Whether you’re behind the wheel of a dealership, running a tire shop, or running any other type of automotive business, mastering SEO remains an indispensable component of a successful marketing strategy in 2024.
Today’s automotive consumers are more connected and informed than ever.
Additionally, the preference for organic search results over paid ads remains strong, highlighting the critical importance of SEO in today’s digital consumer landscape.
However, keeping up with Google’s search engine results page (SERP) and algorithm changes requires diligence.
To further illustrate this, consider these ideas:
88% of potential car buyers now turn to digital channels to gather information. Car buyers dedicate 14 hours and 39 minutes to research online and find the perfect car for your needs.
95% of car buyers consulted social media platforms during their car buying journey.
81% of car buyers find that online activities improve their overall shopping experience, citing both time savings (93%) and price transparency (rated at 78%) as key advantages. Almost half (46%) of the auto dealers surveyed made at least 9% of their sales through fully online purchases.
Armed with this knowledge, we explore the top seven automotive SEO strategies for 2024, designed to put your business on the front lines and propel it to success.
1. Create original and compelling content and leverage rich snippets
In SEO, content is still king. For automotive companies, this means creating in-depth informative content that engages and informs your audience.
Focus on valuable resources such as blog posts, buying guides and vehicle reviews that combine informative details with compelling narratives.
Here is a great example of more informative content from a Miami dealership. They do an excellent job of incorporating CTAs into useful content to funnel users to their vehicle selection:
Image from bramanmiami.com, April 2024
On individual car listing pages, they even add dealer notes to add more uniqueness to their pages, so it’s not just a regurgitation of manufacturer information:
Image from bramanmiami.com, April 2024
Rich snippets improve your visibility in search results and provide a snapshot of your content’s value.
Implementing structured data tagging also helps search engines understand and display your content more effectively, increasing the likelihood of clicks.
Screenshot from Google Search Central, February 2024
Helpful Automotive Schematic Resources:
Read more: How to Optimize Rich Snippets: A Complete Guide
2. Elevate your video SEO strategy
Video content has become an indispensable tool for businesses. It provides a dynamic platform to showcase vehicles, showcase features and share customer testimonials.
A recent survey shows that by leveraging video content, 86% of sellers experienced an increase in web traffic and 87% saw a direct increase in sales.
As a brand, you should take this opportunity to embrace video SEO and increase your visibility on search engines and social platforms.
Include relevant keywords in video titles, descriptions, and tags to ensure your video aligns with search queries.
You can also use short, engaging videos that highlight the unique selling points of your inventory to captivate potential buyers and drive traffic to your site.
Check out this great example of Mazda of North Miami leveraging video on their car listing pages to showcase the car to potential customers:
Image from mazdaofnorthmiami.com, April 2024
Even better, they marked up this page with structured data and now benefit from their listing page showing the video element in the SERPs, which should only improve their organic CTR even more:
Google image, April 2024
Read more: How short videos and user-generated content affect marketing
3. Optimize for Mobile-First indexing
With the majority of online searches now being done on mobile devices, a mobile-optimized website is essential to SEO success.
Google mobile indexing means that the mobile version of your site is the primary version that Google considers for ranking.
Make sure your website is responsive, mobile friendly and intuitive. This is crucial for engaging the mobile audience.
This is a perfect example of how a dealership should incorporate mobile design. They do an excellent job of displaying the most relevant information for a consumer to navigate (images, specs, pricing, CTAs).
Screenshot from bramanmotorsbmw.com, April 2024
Read more: 14 Mobile Optimization Best Practices You Should Know
4. Enhance your local presence
Local SEO is vital for automotive businesses looking to attract nearby customers.
Claim and optimize your Google Business Profile.
Strategically include local keywords in your website content and participate in local community events to improve your visibility in local search results.
Additionally, testimonials and reviews act as powerful social proof. In automotive digital marketing, 82% of consumers turn to online reviews for local businesses.
To help future buyers feel confident in their choices, encourage satisfied customers to leave positive reviews about their experience.
![google search [st louis car dealerships]](https://www.searchenginejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/st-louis-car-dealerships-Google-Search.png)
Screenshot of the search for [st louis car dealerships]Google, February 2024Read more: Local SEO Outline: A Complete Guide to Local Branding and Rich Results
5. Build authority by building strategic links
Backlinks tell search engines that your site is a credible and authoritative source of information.
Automotive businesses should aim to acquire high-quality backlinks from reputable automotive blogs, local business directories, and industry publications.
These backlinks not only improve your site’s SEO performance, but also drive targeted traffic, improving your online visibility and reputation within the industry.
This Miami dealership does a great job of leveraging local event sponsorships in their community to capture additional inbound links to improve their authority:
Screenshot from Ahrefs, April 2024
Read more: How To Get Quality Backlinks: 12 Ways That Really Work
6. Prioritize technical SEO for a healthier website
Technical SEO ensures that your website is accessible and readable by search engines, fixing issues that could hinder your site’s performance.
By conducting regular technical audits, you can identify and rectify issues such as slow loading speeds, broken links, and duplicate content.
A technically sound website provides a solid foundation for your SEO efforts, ensuring that your content and keywords can be indexed and ranked effectively.
Read more: How to do technical SEO for e-commerce websites
7. Improve the user experience with the principles of the EEAT
Google has increasingly placed an emphasis on experience, expertise, authority and trustworthiness (EEAT) when evaluating websites.
For automotive websites, this means creating content that not only showcases your knowledge of the automotive industry, but also provides users with valuable and reliable information.
This could include detailed guides to choosing the right vehicle, practical tips for car maintenance or information on the latest automotive technology.
By demonstrating expertise and first-hand experience in your content, you can significantly improve your site’s authority and credibility in the eyes of both users and search engines.
See how Edmunds.com leverages authorship to further validate EEAT principles:
Image from Edmunds.com, April 2024
example: You could share a series of blog posts written by your experienced mechanics on how to maintain vehicles during the different seasons, offering practical tips for car care. This would demonstrate your deep subject knowledge and position your brand as a trusted source for your customers.
Read more: What is user experience? How design matters for SEO
Summary
In 2024, the importance of a strong, data-driven SEO strategy for automotive companies has never been clearer.
Drive your organic presence to new heights by:
Creation of high quality content. Optimization for video. Adopting a mobile-first design. Manage your local listings. Build a solid backlink profile. Maintain the technical health of your website. Focusing on EEAT principles to deliver a positive user experience.
Implementing these seven strategies will not only improve your visibility in search engine results, but also position your business as a leader within the automotive industry.
More resources:
Featured image: iQoncept/Shutterstock
Examples of compelling content: Screenshots of Brannon Miami
Video SEO example: Screenshots of Mazda of North Miami
Screenshots from Google SERP and Ahrefs – taken by the author
Image EEAT: Screenshot from Edmunds.com
