local keyword research

Ranking Your Lawnmower Dealership: A Step-by-Step Guide to Local Keyword Research

by with No Comment Local MarketingSearch Engine Optimization

  local keyword research

If you’re a lawnmower dealership looking to increase your online visibility, it’s crucial to have a solid local SEO strategy. Local SEO involves optimizing your website and online presence to appear prominently in local search results, especially for people in your geographical area.

One of the essential elements of local SEO is performing local keyword research. This involves finding the right keywords to target in your content and optimizing your website for those keywords to improve your rankings in local search results. In this blog post, we’ll walk you through the process of local keyword research and the important ranking factors for local SEO.

Why Is Local SEO Important for Lawnmower Dealerships?

Local SEO is crucial for lawnmower and tractor dealerships since most customers come from the dealerships local area. According to Google, over 30% of all mobile searches are related to location and nearly 80% of people who search for a local business on their phone visit the business within a day. Additionally, almost 30% of local searches result in a purchase.

By optimizing your website and online presence for local search, you can increase your visibility in local search results, attract more local customers and ultimately, boost your sales and revenue.

Why Local Keyword Research Matters for Lawnmower & Tractor Dealerships

Local keyword research is crucial for lawn mower and tractor dealerships because it helps them understand how potential customers are searching for their products and services online. By understanding these search terms, businesses can tailor their website content and SEO strategies to better reach their target audience.

Without conducting local keyword research, businesses risk missing out on valuable website traffic and potential sales. For instance, a lawn mower dealership may assume that targeting keywords like “lawn mowers for sale” and “riding mowers” is enough to attract customers. However, there may be additional search terms, such as “zero-turn mowers” or “lawn mower repair near me,” that could help them reach a wider audience and attract more customers.

Furthermore, local keyword research can help businesses stay ahead of their competition. By analyzing the search terms that their competitors are targeting, businesses can identify gaps in the market and capitalize on untapped opportunities.

Here’s how to perform local keyword research for your lawnmower dealership:

Step 1: Identify Your Service Area

The first step in local keyword research is to identify your service area. This is the geographical area that you want to target with your dealership. It’s important to define this area clearly, as it will help you determine the keywords you need to target in your content and website optimization.

Start by considering the areas where your lawnmower dealership is located and where you offer your products and services. You might choose to target your city, town, or even a specific neighborhood. If you have multiple locations, you can target each location separately to ensure that you’re reaching the right audience in each area.

Once you’ve defined your service area, you can start researching the keywords that people in that area are using to find businesses like yours. This will help you create content that’s relevant to your target audience and improve your website’s search engine rankings.

Keep in mind that your service area might change over time. If you expand your business to a new area or start offering new products or services, you’ll need to adjust your local keyword research accordingly. Regularly reviewing and updating your keyword strategy is an important part of maintaining your website’s search engine rankings.

Step 2: Research Local Keywords

Once you have identified your service area, it’s time to research local keywords that are relevant to your lawnmower and tractor dealership. The goal is to find the keywords that your potential customers are using when searching for your products or services.

Start with a general keyword related to your business, such as “lawnmower dealership.” This is a broad keyword that will help you uncover other related keywords that you can target in your content and website optimization.

Next, use a keyword research tool, such as Google Keyword Planner or SEMrush, to find related local keywords. These tools will help you identify popular keywords related to your business and give you insight into their search volume, competition level, and potential traffic.

Make sure to include location-based keywords in your research, such as your city name, neighborhood, or nearby landmarks. This will help you target the specific audience in your service area. For example, you can try “lawnmower dealership in [city name]” or “lawnmower repair near [landmark].”

Also, consider long-tail keywords, which are more specific phrases that often have less competition. For example, “best riding lawnmower for hilly terrain” or “zero-turn lawnmower with bagger attachment.” These keywords may have lower search volume, but they can be highly targeted to your potential customers and may have a higher conversion rate.

In addition, you can use Google’s auto-suggest feature to find related keywords. When you start typing a keyword into the search bar, Google will suggest related search terms based on what other people are searching for.

Remember to keep track of your keyword research in a spreadsheet or document so that you can refer to it later. This will help you stay organized and make it easier to optimize your website and content for the keywords that you have identified.

Step 3: List the services offered by your lawnmower & tractor dealership

Before starting your local keyword research, you need to understand the services offered by your business. This step is crucial because it will help you determine the keywords to target in your content and website optimization.

To begin, list down all the services offered by your lawnmower and tractor dealership. These may include selling new and used lawn equipment, repairing and servicing lawnmowers and tractors, providing replacement parts and offering rental services.

It’s essential to be thorough and list all the services offered, even if you think they may not be commonly searched for. For example, you may offer specialized services such as blade sharpening or engine rebuilds that could be highly relevant to certain customers.

When conducting a list of services offered by a lawnmower and tractor dealership, it’s important to keep in mind that you’re searching for missed services, not just missed keywords. The goal is to identify all the relevant services that the business offers and make sure they are represented in your local keyword research.

Start by brainstorming all the services your dealership has to offer. This might include selling and repairing lawnmowers, tractors, and other outdoor power equipment. Make sure to capture all the details of each service, including any specific brand names, models, and types of equipment.

Once you have a comprehensive list, it’s a good idea to expand your ideas by using a keyword research tool like Keywords Explorer. Select your country from the dropdown menu and enter your list of services. This will give you a list of related keywords that map to each service.

Remember, the goal is to identify all the services that are offered by the lawnmower and tractor dealership and make sure they are represented in your local keyword research. By doing this, you can create content that’s relevant to your target audience and improve your website’s search engine rankings for local searches.

Step 5: Check for local intent

For lawnmower and tractor dealership, it’s important to check for local intent when researching keywords. If you’re located in the same area as the business, you can simply search for your services on Google and look for two things: a ‘map pack’ and local businesses ranking in the organic results. If you find both, then it’s likely that people searching for these services want to shop locally.

However, if you’re not in the same area as the business, you can use Google’s Ad Preview tool to check for local intent. Simply enter a search term, such as “lawnmower dealership,” and set a local location, such as “Nottingham.” Then, hit search and look for local business rankings and the presence of a map pack. For keywords without local intent, put them aside for the next step.

Step 6: Check Search Volumes & Difficulty level

Once you have a list of potential keywords, analyze the difficulty and search volume of each keyword. The difficulty metric will help you determine how competitive each keyword is, while the search volume will give you an idea of how many people are searching for that keyword.

It can be challenging to get accurate search volumes for local keywords since most SEO tools only provide country-wide or global volumes. However, don’t worry too much about search volumes when it comes to local SEO. In most cases, even if the search volume for a specific service is low, it’s still valuable to create a page for it since it’s helpful to visitors who may have found you through a broad search term.

That being said, it’s still important to check search volumes to prioritize which pages to focus on for your local SEO strategy.

Choose keywords that have a high search volume and low difficulty to maximize your chances of ranking well in local search results.

