Because let me tell you: there’s a HUGE difference between ranking on page one of Google with automobile SEO… and completely dominating Google.
Keep reading to find out what the difference is.
3 Things You Don’t Know About Automobile SEO
Most car dealers take care of all the basics in terms of SEO: they try to rank well in their city, make sure all their pages contain the keywords they want to rank for and bla bla bla.
A LOT of money gets left on the table, though, because most people who do automotive SEO forget a number of CRUCIAL things, namely:
1) Local SEO is about more than your specific location
Stop thinking of local SEO as trying to rank well on specific dots on the radar and start thinking about ranking well everywhere on the radar, meaning every location that’s within reasonable driving distance of YOUR location.
Example: if I’m a car dealership in Houston Texas, then I don’t want to just rank well in Houston. Oh no. I’ll be aiming for Houston, Galveston, Freeport, Baytown, and so on and so forth.
2) Automobile Seo is about more than brands and models
Of course you should rank for Chevy, Dodge, Chrysler or whatever brand(s) and models your dealership sells. You have to remember when doing automotive search engine optimization, though, that some people don’t look for brands or models but for features or benefits. Some might want a four wheel drive, so they’ll Google things like “4×4”, “4wd”, and “four wheel drive” and other people might want an electrical car. I think you get the idea.
3) Combine automotive SEO with the stages of the buying process people go through
Whenever people by something big, like a car, they go through a number of stages before they actually buy it and if you’re smart then you’ll make content for all the stages beyond the status quo. Here are the stages of the buying process for a complex sale:
Let me give you some examples of how to make your automotive SEO strategy line up with these stages of the buying process.
Take the options phase, for example. During this phase people will compare models, brands, and dealerships based on price and service (things like auto finance, warranties, repair service, etc.) So, what you want to do is rank for keywords that are based on these themes. Think of things like compare prices car brand XYZ or model XYZ, cheapest model XYZ in your location, best car dealer in location XYZ, and so on.
And believe it or not, but these 3 automobile SEO tips are just the start of a long list of things most car dealers don’t think about when they’re doing search engine optimization!
How to Optimize the ROI of Automotive Search Engine Optimization
As you can probably tell by now, chances are that you’re leaving money on the table when it comes to automotive Search Engine Optimization. So, what can you do about it?
Let’s check out some of the options that are available to you in terms of increasing the ROI of your SEO efforts:
1) Doing it yourself versus outsourcing
If you’re on a tight budget then, sure, you should consider doing SEO yourself and learning as much as you can about it. Keep in mind, though, that you won’t know what you don’t know. You won’t be aware of your blind spots and therefore not of your dealership’s weaknesses in terms of SEO. That’s why outsourcing may be better for your business:
- It gives you an outsider’s look on your SEO efforts and outsiders tend to be able to tell the forest from the trees while insiders won’t (perfect example: it’s very hard for a writer to spot his/her own spelling errors but very easy for the same writer to spot someone else’s errors)
- If the person or company you’re outsourcing your automobile SEO to has worked in different industries or markets, then it’s likely that you’ll benefit from what’s called searchlight intelligence: one’s ability to use a tactic that works well in market A and make it work in your market and/or the ability to combine tactics from different markets to create a brand new tactic for your market.
Image source: www.antiaircraft.org
2) Using software versus using people
Using SEO software like SEOMoz, Raven Tools, Market Samurai, SENuke, etc. may sound like a smart idea, but software only amplifies one’s knowledge or lack thereof. Simply put, a piece of software is not going to tell you what you don’t know since you don’t know what that is.
Secondly, one individual piece of software may not be so reliable but multiple software programs will be since it allows you to cross-reference and/or double check data. Most software costs money, though, which is another reason why outsourcing may be best: SEO freelancers and SEO companies almost always use multiple software programs so you won’t have to pay for it when you hire them.
3) Outsourcing to a freelancer versus outsourcing to a company
The advantage of outsourcing your automobile SEO to an outsider is that issues and opportunities will come to the surface that you yourself have never thought about. And outsourcing to a SEO company amplifies that effect even more:
Instead of one person that has worked in, say, 5 markets you’ll have access to the SEO tips and techniques of multiple people who have all worked in multiple markets and industries.
But the more important benefit is that SEO companies are more trustworthy: if you hire a freelancer and that person gets sick, there’s nothing you can do. When you work with a SEO company, they’ll immediately let someone else take over. On top of that, if a freelancer screws up your Automotive Search Engine optimization efforts then he or she can always move on and work with someone else. A company’s reputation is much more important and fragile as well, so you can usually expect a lot more service from a company than from a freelancer.
4) Pricing options for outsourcing automobile SEO
The best pricing option for ANY company, whether its doing automotive SEO or fashion SEO, is a fixed monthly fee. If we look at the alternatives for a sec, you’ll understand why:
- Pay per hour: sometimes less hours will be worked than is actually required to boost your dealership’s SEO results and at other times you’ll get an insanely high bill after a couple weeks that you didn’t expect or perhaps can’t afford. With a fixed price you’ll always know what to expect in terms of costs and any good SEO company will ask for a fixed monthly fee that guarantees enough time will be spent on SEO every single week to get you the results you want.
- Pay for performance: paying someone only after they’ve gotten you results may sound like a nice idea, but it’s not in terms of automotive search Engine Optimization. That’s because I could easily use tons of spammy techniques to get you ranking #1 in no time so you’ll pay me, but since I used spammy stuff the results will only be temporary because Google penalizes and sometimes even bans sites that use spammy techniques. In other words: pay for performance SEO invites people to use black hat SEO (spammy) techniques for you to get paid quickly, but not longer after you pay and they’re done you’ll be back to square one.
Long story short: if you want to outrank and outsell your competitors with automobile SEO, then it’s best to outsource your SEO to a SEO company that’ll charge you a fixed monthly fee.
To More Traffic, More Conversions, And More Business,
Dennis Miedema
Motriz Marketing
- Dennis MiedemaFounder/owner of Motriz MarketingDennis Miedema started his first ecommerce site in 2008 with no funding, no knowledge, and no skills. He grew it into a successful business, sold it for lots of money, and went on to do consulting for ecommerce companies from all over the world and in many different industries: fashion, nanotechnology, consumer electronics, digital content, software & more.
Likes: dogs, movies, coffee, video games, self-improvement, and the occasional rant
Dislikes: flying, thunderstorms, haters, and people who can't/shouldn't drive
This post first appeared on Ecommerce Tips For The Experienced Etail Owner/Mar, please read the originial post: here
