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A recent post on an automotive social networking forum brought up the question about back links to their dealer website.  Having high quality automotive website linking to your dealership website is an important part of an Automotive SEO strategy.  However, getting links from other automotive websites is not an easy task.

Before I make some suggestions on how to build links, it is important to stay away from offers that sound too good to be true.  Every week I get email solicitations from companies from India, Russia and the UK offering one-way links for a low fee.  Most of these services create links from websites that will add no real value to your Automotive SEO strategy.

Automotive User Groups

In the automotive space, consider becoming a sponsor of popular automotive user group forums for your specific brand.  Many offer links building opportunities and banner advertising at a very reasonable cost.  For example, if you are a Nissan dealership you may consider becoming a supporting member of www.nicoclub.com  or www.nissanforums.com.

There are dedicated user groups and forums for every brand of cars.  These sites have high keyword density and relevance for the dealer brand they represent.  Articles posted on these sites, posting your cars for sale, or just advice to forum members can produce high quality links back to your website.

A word of advice; become a supporter and clearly identify yourself as a vendor. Also, take it slowly and build up your reputation and trust in the forum or you will be thrown out on your ass.

Outside of well ranked automotive user groups websites, look for automotive blogs that offer advertising space; many exist.  An alternative is to look for automotive blogs or communities that will allow you to post articles in a field of your expertise for free.  This is perfect for automotive professionals that like to write and share ideas.

If you don’t have the time or the motivation to write, considering hiring a firm to write articles on automotive topics and post these articles on “ezine” websites like http://ezinearticles.com or article directory websites like http://www.articledashboard.com .

The articles you write must be informative and not sales pitches. When done properly they can create powerful links and attract organic search traffic.  For example, writing an article on the benefits of purchasing a Toyota ExtraCare warranty over a third party warranty would be a good article to gain link relevance on extended warranty keywords. You can link to charts or warranty information on your website  and pickup a good back link.

Local Business Directories

Outside of these two strategies, look for ways to also establish local relevance for OEM car sales in your state.  These opportunities are normally found on reputable statewide business directory websites. Make sure that the website has a Google PageRank of 3 or higher. Banner ads or sidebar articles can often generate hundreds of links to your website from one advertising sponsorship.   The optimal advertisement will include some text that you can hyperlink with a strong anchor tag. An example is: http://www.newjerseyvisitorsnetwork.com

Press releases are another great way to build quality links and there are about a dozen great websites that you can utilize for PR and back links.  The key is to use press release websites that allow hyperlinked text in the body of the press release.  This allows for you to create “votes” for important keywords surrounded by relevant text. Try www.prlog.org and www.webwire.com .

If you donate to local charities, schools, colleges and churches ask for them to create a sponsors page and add a short note about your support with a link back to your website.  Links from these websites can be very valuable to establish credibility.

Free Linking Exists

Other opportunities like Yahoo Answers, Merchant Circle Blogs, Fast Company and SlideShare are just a few of the dozens of free sites that can provide a good back link that will raise your relevance for the keywords you are targeting.  Try to build links from blog articles that are about automotive topics.

You can also look for blog posts that you can reply to that allow links to be followed.  Firefox has a nice plug-in that will show you which website forms have a “no-follow” tag and those that do not.  Reply boxes that have a no-follow tag will not build back links.

In the end, link building is very important but it takes time and experience to know how to build the most effective links. Car dealers often do not have the time or expertise to build a consistent monthly link building campaign.

In the ideal situation, link building and other Internet Marketing tasks should be a shared responsibility between car dealer and outside consultant.  Techniques and strategies are constantly changing and someone who builds links all day is normally finding new sites every week which can be an advantage over your competitors.

If you have questions, drop me a line or an email.

Brian Pasch, CEO

Google Insights for Search will allow car dealers to create a better local keyword strategy to increase the visibility of their brand.   Google Insights will allow car dealers to refine their Automotive SEO keyword list and to be more proactive in their content writing.

From a high level perspective, search engines like Google query “best matching” assets in their database of web pages, videos, images, and social media feeds when consumers type in a search phrase. When it determines what the best items to show, it creates the infamous “Google Page One” search result. (SERP)

A big question has always been: “What search phrases are consumers using in my area?”

The questions that should follow are:

• What assets can I upload and tag with text that will be a good match? (SEO)
• What am I willing to pay per click for that search phrase? (SEM)
• How will I track if clicks from that search phrase results in a conversion or sale? (GBP )

Diversity of Best Matching Assets Increases

Most recently “best matching’ includes real-time Twitter tweets and Facebook posts; this is an Internet Marketing strategy game changer. I’ll be posting an article on real-time search results and the effect on Automotive SEO strategies shortly. So now, Google Page One Management (GPOM) and IRM strategies have to deal with social media feeds, videos, static images, press releases, ecommerce images, Google Maps and text links.

