Five SEO Trends for 2020 that Dealership Marketing Teams Need to Know

How do you expand the reach of your dealership’s brand? In today’s world of uncertainty, it has become crucial to tighten your marketing strategies to reach new customers. The question you have to answer is, “How do we reach our target audience most optimally?”

Has your marketing team every mentioned the three words, “SEO?” If so, they are on the right track. Customers are using search engines—mainly Google—to find what they need. Ninety-three percent of online experiences begin with a search engine. When dealerships have to depend on digital channels to reach car buyers, it helps to know what to do to improve this strategy and get your dealership web page in front of the most eyes.

So, how can you be sure that putting your resources into SEO strategies is a worthwhile investment? Here are some SEO and search trends your dealership marketing team needs to prepare for in 2020: 

Searches Are Becoming More Question and Phrase-Based 

Keywords will always be important to ranking high in search engines. However, the way people are searching for what they want is changing. Instead of stringing together related keywords, more people are searching with questions or keyword phrases. Google has realized this, which is why many of the top search results are worded to answer a question or address a topic. You may want to reword any headings or page titles on your page to questions that you then answer in the following body of the text. This tactic will give you a better chance to have your webpage show up in localized searches.

Voice Search Will Continue to be More of a Factor in Search

Sixty percent of smartphone users have tried voice search at least once in the past 12 months, according to data from Singlegrain. This searching method is likely going to increase within the next few years, as more people become comfortable with searching using voice. This situation means that you are going to want to optimize your content for voice searches. Much like the first entry, this will look like organizing your keywords into questions and keyword phrases. Also, be sure to search for and use long-tail keywords. Additionally, use your dealership’s FAQ page to address any common inquiries related to dealerships. 

Local Search Will Become Even More Relevant 

Almost more than any other business, dealerships serve a local audience. This fact, combined with the statistic that 46 percent of all Google searches are looking for local information, means that you want to take advantage of those local searches. One way that you can do this is to increase the engagement of your business. This could look like getting reviews from customers on Google or being mentioned on social media or Yelp. The more your customers are talking about your business online, the more likely you are to rank high on search engines. So, ask for reviews from your customers, and monitor social media mentions. 

Collecting Data on Digital Customer Interactions Will Be Necessary

Google’s algorithms will continue to change. This will require you and your dealership marketing team always to plan to collect website engagement data on your visitors. Tools like Ahrefs, Moz, Google Trends, Google Analytics, and many others should be a part of your marketing tool suite. They all allow you to research keywords by topic, track keyword popularity, and even monitor what competitive dealerships are doing regarding their content. In addition to monitoring keywords, it is going to become even more crucial to track stats like “time on page,” “clickthroughs,” and “referral traffic.” The more you understand your audience, the easier it will be to develop content meant for them. 

Your Mobile Website Will be More Important Than Ever 

Is your mobile website responsive? Does it allow visitors to do what they would be able to do on a desktop? Mobile usage is growing. Forrester estimates that by 2021, mobile devices will influence more than $1.4 trillion in local sales. Also, 78 percent of location-based mobile searches resulted in offline purchases. The responsiveness of your mobile site is also something that search engines like Google look at when the algorithms rank your webpage. Therefore, you want to make sure visitors can adequately navigate your site and find the information they need.

SEO Can Bridge The Gap Between Your Dealership and Target Customers 

Even though SEO has continued to evolve throughout the years, the concept is here to stay. Your goal is to master best practices related to your dealership marketing strategies that increase your dealership web page ranking. Mastering this year’s trends will help you find the keyword phrases your target customers are looking for. It will also allow you to add value by providing the content they need.

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