Step 7: Optimize Your Website and Content

After identifying your target keywords for your lawnmower and tractor dealership, it’s crucial to optimize your website and content for local search. Here are some essential local SEO ranking factors to consider:

Incorporate your target keywords into your website content, page titles, meta descriptions, and image alt tags. This helps search engines understand what your website is about and improves your chances of ranking for those keywords.

Ensure your website is mobile-friendly and loads quickly on all devices. Mobile responsiveness is a critical ranking factor, especially for local search, as many people use their mobile devices to search for local businesses.

Optimize your Google Business Profile  by providing accurate and up-to-date information, including your business name, address, phone number, and business hours. This makes it easier for customers to find you and increases your visibility in local search results.

Encourage customer reviews on your Google Business Profile to boost your credibility and visibility in local search results. Positive reviews can also influence potential customers’ decision to choose your business over competitors.

Include your location and service area on your website and in your content, such as in your footer or About Us page. This helps search engines and customers understand where you’re located and the areas you serve.

It’s also essential to map your target keywords to specific pages on your website. For example, if you have a page dedicated to lawnmower sales, make sure to include relevant keywords such as “lawnmower dealership,” “lawnmower sales,” and “lawnmower service” on that page. By doing so, you signal to search engines and customers that this page is the most relevant and authoritative for those specific keywords.

By following these local SEO ranking factors and mapping your keywords to specific pages, you can increase your chances of ranking well in local search results and attract more local customers to your lawnmower and tractor dealership.

Final Thoughts

Conducting local keyword research is an essential initial step for any effective local SEO plan. Once you have identified the appropriate keywords to target, you can optimize your website and content accordingly to increase your online presence in local search results. This will help you attract more potential customers to your lawnmower and tractor dealership.

Performing local keyword research not only helps with local SEO, but it can also inform your content strategy for your blog and social media. By understanding what keywords and topics are popular among your local audience, you can create content that resonates with them and drives engagement.

For example, if you find that a lot of people in your area are searching for “lawn care tips,” you could create a blog post or social media series that provides helpful advice on maintaining a healthy lawn. This can attract local customers to your dealership and position you as a knowledgeable and helpful resource in your community.

Furthermore, by using location-specific keywords in your blog and social media posts, you can further optimize your content for local search and increase your visibility in the local community. This can lead to more traffic to your website, more followers on social media, and ultimately, more business for your lawnmower and tractor dealership.

 

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5 Strategies for Lawnmower & Tractor Dealerships to Improve Local SEO

by with No Comment Digital MarketingLocal MarketingSearch Engine Optimization

improve local seo

As more and more consumers rely on the internet to find local products and services, local visibility has become critical to your business’s success. This is especially true for lawnmower and tractor dealerships that depend on local customers to drive sales. Local SEO, which involves optimizing a business’s online presence to appear in local search results, can help lawnmower and tractor dealerships improve their online visibility, attract more local customers, and ultimately drive foot traffic to their stores.

Why is Local SEO Important?

Improving your local SEO can provide several benefits for your business. Firstly, it can increase your business’s visibility in local search results. By optimizing your Google Business Profile and other online directories, your business can appear higher in search results when people search for products or services related to your industry. This increased visibility can lead to more website traffic as more people click through to your website.

Local SEO also allows for better targeting of specific geographic locations, which can help you reach potential customers who are more likely to be interested in your products or services. By appearing in local search results, you can attract more local customers to your business and increase your chances of converting them into paying customers.

Having a strong local SEO presence can also improve your business’s credibility and establish you as a trustworthy authority in your industry. When potential customers find your business in local search results, they are more likely to view your business as reputable and trustworthy.

Finally, improving your local SEO can lead to higher conversion rates. When people find your business through local search results, they are often ready to make a purchase. By providing relevant and accurate information about your business and products or services, you can increase the chances of converting those potential customers into paying customers.

Strategies for Improving Local SEO

Optimize Your Google Business Profile

Claim and Verify Your Profile: The first step is to claim and verify your Google Business Profile. This will allow you to edit and manage your information, respond to reviews and more.

Provide Accurate and Complete Information: Make sure your profile includes all the relevant information about your business, including your name, address, phone number, website, hours of operation, and categories. This information should be consistent with what’s listed on your website and other online directories.

Add High-Quality Photos: Adding high-quality photos of your lawnmowers, tractors, and showroom can help make your business stand out and provide potential customers with a better idea of what you offer.

Encourage Reviews: Encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews on your Google Business Profile. This can help build trust and credibility with both search engines and potential customers.

Build a Mobile Responsive Website

Having a mobile-responsive website is crucial for businesses looking to improve local SEO. This is because most local searches are now done on mobile devices. If your website is not optimized for mobile devices, it may not appear in local search results, or it may appear lower in the rankings.

In addition to being mobile-responsive, your website should also include relevant keywords that describe your business and the services you offer. Make sure to use these keywords in your website’s content, titles, and meta descriptions to help search engines understand what your business is all about.

It’s also important to include clear calls-to-action on your website, such as “call us now” or “schedule a service appointment.” This will help potential customers know what they need to do to contact your business.

Finally, make sure to include your business’s contact information, such as your address, phone number, and email address, on your website. This information should be consistent with the information on your Google Business Profile and other online directories to help improve your business’s visibility in local search results.

Create Local Content

Creating local content is an effective way for lawnmower and tractor dealerships to connect with their local audience and improve their local SEO. By providing helpful and relevant information, you can establish your business as an expert in the field and build trust with potential customers.

To create local content, consider creating blog posts or videos that focus on topics related to your business and your local community. For example, you could create a blog post on “10 Lawn Care Tips for a Beautiful Yard in [Your City]” or a video on “How to Maintain Your Tractor for Optimal Performance in [Your State].” By incorporating local keywords into your content, you can help your website rank higher in local search results. In addition to blog posts and videos, consider creating content that highlights local events or community initiatives that your business is involved in.

This can help build goodwill and show that your business is invested in the local community. By creating engaging and relevant local content, lawnmower and tractor dealerships can attract more local customers and improve local SEO.

Link Building

Building backlinks is an important way to improve local SEO for lawnmower and tractor dealerships. Backlinks from high-quality and relevant websites signal to search engines that your website is authoritative and trustworthy. When building backlinks, it’s important to focus on quality rather than quantity. A few high-quality backlinks from authoritative websites can be more beneficial than many low-quality links from spammy websites.

To build backlinks, consider reaching out to local bloggers, journalists, or other businesses in your area. You can offer to write guest posts for their websites or collaborate on content that is relevant to your industry. When creating content for backlinking purposes, make sure it is informative, engaging, and adds value to the reader. This will increase the likelihood of the content being shared and linked to by others.

Another way to build backlinks is to participate in local events or sponsor local organizations. This can help you get links from their websites and social media channels. For example, if your lawnmower and tractor dealership sponsors a local charity event, you can ask the organizers to link back to your website in their promotional materials.

