Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a vital aspect of digital marketing for dealerships. It increases online visibility, drives website traffic and boosts sales.
But many dealerships unknowingly fall into familiar SEO traps and make mistakes that hinder their efforts. If you’re frustrated by a low search ranking or low conversion rate from your website traffic, there’s a good chance you’re making one or more of these SEO mistakes at your dealership.
In this article, you’ll discover some of the most common SEO mistakes that could be undermining your organic search rankings, and insights on how to identify and correct these missteps for a smoother journey toward SEO success.
Specifically, you’ll learn more about the following SEO practices and principles:
- Common SEO Mistakes & How to Fix Them
- SEO Is an Action, Not Just a Tool
- Understanding Your SEO Audit Reports
- Increasing Your Website’s Visibility for Local Shoppers
- Optimizing the User Experience
- Improving Your On-Site SEO
- Creating Information-Rich Inventory Listings
- Focusing on Highly Valuable Keywords
- Creating Natural, Easy-to-Read Copy
- Keeping Your Website Content Fresh
- Maintaining an Active & Positive Brand Reputation
- Additional SEO Resources
- Monitoring & Analyzing Your SEO Performance
Common SEO Mistakes (& How to Fix Them)
Just as you can optimize your website content to appeal to search engines and improve your SEO, you can also do things that will turn search engines away from recommending your website. We’re sharing common SEO mistakes and misconceptions that could undermine your website’s performance – and how to correct them.
SEO Is an Action, Not Just a Tool
Mistake: Viewing SEO As a One-and-Done Deal
Many business owners and marketing professionals assume that SEO is a one-and-done deal. They believe that once they’ve updated their content, they’re good to go. They can set it and forget it and shoppers will keep coming to their website.
In reality, SEO is an ongoing investment. If you pause your SEO efforts, you run the risk of falling behind if your competitors ramp up their SEO efforts and start ranking higher.
Solution: Stay Invested in Your Website’s SEO
Treat SEO as an ongoing investment, rather than a one-and-done service. This is crucial to maintaining a strong online presence, improving search rankings and staying ahead of competitors. The algorithms used by search engines, particularly Google, are constantly evolving. What works for SEO today might not be as effective tomorrow. An ongoing investment allows you to adapt to algorithm changes and industry trends.
Understanding Your SEO Audit Reports
Mistake: Focusing on the Wrong SEO Issues
If you’ve submitted your website for an SEO audit and received a long list of errors, you may be understandably concerned about the quality of your website. But first, it’s important to understand why these errors appear in the first place and why they may not be an actual problem. For example, 403 errors or 301 redirects may occur because you sold inventory, and those inventory pages are no longer relevant and were taken down. These codes tell search engines not to focus on those pages anymore. They don’t actually mean there’s an issue with your website.
Solution: Focus on the Factors that Drive Web Traffic
Instead of focusing on a big list of errors, focus on the factors that will tell you whether your site is driving qualified website traffic. Pay attention to KPIs like time on site, CTR, and bounce rate. Are these KPIs trending in the right direction for your dealership?
Increasing Your Website’s Visibility for Local Shoppers
Mistake: Overlooking Local SEO
Local SEO is especially crucial for dealerships, as most buyers prefer to purchase from local businesses. In fact, Industry Dive has found that 97% of search engine users look online to find a local business. Neglecting to optimize your web content for local searches can significantly hinder your dealership’s online visibility within your target market.
Solution: Make Your Website Geographically Relevant
Ensure that your website includes localized keywords and contact information (name, address, phone number), and embed a Google Maps location. In addition, claiming and optimizing your Google Business Profile is essential for appearing in local search results, generating reviews and building trust with potential customers in your vicinity.
Optimizing the User Experience
Mistake: Poor Website Structure and Navigation
Your dealership's website structure and navigation play a pivotal role in both the user experience and your search engine rankings. Some dealerships fail to create a logical and user-friendly website structure, making it difficult for visitors and search engine crawlers to navigate and find relevant information.
Solution: Prioritize the User Experience
To avoid this mistake, your website should be organized into clearly defined categories. That includes using descriptive URLs and ensuring a smooth internal linking structure. In addition, optimizing your website speed and mobile responsiveness, and implementing user-friendly navigation menus will improve the user experience and boost SEO efforts.
Improving Your On-Site SEO
Mistake: Ignoring On-Site SEO Elements
A successful SEO strategy involves more than simply search results and your actual web pages. It extends to the spaces in between, sometimes referred to as metadata. Optimizing your website while neglecting on-page SEO elements like meta titles, meta descriptions, and heading tags diminishes your content's search visibility.
Solution: Be Intentional with Your On-Site SEO
Optimize each page's meta tags, use descriptive headings, and create content that naturally includes relevant keywords without overstuffing. If you’re a Dealer Spike customer, you can access our resource library for more tips to improve your website’s SEO – and see how our SEO services can help. Click here to learn more.
