The automotive industry is highly competitive, with over 18,000 car dealerships in the US. It is dominated by companies such as AutoNation and Penske Automotive Group, which report approximately $25.8 and $25.6 billion in annual revenue, respectively.
In such a competitive space, it can be challenging for independent or local car dealerships to compete with industry giants.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the ideal way for your car dealership to beat the competition and attract more visits to your showroom or bookings for test drives.
In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about automotive SEO, including five powerful strategies to get your search engine optimization right.
What Is Automotive SEO?
Automotive SEO is the process of improving a car dealership’s website so that it appears higher in search engine results, such as Google.
When someone searches for a car dealership or a specific car model, you want your website to be one of the first they see.
The higher your site ranks, the more potential customers will visit your website and even your dealership in person.
Around 95% of vehicle buyers search online before making a purchase, so if your website isn’t showing up in search results, you’re missing out on potential customers who could choose a competitor.
With the right automotive SEO strategy, you can attract more foot traffic, stay ahead of your competition, and boost sales.
Google uses a complex system to decide which websites appear first in search results. It looks at several factors to determine which sites are the most valuable and trustworthy for searchers. Some critical ranking factors include:
📈 Relevance: Does your website match what the person is searching for? For example, if someone searches for “Honda Civic for sale”, Google will prioritize pages that list available Honda Civics rather than general car-buying tips.
📈 Authority: Google favors websites that have built trust over time. If other reputable websites, like car review sites or local news outlets, link to your car dealership’s website, Google sees it as more trustworthy.
📈 User experience (UX): Search engines rank websites higher if they load quickly, are easy to navigate, and work well on mobile devices. A slow or confusing website can result in lower search rankings.
Why Is SEO Important for Car Dealerships?
There are several good reasons why you should invest in SEO for your car dealership:
✅ More people find your dealership online
When someone searches for “best car dealership near me” or “used Ford F-150 for sale”, you want your website to appear on the first page of Google.
This is important because the search results on the first page of Google capture 71% of clicks.
Automotive SEO helps improve your website’s rankings, making it easier for potential customers to find your dealership than a competitor’s.
✅ Increases website traffic and leads
The higher your website ranks in search engine results pages (SERPs), the better the chances that more people will click on and visit it.
The more people that visit your site, the more opportunities you have to convert them into leads by getting them to schedule a test drive, fill out a contact form, or visit your dealership in person.
Over 75% of local searches convert into leads, indicating how vital automotive SEO is.
✅ Builds trust and credibility
People typically trust websites that appear at the top of Google search results. A well-optimized site with positive customer reviews, high-quality content, and relevant keywords signals to both Google and customers that your dealership is reputable.
✅ Helps you compete with bigger dealerships
If your dealership is up against large national brands or big-name competitors, automotive SEO can help level the playing field.
By optimizing your site for local searches, you can attract buyers in your area and stand out from bigger dealerships that don’t focus on local SEO.
✅ Cost-effective marketing strategy
Unlike paid advertising, which stops bringing in traffic as soon as you stop paying, SEO delivers long-term benefits.
Once your website ranks well, you can continue attracting organic traffic without constantly spending money on advertising your dealership.
Additionally, SEO drives an average return on investment (ROI) of 748%, making it a cost-effective and worthwhile strategy.
What Is Local SEO and Why Does It Matter for Dealerships?
Local search engine optimization is when you optimize your dealership’s online presence to appear in local search results.
When someone searches for “car dealership near me” or “buy a used Honda in [city]”, Google prioritizes businesses that are nearby. Local SEO helps your dealership appear in these searches, making it easier for local car buyers to find you.
Local SEO is vital because 76% of consumers who search “near me” terms visit a business within a day.
Unlike general SEO, which focuses on ranking nationwide, local SEO is all about appearing in searches from people in your area. For car dealerships, this is crucial because 71% of customers will travel less than 20 miles from their homes to visit your business.
Here are three reasons why local SEO is such an important digital marketing strategy for your dealership:
1. Appear in Google’s Local Pack
When people search for a dealership, Google often displays a Local Pack of three businesses at the top of search results, complete with a map, contact details, and reviews.
Below is an example of what a Google Local Pack looks like when we search for car dealerships:
Optimizing for local SEO—which we will discuss later in this article—increases your chances of being featured in this highly visible section, making it easier for potential customers to find you.
2. Drive more foot traffic to your dealership
Over 75% of car buyers start their search online but often prefer to visit car dealers before making a decision.
If your dealership appears in local search results, more people will visit your lot to browse cars, take test drives, and speak with your sales team.
3. Increase calls and leads
Local SEO ensures that your dealership’s name, address, and phone number (NAP) appear prominently in search results.
This is important because 61% of people shopping for a car will call a dealership after an online search.
This makes it easy for potential buyers to contact you directly, whether they’re inquiring about available cars, scheduling a test drive, or asking about financing options.
5 Proven Strategies to Get Automotive SEO Right
Now that you know more about automotive SEO, let’s look at some strategies you can implement to improve your search engine rankings.
