Did you know that car buyers spend over 12 hours on the internet researching before making a purchase?
More so, the internet is the No. 1 source for new car searches. Car buyers look at 10 car dealership websites before they turn into a qualified lead.
So, what does this mean for your business?
It means that your traditional advertising and marketing strategies won’t work by themselves.
You also need a comprehensive digital strategy to rank at the top of search engines and reach out to new customers. When you invest in car dealership SEO, you can boost your rankings and get the best results from your local SEO efforts.
Let’s see how to get started!
Start with Your Website
An effective SEO strategy begins with a fast, reliable and user-friendly website. When designing your website, think about the local audiences as most dealerships sell to customers within 30 miles of their showroom.
Also, empower your landing pages with the right strategies to tap new customers.
Here you can leverage on-page optimization by including your dealership’s name in heading tags and image tags. Create effective meta titles and descriptions because Google displays in its search results.
Make sure you include relevant local keywords along with your phone number and address on all pages.
Ensure that your Mobile Experience is
Flawless
Last year, mobile traffic exceeded desktop traffic. Hence, there are chances that a lot of customers are now mobile visitors.
Since many dealership websites are complex and big, they don’t get updated as often as required. If your website is five or ten years old, it won’t work for mobile users.
You can lose up to 79% of your customers if they can’t access your website on their phones.
A responsive website, smaller image sizes, clean and easy navigation can go a long way in retaining users on your website when they are browsing it on their phones.
Add Power to Your Content Marketing
Content is the king of SEO. But it needs to be fresh, unique and interesting to drive traffic to your website. Rather than restricting yourself to inventory updates, go a step further and offer information for car buyers.
Create a weekly blog post that reaches out to the local public. Write content related to local events, fundraising opportunities, upcoming car launch, tips on car buying, motor insurance, used car buying guide can be helpful to your customers.
Also, you should optimize the content for your local customers with appropriate alt text, meta descriptions, and title tags.
Embrace Google My Business Page Listings
When it comes to a direct correlation with local SEO, nothing beats Google My Business (GMB) listings. It is, indeed, the most powerful way to make your online visibility stronger and effective.
It’s important to provide accurate and correct information for the category, name, address, and phone number (NAP).
Get your listings verified on GMB and optimize your profile so that customers can find you easily.
Also, maintain consistency in the NAP listed on your GMB profile and your website.
Boost Your Credibility with Citations
When your business gets recognized on other online resources, these citations confirm your credibility and boost your reputation among buyers.
Plus, they help you improve your rankings on search engines like Google and Bing. Get proven results with your auto SEO efforts with citations from local business directories, yellow pages, Facebook, and Chamber of Commerce website.
You can also leverage online tools that publish your dealership’s details on popular directory sites.
Request for Reviews
Contrary to what most dealerships think, online reviews never get lost in the internet noise. In fact, research revealed that 91% of the buyers read online reviews before laying their trust in a brand.
Interestingly, 84% of these people have complete faith in online reviews. The consumers go through at least 10 reviews before taking a final call.
Maintain a positive reputation online.
That’s why, it’s important for dealerships to maintain a positive reputation online through their reviews.
Ask your customers to write a compelling review when you feel that they have appreciated their car buying experience with your company. You can even offer some incentives for customers who review!
Besides, don’t forget to respond to your reviews. While a “thank you” works great for positive reviews, an apology and a sincere effort to resolve a negative review goes a long way in building an online reputation.
Use Schema Markup
Want the edge over your competitors? Try schema markup. It is an extra code that helps search engines and crawlers to better understand your website’s content. It conveys the meaning behind every piece of data used on the landing pages.
For example, you can use a schema markup to identify the difference between used and new inventory or to understand user reviews. Apart from these, you can use schema to add fuel to Google’s Knowledge Graph, thus increasing click-through rates and improving search engine rankings.
In car dealership SEO, use markup options like address, hours of operation, reviews, or phone number.
These are
some effective strategies to boost your online visibility in the local
searches. But, you need an expert to manage these aspects of local SEO
optimization.
Contact eWR Digital for Your Car Dealership SEO Campaigns
As a leading digital marketing agency, we commit to positive results for your car dealership search engine optimization campaigns. For any inquiries and details, please get in touch with our experts at 713-592-6724 today.
How to Do Car Dealership SEO | EWR Digital- Houston, TX