It’s true!
An Automotive SEO Strategy Converts Sales
Learn how Dealer Authority drives organic traffic to your dealership.
How long has it been since you’ve evaluated your overall automotive SEO strategy? Are your efforts bringing more people to your dealership? Are they bringing the RIGHT people to your showroom?
Attracting qualified buyers to your website or your showroom doesn’t have to be hit-or-miss anymore. A robust digital marketing plan that includes an intelligent, research-backed automotive Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy lets serious car buyers find your dealership, not the other way around.
Flip the Script on Traditional Marketing
Traditional print and broadcast advertising is great for brand awareness but not as effective at bringing in people who are ready to spend their money.
Alternatively, automotive digital marketing offers dealerships a way to target people who are actively researching and shopping for a car. In addition to homing in on qualified buyers, digital marketing is:
- Flexible: you can use A/B ad testing, and you won’t be locked into a campaign that’s not working.
- Measurable: you can see in near-real-time if a campaign is getting results.
- Affordable: you can set your budget and adjust it as needed.
- Reusable across many platforms, including your website, social media, and paid search.
We’ve got some tips below to help qualified auto buyers find you. Now, go get your showroom looking clean and spiffy because it’s time to show car shoppers why your dealership is the ONLY place to buy their next car.
Drive Your Automotive Marketing with Onsite SEO
Many managers who are new to digital marketing confuse SEO with keywords. Then they log into their website editor and proceed to stuff every automotive-related keyword into their website’s homepage copy. The two main problems with “keyword stuffing” are:
- A huge block of keywords without context fails to show shoppers why they should buy from your dealership.
- Keyword stuffing is the fastest way to make search engines like Google disqualify your site. This means your dealership’s website won’t appear in search engine results.
The good news is, your dealership can rise up in search engine rankings with a well-planned and executed SEO content strategy from Dealer Authority. 😃
Add Custom Content to Your Website
Your website is your most potent digital marketing tool. But if you only display basic information (your inventory, showroom and service hours, and an About Us page), are you using it to its fullest potential?
Custom pages are a great way to maximize the power of your onsite SEO.
Product landing pages (that link to social media and paid search ads) and blog posts offer a cost-efficient way to drive conversions by creating an enhanced shopping experience.
To get the most from your custom content, your copy should be unique and reflect your brand’s tone and messaging. Product landing pages should highlight the benefits of buying that product and why it’s better to get it from you. Blog posts and videos can dive into a vehicle’s best-hidden features or take your audience on a virtual test drive. It’s also a great opportunity to highlight other businesses in your area (“Best Drive-In Restaurants to Take Your New Convertible”).
It’s worth noting that a substantial part of your target audience may be using a smartphone or tablet to browse your website, and they get tired of scrolling quickly. With this in mind, your custom content should be around 600 words.
Measuring Success
One of the greatest attributes of digital marketing is the ability to get timely information about your marketing efforts. Using tools such as tracking pixels, you can start to measure the success of your digital campaigns.
Although it may take a few days to weeks to see shifts in your search engine rankings, you can start reviewing your website traffic within 24 hours to find out if you are seeing an increase in organic traffic. Tracking pixels can also tell you if your paid ads and custom content are leading to an increase in conversions.
If your ad or page content isn’t generating the results you want, you can make adjustments to your campaign without having to tear it all apart and start from scratch. Simple tweaks like swapping an image or minor copy changes can deliver a quick payoff without blowing a hole in your budget.
It’s Time to Think About Linking
Linking is an underutilized part of SEO. But having a well-executed linking strategy is one of the most critical aspects to getting the most out of your SEO efforts. And it may sound pretty easy until you realize that a linking strategy is more than making sure links within your website are 1) working properly and 2) pointing to relevant content.
You absolutely should ensure that your internal links and site directories are up to date and functioning, so search engine site crawlers don’t run into problems. But a linking strategy also involves offsite content.
How Other Websites Can Help You Boost Your Website’s Search Ranking
Keywords play an important role in your website’s search results, but did you know that high-quality links can also boost your ranking?
Getting websites to link to your content shows search engines that your website (and, therefore, your business) has authority within your industry and your geographic location.
There’s just one little catch: search sites like Google grade you on the quality of the sites linking back to you, not the quantity. This means that one link to your dealership’s website from a large automaker, car review website, or even your local newspaper is far more valuable than 50 links from your friends’ personal blogs.
Link building takes a lot of time and effort. It requires a careful, professional approach to these larger sites, so they will not only take you seriously but enthusiastically agree to link to your website. You can build backlinks by having your local newspaper or TV station write a story about your dealership or quote you as an authority. You can also write guest posts for other automotive-related or local business websites.
If you’ve been neglecting your internal and external links, work on your link-building game plan and watch your search engine rankings take off.
Let’s Create an Action Plan to Get Qualified Buyers in the Door
The bottom line is your dealership has cars to sell and service technicians who need vehicles to repair. A strong automotive SEO strategy converts sales by guiding qualified buyers to your website and your dealership.
If it’s been a while since you’ve audited your marketing plan and your website, call the digital marketing professionals at Dealer Authority.
By knowing the right questions to ask, we can help you quickly determine your website’s health and show you where your marketing can use a boost. Then, we’ll work with you to create an action plan based on your goals and your budget. Let’s get started on your money-making automotive SEO strategy today.
Learn More About Digital Marketing for Car Dealerships by Department:
The Future of Car Buying is Here
If you’ve stuck with the old tried-and-true methods of advertising for your car dealership, it’s time to expand your efforts to include digital marketing.
The team at Dealer Authority has years of experience working with car dealerships across the United States. We can help you craft a comprehensive digital marketing strategy or walk you through Pay-Per-Click and SEO.
Take a look at the services we offer online or give us a call at 888.963.9617.
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