As an independent tire or auto shop owner, you already know how fierce the competition can be in this industry. In addition to dealing with the major players in the field, you’ll need to contend with other locally-owned shops to succeed. Fortunately, building a comprehensive search engine optimization (SEO) strategy can make it much easier for you to get your name out there.
By making seemingly minor tweaks to your shop’s website, you can encourage search engines to give your page a higher ranking–putting it in front of more eyeballs than ever before. Read on for several other reasons why SEO matters so much to auto shops like yours.
Puts Your Shop on the Map
While paid advertising on search engines can play an essential role in your digital marketing efforts, you shouldn’t overlook the power of SEO. At its core, SEO focuses on boosting organic traffic (that is, search traffic that businesses do not pay for) to websites.
Since organic traffic generally involves people with a genuine interest in your shop’s services, focusing on increasing this type of traffic is a free and highly effective way to boost your small business’ web presence and click-through rate. One survey determined that 60 percent of marketers found their best leads through SEO techniques.
Adjusting your web content to align with the principles of SEO and making improvements to things such as loading speed and usability on mobile devices will go a long way towards raising your level of organic traffic.
Establishes Credibility
When you use Google to find local businesses, how many pages of results do you look through before making a decision? In all likelihood, the answer for most people is “one page.” Companies with high search rankings have earned a certain level of credibility, helping them stand out from the competition and nailing that coveted page one spot.\
Of course, getting listed on the first page of search results is easier said than done. One great way to work towards this goal is using your site’s domain authority as a measurement of its competitiveness.
This metric rates sites on a scale of 1 to 100 based on multiple factors influencing their ability to rank. The higher your domain authority score is, the more likely your site is to appear in a prime position on the world’s most popular search engines.
You can enhance your auto shop’s domain authority by:
- Providing a steady flow of content. Give potential customers as many reasons to visit your shop’s site as possible. That means adding new, content consistently and targeting specific keywords that your audience is likely searching for.
- Getting more quality backlinks. If you’re hoping to increase your domain authority, it’s good to get a little help from your friends. When sites that are already authoritative link to your site, it’s a signal that your site has a certain level of authority, too.
- Cutting down on low-quality links. Not all backlinks are created equal, so your focus shouldn’t just be on getting as many as possible. While there’s nothing wrong with having some backlinks from low-authority sites, having too many could convince algorithms that your own site is “spammy.”
- Making your site faster. Domain authority also takes your site’s user experience into account. Increasing its speed can help raise your score, along with other usability tweaks.
You Can Track Your Data
Many companies still use traditional advertising platforms today, but they don’t have the same level of cachet that they once did. That’s primarily due to their lack of trackability–while these ads can get your message out there, you won’t be able to see direct evidence of how effective they are.
Naturally, that’s not the case with digital marketing methods like SEO. Along with their other benefits, SEO techniques are trackable and quantifiable. With a close look at statistics like click-through rate, page view numbers, and conversions, you can figure out which parts of your auto shop’s site are working–and which parts aren’t.
It Creates a Cohesive Marketing Plan
Like any marketing strategy, the goal of SEO is to lead customers down the funnel from brand awareness to conversion. Since its goals closely align with the marketing techniques you’re already using, SEO can work alongside these methods to strengthen your mindshare online and beyond.
On the other hand, it’s not a good idea for your auto shop to rely exclusively on SEO for its marketing strategy. When it’s time to find the other marketing tools your business needs, BayIQ can help. This system has been designed specifically for auto and tire shops by former experts in the field. Boasting features like email and text automation, online review management, a customer loyalty program framework, and robust performance tracking, BayIQ can uplevel your marketing initiatives without needing to lift a finger.
Help your auto shop function at its best with BayIQ.
