Car Dealership SEO: Using Branded Search Volume As a KPI
So, what is branded search volume and how can it help your dealership? You’re likely aware of branded search volume and how it complements your dealership’s pay-per-click advertising (i.e. AdWords) – the practice of buying keywords that relate to your dealership in order to gain traffic. But working on your dealership’s branded search volume for organic search results is also an important strategy to consider.
Dealers’ Brand Name Search Volume Is Important to Google’s Changing Algorithm
Ranking your dealership’s website on a Google search engine result page (SERP) can be a fickle endeavor, especially when opaque search engine algorithms prevent people from gaming the system. Because of this, it’s very important you’re able to accurately measure your success as it relates to organic search volume.
Branded search volume can serve as one of your go-to measurements for a few reasons:
- It’s specific. Instead of measuring very broad terms, such as vehicle makes, you’re measuring the number of searches being made that include your dealership name.
- It’s local. Searches for general product names or car makes can come from anywhere. If you have a unique dealership name/brand, you’re almost guaranteed that the search is coming from someone local.
- It’s purchase-oriented. Specific search keywords, also called “long-tail” keywords, are more likely to be used by a customer who is nearing the end of his or her product search and is closer to completing a purchase. This means higher conversions.
Branded search volume is useful as a metric for the above reasons, and improving it can have lasting effect on the overall search engine performance of your dealership. The more your dealership’s name is searched in conjunction with other keywords, the better chance you have to improve your ranking for those keywords when they aren’t searched with your business name – “non-branded” search.
Brand Name Search Volume can also affect related searches (the searches automatically served to a searcher at the bottom of a SERP) and suggested searches (the autofill searches a searcher sees when he or she is typing into the search box). This means a customer who searches “oil change” may see “oil change [Insert Your Dealership Name]” as a suggested or related search.
Brand Awareness, Branded Search, and Reputation Complement Your Dealership’s Website Performance
Research indicates that the Google search algorithm is placing a greater emphasis on the overall reputation and quality of a business, as opposed to backlinking or other methods that have traditionally dominated dealer SEO strategies. This means improving branded search volume is often not an endeavor a search engine optimizer can accomplish alone as it is reliant on improving your overall brand awareness.
When thinking about brand awareness, there are a few questions you may want to ask yourself:
- What are you doing as a dealership to improve your brand awareness? This can include community engagement, media interviews, local sponsorships, charity work and advertising.
- How is your branding? Is the name of your business unique, searchable, memorable and easy to spell? If your brand doesn’t meet those criteria, it may be time to start thinking about rebranding.
What Should You Do Now?
Do you know how much of your web traffic is coming from branded search volume? Ask your digital marketing provider to review this useful metric with you and to strategize on how to improve it. Need Help? Pixel Motion is a digital agency, specializing in Automotive Car Dealership SEO & SEM, that can provide the full suite of digital marketing services including SEO, PPC, Social Media Management, and Display Advertising. Contact us today and we’ll review your current marketing efforts to determine where your website is strong and where you can improve.