Building backlinks takes time and effort, but it’s an important part of improving your local SEO and driving more traffic to your website. By focusing on high-quality, relevant backlinks, lawnmower and tractor dealerships can improve their local search rankings and attract more local customers to their business.

Engage on Social Media

Engaging on social media is crucial for businesses to build a strong online presence and connect with their local audience. Lawnmower and tractor dealerships can create social media profiles on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to reach their customers where they are spending their time online. They should post regular, engaging content that highlights their products, services, and expertise in the industry. This content can include photos, videos, and written posts that showcase their inventory, share helpful tips and advice, and promote upcoming events or promotions.

Additionally, it’s important for businesses to engage with their followers by responding to comments and messages in a timely and professional manner. This will help to build trust and foster relationships with potential and existing customers, ultimately driving more foot traffic to the dealership.

Boost Your Local SEO

If you want to attract more local customers and drive foot traffic to your store, it is crucial you improve local SEO. By optimizing your Google Business Profile, building a mobile-responsive website, creating local content, building backlinks, engaging on social media, and offering promotions, you can improve local SEO and reap the benefits of increased visibility, website traffic, targeting, credibility, and conversion rates. With the right strategies in place, you can establish your business as a top player in your local market and grow your customer base for years to come.

If you’re a busy dealership owner who doesn’t have the time or knowledge to improve local SEO, don’t worry – Dealers Digital is here to help! Our Local SEO program is designed to help businesses like yours climb the rankings and drive more traffic to your dealership. With our expert team of SEO specialists, you can rest assured that your business’s online presence is in good hands. Contact us today to learn more and take the first step towards improving your local SEO!

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Harnessing the Power of the Customer Journey to Drive Business Growth

by with No Comment Digital MarketingLocal MarketingSearch Engine OptimizationSocial Media

drive business growth

Mastering the Customer Experience

Managing customer experiences is crucial for any business looking to drive business growth and retain customers. After reading reviews about a business, almost all potential customers will take their next step in a space that the business has complete control over. This means that the majority of customer interactions and experiences are within your control. Whether it’s through your website, physical location, or communication channels, the power to shape the customer experience is in your hands. By effectively managing these spaces, you can turn leads into paying customers and create a positive, lasting impression that will keep them coming back. In this blog post, we’ll dive deep into the importance of managing customer experiences and provide you with tips and best practices for optimizing your website, creating a positive in-store experience, and managing communication channels to improve customer engagement and satisfaction.

The Customer’s Journey: By the Numbers

  1. 96% of adults read Local Business Reviews
  2. 91% of consumers take the next step in the buyer’s journey.
  3. 51% of those people will visit your website.
  4. 27% of those people will visit your physical business location.
  5. 13% of those people will contact you (phone, text, email, live chat)
  6. 8% of consumers move from reviews to your social media profiles.

Source: The Impact of Local Business Reviews on Consumer Behavior

Harnessing the Power of the customer's journey to drive business growth Owning the Customer Experience

It is more important now than ever to create a positive and seamless customer experience across all touch points. By effectively controlling your website, physical location, and communication channels, your dealership can create a consistent and cohesive brand image and message. Additionally, you can use customer data and insights gathered from these spaces to personalize and optimize the customer experience, improving the chances of conversion.

Maximizing your control over the customer experience starts with identifying and addressing pain points. Utilizing data from your website, physical location, and communication channels can help you do just that. By analyzing website data, you can pinpoint areas that need improvement and enhance the user experience. Similarly, data from your physical location can be used to optimize store layout and improve the in-store experience. And by monitoring communication channels, you can improve customer service and address concerns in a timely manner. By utilizing data from all these sources, you can create a seamless and positive customer experience that drives business growth.

Let’s take a deeper look at each touch point.

Utilizing our website to drive sales Utilizing Your Website to Drive Business Growth

Having a strong online presence is crucial for businesses in today’s digital age. A website can be a powerful tool for attracting and retaining customers for lawn mower, tractor, and outdoor power equipment dealers. A well-designed website can provide customers with information about the products and services offered, as well as detailed specifications and pricing. It can also allow customers to easily browse and purchase products online, making the buying process more convenient for them.

Your dealership’s website can also be used to create a sense of trust and credibility with your customers. By including customer testimonials, photos, and videos of products in use, and detailed information about the company’s history and experience in the industry, a website can establish the business as a reputable and trustworthy provider of lawn mower, tractor, and outdoor power equipment.

A website can also be used to provide customers with ongoing support and education. For example, a dealer can provide information on how to properly maintain and repair equipment, or tips on how to get the most out of their equipment. This can help to build customer loyalty and encourage repeat business.

If your dealership has no website, or it isn’t quite up to par, we can help. Dealers Digital can help you maximize your online exposure and boost sales. We are the green industries digital marketing experts with over twenty years of digital media experience. Contact us today to get started.

Optimizing Your Dealership’s Website

Here are a few tips and best practices to optimize your dealership’s website to drive conversions and improve the overall customer experience.

  1. Navigation: Make sure that your website is easy to navigate. Use a clear and consistent layout, organize your content in a logical and easy to understand way.
  2. Optimize for Mobile: Over 80% of people browse the internet via mobile and expect for their experiences to be seamless. Your website should be responsive, meaning it adjusts to fit the screen size of the device being used to view it.
  3. Clear Calls to Action (CTA): Your site should have clear CTA’s that guide visitors towards the next step. Whether that is to make a purchase, request more information, or to schedule a consultation.
  4. Contact Information: Make it easy for visitors to contact you by including your phone number, email and physical address and contact form prominently on your website.
  5. Testimonials & Reviews: Use testimonials and reviews from satisfied customers to help build trust and credibility with potential customers.
  6. Search Engine Optimization: Optimizing your website for search engines (IE: Google) can help increase your visibility and drive more traffic to your site. There are many free resources out there to learn about and implement SEO, or you can hire an agency, like Dealers Digital, to help. Get your Free Local SEO Report.

The Value of Your Physical Location

Reviews are a powerful tool for driving foot traffic to your dealership! Reviews provide customers with valuable information about your dealership’s products and services, and can influence their decision to visit your dealership in person. A dealership with a high number of positive reviews is more likely to attract customers, which in turn, increases sales.

Your dealership should make an effort to encourage customers to leave reviews, and respond to both positive and negative reviews in a timely and professional manner. The way that a company handles a poor review says a lot about who they are.

Cultivating a Positive In-Store Experience & Utilizing Your Physical Location

Here are some tips on how to cultivate positive in store experiences and utilize your physical location to drive sales.