Creating Information-Rich Inventory Listings
Mistake: Sparse or Duplicate Content on Inventory Listings
A search engine’s job is to show users the most valuable content across the entire world wide web. Sparse or duplicate content dilutes the ranking of a single page and can hurt overall site rankings. Too often, dealers limit inventory listings to just a few words or, for the sake of time, they duplicate unit information on multiple listings. In reality, this kind of sparse and duplicate inventory listings content lacks usefulness for shoppers visiting your site. Search engines have learned that a lack of diverse content will lead to a lesser experience for the end user, and they penalize website rank as a result.
Solution: Detailed Inventory Listings
This common SEO mistake can be quickly remedied by providing thorough and unique descriptions for each inventory item. Describe each product's features, specifications and benefits. Use relevant keywords naturally in the description to improve search visibility. Provide detailed technical specifications for each product. This not only helps customers make informed decisions, but also provides search engines with valuable data to index.
Focusing on Highly Valuable Keywords
Mistake: Neglecting Keyword Research
Keywords form the foundation of any successful SEO strategy. However, dealerships often neglect to conduct thorough keyword research. Failing to identify and target the right keywords—those being used by your audience to search for you—can result in poor search engine rankings and a lack of organic traffic.
Solution: Identify Relevant, High-Volume Keywords
Invest time in comprehensive keyword research, using tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush or Moz (if you aren’t working with an SEO vendor, who can provide this service). By understanding the search terms potential customers use, you can optimize website content, including titles, meta descriptions, headings and body copy, to increase your chances of appearing in relevant search results.
Focus on long-tail keywords that reflect user intent and include them naturally in your content. In an analysis of 306 million keywords, Backlinko found that 91.8% of online searches use long-tail keywords. Long-tail keywords are longer and more specific phrases. They allow you to provide detailed information and can help you avoid keyword stuffing. For example, instead of “motorcycle dealer,” use “best Harley Davidson motorcycle dealer in [location].”
Creating Natural, Easy-to-Read Copy
Mistake: Keyword Stuffing
Similar to duplicating content and using poor keywords, many dealers overstuff their pages with too many SEO keywords. Search engines have adapted to recognize that sites and webpages that overuse keywords may not be useful to the end user. A webpage that repeats a key phrase relevant to your business might grab the attention of the search engines, but it’s ultimately the end user that suffers. Search engines have evolved to recognize overstuffing and will lower these pages on search results rankings.
Solution: Focus on Quality, Not Quantity
Keep keywords density under 5% on any given page. This means that the target keyword should appear less than 5 times for every 100 words. However, you should always focus on the quality of the content (content that provides value to your website visitors), rather than keyword density. In other words, write for your audience, not for search engines. If content is helpful and informative, it will naturally include relevant keywords without the need for excessive repetition.
Keeping Your Website Content Fresh
Mistake: Outdated Content
While it’s easy to assume that the more content and webpages on a given site, the better—that’s not necessarily true for SEO. When shoppers land on your page, only to find that you no longer offer a certain unit or service, or your content is clearly dated as being several years old, they will most likely bounce from your site. Search engines recognize high bounce rates and lower your site ranking accordingly.
Solution: Update Your Website Content on a Regular Basis
You can avoid this common SEO mistake by updating content and keeping your site, inventory listings and articles fresh and reflective of your current business and industry standards. Integrate your DMS with your website to keep your inventory listings up to date at all times, without having to manually upload each unit. If you’re stumped on fresh content to offer your visitors, you can provide regular maintenance tips and guides related to your industry. This information is valuable to your audience and encourages them to revisit your site.
Maintaining an Active and Positive Brand Reputation
Mistake: Ignoring Online Reviews
Online reviews are not only crucial for your dealership's reputation management, but also for SEO. Neglecting customer reviews and ratings can impact search engine rankings, as search engines consider them a measure of credibility and authority.
Solution: Respond to and Encourage Customer Reviews
Actively encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews on platforms like Google, Yelp and industry-specific review sites. When you respond to online reviews, it shows that your dealership is actively engaged with customers. This engagement can lead to more interactions, including likes, shares and comments, which in turn can signal to search engines that your content is relevant and engaging.
Monitoring & Analyzing Your SEO Performance
Mistake: Not Utilizing SEO Analytics
Your SEO strategy is only as effective as the tools you use to measure and make adjustments. Failing to follow up with your SEO performance using web analytics prevents you from measuring the effectiveness of your SEO efforts and making informed decisions.
Solution: Take Advantage of SEO Analytic & Tracking Tools
Implement tools like Google Analytics to track website traffic, user behavior and conversions. Analyze the data to refine your strategies. Remember, SEO is an ongoing journey, so stay informed about the latest trends and best practices to stay ahead in the race for digital prominence. If you don’t have the bandwidth or resources to track and optimize your SEO performance, consider outsourcing to an SEO expert.
Navigating the world of SEO for dealerships requires being aware of and avoiding the most common mistakes that hinder progress. By recognizing these pitfalls and implementing the solutions provided, you can pave the way to better SEO rankings, increased online visibility and ultimately, higher sales and customer engagement for your dealership.