Websites that have been established for a while always have the advantage over a new website when it comes to ranking with Google. Google tends to trust websites that have been around longer, and these websites have had more time to build good back links, which can make them difficult to compete with. Fortunately there are ways to compete by using your auto dealership’s SEO techniques, if you happen to have a brand new website.
Start by making sure you are targeting the right keywords. It can be very difficult to rank well for competitive keywords if you have a new site. Don’t give up on these popular keywords of course you should include them on your pages and in your strategy, but you should also target some less popular ones that your competitors aren’t using. For example if your competitor was ranking for the keyword Honda Cars Massachusetts you might want to optimize one of your pages for Honda Cars Boston Massachusetts. This keyword may not get nearly as many searches as the broader keyword your competitor is ranked for but it’s much better to be #1 with a less popular keyword than on the third page for a popular one.
Spread out as much as possible. Make as many pages targeting as many secondary search terms as you can. Once you start getting higher ranking for some of the longer keyword phrases your site will start to become relevant to a topic in Googles eyes. The more you build your sites reputation as an authority on that topic the easier it will get to go after those competitive keywords. Also remember that people who search for longer keyword strings are usually people who are further down the sales funnel and might be ready to buy very soon.
Once again we come back to the issue of content. This whole exercise is futile if your customer gets to one of your landing pages and immediately clicks away. Make sure you are offering something useful to those who would click on your listing in Google. Create pages that solve a problem or provide the answer to the question that the keyword or search phrase asks. Getting your new site to the top of Google doesn’t have to be hard if you use the right strategy. You just have to work on building your reputation with Google by using good content to optimize for a wide range of somewhat less important search terms.
Need help planning or executing a strategy like this for your dealership or small business? Contact Wikimotive for a free evaluation of your SEO strategy and advice on how you can improve.