With the rise in fame of digital marketing, SEO has become a popular buzzword in all industries. Big or small, business owners know that they need to be discoverable by Google in order to remain visible on the digital landscape. And that means investing in strong SEO campaigns that will help your business get the attention it deserves.
The Automotive Sector and SEO
SEO offers a variety of benefits to every brand that approaches it in the right way. Today, we’ll be looking closely at how SEO can influence the automotive industry. And, more importantly, why your dealership must implement up-to-date SEO strategies sooner rather than later.
But first, you need to understand what automotive SEO is.
Simply put, they are SEO strategies that are specially tailored for the automotive industry. This means optimizing your website with appropriate keywords, link-building, content customization, enhancing UX, and much more. With the right modifications, you can make your website more relevant to your customers and simultaneously rank better in SERPs.
What does automotive SEO entail?
Some of the things that an automotive SEO campaign will focus on include:
- Content needs to be original, up to date, and appropriately structured. It should be easy to consume and good to look at.
- Use high-ranking, relevant keywords.
- Optimize the website so that functions smoothly and doesn’t hinder navigation.
- Loading speeds should be optimal (websites should load on mobile sites within 1 or 2 seconds.
- Linking to other high authority websites to enhance link profiles.
Why is it important?
1. Gain online visibility
Your customers are online. According to Autotrader, car buyers spend 59% of their time online researching.
If you want to reach out to these potential customers, you need to employ robust SEO strategies to make your business visible on search engines. After all, 92% of people pick those that show up on the first page of search results. And this is where you want to be.
That means using the right keywords in order to align with consumer search phrases. For instance, an auto dealership can reach its audience by targeting keywords that are used throughout the research and buying process.
2. Drive more traffic to your site
According to GlobalWebIndex, nearly half of internet users are blocking ads on their connected devices. And that means that your paid advertising messages are not reaching almost half of your target audience.
SEO, on the other hand, can help your website rank organically on SERPs. The higher up you are, the more visibility your business receives. As you gain more online visibility and align content with consumer needs, you’ll be able to draw a considerable amount of traffic to your website.
3. Connect with your customer base
A study by J.D. Power revealed that 53% of automotive internet shoppers use a mobile device to gather information. And since one aspect of SEO is ensuring that your content is mobile-optimized, you are in a position to cater to their lifestyle choices. By offering useful, valuable content that your customers can access from their smartphones, you can connect with more potential customers from any device and any location.
You must also keep in mind that a significant number of people searching from mobiles are searching for ‘near me’ businesses. According to HubSpot, 88% of shoppers conducting a local search on their smartphones will visit or call within a day. So a strong local SEO strategy can keep driving more local traffic to your auto business.
4. Boost sales and maximize ROI
If you want to remain profitable and competitive, you need to use SEO. Not only does it drive more traffic to your site, but it also increases the chance of conversions. Often, customers are undecided at the beginning of the shopping process. Later, 6 out of 10 are interested in multiple vehicle options.
5. Enhance UX
Google places a great deal of importance on the online experience. SEO can help ensure your website provides the best UX to your viewers. From intuitive navigation to clean website design to attractive images, you are making sure that your customers- and Google- are always happy. And the happier they are, the chances of consumers staying on the site increase, and so does the chances of them making a purchase.
6. Help you deal with the pandemic crisis
Car shoppers are online for a variety of reasons, including researching car prices (71%), finding cars listed for sale (68%), comparing different models (64%), evaluating the current value of a particular automobile (63%), or locating a dealer or getting dealer info (46%).
With COVID-19, more people are reporting to online activities than before. It’s forcing all businesses onto the virtual space. Therefore you need to ensure your SEO strategies are on target. Since more businesses are transitioning online, competition is only going to get fiercer. By implementing auto dealership SEO best practices, you can stand out in the crowd.
7. Get ahead of the competition
Other businesses are already embracing SEO techniques. The longer you wait to onboard these practices, the more you’re at risk of falling out of the competition altogether.
8. An affordable way to promote your automotive business
Compared to traditional advertising and marketing, digital marketing services are more flexible and cost-effective. You can find a variety of services that fall into your budget and enhance your automotive SEO strategies.
9. The ideal way to grow your business
From parts to maintenance services to buying and selling, all aspects of the auto industry are closely linked. Similarly, your business needs to build long-term relationships with other businesses and help your business expand. In fact, SEO practices require sites to link to other relevant sites. This helps increase traffic to your site and acquire good rankings on SERPs. Seems like a win-win situation.
10. Improve your website’s authority
SEO strategies such as link building have been able to increase the overall authenticity of websites. It allows search engines to recognize them as a credible business. And as a car dealer, automotive service provider, or auto parts seller, enhancing online credibility builds consumer trust and loyalty.
It’s all about staying current
To make sure your automotive SEO efforts remain on track, remember to monitor important metrics relevant to your business. And since SEO is continuously evolving, you need to stay on top of the game.
It’s time to say goodbye to older SEO strategies and update your campaigns. Remember, your SEO campaign will only be effective when it is up to date with Google’s current algorithms. So ensure you’re implementing the right techniques to maintain the performance of your online platform and faster the growth of your automotive business.
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