Online success for automotive repair shops and car dealerships can be tough to obtain, if you don’t lay strict emphasis on the SEO aspect of your site. If you own an automotive business, it is imperative that you work on optimization to boost your rankings in SERPs of Google to gain better visibility and benefit from higher sales and conversions. Of course, the process requires a lot of time and effort, but the results are worth it. However, before you move on to SEO, it is vital that you clear your mind of certain misconceptions. Read these 10 myths thoroughly and stop being fooled by so-called “Automotive SEO Experts” who create an empty buzz to market their own services:
Myth #1: Only the First Rank Matters
There are plenty of eBooks, articles, blogs, and PRs online, which place significant emphasis on the NEED of ranking at the top of the search results of Google. Yes, while it would be a treat for you to gain that top ranking and position, it isn’t exactly necessary for you to receive good business. If the first rank was so important, what is the purpose of displaying other results? A survey showed that most people quite often would look at other results and scroll down through the entire first page in search of what information they want. For instance, being on the top of a second page can prove to be quite beneficial for traffic. Therefore, it isn’t exactly important for your automotive site to rank on the top, but if you’re looking to go the extra mile – try your best on making it to the first page!
Myth #2: You Can Do SEO with No Outside Help
Most people will tell you that SEP simply means to follow a set of procedures and techniques to increase the chances of users visiting your automotive site. While it is true that you have to swear allegiance to certain protocols, doing it on your own and receiving results will take ages. A learning graph goes with doing-it-yourself and you may make plenty of mistakes. This may end up getting costly, especially if you follow wrong advice and end up using a technique that is disliked by Google. To get the best return on investment, it is advised that you hire a professional Automotive SEO Company with great knowledge about the latest technologies, trends, and strategies to take over your optimizing.
Myth #3: Keyword-Rich Domain Names are Ranked Higher
Whosoever says this is probably stuck in 2010! SEO has come a long way since then and change significantly, demanding site owners to focus more on user-friendliness. Everything you do should be designed for your USERS, not the search engine. Nowadays, even search engines like URLs and domain names that are easy-to-read. However, site name plays a very small role in how you rank. The indexing process places strict emphasis on the actual “content” of your pages and not the domain name. Yes, the name is important, but will not make you rank higher – especially not by adding force keywords.
Myth #4: You Have To Submit Your Site to Google
This is a very common misconception most people have when creating a website. While it is true that search engines like Google have URL submission forms, where you have the capability of sending your site to Google for indexing in order to help you rank better – the process is unnecessary. The crawlers of recent search engines use various new algorithms that grant them the ability to find a new site in a matter of days, if not hours. The only time you have to worry about submitting your site to Google is when your dealership isn’t automatically being indexed – even after a few days or weeks.
Myth #5: SEO Has Nothing to Do With Social Media
Whoever says this probably has no idea how SEO works. Bear in mind times have changed significantly over the past few years. The advent of social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram has spread like fire to the extent where everything can be done with a few clicks here and there on SM pages. SEO and SMM are closely linked to one another. In fact, Google even monitors traffic coming to your site from social media profiles. Therefore, do not hesitate on creating a prominent social presence in the digital world by joining SMM sites. It paves the way for communication with prospective customers and gives you the ability to market your services and products in the best way possible.
Myth #6: Google Does Not Read CSS Files
The algorithms used by Google were previously primitive and indexed only text-based content. However, a lot has changed over the years with Google constantly updating its key ranking algorithms. While your text-based content does play an important role in ranking, the engine also reads CSS, JavaScript and other content in the form of images, videos, sound files with the help of alt tags. The crawlers can see whether your content is appealing to users or no – based on the number of likes, comments, and shares. Therefore, do not feel hesitant in exploring different mediums for posting content on your automotive website to gain better rankings on the SERPs of Google.
Myth #7: Usability Does Not Affect SEO
The main purpose of working on optimization is to gain traffic and retain people, so that they can explore your site, be entertained, and buy your services/products. Therefore, everything you do should be based on usability and user-friendliness. Saying so, automotive SEO pretty much goes hand-in-hand with the functionality, responsiveness, and usability of your site. If your site is hard to use or navigate, it would only increase your bounce rates – as people will move on to the next search result. Search engine crawlers themselves will look at usability and layout of your site when ranking. Therefore, whenever you create an automotive site, be sure that it delivers good usability to viewers and prospective customers.
