Driving More Organic Traffic

When we start working with a new dealership our team analyzes the keywords performance and look for the top keywords we should prioritize based on many factors including search volume, competition, and proximity to name a few. We continue to review over time as we get new keywords ranked look for additional opportunities to grow organic traffic.

In this case study, we focus on geo targeting a local city that our research showed has solid search volume and an opportunity to expand our dealership’s organic reach on Google.

What did we test?

Conquesting New SEO Geo Targets for one of our SEO clients – specifically Texarkana TX/AR in this case study, with even more drilled-down data revolving around the keyword “Ford Dealer Texarkana.”

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 used what I like to call the “Pyramid/Building Block” content strategy where you build out content for long-tail keywords first, like laying down a base layer of building blocks, then move on to the next layer of shorter-tail search terms.

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?

~12/2019 – 11/2021

While the Ford Dealer Texarkana page was actually built in December 2020, we have been cultivating content around the Texarkana geo-target for quite some time. The first Texarkana page we built was back in October of 2018!

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/February 2021.

What were the results? How did we track progress?

We tracked the progress of the rankings increases through Agency Analytic’s Rankings Tracker. In the screenshot below you can see in Dec 2020 our Ford F-150 Texarkana TX page was ranking on Page 2 for the “Ford Dealer Texarkana” search term- a less than desirable position, but not bad considering it’s an adjacent keyword to the term we wanted to rank for.

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But that page isn’t just ranking for that 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

Here are the performance metrics for the Ford Dealer Texarkana page:

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:

We saw a 321% increase in Sessions with practically all of them being New Users. The stats officially weighed in at a 311% increase in Users, with a 321% increase in New Users.

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:

SEO Geo Targeting Case Study