  1. Create a Positive In-Store Experience: A positive in-store experience can help to turn customers in loyal brand ambassadors and encourage them to leave positive reviews. By providing excellent customer service, having a knowledgeable staff and creating an inviting and visually appealing store layout can help you to achieve this.
  2. Utilize Your Physical Location: You can offer promotions and sales that are only available in-store or highlight products that aren’t available for purchase online. You can create in-store displays, or by offering special discounts or deals for customers who visit the store in person.
  3. Provide in-store consultation: Offer in-store consultation services like product demonstrations, product trials or shopping assistants. This will allow your customers to have a more hands-on experience and get more personalized recommendations, which can lead to increased sales.
  4. Encourage Customers to Leave Reviews: Encourage customers to leave reviews by providing a clear call to action, like a sign or card that directs them to the review. Respond to reviews in a timely and professional manner, and then use the positive reviews to help promote your dealership.

3 Types of Communication Channels

Effective communication is crucial for providing a positive customer experience and driving conversions for lawnmower and tractor dealerships. By managing phone, email and live chat effectively, your dealership can ensure that you are responsive to customer inquiries, provide accurate information, and address any issues in a timely and professional manner.

Phone: Phone communication allows for immediate, personal contact with customers. It is important to have well-trained staff who can answer questions and help quickly and efficiently. Business texting has become increasingly important in managing customer pickup and service notifications.

Email: Email communication can be used to provide detailed information to customers, such as product specifications, financing offers or promotions. It is important to respond promptly to customer inquiries and to make sure that the information provided is accurate and up to date. We offer automation solutions.

Live Chat: Live chat allows customers to receive immediate assistance while browsing your dealership’s website. It is important to have staff available to answer to chat requests in real time, or use a chat-widget, like Dealeramp to provide 24/7 automated responses.

managing customer service Managing Communication Channels Effectively

By effectively managing these communication channels, your dealership can improve your customer’s experience and increase the likelihood of conversions. You’re also likely to increase your customer engagement and satisfaction while you are at it. Customers can reach out to your dealership in the way that they feel the most comfortable and convenient. This provides them with a greater sense of control over their buying experience.

  1. Set clear expectations: Let customers know when they can expect a response to their inquiry, regardless of the channel. This will help manage the customer’s expectations and reduce frustration.
  2. Respond promptly: Respond to all customer inquiries as quickly as possible. This shows that your dealership values the customer’s time and is committed to providing a positive experience.
  3. Train Staff: Ensure that your entire staff is well trained in your dealership’s products and services, as well as in communication and customer service best practices.
  4. Personalize your communication: Address customers by name and make sure to use a professional and friendly tone. Your customer will feel more valued and comfortable.
  5. Gather and act on feedback: Regularly gather feedback from customers and find ways to act on it. This can help the dealership identify areas for improvement and make changes to better meet customer needs.

The Importance of Social Media Marketing

Despite the statistic that only a small percentage of customers may move from reviews to social media profiles, managing and maintaining a strong presence on social media platforms is crucial for any dealership’s marketing strategy. While the customer journey may vary, social media offers a variety of opportunities for dealerships to increase brand awareness, engage with customers, manage reputation, generate leads and stay informed about industry trends and customer preferences. By effectively utilizing social media, dealerships can improve the customer experience, drive conversions, and gain a competitive advantage in the market.

Brand presence and awareness: Having a strong social media presence can help increase brand awareness and establish your dealership as a reputable and trustworthy source.

Customer Engagement: social media offers an opportunity for your dealership to engage with customers, answer questions and provide information about products and services. This helps build loyalty and trust with your customers.

Reputation Management: Social media can be used to monitor and respond to feedback from customers. This can help your dealership proactively address any issues and maintain a positive reputation.

Industry insights: social media can be used to track industry trends, competitors activity and customer preferences.

Managing Social Media Profiles

Let’s look at some tips for creating engaging and effective social media profiles that can help drive business growth.

  1. Define your target audience: Understand who your ideal customer is and tailor your content to fit their interests and needs.
  2. Create a consistent brand image: Use consistent branding across all of your profiles.
  3. Use Storytelling: Use storytelling to create engaging content that highlights the dealership’s unique selling points and the benefits of its products and services.
  4. Engage with customers: responds to comments and messages in a timely manner and use social media as an opportunity to build relationships with customers.
  5. Create a content calendar: Plan and schedule content in advance to ensure that you project a consistent and organized approach to your content.

Harness the Power

Mastering the customer experience is key for any business looking to drive growth and retain customers. By harnessing the power of managing customer experiences, dealerships can take control of the customer journey and turn leads into paying customers. Through effectively managing your website, physical location, and communication channels, businesses can create a consistent and cohesive brand image, personalize, and optimize the customer experience, and improve the chances of conversion. By utilizing data from these spaces, businesses can identify and address pain points, creating a seamless and positive customer experience that drives business growth. By implementing the tips and best practices discussed in this post, businesses can maximize their control over the customer experience and drive business growth. Harnessing the power of mastering the customer experience is essential for any business looking to succeed in today’s competitive market.

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Link Building – Why It Matters!

by with No Comment Local MarketingSearch Engine Optimization

Link-building Strategies and Why They Matter

The thought process behind link building is simple. Place and/or earn more links pointing to your website so that your domain and page authority grow. This will help you rank higher in organic search results. There are dozens of ways to approach building links to your sites. We will cover some of the basic strategies in this post. It is also important to note that we are working toward gaining free backlinks. We do not participate in, nor do we recommend any of our dealers participate in paid backlinks or social media followers, as it is against Google Policy.

What is a Backlink?

A backlink is a hyperlink on the internet that points back to a page on your website. They are important because they are considered a marker of trustworthiness to the Google algorithm. If other sites are linking back to yours, you must have relevant, high-quality content, or the author would not add the link.

Link Building Strategies are meant to help your dealership generate high quality links with intention and earn domain authority as well as direct traffic from the clicks on the backlink.

Link Earning

Link earning is a passive strategy. Link earning is designed to create situations that naturally will incentivize other people to link to your site. It’s important to mention that not all link earning strategies are the same. Everyone has their own methods of earning links. Some like to get creative with their content and make interesting articles that are sure to attract the attention of others. Others just want to pick low hanging fruits to get the site out there and get it some momentum. A lot of people tend to go with the latter because it’s more straight forward and easier. But there’s a lot of risk involved with that. If you post too much of the same stuff, you’ll lose the eyes of your readers. The key to link earning is to diversify your content.

Manual Link Building

Manual link building is more hands on. You will want to work with sites that already have a lot of other links or traffic. You will have to do your research and create content that leverages or builds off content on their site. Find the big sites in the green industry– the sites with a lot of traffic– and see if they’ll allow you to link to them.

Manual link building is not just more hands on, but also a lot more time intensive. Sites with a lot of links or content have a lot of users, and you’ll need to put in a lot of effort to get a link. Time is a valuable commodity. With manual link building, you’re expending resources for every link you build. If you don’t have a lot of time, you might want to consider using a tool to help you get links more efficiently.

What is considered a High-Quality Backlink?

High-Quality links have the potential to last indefinitely, increase your rankings and will also forward traffic to your website directly. They are from high authority websites and placed in well written content.

