Search engines everywhere are looking for the best information for search queries. It is imperative that dealerships make every effort to share reliable information on their websites, social media accounts, and business listings.
Is your dealership sharing reliable information across the web?
If Google or another search engine becomes confused by the details that you provide on the web (or that it finds on other sites throughout the Internet), your search ranking could drop! When people are searching locally, your local search position could make or break their decision to choose your dealership versus another one down the road.
Here are two important ways to audit your car dealership’s digital footprint and help you show up for more relevant searches in your local area.
- Look for Business Listing Inconsistencies. There are hundreds of public business listing sites out there, so the first thing to realize is that you can’t fix every single one. Some smaller directory listing sites will even pull from major sources and fix errors on their own.
Look at the top listing sites that host your dealership’s information. Here’s a quick list, but there are so many more:
- Google (If you do not have access to your Google My Business listing, take ownership of it STAT. Google looks at this information, as well as your website, first and foremost.)
- FourSquare
- Yelp
- Bing Local
- Yahoo Local
- Yellow Pages
- Superpages
- MapQuest
- Citysearch
- Any automotive website, like Kelley Blue Book, CarGurus, com, or Autotrader
When you are looking at these sites, check that your website URL, name, address, and phone number (NAP) are consistent. Some websites will also list your hours, email address, and general information about your dealership, so be sure those are correct as well.
If you can include introductory text for a listing, write it so that the text doesn’t need to be updated frequently (so omit model years, for example).
By updating these details, you show Google and other search engines you are staying up to date and consistent with your information. When Google sees this consistent data, it will reward you and potentially show you in a higher position for relevant searches.
When you’re competing with so many other dealerships in your area, fixing your business listing inconsistencies can really help you break out of the lower search results.
- Audit Your Website Pages. There are many factors of the Google algorithm that can change your visibility on search result pages. Making sure your website is in good shape can boost your local search engine optimization (SEO).
Following are a few things to check and work on within your website.
Consistent Contact Information. Check to make sure your address and phone numbers are the same throughout your site. You may have several phone numbers: one for sales, another for service, and potentially one for parts. Make sure each phone number is consistent throughout your site to avoid confusing Google (and users).
Duplicate Pages. Look throughout your site to see if there are any pages that are very similar or even duplicates. If you have similar pages, Google won’t know which page to show, hindering you from showing up above a competitor. Combining any duplicate pages that you have will also help with user engagement while people are on your site.
Here’s an example of a website that has duplicate pages in just one section of the site. By combining the pages that have corresponding colored arrows, you will make it easier for Google to understand which page to show and make it easier for website users to find what they want.
Keyword Stuffing. In recent years, Google has made it known that it will down-rank websites that engage in aggressive webspam, which includes keyword stuffing. Keyword stuffing is when you add the same word phrase (AKA keyword) excessively on a page, as in the example below.
Instead of keyword stuffing, write for your intended user. Optimize your content to answer users’ questions, educate them on your vehicles, and give them the service and financial information they are seeking.
Writing your city name, or its close locations, too many times can also hinder your search visibility. Having separate pages with almost identical content in order to compete in different towns will also hamper your search rankings.
Google is a pretty smart machine. It already knows that your dealership is close to another city, so making separate pages for nearby cities (shown below) will not be helpful for user experience or your SEO rankings.
Optimize Your Digital Footprint. In 2020, your dealership should take a good look at your website and digital footprint. Create a great user experience that makes it easy to move shoppers down the sales or service funnel.
When Google sees users are engaging more on your website, it will reward you with better rankings, especially for local searches — meaning your store will show up for even more potential car buyers.
About the Author
Betsy Sprenkle is a creative content strategist for 9 Clouds, a leading automotive digital marketing agency based in South Dakota. She works as an SEO specialist to improve websites, so they show up for more relevant searches in higher rankings.
