Personal Automotive SEO versus Bulk
Every day we hear from dealers who tried one automotive SEO firm or another and weren't satisfied by the results. The flaw we have found in nearly every search strategy on the market today is a lack of understanding surrounding what the search engines really want.
TK Carsites has adopted a philosophy of personalized attention to our clients' SEO needs. It isn't just a matter of plugging in a ton of keywords and wishing for the best. Our Premium and Elite customers receive direct attention to their search rankings that is in a constant state of evolution and improvement. Through proper organic link-building and attention to the 21 key factors on every individual page that we create on a website, we're able to target specific keywords that will drive quality traffic to our dealers.
The days of bulk are gone. Google and Bing demand quality and attention to detail like they never have in the past. Recent updates to both algorithms favor a holistic and personal approach to search engine optimization. Clever tools and automated content simply don't work the way they used to.
Your competitors are likely using antiquated SEO techniques. If you're reading this, you may be as well. Make the move towards market domination by learning more about
TK Carsites' Power SEO packages.
A Long Time Coming
The recent changes to the algorithms are new to most. They aren't new to us. We've been preaching and practicing the proper Automotive SEO techniques for years. When Google announced changes to their algorithm in early 2011 called the "Panda Update", we were finally able to rejoice.
Since 2007, we have been gearing our SEO techniques around the concept that eventually Google and Bing would start to recognize "spammy" and "black hat" techniques. It took longer than we expected, but they finally turned things around in 2011 with the updates and vindicated what we've been saying all along.
Here is a video of JD Rucker, our Director of New Media, from 2008 where he discusses the techniques that worked well back then and that are working even better today.
As you can see in the video, we've been putting together the most effective search engine optimization strategy for car dealers for a long time. Even in 2008 when most vendors hadn't started getting into link-building at all, we were already entrenched in developing the service in a way that anticipated the recent changes nearly to perfection.
This isn't to toot our own horn. It's simply a way to have a better understanding of the research and effort that we put into staying cutting-edge in the ever-changing world of Automotive SEO.
You will notice that we discuss that "links are like votes." This concept has started to be understood in the automotive industry as the true differentiator between vendors. Those who practice real link-building from high-quality, automotive-relevant websites are able to get their dealers to the top of the searches. Other forms of link-building that require automated processes and the creation of "splogs" (spam blogs) have proven in recent months to fail miserably.
Proper onsite SEO is still important (and we will go into more detail about it below) but it is not enough to separate your dealership websites from the competition. Today, most vendors are observing some degree of proper onsite optimization using good title tags, html content, and meta components to help tell the search engines what the individual pages are about.
When given two pages of equal onsite SEO value, the algorithmic components that can make a difference are domain age, URL relevance, and quality of inbound links. Only the last of the batch is controllable by the dealership and their automotive SEO provider.
An Overview of the TK Automotive SEO Strategy
TK Carsites believes in 5 basic principles regarding automotive SEO.
- Website content and code should be clean, relevant, and designed for users, not search engines. Over the years, Google and Bing have improved the abilities of their algorithms to recognize search engine spam. They understand what natural language should look like and can "sniff out" when content is placed on a web page specifically to appeal to the search engines. They're in the business of delivering the right results to their customers (searchers) and the old ways of "keyword stuffing" and "content sculpting" are gone. Write for the customers. Tell them what they will gain by visiting each web page. The search engines will reward you as a result.
- Link-building is about quality over quantity. There are services available that will sell links by the thousands to websites willing to pay for them. These links are worthless. The search engines can see the difference between "link farms" and real content written for people and linking to resources. Our dealers are linked to by relevant and powerful websites that are trusted by the search engines because we create valuable content that they want to link to rather than relying on spam networks. In essence, our "votes" count more than other automotive SEO vendors'.
- Search technology isn't easy, but it's worthwhile. As one of the only vendors in the market that utilizes proper microformat documentation and individually-pointed 301-redirects, our clients enjoy the benefits that Google and Bing recommend. It isn't easy, which is why other vendors are not willing to invest the time and money into making it happen, but it's important for our clients to gain the edge over their competition.
- Keyword research is essential. The best SEO strategies in the world cannot overcome poor keyword research. We target keywords in a way that combines our years of experience working through the search engines with our clients' experience within their own market. We are the search experts, but you are the expert on where your prospective customers live. Combined, the results are incredible.
- Unique content makes the search engines happy. As we mentioned before, the ongoing "Panda Updates" in Google and the similar changes happening at Bing demand quality, unique content on the web pages. TK Carsites has always believed in this principle even before the search engines made an effort to find the spam. Automated content systems will hurt your website. If your vendors have "tricks" that bulk up your site, run as quickly as you can. They are going to do more damage than good.
Take Control of Your Future
Few will argue that search engine optimization is a key to success in the uber-competitive realm of automotive internet marketing. Having the strongest presence possible will help you to be successful and gain more customers than any other individual marketing activity you can have.
We take pride in having strong-conversion numbers on our websites, but even a basic website with the right SEO will perform well.
Take advantage of what TK Carsites as to offer. Here are the next steps you can take:
- Request a consultation: You can read a lot about us, but the best way to get to know us is through a demonstration.
- Put us to the test: It's hard to sell a car without a test drive. Likewise, it's easier for you to get an understanding of what we can do by testing out our services risk-free. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by seeing what we can do to get one of your keywords ranked higher immediately.
- Receive an evaluation: Let us take an look at your current SEO and offer suggestions on ways to improve it.