Automotive SEO Link Building

Automotive SEO Your Getting Wrong

Search Engine Optimization is not rocket science.  In fact it’s fairly simple…on paper.  As with many plans, the execution there-of… Is usually what’s missing if the desired success is not achieved.
In this article you will learn the basic theory of auto SEO and the 3 biggest SEO mistakes almost every automotive dealership gets wrong.  We will also explain how to solve each problem.
Search Engine Optimization often referred to as SEO, is the art and science of placing content on a website and driving visibility on Google search.   The goal of search marketing is to rank higher than your competition for the keywords that drive you the most revenue.

An effective Automotive SEO strategy will entail the following 3 elements.

1. Keyword Research
2. On-site Optimization
3. Link Building

Automotive SEO Keyword Research:

The single most important part of Automotive SEO is identifying which keywords you would like to optimize for.  These should ideally be keywords that either drive the most relevant traffic or resonate with buyer intentions that lead to a purchase of a vehicle.  There are many techniques and keyword tools you can leverage for your research that Elbow Digital has found useful.  Some of which are SEMRush, Ahrefs, Keyword Studio, and SpyFu.
The process in which you determine your best keywords should include considerations for conversion data you already have, competitor advertising spend, and your current rankings.
Once you identify your best performing phrases, the next step is to optimize your website content with on-page SEO optimization.

Automotive SEO Optimization (On-page)

The key to good rankings is having valuable content on your web pages that provide solutions to a searchers needs.  Search engine rank is directly proportional to the theme of your web page in regards to the targeted words.
To get to the nuts and bolts of the matter the keywords you want to rank highly for will need to actually appear in the following places on your page.

• The Title Tag of the page
• The Meta Description
• The H1 or H2 Tags
• In the Paragraph Content
• Within the name of an image and the images ALT tag.

Of course you don’t want to use the exact same world for all of those on page elements but similar themed keyword groupings that include your main keyword term.
For example:   Say you want a page to rank for “Automotive SEO”.  The blow would be how that would exist on your site.

• Title
  • Automotive SEO Agency for Dealers| Elbow Digital
• Meta Description
  • Elbow Digital is a full service automotive (SEO) Search Engine Optimization company.
• H1
  • Best SEO for Automotive Dealerships
• H2
  • Auto SEO Services
• In content
  • Need to be the top of the automotive crop with SEO? Allow Elbow Digital to drive better rankings and highly converting traffic to your showroom floor.

Now that you have optimized your content for the search engine, it is time to let Google know that your website is the best fit for their shoppers.  This is done with authority development or what is often referred to as “link building”.

Automotive SEO Link Building

A backlink can be defined as a vote of confidence from another website that your content is valuable and is worth knowing about.  With link building strategies, getting the largest amount of “votes” from the most valuable sites possible should, always be the goal.
Link building is a science unto itself that is best left to a link building consultant because the wrong link can actually harm your website.  The google Panda and Penguin penalties are evidence that Google is no longer putting up with spammy link building tactics.  Unless you know the nuances of evaluating potential linking sites and how to acquire those links ethically… your efforts would best focused on retaining the link authority you already have.
And this leads us to the topic matter of the biggest mistakes Auto Dealership websites make in optimizing their SEO.  That is… in stopping the authority “leaks” on their website.

3 Largest Automotive SEO Mistakes

What many business owners fail to realize is that link building from sites other than your own is only a partial picture of a SEO authority profile that Google appraises in its ranking algorithms.  Where the “backlink juice” is pointing and how it is dispersed among the internal pages of your website matter, just as much; if not more than, off-site linking strategies.
Below are the elements most ignored by Automotive Dealership websites?

• Social Media Authority Leaks
• Poor Internal Linking Strategies
• Website Developer Backlink Theft

Social Media SEO Mistakes

Social media is a valuable tool that provides credibility and social proof that your brand is engaged and relevant with its customers.  In fact, Google’s new webmaster guidelines even state that having social profile links “above the fold” is a ranking factor.
What no one talks about though is that those links on the top of your page are sending a lot of your ranking power to your social media profiles and helping those websites at the cost of your authority.

Solution

Add the rel=”nofollow” tag to the social media links that direct traffic away from your site.
This simple tactic provides your brand all the benefits of having those powerful social signals without sending all that authority to Facebook, twitter, and Pinterest.

Internal Linking Mistakes

Often times in the pursuit of more votes and higher linking authority we lose focus that we have acquired quite a bit of authority already on our website.  LEVERAGE THAT.

Solution

Identify the pages that get the most traffic and find a way to massage in your desired keyword anchor text with a link to a page that you would like to rank higher in the Google.  This way you “re-direct” the authority of an already powerful page to another page that could use a little more “oomph”.

Web Developer Link Stealing

That logo and text link at the bottom of every page that lets the world know whom your web developers are may look cool and inconspicuous but it is killing your rankings.

Solution

Remove all mentions of your web developer from your website or at the bare minimum add the pre mentioned nofollow tag to stop leaking your  hard earned ”votes” to them.
–Craig McConnel is the #1 link building consultant in the USA and is the organic search orchestra leader at Elbow Digital.  When you partner with our team your brand gets ground breaking insights into how to outperform your competition on Google Plus, Bing, Yahoo, or Facebook.

Craig McConnel

 

  You can also find Craig McConnel online on  Klear,  Twitter, Storify,  Klout

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