It’s a good reminder to state that localized search is a part of the equation of what search engines will serve on Page One in addition to best matching keyword assets. When a consumer types in “Nissan Sentra” from their home, the search engines have to decide how to balance local content and national content when they display a search engine results page (SERP).

If you type in “Nissan dealers” from a PC in Irvine, California, Google will show you local California Nissan dealers on Google Maps. That fact that you did not type in “Irvine” or “California” does not matter since Google knows the geo-location of your IP address roughly. The same query from a PC in Preston Maryland should show a different result, as shown below.

As a side note, please make sure that your dealership’s Google Maps listing is correct and that it is showing for broad searches like the ones given above. Google Maps normally pops up with a city, county or state is included in a search phrase. If your Google Maps listing is not tagged properly, you may be missing hundreds of free advertising views per month.

Google Adwords Keyword Research Tool

Many dealers have come to know that Google provides a free tool called the Google Adwords Keyword Tool which can show them how popular search phrases are on a monthly basis based on total USA data. The Google keyword tool can be used to help select domain names as well as keyword strategies that have a broader target. A screen shot below shows how you can track national use and global use of certain search phrases.

A new tool that I would like to discuss is called Google Insights and this tool has a different spin on Google search data that will help car dealers with localized content development in 2010. The tool is designed to help online marketers research seasonal and regional trends in search phrases.

Google Insights will also show which search phrases are picking up in volume; I like this feature the best. This insight can help car dealers decide what they should be targeting in terms of their blog posts and the wording of their press releases, tweets and online ads.

Using  Google Insights

Automotive retailers approaching the end of the year may want to know which search phrases local consumers are typing in that are looking for an “end of year” car sale. In your area, Google Insights could tell you which phrase was on the rise; “Nissan Year End Sale” or “Nissan Clearance Sale” or some other variant. Once you have that data in hand, you could create a blog post with those search words in the title to increase your chances for a “best matching” asset in your local market.

The tool can also help refine local vocabulary and terms that might be unique to a market. Some areas of the country use the word “pop” to describe a soda so regional differences that can be exposed with Google Insight. Dealers should research the top search phrases for their brand, in their local market, so they do not base their strategy on national data or worse yet, a guess.

“Honda Civic” Keyword Research

Below is a screen shot of research done in Google Insight for the search phrase “Honda Civic” for the State of Arizona. Notice how Google Insights gives you other phrases that are increasing in volume; see bottom right of charts. This is good data to have and it allows proactive content writing.

Google Insights also maps areas of search interests on your state which can also show further localized trends in your PMA and beyond. There is so much that can be done with this data, but there is a limit to what you’ll read in one sitting.

Google Insights is another tool that should be in your Internet Marketing toolbox for 2010. Since content and asset matching is so important for search visibility, this tool can help your hard work go even further. If you have questions, just ask.

Brian Pasch
http://twitter.com/automotiveseo
http://facebook.com/paschconsulting
732-450-8200

Brian Pasch is a national speaker on Automotive SEO and Internet Marketing strategies.  Brian is an active leader in online automotive marketing communities. 

His advice and leadership has helped to create a better awareness of the importance of Automotive SEO , Internet Reputation Management and Social Media tools. 

Brian was recently featured at the Driving Sales Executive Summit in Las Vegas and will be presenting at the 7th Digital Dealer Conference in Nashville on November 1, 2009.

Brian’s Automotive Blogs

You can follow Brian’s automotive blogs and marketing articles on these websites:  

• DrivingSales.com – http://www.drivingsales.com/blogs/paschconsulting  
• AutomotiveDigitalmarketing.com –  http://www.automotivedigitalmarketing.com/profile/NJSEOExpert  
• Dealer-SEO.com  – http://www.dealer-seo.com  
• InternetSalesManager.org – http://www.internetsalesmanager.org/profile/brianpasch  

You can also catch Brian Pasch on a weekly webcast on www.drivingsales.com/blogs/webinars with fellow Automotive Marketing experts Paul Rushing and JD Rucker.  The webcasts air every Wednesday at 12:00 noon EST.

Practicing What We Preach

The PCG Digital Marketing implements their effective search marketing strategies for their own business.  We practice what we preach and the National and State wide search results for our marketing websites is clear proof what we can offer competitive car dealers for their PMA.

To validate, just go into Google and type any of the phrases below to see, that our articles and microsites appear on Google Page One Nationally:

• Automotive SEO – #1 in USA
• Automotive SEO Speaker – #1 in USA
• Car Dealer SEO – #2 in USA
• Car Dealer SEO Marketing – #1 in USA
• Automotive Webinar – #2 and #3 in USA
• Automotive SEO Marketing – #2, #3, #4 in USA
• Automotive SEO Microsites – #1, #2 and #3 in USA
• Automotive SEO Specialist – #1 in USA
• Automotive Internet Marketing – #2 in USA
• Automotive Internet Reputation Management #1 thru #5 in USA
• Automotive WordPress Microsites – #1 in USA

For a Complimentary Review of Your Internet Marketing Visibility – Call 732-450-8200