On the other end of the spectrum, Low-Quality or spammy backlinks will most often lead to a penalty with Google or one of the other search engines, and this will set back your efforts by multiple steps.

Strategies For Earning High Quality Backlinks

  • Avoid building links indiscriminately. This is more about what you shouldn’t do, rather than what you should do. Newcomers or beginners are tempted to build as many links as possible without thinking about what types of links they are building or how they build them. It is important to have a clear idea of what you are trying to accomplish before you start reaching out. It’s always better to earn a few number of extremely helpful links versus a large number of bad links that may end up hurting you in the long run. Be picky about which links you are trying to get.
  • Embed your own links in good content. Good links exist in good content. You will want to focus on obtaining links from quality sites, embedded in quality content. The link should have the appropriate anchor text and point to a relevant page to the content topic and the referring domain.
  • Favor New Domains Over Already Linked Domains. Links pass authority from one site to another, but the authority diminishes the more links to the same site and page. As a general rule, getting a new link is better than getting a second link from the same site.
  • Link to Your Highest Quality Pages. You want your backlinks to link to well optimized, well written content. Make sure that you spend time on the page that will get the link as well.
  • Make Sure Your Link Adds Value for Readers. The whole point of a link is to add value, clarity or more information about the current topic. The reader should have a better understanding of your concept by following the link.
  • Make Sure Your Content Is Relevant. If you aren’t providing high quality content that is interesting to your target audience, you are doing yourself a severe disservice. Try not to be business centered in your content, be customer centered. There are many resources out there to help you define your target market, if you don’t already know it.

Track Your Progress

Link Building takes time. You will want to track who you have reached out to, when and any notes about contact with the potential link so that you don’t waste time asking for links you already have, and don’t lose sight of the fruits of your labor. Be patient and consistent with your effort and you will earn the backlinks.

Link Building Matters

Link building is an essential part of a successful SEO strategy. By building quality links, you can tell Google what your website is about. This can help increase your rankings on search engines and make your website more visible to potential customers. If you need help with your link building strategy, please feel free to contact us. We offer comprehensive link building services to fit your dealership’s needs.

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Local SEO

Drive Your Dealership’s Sales with Local SEO

by with No Comment Digital MarketingLocal MarketingSearch Engine Optimization

Local SEO

Drive Your Dealership’s Sales with Local SEO

What is Local SEO?

Local search engine optimization is the process of optimizing your online presence to increase local traffic, visibility and brand awareness. Unlike traditional SEO which focus on ranking for keywords and phrases for a search term, local SEO focuses on ranking for city, state, region or local area keywords and phrases. These keywords and phrases are commonly searched when consumers are looking for local businesses on the internet.

Local SEO focuses on optimizing your business’ presence on the web so more and more people in your local area will be able to find you. It is also about making sure that your online content presents your business in the best light and makes it easy for local people and businesses to engage with you. When done properly local SEO can be a great way to reach out to more local customers.

What Does Local Search Look Like?

Local Search Results look a little different than regular search results. This is also sometimes referred to as the local pack, or the map pack when you are looking at your search rankings. When it comes to local search rankings, things like proximity matter. With 72% of consumers that perform a local search visiting a store within 5 miles of their current location, it is easy to see why you want to be easily found online.

How does Local Search Work?

When it comes to local searches, there are a few more layers in top of the regular algorithm. These are used to help the searcher find the best match for their query. 18% of local mobile searches lead to a sale within one day. With billions of search queries being entered every day, that’s a lot of sales!

Relevance: How closely related is the result to the words used when the searcher entered their query.

Distance: How far Google believes the searcher physically is when they perform the search.

Prominence: How important Google believes one business is over another similar business.

With that, you get 2 types of results for local searches. The local pack (which consists of Google Maps & Business Profiles) and Organic Results. One thing to remember, is that a user does not have to specifically imply locality, for Google to display local search results. Sometimes, Google believes that the locality is implied.

Where to locate Keywords for Local SEO

Local keyword research is essential for any business that wants to improve rank in search engines for local products or services. Targeting these keywords will result in more local traffic to your site and, ultimately, more customers.

To get started, you’ll need a short list of keywords that people can use to find your local business. Once you have your list, you can begin optimizing your website for those keywords to improve your chances of ranking in the search engines.

Check out your Competitor: One way to find keywords is to analyze the keywords that your competitors are ranking for, and work to gain some of that traffic. If your business is targeting the same keywords as your competitors, then you’re likely on the right track. These keywords are relevant to your business and will help you reach your target audience. You can add any new keywords you discover as you move through the different strategies.

Use Google Autocomplete: Utilize a variety of different local keywords and terms to see what works best for you and your business. With some trial and error, you’ll have a comprehensive list of keywords that will help bring local customers through your door. Google will automatically show you the most searched keywords for your given topic based on your location.

Optimize your Dealership for local SEO

Google Business Profile Optimization: is an important piece of the Local SEO puzzle. If you are not regularly updating and refreshing the information you provide Google, how do you expect to show up on Google Search. As previously mentioned, businesses with a GBP get preference when it comes to local search results. If you want to learn more about optimizing your Google Business Profile, read more here.

NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) Citations: It is important that your basic NAP (Name, Address and Phone Number) remain consistent and correct across the internet. Inconsistent Data can confuse Google and cause you to rank lower in the Search Engine Results Page. Submit your information to popular directories in your local area and industry as well as Google, Bing, Yelp and other popular business listing management services.

Online Reviews: It is important to manage and respond to businesses reviews that you receive online. This is part of brand reputation management. A lot of consumers use a businesses reviews (or lack therof) during the consideration stage of the sales funnel. Having a large amount of good reviews helps build credibility and gives you brand equity.

On-Page SEO: The rise in online shopping has led to a rise in search engines for local businesses and services. Though “local SEO” can be intimidating, there are some simple techniques and tips any company can use to succeed. When you are optimizing your website for local search, the most important thing to remember is to make sure your site is both relevant and detailed to your business. Whenever you’re listing your business address, make sure you have the correct address and use the city, state and zip code. Some people make the mistake of putting their address in their phone directory, but you may only be getting visitors from your area which means that you won’t get as many visitors as you could be getting.

Backlinks: Having a backlink strategy is crucial to any online marketing campaign. A backlink strategy is a specific blueprint used to manage the number and type of backlinks you are obtaining from sources that point to your website. Having a good backlink strategy will help you in the long run build an online reputation, increase your online presence, draw in more potential customers and generate more revenue.

Just One Piece of the Puzzle

There are a lot of pieces to each part of the marketing puzzle. By optimizing for your dealership, one channel at a time, it’s certain you will see an increase in sales. Are you too busy running your dealership to handle your search engine optimization, local or otherwise? We can help! Contact us for more information on how we can help direct traffic to your store! Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to keep up with all the latest news!

