Keywords are words or phrases that are used when people make searches on the internet. When someone enters keywords into the search bar, the search engine will try to match websites and web pages to those specific keywords. Keywords that match with your website content or web page descriptions will be bolded on the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).
Keywords are extremely important for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) because they are what match customers to your dealership’s website. Using and implementing the right keywords will expand your reach, gain new customers, and result in higher Click Through Rates (CTRs).
Figuring out how to research and use keywords can be tricky, but our goal at AutoJini is to make it easy for you. The rest of this article will teach you how to improve your car dealer website SEO using keywords.
Before we get started, it’s important to know the basic terms for keyword research:
- Relevance refers to the relation of the keywords to your content.
- Phrase length means how long your keyword phrase is.
- Volume is how frequently users are typing in the keywords in search engine bars.
- Competition refers to how many other people are using these keywords or placing bids for them on Google AdWords. Words that are higher in competition are more expensive on AdWords, and using them may lower your chances of ranking on the first page of search engine results pages (SERPs).
Types of Keywords
The first step to familiarize yourself with are the different types of keywords out there. There are head keywords, which are typically just 1 or 2 words and have a high search volume. Body keywords are 2 or 3-word phrases with a moderate search volume. Long tail keywords are four or more words strung together, and they often have lower competition. However, they account for a large amount of web traffic.
A phrase that is longer will be more specific and will, therefore, have fewer results when people are searching for it. Long tail keywords are more relevant to your website content and will result in higher CTRs. Choosing keywords that have too high of competition or high of volume can lower your chances of being found on SERPs.
Finding Keywords
To get discovered by customers, you need to think like them. What are they searching for on the internet before deciding to visit a dealership? To find the right keywords, you need to research car trends and check what is being searched in the automotive industry.
It’s also important to consider that vehicle purchases usually happen close to home. That means that people are searching for dealerships and cars that are being sold near their area. It may be a good strategy to include a city name in your keywords.
If you have Google Analytics or an AdWords account set up, you can use Google’s Keyword Planner to find the search volume and competition of the keywords you are interested in using. High-volume, low competition long tail keywords are going to be your best strategy to attract more customers to your website and increase your CTR.
For example, generic keywords such as “car leases” are going to be expensive and not very effective. However, location-specific long-tail keywords such as “zero down leases in Chicago” are going to match you to customers to the specific service and location that they were looking for.
Another good idea is to think about the keywords that your competition is using. Choosing the same keywords as your competitors may help to redirect some of their traffic back to you.
How to Use Keywords on Your Website
Your primary keywords should be near the beginning of your web page title, as well as your page description. They should also be in the first paragraph of the text on each page. After that, you should use different variations of the primary keywords so that your content isn’t too repetitive.
It is also smart to consider terms that are related to your primary keywords and to use them within the content on your website. When you search something on Google, it will show related searches at the bottom of the page. This is a good place to start to find related terms to your keywords.
Google AdWords & Pay-Per-Click
Another way to use keywords is to start a Google AdWords campaign. You can create Pay-Per-Click (PPC) ads, which charge you each time a user clicks on your link. PPC ads can be effective because if you bid on certain keywords, your dealership website is guaranteed to be in one of the top spots when someone searches those keywords.
Don’t have enough time or resources to research and implement keywords? Let us take care of it! At AutoJini, all of our websites have built-in SEO, and we offer PPC management and Google AdWords services tailored for auto dealerships. We can continuously research keywords so that you don’t have to! To learn more about our services, click here