Top Automotive SEO Tips!

Recognize the importance of web traffic

Automotive SEO or Search Engine Optimization is one of the techniques to use in order to achieve more volume of traffic to your dealership site. Without a good number of people visiting the dealership site, you won’t be able to expose your site as many potential customers. Thus, you need to recognize the importance of internet traffic, so that you would be able to take the necessary steps in SEO and attain it.

Choose your domain name carefully

It is very important that the domain name of your site is related to your dealership. In fact, it is best if the title of the site is the same as its domain name, so that people can easily recall it and visit it again and again. With that, you should spend some time in coming up with the possible domain names, and search for them to see if other dealers are using the domain.

Establish the main keyword of your site

One of the very first things that you need to do in order to gain success in online marketing is to establish the main keyword of your dealership site. When you are able to do that, you can make use of it and optimize your web page with it. If possible, you can also make use of it for your domain name.

Use keyword tools

Using a tool in order to determine the keywords of your dealership would go a long way, as far as using automotive SEO as one of the techniques to gain more website traffic is concerned. There are lots of keyword tools that you can take advantage of today. Whatever type of tool you want to make use of, make sure that it is effective, so that you won’t be wasting your time on it. This will help ensure that you are targeting relevant content for your dealer website.

Domain names with hyphens

In establishing domain names, you may come across articles, which may suggest not making use of hyphens on them. You should become aware though that using hyphens on your domain name is not a bad practice. However, you should know that most people these days, are not used to typing domain names on their browsers that come with hyphens. So unless totally required do your best to not have a hyphen in the domain name.

Take advantage of domain name suggestion tools

There are lots of domain name suggestion tools available on the internet these days. All you got to do to find them is to make use of your search engine. To make use of such an online tool, all one has to do is to enter the keywords that are related to your site’s topic. By using this tool, you would be able to have a good number of domain names to choose from.

Your website’s content

To have more people visiting your dealership site on a regular basis, then you need to establish a very high-quality content for it. If you can make it exclusive, then that would be better. Therefore, you need to start writing blog posts for your dealer site today. Write the articles with the use of valuable information, so that people would be able to appreciate it. There are lots of ideas for dealers – models, used, service and relevant local content.

Come up with a memorable domain name

When it comes to choosing your dealer site’s domain name, you need to make it as memorable as you can. To make that a possibility, then you have to have a domain name that is catchy and short. When it is able to catch the attention of people, and it is short, then they would not encounter difficulties in trying to remember it.

Add more content to your site

You have to keep in mind that in order to have people purchase or generate leads with your models and services, you have to convince them first. You would know if a person is almost convinced if he is constantly revisiting your site from time to time. To have a person revisit your site, you need to give him reasons to; and, one of which is by providing the site with new and updated regular automotive content.

Don’t forget the keywords in your image file

When you upload images on your dealer website, which are related to your products and services, do not forget to establish keywords for it as well. Some people are easily attracted to certain images. Therefore, if you optimize your images with important keywords, then more people would be able to find your dealer web site.

Pinpoint your top competitors

Knowing your top competitors is one of the best things to do in order to get ahead of them, or at least be at par with their performance. To attain that, you need to do your research about them first. Identify them, and try to check the strategies that they are making use of. See if such techniques can also be applied to your dealership site so that you can take advantage of them if possible.

Make the most out of your tags

To ensure that your dealer site would benefit from your tags or title tags, you should use target keywords in it. Aside from that, you can also mention the services to in your title tag, if you cover a specific area. Moreover, you should also make use of the most valuable keywords at the beginning of your title tag.

Determine your best keywords

Do your research in order to determine the keywords you are using that pull the most traffic. This will give you more edge over your automotive competitors in terms of attracting more potential customers to your website. Once you identify the best keywords, optimize your site with it, as well as your articles, so that you can maximize the benefits you can derive from it.

Determine if your dealer site is crawlable by various search engines

In order for people to find your site when they search for information related to it, your web site should be crawlable by all search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc). To achieve this, you need to research how to get it done. Aside from that, make sure that certain files you have on it does not block your site from being indexed.

Establishing titles for your site’s pages

First and foremost, you should make sure that each page on your dealer site is provided with a title. On top of that, the titles should be short and catchy, so that they are more captivating. In addition, you should make sure that the titles on each of your site’s pages are unique.

Use synonyms

When writing blog posts for the dealership website, you should make use of synonyms for it, especially when it comes to the keywords or keyword phrases. When you use synonyms, it would make the flow of the article more natural. On top of that, it also makes the blog posts more interesting and pleasant to read for your potential customers.