Recession Proof Your Dealership

Recession Proof Your Dealership with These 5 Tips!

by with No Comment Digital MarketingSearch Engine OptimizationSocial Media
Recession Proof Your Dealership

Recession Proof Your Dealership

Recession Proof your Dealership with These 5 Tips!

There has been a lot of discussion about a recession being on the horizon, and with inflation rates at an all-time high, it’s understandable to be worried. Recessions can be devastating, and many businesses never recover from the financial loss. So how can you make sure that your business makes it, regardless of the state of the economy?

Lead by Example

As the leaders within your organization, you can stabilize your work environment and maintain health and balance within the workplace. You do this by leading by example. Show your employees that you are all on one team. And lastly, cut costs where you can but don’t sacrifice quality or your employees’ livelihoods. Your morale will be easier to maintain, and you will have a greater capability of responding to crisis. People want to do business with those they know, like and trust. By ensuring customer excellence is achieved in all interactions, you increase the likelihood of creating a loyal customer. Trust becomes even more important at economic downturns occur.

Targeted Marketing

Promoting your business during an economic recession might seem counterintuitive, but it’s actually essential to surviving tough times. To be successful, you’ll need to be tactical in your approach. The best way to reach your customers is by meeting them where they are – whether that’s online, in-person, or through word-of-mouth. Hyper targeted marketing is a low-cost way to reach your consumers. A few ways to utilize targeted marketing are listed below:

  • Content: Good content is essential for SEO success, and it’s also key to attracting organic traffic to your website. When creating content, make sure it’s high-quality and targeted to your audience. Relevant content will not only help you rank higher in search engines, but it will also attract more organic traffic to your website.
  • Social Media: While, like most things, you can spend money on social media. It is not necessary. You can achieve the basics of social media without spending a cent. When it comes to social media, you get what you put in.
  • SEO: SEO has the highest potential for value per dollar of any other marketing effort. The successes of good SEO will stick with your site, long after you stop paying for services. No matter how long you have been in business, your website can always benefit from an SEO update. SEO is a crucial part of being seen by your customers.
  • User Experience & Website Design: Existing in the digital world is an essential part of being a business today. The success (or failure) of your online efforts can often be determined by the appearance and usefulness of your site.

Recession Proof 2 Stay Ahead of the Curve

Talk to your partners and suppliers now. Do not be surprised by supply chain or staffing shortages. Be aware of trends for your industry and allow yourself to anticipate not only business needs but also the needs of your ideal customers. There is a good chance that other companies in your industry are dealing with the same obstacles, so communication with suppliers and customers is not only crucial but can be game changing. You want everyone on your team to be on the same page. This can help you to identify pitfalls before they even happen.

Think Twice About Big Investments

It becomes even more important to manage your cash flow when you are in the throes of a recession. Looking at your finances and projections can help you anticipate where cash flow might get a little tight so you can prepare solutions and adjust ahead of time. Do everything you can now to evaluate your operations and trim the fat to strengthen your cash position prior to entering into a recession.

Stay on Top of Accounts Receivables

During a recession, everyone struggles financially. Your customers may start paying more slowly and you may have a more difficult time collecting receivables. Evaluate your customers paying habits and make adjustments now, to save you lots of time and headaches later. Stay on top of collections. Offer additional ways for clients to pay: such as, electronic payments. You can also stop working with clients who are reluctant to pay or stop extending credit if your cash flow can’t withstand it.

work smarer, not harder Work Smarter, Not Harder

There is nothing you can do to control the economy. It is important to focus your attention on what you can control, and that is how you run your business! A recession will bring countless struggles and challenges for your company. Knowing your numbers and leaning into smart changes will help you to lead your company with a fearless growth mindset and allow you to overcome and emerge a leader in your industry.

If you find that you don’t have the time or expertise to handle your dealership’s marketing, we can help! Dealers Digital has a proven track record of helping Outdoor Power Equipment Dealerships maximize their online reach. With over 20 years of digital marketing experience, we know  your market and we know how to reach your customers! Contact Us for more information about how we can help your Dealership turn those clicks into cash!

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Google Business Profile: 8 Absolute Best Ways to Optimize

by with No Comment Digital MarketingLocal MarketingSearch Engine Optimization

8 Tips to Optimize Your Dealerships Google Business Profile

What is a Google Business Profile?

A Google Business Profile helps your dealership get found online. According to Google, “with a Business Profile, you can manage how your local business shows up across Google products, like Maps and Search. If you run a business that serves customers at a particular location, or you serve customers within a designated service area, your Business Profile can help people find you. Verified businesses on Google are twice as likely to be considered reputable.”

With Google boasting 92% of the world’s search traffic, it’s easy to see why it is important to optimize your Google Business Profile.

Benefits of Creating & Maintaining Your Google Business Profile

With a Google Business Profile you can maintain accurate information about your business online, interact with your customers, and attract new customers.  When your dealership shows up at the top of the search results page; it is much easier to make a positive and professional impression, which will result in a higher CTR, or click-through rate on your website.

An active Google Business account is a powerful tool that can help you improve your website’s ranking in Google search results. Your Google Business Profile is the first thing a lot of internet users see, and sometimes, the only thing they see. It is important to make sure that Google can find you and that it has the right information.

It’s important to remember that potential customers will be comparing you to your competitors. That’s why it’s essential to have a complete and optimized listing. By making a good first impression, you’ll increase your chances of converting those users into customers.

Google Business Profile Optimization

Google Business Profile Optimization

Key Elements to Optimize:

  • Use your actual business name. Stuffing your listing with too many keywords is not only against Google’s Terms of Service, but it can also result in your listing being penalized.
  • List a local phone number. If you want to rank high in local search results, it’s important to have a legitimate local phone number. If you’re using a call tracking number, make sure to enter the tracking number in the primary slot. This is the number that will show up to users. Put your actual local number in the secondary slot.
  • Make sure your hours of operation are correct.
  • Write a compelling description. Make sure your business description includes information about who you are as a company and what you stand for. You don’t want to stuff this section with random keywords just to try and boost your ranking in searches – that won’t work. The description on your GBP won’t affect your ranking, but it will give potential customers and partners a good idea of what you’re all about.
  • Upload lots of high-resolution photos. This includes exterior, interior, and product shots. This will help the customer feel more familiar and comfortable should they visit in person.
  • Upload videos, if you have them. Videos must be 30 seconds or shorter and smaller than 100 MB.
  • Be Consistent. One of the most important aspects of digital marketing is staying consistent. You must post and update regularly to stay front of mind with your ideal customers and to remain an authority in the Outdoor Power Equipment world.
  • Get reviews from happy customers. A large ranking factor for Google is customer reviews. Businesses that have more reviews tend to seem more credible and reliable to consumers. Asking for review should be ingrained into your sales process. Why? 71% of consumers will leave a review, if asked. This is why it is important to have a strong brand reputation management strategy in place as part of your overall marketing objectives.

