major) part of our overall service and one we would like to demonstrate for you today.
Putting together an automotive SEO strategy revolves around many factors including search volume, competition, domain authority, and geography to name a few. As we work through our blueprint and successfully grow rankings for our priority keyword list, we monitor performance and seek out new ways to grow organic traffic through additional keyword opportunities.
In this case study, we focused on creating geo-targeted content for a city close to our client in Texas. Our research showed this geo-target was a viable location to shift our focus to in two ways:
- Keyword combinations with that geo-target demonstrated high search volumes for the primary manufacturer
- The website was already acquiring a small amount of healthy traffic from that locale, which helped us determine that it wasn’t too far of a stretch for legitimate in-market shoppers
In the next few sections, you will see exactly how we used our geo-targeted content strategy to grow organic traffic for our client.
Buckle Up!
What did we test?
Why were we testing?
Google Analytics indicated that users in Texarkana were actively shopping the client’s website. Texarkana was ranked as the third-highest city for organic traffic coming to the site even being an hour away. The website had zero content ranking for Texarkana keywords.
Our experienced team believed the high volume of traffic from Texarkana willing to shop for their next vehicle in Mt. Pleasant TX would also consider driving to Texarkana given the option.
Our goal was to infiltrate the Texarkana search rankings for new and used terms so our dealership could drive more traffic.
How did we execute this strategy?
We started building long-tail keyword landing pages involving the Texarkana geo-target for multiple makes and models early on. These were keyword combinations with lower Search Volume, for example, “Ford F-150 for Sale Texarkana TX” that were easy to rank for and gave us the ability to gain authority and trustworthiness around that keyword. As we built up a stable of content supporting that geo/keyword we began building shorter-tail keywords like “Ford Dealer Texarkana” as it would have the long-tail content to support it.
What was the testing time frame?
Almost immediately after building the Ford Dealer Texarkana page, the new landing page started ranking organically and garnering sessions.
It ranked on Page 1 by month two in February 2021.
What were the results? How did we track progress?
But that page isn’t just ranking for that one keyphrase. It’s ranking for two others (and likely more) giving it a combined Search Volume of 850 estimated potential monthly visits to the site:
These Are the Results You’re Looking For
Through Google Analytics we were able to measure 429 New Sessions to the landing page in 2021 to date, with a 14.92% Bounce Rate, 3.38 Pages per Session, 3:36 Average Session Duration!
All excellent organic search metrics.
Here is the performance of our Texarkana content across the board to date in 2021 compared to the previous period:
You can see an overall increase in traffic from the Texarkana (AR/TX) area, with ~12% increase in Sessions, a 13.5% increase in Users, and a 17% increase in New Users during that same timeframe:
Ready to Put our Automotive SEO Team to the Test?
The proof is in the numbers; our automotive SEO team delivers results. If you’re ready to grow organic traffic for your dealership contact us today.