The importance of topping the SERP

Search Engines Results Page or SERP refers simply to the results that one would see when he makes a quick search about a certain keyword phrase. You want to make sure that your site ranks good in SERP. This is because, if it does, then people would be able to see it easier and faster when completing their search.

Take advantage of organic traffic

Organic traffic is free, which is why it is best if you focus on attaining it for your web page. Organic traffic can be obtained if you are able to take the right steps in applying SEO. Aside from that, you can also achieve it if your site has good content. Thus, focus on this technique, since it can make your site gain more traffic through search engines.

Having a site that provides easy navigation

Establishing a dealership site that one can easily navigate does not only benefit people that would be visiting it. It can also benefit you, as the website owner, since it can actually make your site gain more traffic. The easier it is for humans to navigate, the easier it is as well for search engines to index and explores the site.

Generating site maps

Having a site map for your web page is very important for all dealer sites. Aside from helping people conveniently navigating through it, it can also make it easier for search engines to index it. Generate your site map with the use of an automatic tool, so that you can also update it easily.

Become more familiar of On-Page SEO

On-Page SEO simply refers to the things that you can do, in order to optimize your dealer site for Search Engine Optimization. Since it is “On Page”, it means the techniques you can apply directly to your site, in order to improve its performance. This usually is easier to do, compared to the Off Page SEO, which involves blogging, back-linking, and social marketing.

Minimize broken links

Broken links are not good to have on your website, since they can cause missing images, and such. Keep in mind that not only people dislike them, but also various search engines. Therefore, if your site has lots of it, then it may not rank as well in them. To avoid this, make use of link-checker sites or tools so that you would know whether your site has them.

Visit web pages of your competitors

To find out why dealer competitors are beating you in the game, try to enter certain keywords on the search engine, and visit the first website that appears on the results pages. This will likely be a big focus on the Local SEO market.

When you visit the websites of your competitors that are topping the ranks, try to see what they are doing right. Try to learn as much as you can, so that you may be able to identify what aspects of your SEO techniques need improvement.

Visit your own website

Try to visit your own dealership site, as if you are just one of the people browsing through it. Review all the things that you could come across with. By visiting your site as another person, you would be able to see whether it provides a pleasant browsing experience or not. Aside from that, it also makes your browsing experience easier.

Learn more about Automotive SEO

Learning more about Automotive SEO is one of the most important things that you need to do prior to starting your online business. This can be done by thorough research about the subject, which you can do through the internet. Aside from that, you can also choose to hire an expert in it to become your mentor, or read web sites about it.

Your meta keywords section

Avoid using single keywords in your Meta keywords section. Instead, make use of phrases, if you want to expect better results from it. Aside from that, you should also do a thorough research about the best phrases to use, so that you won’t be wasting your time in it.

Make use of backlinks

Backlinks are simply links that lead people to your dealer site, which come from other sites. It is best to make use of one-way links, since such links would imply that your site is the important one. Choose the sites you would insert these backlinks on properly so that you would be able to gain more from them.

Take note of keyword density

The keyword density refers to the number of times you should make use of your keywords or keyword phrases in certain pages of your site. In most cases, the density should be within 3 to 7 percent only, so as not to overdo it. If you go beyond that percentages though search engines may penalize you by not showing your site on its result pages, which is why you should be careful in it

Use website analytics tools

It is very important to keep track of the number of people that visit your dealer website on a daily basis. To do this, you should make use of a website analytics tool for it. Some of these tools are for free, while others are not.

With such a tool, not only will you be made aware of the number of people that visit your site per day, but it can also provide you information about where such traffic came from, as well the keywords they used to find your site.

Making use of PPC or Pay Per Click

Pay Per Click (PPC) advertisement is something that is used by lots of online marketers these days. It should be noted though that the more people clicking your ads, the more money you will have to spend for them. Thus, make sure that your title and content for it would be catchy and not misleading.

Targeted traffic is more important than just traffic

Gaining more internet traffic is very important. However, it is best if your site obtains targeted local traffic, instead of just online traffic. This is because targeted traffic means that people visiting your web page are those that are really interested in the services and vehicles that you can offer to them.

Use hyperlinks

Using hyperlinks is another SEO technique that you can use in order to have more people visiting your site. A hyperlink can help you, since you can insert or include your keywords into it. When you do that, a person who wants to visit your site can simply click on the keywords to get routed to it.

