Is Your Dealership’s Website Prepared for the Next Google Update?

The online world is about to change (again) on April 21st. What does this have to do with you, an auto dealer? Well, everything. The new update from Google is about to make the already challenging process of search engine optimization (SEO) more difficult as it launches an improvement to its algorithms, delivering mobile-friendly web pages to users. Simply put, your dealership’s website traffic could be adversely affected by these changes. Are you prepared?

Examine Your Website

These changes in Google ranking criteria should come as little surprise in a world that is increasingly mobile, as many American individuals and businesses use smartphones or tablets daily. It makes sense that the technolgy needs to adapt to users’ preferences, however this presents a daunting task to many automotive dealerships of all sizes – making your website mobile-friendly.

Prioritizing the mobile-friendliness of your website is important. Here’s why: visitors and potential online dealership leads notice not only the content, but design and layout of your pages. If your dealership’s website really aims to emphasize user friendliness, then adapting it to be appealing and effective in a mobile format should be a no-brainer. To attract customers, it’s crucial to meet them where they live, and most if not all of them live on their mobile devices.

This is an easy thing to shrug off, if for no other reason than a lack of time or the size of your team. However, as these search metrics improve and you don’t, there will be a direct correlation with the amount of successful auto sales you experience.

Google even offers a free testing tool to check if your website is mobile friendly. Check out the mobile-friendly test tool here.

Showcase and Show Up

As you begin thinking about what it looks like to give your dealership’s customers a refreshed website that emphasizes ease of use, keep your identity and inventory in mind. A website that is under par will not accurately reflect your gifted sales team or one-of-a-kind vehicle inventory. Similarly to professional dress in the office, your appearance online gives users a glimpse – for better or worse – of who you are. This appearance, in the case of mobile-friendliness, is what Google will use to determine if your dealership and its offerings are relevant enough to show up.

By showcasing the aforementioned aspects of your dealership, as well as positioning great content such as relevant offers and resources in a mobile format, you will show up in searches. Then, as you’ll see, visitors, leads, and customers will emerge. Why? Because you have proven yourself as a dealership who is truly focused on the customer. If you build it, they will come.

It is an understanding of consumer behavior that will prove one of the most helpful ways to emerge successful and maintain a proficient ranking once these changes are implemented.

Go for the Google Gold

Like it or not, the times are changing, and the way your dealership maintains its online presence must as well. By taking the upcoming Google update seriously, you are saying to prospective leads and customers that you are willing to do whatever it takes to capture their attention and their heart for your product. So now, run hastefully to your website, optimize it for mobile devices and watch your dealership rise in the search rankings.

Looking for keywords to optimize for? Be sure and check out the latest offer from AutoRaptor below!

 

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Ty W.
Ty W.

Ty was born and raised in the automotive world. He's an enthusiastic expert who writes exquisite content about cars, automotive sales, and dealership best practices. When not writing for AutoRaptor, you'll find Ty on the golf course.