SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is an online marketing technique that involves on-page and off-page optimisation of your website in order to make it readable to search engines.

The purpose of SEO is to get your website up the top of the results in Google and other search engines, when people are searching for terms related to your business. Thus it aims at getting more visitors and sales through your website.

To get more buyers from search engines, you need to understand and utilise the potential of SEO for your car dealership website. Car buyers in your area are using Google to find their next car every day. If your website isn’t up the top of the results, you will be losing customers. Therefore it's essential to improve your website’s SEO, if you want to rank in the top of the search results.

Why is SEO important for car dealers?

Essentially, the better your dealership website ranks in Google, the more leads you will get.

The car industry is highly competitive. Among hundreds of car dealerships, it is challenging to be visible on the top page of google.

But understanding best practices for SEO will help you get there.

SEO is such a vital part of your car dealership's digital marketing strategy, as it offers a strategic edge over the competition. SEO makes your website available to qualified buyers looking to buy a car on google.

How can you do it

SEO is an extensive topic and can take a long time to learn. But you can make a few quick changes in your website and improve its visibility on google. This consists of following key elements

Keyword research

A crucial aspect of search engine optimisation is to identify the right keywords to target. Keywords are the search phrases, people frequently use to find businesses or services on Google. Google keeps a track of all these searches and helps businesses with all these data. You can also make use of the online tools such as Google Keyword Planner (https://ads.google.com/intl/en_au/home/tools/keyword-planner/) to find keyword choices and see approximate search volume based on the search pattern and history like below:


On the other hand, location-based keywords are phrases that express your dealership’s location to the search engine so that a person looking for a dealer in your area can find your website. This helps search engines to understand the relevancy of a search term expressed by the user and your page. Some examples of such phrases are shown below:


Once you have figured out the relevant search terms for your business, we can proceed with the next step.

Content

When deciding which websites to rank at the top of search results, the written content on the website is one of the key factors that Google uses to decide which websites rank higher.

Basically, the better your content is, the more likely that your website will rank highly in Google. You should search for keywords related to your dealership and have a look at the top 3 ranking websites that show up. This will tell you a lot about the type of content that Google likes.

For example, if you search ‘Car dealers Brisbane’ these are the top 3 results:


You could disregard the second result - carsguide.com.au as it’s not a dealership website. But look at the Motorama and Kedron Car Centre websites to see what type of content they have on their websites. Because they are ranking at the top of Google, we know that the search engine must like the content on these pages.

The content must consist of the following elements:

  • Reader oriented
  • Engaging
  • Facts
  • Interesting
  • Intuitive
  • Unique
  • Compelling
  • Common Questions
  • Keywords

Content helps in getting your website ranked in google and converting a potential user who lands on your website. Good content quality also helps the prospective client stay on your website longer. The content needs to be written for the perspective of readers and will be better if it delivers some useful and unique information. Thus it can lead to conversion or to the sale.

We hope this information helps you in getting your website to improve on search engines and helps your business gain more visibility.

FAQs

Does SEO work for Car Dealers?

Yes, SEO tools work for any company's success, including car dealers. It works on improving your online popularity and attracting more traffic as well. Remember, by attracting more traffic, you have a chance to turn your leads into customers.

How SEO is different from Traditional Marketing for Car Dealers?

Traditional marketing strategies like newspapers, Radio, and TV are proactive marketing channels which have lesser rate of conversion and reach to the target audience, whereas SEO is Reactive marketing channel with higher accuracy in reach and better conversion rates. In car dealership segment, SEO focuses on potential clients who are searching the internet actively for cars by using a variety of search terms and have a higher probability of ending up with a purchase.

Do Car Dealerships get benefit from SEO?

Yes, car dealers benefit from SEO campaigns. It provides the website with much more qualified traffic. This traffic of higher quality translates into a sales lead.

Can I do SEO myself for my car dealership website?

Sure, you can do your SEO by yourself. However, it would be best to learn the SEO fundamentals before you can start working on it. With lots of practice and some analysis, your dealership company will climb the Google ladder in no time.

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Jordan Ballard

Jordan Ballard

Automotive Content Editor

Jordan is a car finance and automotive industry specialist at Only Cars. With over 20 years of experience with frontline and management roles in sales, finance and other areas, Jordan has an incredible understanding of the automotive industry. As Automotive Content Editor, Jordan loves sharing his passion for cars with the Only Cars audience.