It’s worth noting that some of these strategies are more advanced, and hiring an SEO professional or agency may be a good choice to get these tactics right.
1. Build high-quality backlinks
Backlinks are links from other websites that point to your dealership’s website. You can think of them as recommendations; when a website links to your site, search engines like Google see it as a sign that your dealership is reputable and relevant.
The more high-quality backlinks you have, the more likely your website is to rank in search engine results pages (SERPs).
🤔 What Are High-Quality Backlinks?
Not all backlinks are equal. Some can boost your search rankings, while others may have little effect and can even harm your site, such as those earned through black-hat link-building techniques.
A high-quality backlink is one that comes from relevant, authoritative, and trustworthy sources such as Edmunds, Car and Driver, and major news outlets.
Interestingly, over 79% of SEO professionals consider link building an important part of their search engine optimization strategy.
🔗 Why is link-building important for car dealerships?
There are four main reasons why link building should be a key part of your SEO strategy:
1. Boosts search rankings: Google uses backlinks as a ranking factor. A dealership website with backlinks from authoritative sources—such as news sites or automotive blogs—is more likely to appear higher in search results.
2. Drives referral traffic: When people click on a link to your dealership from another website, they bring in new visitors who may be interested in buying a car.
3. Builds trust and authority: Backlinks from reputable sources improve your dealership’s credibility. If an automotive review site or local business organization links to you, customers will likely trust your dealership.
4. Gives you an edge over competitors: If your competitors aren’t focusing on link building, having strong backlinks can help you outrank them and attract more potential buyers.
🔗 The best link-building techniques for car dealerships
Let’s unpack some link-building strategies that you can include in your SEO efforts to reap the benefits of backlinks:
➡️ Get listed in local directories: Submit your dealership to trusted business directories like Yelp, Cars.com, and Edmunds. These links improve local SEO and make it easier for customers to find your business.
➡️ Build relationships with local businesses: Partner with local repair shops, car insurance companies, or rental car businesses. Ask them to link to your site in their “Recommended Services” section, and you can link back to them in return.
➡️ Earn links from local news websites: Host or sponsor community events, charity drives, or even car giveaways. Local news sites and blogs often cover these stories and may link to your dealership’s website in their articles.
➡️ Contribute to automotive blogs and industry websites: Writing guest posts for automotive blogs or industry websites can earn you backlinks, positioning your dealership as an authority in the field.
➡️ Leverage customer reviews and testimonials: Encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews on third-party sites. Some review platforms allow you to include a link to your website, improving your search rankings.
➡️ Use content marketing: Over 90% of people searching for cars use online resources for research. For this reason, you should create blog posts, car-buying guides, and dealership updates. If your content is valuable enough, other websites will want to link to it, improving your backlink profile.
This car dealership has a listing on Yelp, which provides it with a high-quality backlink from an authoritative source:
In this guest post on a high-authority website, the author has earned a high-quality backlink to their car dealership:
2. Do targeted keyword research
Keyword research involves finding the words and phrases potential customers type into Google when looking for car dealerships.
By targeting the right keywords, you can optimize your website to rank higher in search results and attract more visitors.
There are three main types of keywords you should aim to target:
1️⃣ Transactional keywords (high-intent buyers)
These keywords indicate that the searcher is ready to take action, like buying a car or visiting a dealership. Examples include:
🔎 “buy used Toyota Corolla in [city]”
🔎 “best car dealership near me”
🔎 “Honda Civic lease deals”
2️⃣ Informational keywords (research-stage shoppers)
These keywords target people who are searching for cars before making a decision. Consider targeting terms such as:
🔎 “best SUV for families”
🔎 “how to finance a car”
🔎 “electric vs. gas cars pros and cons”
3️⃣ Local keywords (geo-specific searches)
Local keywords help you show up in searches from people in your area and strengthen your local SEO. Below are some examples of local keywords:
🔎 “Ford dealer in [city]”
🔎 “affordable car financing in [city]”
🔎 “certified pre-owned cars near me”
👉 How to do keyword research
You can use SEO tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, and Google Keyword Planner to find keywords to target.
Let’s look at how you could use Ahrefs’s Keyword Explorer to conduct keyword research:
Start by searching broad terms like “car dealership” or “buy used cars”. Look at key metrics like:
📊 Search volume: How many people search for this term per month.
📊 Keyword difficulty (KD): How hard it is to rank for the keyword.
📊 Click potential: Some searches result in clicks, while others are answered directly on Google.
Use the Matching Terms or Questions filters to find longer, more specific searches. For example, instead of “used cars”, target “best used SUVs under $20k in [city].”
As you can see, the keyword “best used SUVs under 20k” has a low KD, meaning it’ll be relatively easy to rank for. It also has a decent search volume:
3. Optimize your on-page SEO
On-page SEO is when you optimize individual pages on your website to help them rank higher on Google. Let’s unpack some important on-page SEO strategies:
📑 Title tags and meta descriptions
Title tags are the clickable headlines that appear in search results. They should be under 60 characters and include keywords. Title tags between 40 and 60 characters have the highest click-through rate (CTR), likely because this ensures they don’t get cut off in search results.
