Organic search generates 53% of all website traffic1.
“Organic” refers to the non-paid search results generated on search engines such as Google. In order to achieve greater rankings on organic search slots and earn more clicks, dealers need to turn to Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
The reality of the internet is that 75% of search traffic stays on the first page of results2, and people don’t scroll very far down the page. The key to capturing more online leads is to earn one of the coveted top positions in organic search. This is where your website needs SEO.
Below, ARI has provided an overview of the main strategies you can employ to ensure your website SEO is driving the results you want to see for your business.
Content Maintenance
Leveraging SEO as a digital marketing tool for your dealership consists of optimizing your website content to align with local searches, which increases your online ranking. Search engines are designed to generate a list of websites that provide valuable information for related searches. Websites with high-quality, keyword-rich content are more likely to be deemed helpful by search engine algorithms.
Additionally, you should review the quality and organization of your website content. Considering the majority of shoppers will browse your online showroom before visiting your dealership, we encourage you to keep your inventory pages optimized by including important information such as unit type, make and brand. This vastly improves the experience your shoppers will have when they browse your site for specific units and products.
As a business that largely focuses on shoppers within your community, your content should include a geographic focus to increase your visibility and relevancy with local searchers. Proper SEO implementation ensures that your website gains notoriety among nearby searchers and provides website visitors with top-notch information.
Link Cleanup
Pay attention to the different types of links on your site and whether they are helping or harming your online results.
- Outgoing links direct traffic away from your site. If any of these links are broken or are spam left by website visitors in a comment section, they could negatively affect your website performance.
- Incoming links, which are known as backlinks, drive traffic to your website from other platforms. Unhelpful and harmful backlinks include paid links intended to boost search rankings (which are penalized by search engines) and links from poor-quality digital directories that don’t provide reliable information about your business.
Proper SEO practices help you optimize and protect your outgoing links and backlinks to ensure they continue to support your website. A trained SEO professional can provide expertise on building reliable backlinks that increase your website traffic and online credibility.
Business Listings
Review your business information carefully on and off your website. Do your business listings contain consistent information and descriptions across all sites where your dealership is listed? Unfortunately, it is all too common for business listings to include inaccuracies or inconsistencies in the name, address, email, phone number or store hours. When these errors occur on sites like Google My Business, Yelp or social media, search engines may deem your website unreliable and penalize its rank.
Online Reputation
Your dealership’s online reputation is impacted by the reviews and ratings customers provide on your business listings and social media pages. Your dealership’s reviews and overall rating are highly influential in your search ranking because they appear alongside your website in search results. In fact, online reviews make up 16% of decision-making for search engines3, which take into account your dealership’s average rating and the amount, frequency and type of reviews. The key to maintaining a good online reputation is to manage all feedback, happy or not, and responding to reviews in a timely manner.
The different aspects of effective SEO play a significant role in how quickly online shoppers can discover your dealership – and what kind of experience they have on your website. By implementing important SEO tools and upholding best practices, you can control your online presence and steer your dealership toward bigger and better business opportunities.
ARI is always here to provide more insight on digital solutions like SEO. Contact us today with any questions!