This Seems Like a Lot of Work – Is it Worth it?

A solid marketing strategy includes social media, brand reputation management, business listing management, dealership SEO, plus many Outdoor Power Equipment Dealerships also employ paid advertising in the form of Pay-Per-Click Advertising, Display Advertising and many other digital advertising strategies. With so many options, it can be daunting! At Dealers Digital we know what it takes to maximize your online exposure and boost your sales! Our focus is on the Green Industry. We know your market, we know your customers, and we know how to reach them. Whether you are looking for a do-it-yourself platform, (Here’s looking at you DealerAmp), or want someone to handle all of your marketing needs, we have a solution for you! Contact Us to start the conversation about upping your marketing game!

Organic VS Paid Search Engine Results

Unraveling The Mystery of Lawnmower & Tractor Dealership Search Engine Ranking

by with No Comment Digital MarketingLocal MarketingSearch Engine Optimization

The Mystery of Lawnmower & Tractor Dealership Search Engine Ranking

Google Search Engine Ranking Factors

Search Engine Factors for Google

What is a Search Engine?

A search engine is an application designed to search for information on the internet. Google, Bing and Yahoo are examples of search engines. A search engine will look for information and index it based on what it finds. It will also assign each page a PageRank score. PageRank is a score that Google assigns to each page. The PageRank is based on the number and quality of other sites that link to the page and the importance of the sites that are linking to it.

It is key to understand how search engines work to fully understand how to optimize for them.

The search algorithms used by Google and other search engines are large collections of other algorithms and formulas, each with its own purpose and task. These algorithms work together to produce results that a user will be satisfied with.

In fact, there are algorithms in place specifically to monitor the satisfaction of users with the results they get, and to make adjustments where necessary.

Paid Search Results

Organic VS Paid Search Engine Results

Organic VS Paid Search Engine Result Page

Organic search results are not a means of generating revenue for search engines like Google, but they do have other powerful uses. If there were no organic search results, paid search results would become less relevant, reducing views and clicks in the process. While organic listings may not generate revenue for Google directly, they do indirectly contribute to the company’s bottom line by keeping users engaged with the search engine.

Why does this matter? The layout changes, existence of search features and click through rates of organic results are all driven by this. By displaying a featured snippet, Google allows users to find answers to their questions without having to leave the site. For commercial intent questions, Google adds an additional paid search result. This is due to these driving factors.

Search Engine Optimization is the process of making your site more visible to search engines and ultimately, customers. By doing everything you can to be visible, you can increase the amount of visitors to your website. This leads to increased sales for your dealership.

How do search engines rank pages?

Before we think about how, lets think about why. It would be a lot cheaper and easier for search engines to display pages randomly, by word count, freshness or any other variable or easier sorting systems. They don’t do this because no one would want to use the search engine if they did it this way.

First, search engines classify the query that is coming in. This gives the engine the necessary information to perform the rest of the steps. For example, is the query local, a question, etc.

The next step is context. This is where the search engine relies on any relevant information they have on the user entering the query. This could be the location of the search or many other factors. This is where historical and environmental data comes into play.

The search engine then weighs different factors in importance relevant to the query. (Authority, how recently it was published, etc.) The layout of the page is then created based on the context gathered. What is important to remember here, without getting too technical, is that the different elements of any given search results page are determined almost instantly.

Finally, ranking can take place. After all the information is gathered and analyzed, the search engine can rank sites based on the criteria determined in the previous steps. This is an extremely simplified version of how search engines work- machine learning is also a huge part of Google and search engines as well. For more information about how search engines work, check out this guide from Search Engine Journal.

With so many factors at play- how will I ever get my site to rank?

You can use the machine learning systems of the search engines to assist in your content development strategies. With Devices and technology changing rapidly, keeping up with what is happening with search engines can give you clues to how your consumer interacts with content and what types of content they expect.

Search Engine Optimization, also known as SEO, is the process of optimizing a website for search engines. This has become more important than ever for small businesses who aren’t able to spend millions of dollars on advertising. Ranking at the top of search engines is what will get your business noticed.

Search Engine Results Google

Google Search Engine Results

A Few Tips to Help Your Rankings

NAP: Make Sure that your Name, Address, and Phone Number are correct across all listings. When this information remains uniform, it tells the search engine that this is the correct information. Make sure you spell your name the exact same way across Facebook, Google, LinkedIn or other social media as well as business listings such as Yelp and the Yellow Pages.

Backlinks: Pages with more backlinks tend to rank higher than those with fewer backlinks. A backlink is a link from another website to your site. You should always work to add more of these to your site. A simple way to do that is to sign up for all the free listings you can, Yelp, Google My Business, Bing, Yahoo, Yellow Pages, and any other niche/service pages to which your services are used. Links from more authoritative sites are also weighed more heavily than from lesser sites. There are multiple strategies you can employ to help add backlinks. Link building campaigns focus on gaining high authority links back to your website.

Good Quality Content: Google wants to rank sites that are worth ranking. Having a customer first mindset when creating content versus stuffing for keywords will get you much further. Consistently providing well written, quality content, will help your overall ranking on your page.

Mobile Friendly: Since most people search the internet via their phones these days, its no surprise that mobile friendliness is a ranking factor for search engines. This part can get a little technical, so it may be advised to use a professional for this. The main goal is to ensure a smooth experience regardless of where the web page is being used.

There are many other ranking factors and the ranking factors can vary from search engine to search engine. If you keep the basic idea in mind that you are creating content that will be useful for your target audience, it is relatively easy to employ some of the basic SEO principles.

You don’t have to know it all! Your customers are looking for you online. Give them what they want and make it easy for them to find you. Let Dealers Digital help you maximize your online exposure and boost your sales.

Contact Us now to learn more about how we can help your business grow with Search engine optimization, Dealer Websites, Digital Advertising, Reputation Management, Social Media and more!

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dealership-SEO

Local SEO – Demystifying What SEO Really Means For Your Dealership

by with No Comment Digital MarketingSearch Engine Optimization

This article originally appeared in the March 2022 issue of OPE Business.

I once had a dealer tell me that the “S” in SEO, stood for snake oil. I chuckled at the sentiment. Mostly because I knew where he was coming from. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has gotten a bad rap over the years due to unscrupulous marketing providers selling back links and blog and well, snake oil. And it’s difficult not to understand how SEO got that rap. Results can be hard to quantify. Customers don’t always give it the time required to start working. Positive results can be written off as the seasonality of the market. And Google changes their algorithm ALL THE TIME. What used to work 5 years ago and drove tons of traffic to your site, may now be considered spammy and the Google will swiftly devalue your site to the depths of – gasp – page 2 or worse of the search results, never to be seen again. But SEO doesn’t have to be this mythical bag of tricks that nobody understands. The concept of SEO is actually quite simple. How can we optimize your web presence so that the people who are looking for your products can actually find you? How we do it though, is the most important thing to understand. The first thing we need to do is differentiate between Local and National SEO. Understanding the difference will make all the difference in the tactics you use to optimize your business.

