Before we can even get into how you can have an SEO rich website, it’s important to know what SEO content is. SEO stands for ‘Search Engine Optimization’. Simply put, it is the process of website optimization that makes it easier for users to find your website through search engines, such as Google.
The ‘Content’ in SEO Content refers to any information is available on the web for your consumption. So, in the end, SEO Content is any content that is created with the purpose of optimizing your website’s visibility. All of this will help your website gain a higher ranking compared to other similar search term sites.
Most, if not all, dealerships have websites nowadays. Though some might still have websites that simply have pictures of cars on them and a few pieces of text – these websites will not gain you a higher ranking. To have a good ranking, your website must appear on the first or second Google Search pages. If it doesn’t, it’s unlikely that many people will look for it.
You might ask, why is SEO important to me? Well, there are over 100 billion searches on Google per month, which isn’t surprising with Google having over 1.17 billion users. As of August 2017, Google accounts for 75% of the market share for web searches within the U.S. Another major search engine, Bing, accounts for 21.9% of the U.S. search market, with over 15 billion searches per month. In 2016, Yahoo held 2.1% of the U.S. search market.
Those numbers alone can show the importance and reach that high-ranking SEO websites can have. An automotive dealership’s website is likely to be the number one source for prospective buyers to research on. If those buyers can’t find your website easily, then they won’t go out of their way to look for them.
So, how can you create an extraordinary website and make sure that your website is easy for your customers to find? You can do all that, plus more if you have an SEO rich website. We’ll be going through some of the steps and tools that you can implement to make your website stand out from your competitors while also raising your search engine rank.
8 Factors to Ensure SEO Richness
1. Title Tag
Though it might be a minuscule factor, this tag is likely to be used as the title of the link when it is shared on social media networks. So, it should be as concise and accurate as possible. This is one of the most powerful ranking factors for keyword optimization.
The title tag should be 70 or fewer characters. If there are any more than that, search engines are likely to cut it off. You should place targeted keywords at the beginning. This is because there is more weight to those that are at the beginning rather than those at the end. Dealership’s name should also be included at the end of the title tag to increase your brand awareness. It should also be readable, which simply means that it should make sense – rather than just be a couple of keywords thrown together.
2. Headings
The larger headlines/fonts on the website are likely to be the headings. These H1 Headings should be titled according to what is on the page. This simply means that the H1 Headings should match the text that is in their section.
3. ALT Attribute
As search engines are not capable of seeing what is actually on a website or image, ALT tags can help. These tags are included in the HTML code of a website or image that describes what it is. This way, the search engine will be able to see what file there is by reading your short text descriptions.
4. URL
As another one of the most important factors for SEO richness, this should be paid close attention to. Your website’s URL will appear several times through the course of a search. It will be displayed in the browser’s address bar, the search results on the second line, and as an anchor text.
So, they should be understandable and clean. To further boost your ranking, you should also try to incorporate your targeted keywords within the URL. It is likely that your dealership’s website provider has the capability of producing smart URL’s which automatically incorporates keywords into the URL structure.
If your page’s URL is a bunch of numbers and letters, it won’t give it a clean look than if it was simply the vehicle location, model and make keywords.
5. Meta Keywords
Though not as important for your rankings, it can help lead visitors to your website. You simply need to list all of the important and targeted keywords.
6. Meta Description
This is the piece that users will be as they search up keywords and your website comes up. It is simply a short description of the page’s content. Though these are not used for ranking algorithms, it does help to entice users to your page.
These should be kept around 160 characters and include your targeted keywords. Though this won’t help your ranking, it might increase your website’s click-through rate.
7. Page Content
The page content is simply the content that is on your page. If there is a specific targeted keyword that a page has, it’s important to have the actual content that relates to that keyword. You should also try to avoid using the keyword too many times throughout the page. One great way to overcome that is to use variations of that same keyword.
The content should be informative and unique. If a search engine can spot duplicated content, they will penalize your site. Do try to keep your website updated with all the necessary information and details.
8. Freshness Check
If you have great content, but you last updated years ago – it won’t help you stand out. The algorithms of search engines can now analyze your website contents ‘freshness’. This set usually stumps a lot of automotive dealership websites. Once you have your site, it seems pointless to keep updating it aside from posting about new vehicles. Fresh content usually indicated relevancy. So, even if you start a blog or update little bits here and there – it can go a long way.
Though out all this, it’s important to remember that these ‘rankings’ will fluctuate over time. Sometimes you might be the first result to pop up, otherwise, you might not appear in the top ten. It’s important to keep freshening up your site to further entice your customers. But, its most important for you to build a site that is optimized for other users, rather than simply SEO.
References:
https://expandedramblings.com/index.php/by-the-numbers-a-gigantic-list-of-google-stats-and-facts/
https://expandedramblings.com/index.php/yahoo-statistics/
https://expandedramblings.com/index.php/bing-statistics-facts/