Meta descriptions are short descriptions below the meta title in search results. To attract clicks, they should be under 160 characters and engaging.
Below is a good example of a title tag and meta description for a car dealership. It’s keyword-rich and meets the character count to ensure their information isn’t being cut off in search results:
📍 Location pages for each service area
If your dealership serves multiple cities, you should create separate pages for each location to improve local SEO. Each page should include:
➡️ The city’s name in the title and content.
➡️ Your dealership’s address, phone number, and hours.
➡️ Customer testimonials and local promotions.
➡️ A Google Map embed to improve local search visibility.
This car dealership has dedicated location pages for each of its service areas, which include relevant information to the region and allow users to search for vehicles at the specific location:
🖼️ Image SEO
Over 90% of sites on page one of Google’s search results have at least one image on them.
Images help make your site visually appealing, but they must also be optimized for search engines and people with visual impairments.
Use descriptive file names and use alt text to describe the image using keywords. For example, you could rename images from “IMG123.jpg” to something meaningful like “used-honda-civic-2023.jpg.”
For alt text, describe the image using keywords so Google can understand it. For example, “2023 Honda Civic for sale at [Dealership Name] in [City]”.
You should also reduce file sizes to improve page speed.
4. Improve your technical SEO
Technical SEO focuses on optimizing the behind-the-scenes aspects of your website to help it rank better on search engines. It ensures your site is fast, mobile-friendly, and easy for search engines like Google to understand.
There are two tasks you can focus on when it comes to technical SEO:
1️⃣ Mobile optimization
The average car buyer spends 33% of their research time on a mobile device, so your website must be mobile-friendly. To optimize for mobile device-friendliness:
➡️ Use a responsive design so your site adjusts to different screen sizes.
➡️ Ensure buttons and links are easy to tap.
➡️ Keep page layouts clean and easy to navigate.
You can use a tool called Google Search Console to ensure your site is mobile-friendly.
2️⃣ Page speed
More than half of visitors leave a page if they have to wait longer than three seconds for it to load. Google also ranks faster websites higher. To improve your page speed:
➡️ Compress images to reduce file size without losing quality.
➡️ Enable browser caching so returning visitors don’t have to reload everything.
➡️ Use a fast web host to load pages quickly.
You can use Google’s PageSpeed Insights to analyze your website’s speed and make improvements.
5. Strengthen your local SEO presence
By optimizing your online presence, you can attract more local buyers and increase foot traffic to your dealership.
Over 95% of car shoppers rely on online resources to gather information instead of visiting car dealership websites, so your online presence needs to be strong. Here are some aspects to get right to strengthen your local SEO presence:
📌 Optimize your Google Business Profile (GBP)
Your Google Business Profile (GBP) appears when people search for your dealership on Google, Google Maps, and local searches.
Below is a good example of a complete and engaging Google Business Profile for a car dealership:
Optimizing your GBP is important because these listings receive about 200 clicks or interactions per month, 48 of which are website clicks.
To optimize your GBP:
➡️ Fill out all details, including your dealership’s name, address, phone number, and website URL.
➡️ Add high-quality photos of your cars, showrooms, and staff.
➡️ Keep your business hours updated.
➡️ Post updates and promotions regularly to engage potential customers.
📌 Citations for car dealerships
Leveraging citations is vital because businesses with citations on more than 10 sites receive as much as 80% improved visibility in Google search.
Citations are mentions of your dealership’s name, address, and phone number on other websites.
It’s important to ensure your NAP information is consistent across all these platforms, including your website, social media, and business directories. Inconsistent NAP details can confuse Google and potential customers.
📌 Get listed on business directories
Listing your dealership on reputable directories can also help boost your local SEO. In fact, 31% of search results for local queries are from directories. Focus on:
➡️ Automotive directories like Cars.com, Edmunds, and Autotrader.
➡️ General business directories like Yelp, Better Bussiness Bureau, and Yellow Pages.
➡️ Local directories specific to your city or state.
This automotive brand has listed its business on the Better Business Bureau, earning it a high-quality backlink and potentially improving its local SEO:
Build the Best, High-Quality Backlinks to Boost Your Automotive SEO
A strong automotive SEO strategy helps car dealerships attract more local buyers, improve search rankings, and stay ahead of the competition.
By optimizing your website, targeting the right keywords, strengthening your local SEO, and building high-quality backlinks, you can drive more organic traffic and increase sales.
However, SEO takes time and expertise, especially when it comes to link building. That’s where Linkbuilder can help.
We specialize in securing authoritative, relevant backlinks that boost your dealership’s online visibility. Our team helps you:
✔️ Earn links from top automotive websites and local business directories.
✔️ Improve your search rankings with a tailored link-building strategy.
✔️ Drive more qualified traffic to your dealership’s website.
Don’t let your competitors outrank you! Contact Linkbuilder today to start building powerful backlinks that drive real results.