An excerpt from Christian Salazar’s presentation at the 15th Digital Dealer Conference & Expo, October 15-17, 2014, at the Mirage Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, NV. Want to get your hands on the full PowerPoint or recorded session? Just ask HERE!
Christian Salazar tells a packed house why “SEO Doesn’t Work!”
Whether from the end user, website owner or advertiser perspective, Search Engine Optimization is as vital to Internet operations as air. SEO is meant to help people find what they’re looking for, but SEO doesn’t work alone and it’s NOT making you money.
Are you STILL doing what was required from Google like it’s 2005? Good. It’s still relevant. And any good marketing company should be doing that for you by default. If they aren’t. Fire them. Things like URL strings, URL redirects, meta information, H1/H2/H3 lists, H1 breadcrumbs, internal page linking, VDP metas, inventory meta tags and limiting excessive links. All good.
But there’s more to Google than meets the eye in 2013. They have one goal: To have users leave their website as quickly as possible. There is no niche where this singular goal is more apparent and more profitable for those websites indexed than automotive. Search engines are now the key battleground for car shopping.
Three factors affecting a shift in this proverbial paradigm (and there are more) is location search, timing of the sales funnel and trusted sources.
Location
For example, today’s internet shoppers are not fenced in by city and state when buying, so why limit yourself when researching? They start with what they think they want and research information based on make, model, comparisons, similarities and other options – not city limits.
Timing
Using a search engine as an influential source has been found to to begin several weeks before the actual time of purchase. Google also tells us that the main source for information when shopping for a vehicle is dealership websites with the lowest circle of influence being recommendations from friends. Referrals are no longer the trusted resource. YOU are!
Here are some things you can do right now to create a relevant brand and attract the 80% of impressionable customers early to capture their return visits as their car shopping queries become more often. If you don’t, your 3rd party lead provider will…driving up the cost of your marketing and shrinking your profit margin.
Trusted Source
You’ve heard us say it before and you’ll hear us say it again; Quality trumps quantity in pages to your website every time. Don’t believe us? Just ask Google.
Multiple and recent changes from Google usher in a new era of meaning and intent. Google now strives to make its search behave more like people behave. Content that people like, Google will like.
Google wants you to figure out what to talk about naturally without obsessing over keywords and data reports, but by answering the questions that you can genuinely answer with authority, and be an expert on topics about which you actually ARE are able to provide a good solution. If you create great content, legitimately answer questions, and provide resources that real people love, Google will reward you. Don’t just make content, make content that matters.
How? Through blogs, press releases, custom landing pages, Google places and resource pages on your website.
Not sure what to write about? Call us, we’ll give you ideas. More tips HERE.
Think press releases no longer work or produce leads? Ask Cavender Automotive, Bill Jacobs Automotive…ask ME for more references and proof that PRs not only get picked up by industry knowledge bases like Wards Automotive and Automotive News, they get picked up by the Wall Street Journal and other heavy hitters! Bottom line, THEY SELL CARS with DIRECT and FIRST PARTY LEADS!
Still don’t believe me?
Take a look:
3rd Party Lead Providers VS Content Strategy
3rd Party Lead Spend VS Content Strategy Spend
I’ll leave you with these takeaways:
1. Google is the main source of information for consumers. Focus here.
2. Be an information resource to your consumers.
3. Influence your buyers at the research stage.
Want to get your hands on Christian’s full PowerPoint presentation deck or recorded video? Just ask HERE!
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