Do automotive dealers need SEO? Absolutely!

I had a conversation with the marketing director of a large dealer group in my area the other day. Eventually, the discussion  turned to their internet presence.  He immediately informed me that their ranking were, in his words, “amazing” and that they “owned Google”. Obviously, I was skeptical.  When I returned to my office, I quickly put together a list of 10 keywords.  Guess what?  Of the 10 keywords, they ranked #1 on Google for one of them and they should have, it was for “city+make”.  They did not crack the top ten for any of the other keywords.

Amazing?  Not so much!

Take 15 minutes today and do a little of your own research.  Do some searches that look like this, “your city+make”.  Also search, “your city+make+your most popular models”. If you rank well for those, search the surrounding cities as well.  Don’t forget to search “service” and “parts” keywords too.  My guess is, you will be shocked.  You will see other dealers, other automotive sites, and even some non-automotive sites.  In most cases, you’ll have trouble finding yourself anywhere on the first two pages of Google.

I can tell you from experience, one or two dealerships will dominate the SERPs for a state or even an entire region while everyone else is playing catch-up.  Those dealers are getting leads that are rightfully yours.

Which dealer do you want to be?