How can dealerships outrank competitors in local search?
Alex Griffis October 8, 2024
In today’s competitive automotive landscape, dealerships must optimize their online presence to stand out in local search results. Effective local SEO strategies, such as actively managing a Google Business Profile, using Google Posts, answering FAQs, and leveraging geocoded photos, can help dealerships increase their visibility. These methods not only enhance customer engagement but also improve search rankings. By consistently applying these techniques, dealerships can outrank competitors, drive more traffic to their websites, and attract more customers locally.
Build local SEO authority by actively managing and promoting your Google Business Profile
Having a strong online presence is crucial for any business, especially for automotive dealerships. One of the most effective ways to improve your local SEO and attract more potential customers is by actively managing your Google Business Profile (GBP). Features like Google posts, FAQs, and geocoded photos can significantly boost your visibility in local search results, helping you stand out in your market.
Here’s how these key strategies can enhance your local SEO:
Google Posts: Keeping Your Audience Engaged
Google Posts allow businesses to share real-time updates, promotions, and announcements directly on their Google Business Profile. These posts not only engage potential customers but also tell Google that your business is active and relevant. Regular updates show that your dealership is constantly providing fresh, valuable content. Google rewards businesses that stay active by giving them a better chance of appearing higher in search results.
If a dealership consistently posts about new arrivals, sales, or special events, Google will see your profile as more valuable and more likely to appear for relevant search queries. Additionally, the content in your posts can include targeted keywords related to luxury cars, automotive services, or your local area, further improving your ranking.
FAQs: Answering Customer Questions and Tuning for Local SEO
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on your Google Business Profile serve as a powerful tool to enhance customer engagement and local SEO. By answering common inquiries directly on your profile, you make it easier for potential customers to get the information they need without having to visit your website. This reduces friction in the customer journey and improves their overall experience with your brand.
From an SEO perspective, FAQs also provide an excellent opportunity for keyword optimization. Incorporating questions like “What luxury vehicles are available?” or “Do you offer financing options for high-end cars?” allows you to naturally integrate search-relevant keywords. These keywords help Google match your business to search queries, increasing the likelihood that your profile will appear for relevant local searches.
Uploading geocoded photos reinforce local relevance, increasing your chances of appearing in the Local Pack
Geocoded photos are another key element that can significantly impact your local SEO. These are images tagged with location data, which signal to Google that your business is in the area you claim. Regularly uploading photos of your physical location, inventory, and team can add an extra layer of credibility to your profile.
For our customers on Overfuel’s mobile-first website platform, Google Business Profiles are one of the single largest sources of referral traffic. And as a leading website provider in automotive, we view active Google Business Profile management as a key piece of technical and local SEO.
Conclusion: Google Business Profiles are often the single most impactful traffic driver from local search
Actively managing your Google Business Profile can provide a huge boost to your SEO efforts. Whether you’re sharing posts about the latest luxury cars, answering common customer questions through FAQs, or uploading geocoded photos of your dealership, these strategies can drive more traffic to your profile and website. By investing time into your GBP, you not only improve your local search ranking but also enhance your customer engagement and overall visibility.
Build trust and authoritative backlinks with managed directory listings and local citations
Directory listings and local citations offer significant SEO benefits for car dealerships by increasing online visibility and local search rankings. When a dealership is listed on trusted business directories like Yelp, Google My Business, and industry-specific platforms such as Cars.com, it helps search engines like Google validate the business’s legitimacy and relevance to local searches. These listings provide essential information such as the dealership’s name, address, phone number (NAP), and website. Ensuring that this information is consistent across multiple directories improves the dealership’s local SEO rankings, making it more likely to appear in search results when potential customers look for car dealerships in the area.
It’s also worth mentioning that not all directory listings are created equally. Many website vendors in automotive, marine, powersports, or otherwise rely on services like SEM Rush to manage their directory listings, which is fine for most brick-and-mortar businesses. However in automotive, it’s incumbent on their website provider to use specialized, industry-specific citations for service, parts, etc.:
- 4roadservice.com
- autobodyalliance.com
- bimmershops.com
- localautopainting.com
- localautoparts.org
Even if a citation doesn’t directly link back to the dealership’s site, its mention alone can enhance search visibility. This can lead to more foot traffic, phone inquiries, and website visits. Furthermore, the more reputable and industry-specific the citation sources are, the more likely it is that Google will rank the dealership higher in local searches, improving its competitive edge in the market.
Prominently display inventory on your Google Business Profile
Similar to Google Vehicle Listing Ads (VLAs), dealerships can upload their inventory feed directly to their Google Business Profile. Uploading vehicle listings to a dealership’s Google Business Profile offers several key benefits that can significantly enhance visibility.
First, it increases the dealership’s local visibility in search results. When potential customers search for vehicles or dealerships near them, having detailed listings directly in the Google Business Profile makes it easier for these customers to discover the dealership. Since Google often prioritizes local search results with business profiles, including real-time vehicle inventory helps improve the chances of the dealership being featured in relevant searches, especially in Google’s “local pack” or “near me” results.
Second, uploading vehicle listings directly to the Google Business Profile allows for a more seamless user experience. Customers can view vehicle details, pricing, and availability right from the search results or Google Maps, eliminating extra steps and reducing friction.
Finally, real-time access to inventory builds trust and encourages potential buyers to take immediate action, such as contacting the dealership, visiting the showroom, or booking a test drive.
Enrich your vehicle pages with Google’s SERP Features
Overfuel is one of the few, if not the only, website vendors in automotive focusing heavily on Google’s SERP Features. SERP features provide richer, more relevant content to potential customers. SERP features often display essential information, such as customer reviews, contact details, and vehicle availability, right in the search results.
Pictured above: Overfuel client Fishers Imports appearing in Google’s AI Overview”
After Google release its AI Overview over the summer of 2024, it provided yet another opportunity to optimize vehicle pages for local SEO authority. In addition to enhancing inventory with AI to make each vehicle listing unique, we thought to ourselves, “What if we could feed Google authoritative details about a vehicle?” So we focused on common questions and answers consumers ask about vehicles. As an example, we generated 40-50 unique FAQs about an Audi Q8:
- Does the Audi Q8 have Apple CarPlay?
- Does the Audi Q8 have a towing package?
- What is the Audi Q8 towing capacity?
The results? One of our automotive dealership clients, Fishers Imports, is being cited by Google to provide authoritative data in its responses to questions:
Pictured above: Overfuel client Fishers Imports being cited by Google’s Featured Snippets
But we didn’t stop at FAQs. In the chart below, you’ll see a steady increase of ranked SERP Features over the course of the summer, along with steady increases in ranked keywords and organic search traffic, including the Knowledge Panel, People also ask, People also search, AI Overview, Reviews, and much more.
Pictured above: Overfuel client Blackwell Autos steadily increasing its number of ranked / indexed SERP Features
In closing: how can your dealership use local SEO to outrank your competitors?
In conclusion, dealerships can gain a competitive advantage in local search by actively managing their Google Business Profile, leveraging directory listings, and enriching their vehicle pages with Google’s SERP features. These strategies help increase online visibility, enhance customer engagement, and ultimately drive more traffic to both your online and physical locations.
If you’re ready to start outranking the competition, book a demo with Overfuel today.