The first paragraph on your website

There are cases when search engines would base its results on the first paragraph of websites. In this case, you should also focus on making the first paragraph of your website as catchy as possible. Optimize it with your main keywords, so that it would rank better in search engines

Don’t forget the value of social networking

If you have not started making use of social networking for your SEO efforts, then it is best to start now. Starting early with social networking is always better than starting late. This is because reaping the benefits from social networking takes some time. Thus, you need to be patient in going about it, so that you would be able to enjoy the fruits of your labor soon.

Be persistent

Gaining success in your online marketing efforts through SEO may take some time. Thus, you should be persistent about it. Always strive to improve the content of your website. Aside from that, you should also continue doing all the necessary things to build traffic.

The SERP rankings

The SERP or Search Engine Results Page rankings are always fluid. In other words, since search engines base the SERP to different factors, any change in such factors may also create a change on the page rankings.

Therefore, you should also be flexible. In other words, you should try to use other sets of keywords from time to time, and add more content to your site.

Focus on one website first

In getting involved with SEO, you need to consider the fact that it is a full time job. It involves lots of things, in which you need to be alert for changes that may happen. Such changes can affect the trends, rankings, links, and many more. Thus, it is best to focus on one website first, since if you manage more websites, you may lose track on some of them.

Including your dealership address

Since you obviously have a physical dealership location, you want to establish a better web presence, then make sure to include your office’s local address on your site. Include it in the contact section of the web page. Aside from that, you can also apply it on the landing page of your web site pages.

Use long-tailed keywords

These are simply more keywords in a keyword phrase. In other words, you would be using longer keyword phrases for your articles, as well as for your website’s content. Just make sure that the keywords within the phrase are significant to your site’s topic though, and they should not have much competition.

Think of ways to stand out from the rest of the pack

There are always certain ways that you can think about, which have not been used by other people yet. As long as you put your mind into it, you may be able to find an angle, or a new way of looking at something, which can help you gain more edge over your competitors. Keep on looking for it, so that you would be able to come up with a method or a strategy that you made on your own.

Add internal hyperlinks to your website

Internal hyperlinks are links that can lead a person to another section within your site, by simply clicking on them. Search engines see these links as important parts of the site, which can become a factor when it comes to the rankings. If you have not added such links yet, then it is time that you do.

Using deep linking method

The deep linking is a method, in which you would be using links, which would direct people not towards your site’s homepage, but to another section of it. Search engines actually favor sites that make use of it. However, you need to be careful, since such links may get broken every time you make some adjustments on your site.

Bolding or italicizing your important keyword phrases

To emphasize on your keyword phrases, you can actually bold or italicize them. By doing that, you would be making the keyword phrases more eye catching, which is good, especially if you are also using some of them in hyperlinks. Just don’t overdo it, since it may not look good on your site.

Making certain pages of your site more important

If you want certain pages or sections of your site to become more important for search engines, then you should make use of internal links to it. The more links you would be placing on your site for that certain section of it, the more vital that page becomes. By doing that, you can improve your site’s rankings in search engines.

Making an About Us page

Do not forget to include an About Us page on your dealership. This is because, when people search for information about certain things, there is a good chance for them to enter keywords that describe your dealership. With that, the page would make your website rank better on search engines.

Use tools for site analysis on other websites

The tools that you use to analyze your site can also be used on other dealerships that you visit. By doing that, you would be able to see what keywords they are focusing on, what they are doing wrong, what they are doing right, and more. Visit sites that are visited by lots of people, so that you can gain more positive ideas.

Be patient

It is very important to be patient in applying your Automotive SEO techniques. Keep in mind that it may take some time, before you could reap the benefits from it. Aside from that, Local SEO is something that you need to do continually, even if you have already attained your goals. Thus, it is a continuous process, as long as you want your site to be competitive.

Shawn Ryder

With over 20 years of experience in the car business, I’ve navigated the evolution of the industry from traditional sales to the dynamic digital age. My journey through various roles in both sales and management has endowed me with a unique perspective on the challenges and opportunities in automotive sales today.

As the founder of Shawn Ryder Digital, I combine my extensive background in technology with my deep understanding of the automotive industry. This synergy allows me to craft digital marketing strategies that are not just effective but tailored to the specific needs of each dealership. My commitment is to drive your sales, enhance your brand awareness, and ensure your dealership thrives in the digital landscape.

Here at Shawn Ryder Digital, we’re not just about providing services; we’re about building partnerships. As I often say, “In the fast-paced world of digital marketing, staying ahead isn’t just an option; it’s a necessity.”

Together, let’s embrace the challenges of the digital age and turn them into opportunities for growth and success. Join me in redefining the future of automotive digital marketing. Let’s accelerate your dealership’s journey to the top.