National SEO

National SEO means you are trying to rank as highly as possible for keywords or phrases that relate to your product or service on a national level. Simple right? Well, yes and no. Go Google a product you sell, something simple like Cub Cadet XT1 and note the results that pop up. The first few results are going to be dominated by links to cubcadet.com, followed by large national retail outlets like Home Depot and others. It certainly makes sense that Cub Cadet would show up at the top for searches that relate to “cub cadet”.

There are many factors that go into their position at the top of the search results. Important aspects include

  • Domain authority
  • Number of quality back links
  • Rich catalog data
  • Quality of on-site unique content

It takes a lot of time and effort (and money) to make sure all of the ingredients for Google’s secret sauce are accounted for and the truth is, it’s a large investment that most dealers simply don’t need to make. Because you’re trying to reach ready-to-buy local customers, not try to outrank cubcadet.com. If Cub Cadet is doing a great job with their national SEO, that’s going to help brand awareness and local searches that lead customers to your doorstep. If you are a national brand, an e-commerce store or a very large chain dealership that has a wide net to cast for eyeballs, national SEO is extremely important, but for smaller dealerships, it’s neither realistic or necessary.

Local SEO

Local SEO means that you are trying to make sure your business shows up as high as possible when potential customers are looking for the product you sell. In the previous example, someone searching for “cub cadet XT1” should expect to find the product page at cubcadet.com rank near the top of search results. The important thing to remember with SEO is that you have to consider the intent of search. Think about how a search for “cub cadet XT1” vs “cub cadet XT1 near me” or “cub cadet dealership” changes how Google interprets the searcher’s intent. When a searcher adds a local qualifier like “near me” or your local city/state to their original search, Google understands that the searcher is looking for a business in their local area and returns results. So go google something like “cub cadet dealership near me” and note the results. At the top of the page you’ll like see what we call the “map pack”. The map pack displays the top three businesses in your general area that match your original search term.

Think about the importance of a local search and local search intent. If you search for a “cub cadet dealership near me” or “lawnmower repair near me”, it stands to reason that you’re looking for a business near you that sells Cub Cadet mowers or can repair your lawnmower. So if you can optimize your business to appear at the top of that list, research indicates that a whopping 75% of local-intent searches result in a store visit within 24 hours, ready to buy what you’re selling.

So how do you optimize for local-intent searches? Your Google Business Profile holds the key to dominating local search results. I’ve spoken at length about Google Business Profiles (formerly known as Google My Business) in the past, but understanding how to properly optimize your profile leads to dominance in the Google map pack.

SEO doesn’t have to be the black magic tactic that many think it is. It’s perfectly valid and extremely powerful when done correctly. But when done poorly, it can also have a negative effect on your business. So as with any task you outsource, it’s important to seek validation, ask the right questions and work with a vendor that you know you can trust.

blog-featured-inventory-shortage

How Smart Dealers Can Market Themselves in an Inventory Crisis

by with No Comment Business ListingsSearch Engine Optimization

This article originally appeared in the July edition of OPE Business

Do you remember last year when the pandemic hit, how much fear swept across small retail businesses? Nobody knew how the pandemic would affect sales and ultimately their livelihoods, causing many of our dealers to pause their marketing and advertising efforts. And while COVID was certainly unkind to many small businesses, many of the dealerships we work with reported better than expected sales volumes. The smart dealers who continued to advertise in the early stages of the pandemic, reaped the benefits of being proactive in their messaging.

Fast forward to 2021 and the lasting effects of the pandemic are starting to manifest in inventory scarcity, resulting in a different type of crisis. Again faced with uncertainty, we’ve heard from many dealers who are pausing advertising programs, which is understandable if there is no inventory to sell, but the most proactive dealers can still position themselves to be top of mind when supply finally catches up with demand.

Here are three ways you can keep your dealership visible to potential customers.

Utilize Google My Business
If you’ve sat in any marketing webinar in the past two years, every dealership marketing consultant has likely driven home the importance of utilizing your Google My Business (GMB) profile and I am certainly no different. Why? Because it’s free and it’s extremely powerful. Here’s are two new features that will hep you make the most of your GMB profile:

  • Turn on GMB Messaging: Google recently turned on the ability for customers to message you directly from your GMB profile. Make sure you go into your GMB settings and turn on this functionality. Eliminating any friction between you and your potential customer is important, especially in this competitive space.
  • Add products to your profile: In 2020, Google gave businesses the ability to manually add products directly to their profiles, complete with photos and pricing information. So if a potential customer is searching for “Cub Cadet Ultima ZT1 42” and you’ve added that product to your local profile, you’ll boost your chances of being discovered for that product.

Engage Your Existing Customer List
In the OPE industry we find that dealers will spend tens of thousands of dollars per year to acquire new customers and ignore (or just take for granted) their existing customer base. According to Marketing Metrics, the probability of converting an existing customer is between 60 – 70%, but the probability of converting a new prospect is only between 5 – 20%.

The way our industry is structured, especially with how co-op ad dollars from OEMs work, the majority of our focus tends to be on new customer acquisition. And while acquisition is extremely important, think about where your business really makes its money and its margins. Most would say it’s in service and repeat purchases.

Every dealership has a customer list, but do you have contact information for your customers? An email address? A cell phone number? Maybe buried in your DMS somewhere? Smart dealers can take control of their data but utilizing a CRM (Customer Relationship Management). If you don’t have a CRM or a DMS capable of exporting your customer list, making this a priority for the second half of 2021 is a good move. When coupled with an email marketing and text automation tool, creating and maintaining a robust CRM pays dividends multiple times over by allowing you to communicate with existing customers in real time, informing them of service promotions or other incentives. And if you DO happen to have good inventory on a particular model, you may be in a unique position to sell quickly to a captive audience.

Once you have a system in place to capture and nurture those contacts, consider driving more people to sign up to join your list. Be creative by creating a “wait list” for customers to sign up to be informed when new inventory arrives you can have them sold by the time they hit the floor.

Don’t Stop Spending
If you decide to completely stop your advertising programs during slow times, remember that there is always a competitor out there who is maintaining some level of spend to make sure that their name is the first one found when customers are searching. You should definitely cut down your ad programs from your usual peak spending highs, but make sure you maintain a presence to keep your dealership in the spotlight. You can stop video ads, banner ads and even social ads during this time, but consider keeping some budget in the Google network, either utilizing Search ads or Local ads. These ad types appear when someone is specifically searching for you or products you provide so this tactic allows you to be present when a potential customer is showing some intent to find you. Best of all, if they don’t click, you don’t pay.

It is important to spend any “down time” preparing for when inventory starts to arrive because this forced shift in seasons won’t last forever. If you are proactive now, you won’t be scrambling to move late-arriving inventory before selling season is completely over.