Category

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

In Best Practices, Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Local SEO vs. Traditional SEO

Did you know that Google treats some businesses differently than others? In this week’s Wednesday Workshop video, we explain how Local SEO is different from Traditional SEO… using pizza. Watch the video and learn an incredibly simple way to demonstrate how Google serves up local search results, even if a city isn’t included in the search query. Since Google treats auto dealers as a local business, this is an incredibly important lesson for every car dealer to learn.

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Welcome back to another Wednesday Workshop with DealerOn! This week’s video is a lot shorter than last week’s epically long webinar recording… We’re going to chat a bit about the difference between “regular” SEO and Local SEO.

With “regular” SEO, you’re trying to get a website to rank high whenever someone does a Google search for the particular keywords you’re targeting. With Local SEO, you’re trying to get a website to rank high for users in a specific geographic area.

The best way to illustrate Local SEO is with pizza… stick with me for a minute and you’ll see what I mean. I just wrote a post about this over on Search Engine Land, so you can head over there and read it if you want a little backup to this video, or if you want to send it to someone.

So – if you were to pause this video and open another tab in your browser and type in “pizza delivery”, Google would return a list of pizza joints near your dealership – even though you didn’t include a city in your search query. If you go home and do the same search tonight, you’ll get a list of all the pizza places near your house – again, even without including a city in your search query.

Google knows that if you’re looking for a pizza delivery place, you need something local, so it shows you local results.

I’m not just talking about the map packs here either – that’s the little set of grouped results by the map. We used to have 7 packs, but Google just recently changed to a 3 pack. Even beyond the map pack, the standard organic listings will still be local results.

Google treats several business verticals like this – restaurants, bars, doctors, lawyers, plumbers… and car dealers too. When someone searches for car dealer related terms, Google will return local results, even if they don’t include a city in their search phrase.

Sure, “regular” SEO helps – it’s definitely better than doing nothing at all – but it’s nowhere near as helpful for your dealership as doing Local SEO. Local SEO includes several additional elements that don’t typically get included in traditional SEO. There’s a different spin on optimization, so that local signals are included. There’s additional work in linkbuilding, since a different type of links are necessary. Citations are also important to Local SEO, and they’re typically not a part of traditional SEO services.

If you want to give your dealership the best opportunity for showing up higher in local searches, you need to be doing Local SEO. If you’ve got someone at the dealership doing your SEO, make sure they understand Local SEO, and if you’re using an SEO provider, make sure they’re doing the extra things involved with Local.

Thanks for stopping by to check out this week’s DealerOn Wednesday Workshop. f you’ve got any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask! Just pop down below and leave your questions in the comments section, and we’ll get back to you as quickly as we can. Don’t forget to check back next week for another DealerOn Wednesday Workshop!

In Dealership Websites, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Video

Presentation: Super Powered SEO Tips for Auto Dealers

I presented a webinar for Digital Dealer yesterday, and we wanted to share the recording here on our blog. Learn the latest tips to help get your dealership to rank higher in local searches, from on site optimization to off site links and citations.

Need help with SEO for your dealership? Let us know! We can help – even if you’re not using DealerOn for your website. Leave a comment down below and let us know what we can help with…

Download the slides

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Hey again – I’m back with another video… We’re still tossing segment names around, but we’re kinda leaning towards Wednesday Workshop – pop down to the comments and let us know what you think of it, or if you have an idea for something.

Most of these videos will just be a few minutes long, but today’s is a long one – don’t let that scare ya off. I did a webinar for Digital Dealer yesterday, and we wanted to share the presentation with you here on the DealerOn blog.

In fact, we’ll be sharing recordings of all of my presentations here after I give them. We know it’s tough to travel to conferences, and it’s rare that dealership personnel will get to more than one or two conferences a year.

I’m speaking at 8 events in the next two months – so make sure you check back and watch those presentations. I never re-use presentations, so each one will have fresh knowledge nuggets that will help your dealership be more awesome.

So anyway, back to today’s video… It’s about an hour long, so if you don’t have time to catch it all now, just remember to check back and watch later when you’ve got time. Enjoy!

Thanks for watching – I hope you learned a few things that can help your dealership! If you’ve got any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask! Just pop down below and leave your questions in the comments section, and I’ll get back to you as quickly as I can. Don’t forget to check back next week for another tentatively titled Wednesday Workshop video!

In DealerOn, Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

DealerOn’s New Director of Search and Social

Hey, I’m Greg, the new Director of DealerOn’s SEO department. I’m a big fan of video, so we’ll be sharing lots of video content moving forward – and here’s our first video…

Important Links:

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Hey – I’m Greg Gifford, DealerOn’s new Director of Search and Social. They brought me on to run the new SEO department, and as part of my duties, I’m going to be sharing videos here on the blog to share tips that will help your dealership kick more butt online.

Yes, I’m dressed down a bit in my ComicCon shirt today – Yes, I went. and yes, it was even more amazing that you think – but that’s because I wanted to tie in to my recent post on Search Engine Land, where I write a monthly column about Local SEO. We just shared a teaser here on the blog recently, or you can click the link down below the video to go read it. Make sure you check it out, there are some great tips there that apply to dealerships.

I’m also going to be presenting a Digital Dealer Webinar in a few weeks on Tuesday the 18th. It’s gonna be an awesome presentation – I’m going to share some really awesome SEO tips, and I’m going to be doing a superhero movie theme, so it’ll be fun to watch, too. I dropped a link down below so you can go register.
I’m also going to be doing a DealerOn Webinar on Thursday the 27th. You definitely don’t want to miss that one – it’s going to be 80 Gnarly Local SEO Tips for Auto Dealers, and the theme is going to be 80s movies. Again, check the link below to go get registered.

Besides running DealerOn’s SEO department, I speak at a ton of conferences. I’m heading to Confluence in Oklahoma City in September, and then across the Atlantic to speak at Brighton SEO in the UK, and then hopping back across the pond to keynote the Internet Battle Plan conference in Detroit. In October, I’ll be speaking at Digital Dealer, Pubcon, and Driving Sales Executive Summit. So, if you’re going to be at any of those conferences, definitely come find me and say hi! I love to chat with dealers and offer free tips…
Make sure you keep an eye on the DealerOn blog – we’ll be posting at least one video a week, so check back for awesome knowledge nuggets sprinkled with a helping of goofy fun.

If you’ve got any questions, jump down to the comments section below and I’ll get back to you asap. Thanks for taking a few minutes to watch, and I’ll see ya again next week!

In Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

How Last Week’s Google Update Impacts Your Dealership

In an effort to further optimize local search results, Google has begun rolling out a new tweak to its algorithm that some in the SEO community have tentatively labeled Pigeon. Dealer’s need to be aware of these changes because the Pigeon update is designed to improve local search listings for businesses (like car dealers).

According to Barry Schwartz at Search Engine Land, Google told them that “the new local search algorithm ties deeper into their web search capabilities, including the hundreds of ranking signals they use in web search along with search features such as Knowledge Graph, spelling correction, synonyms and more”. In addition, Google said that this new algorithm “improves their distance and location ranking parameters.”

It is not clear exactly how all of these changes will impact each dealer, so you should probably Google some of your top traffic-driving organic search keywords, and check the customer experience for anyone searching with local terms like “Toyota dealers near me” or “Ford dealers in Baltimore, MD”.

You should also check your Google Analytics account and compare this last week’s Organic Search Traffic vs. your prior Organic Search traffic levels, so you can determine the impact on your traffic and leads. If you would like any help doing this for your dealership’s Google Analytics account, whether or not you’re a DealerOn customer, just submit your contact information on our site or email me back, and include a comment “Google Analytics Help”.

Many Google users have reported seeing more listings from local directories when making searches – for example, searching for a restaurant name is now more likely to give you results from Yelp, Urbanspoon, OpenTable, and TripAdvisor. This increased focus on aggregate sites may make local search that much more difficult for your dealership website if it carries over into the automotive vertical.

These changes mean it is even more important than ever to ensure your dealership’s business information is the same (and accurate) across the Internet. Google looks for the NAP (name, address, phone number) of local businesses across the Internet, and is more likely to serve up your listing if it is consistent across all sites. Are you using a consistent business name (CDJR vs. Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram)? Is your dealership using the same address across all local platforms? Your dealership website should be the main source for this type of information, so whatever you are using on your site (name, address, phone number) should be reflected throughout the Internet.

If your dealership is confused about where your business information is listed, consider using a tool like Yext. Yext scans local directories to identify and claim existing listings and reports your standings across hundreds of platforms. From there, you can manage your listings, correcting any errors you may find and help ensure that your dealership’s information is accurate where it matters most.

Need or want some assistance making sure your local directory listings are in order? Please contact me or DealerOn and we can help you through the process. It’s something our team routinely does as a part of our Client Results program, and would be more than happy to help your dealership stay on top of Google’s algorithm adjustments like the Pigeon update.

Call support
(877) 543-4200
Call Sales
(877) 543-6321