Everyone wants to be number one when it comes to search engine results. Many dealers are fighting an uphill battle because they're competing with not only their manufacturer but also massive third-party sites. This competition has the benefit of working on a single website that can use its authority to push dealerships out of relevant search terms. In essence, they’re just doing one thing: creating relevant content. It sounds simple because it is simple.

When dealers think “content,” most think about creating fresh new content. They overlook the vast amount of content that is already on their site. Every VDP on your website is a piece of content; as are any blog articles, model research pages, community pages, and videos.

Two of the most important factors for ranking are relevancy and authority. The more authoritative and relevant your content is, the higher your odds are to rank. In a basic description, when you type a query into Google, it compares your search against any content it deems relevant. It will then go through that list to find which sites have the most authority and lists them on the page. Of course, it’s a simplistic explanation as there are many factors, but that’s the gist. If you can nail those two factors, you can do well in SEO.

Google is looking for websites that make sense. When you want to create content, it should also make sense why you would want to read it. There’s no hidden trick to generating traffic. If you read a title to a content piece on your site and think “I want to know more,” then you are on the right track.

DCH Paramus Honda is an excellent example of how to build great content. On a Performance Review call, the dealer and I were discussing content ideas to generate traffic. We weren’t happy with a lot of the usual “blog-type” content that was being produced. You know the type; the “top 10 Honda vehicle trunk space”-articles that no one reads and doesn’t impact your traffic. We started asking, “What would I search and read if I needed help?”

After some keyword research, we found that one of the most common search terms in his area was about the Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS). You know, that light on your dashboard that looks like an exclamation point inside of a bucket. Most of the time, it prompts you to break out the manual to figure out what it means. 

We created a short article but kept it simple. We explain what the TPMS does, how to turn it off, and what to do when it won’t go away. We created a nice simple layout with images assisting our explanation and called it a day. Remember, we want to be as relevant to the search query as possible.

Unsurprisingly, the page took off.

Now, DCH Paramus is the top search result in the nation for “how to reset Honda TPMS.” No location modifier necessary. Google has even rewarded Paramus Honda with a rich snippet, which is commonly referred to as “position 0.” It virtually guarantees a searcher will explore their site first.

What does this look like in terms of traffic? Roughly about a 1027% increase. Yes, there’s no period in that number. One thousand twenty-seven percent. The page has built up an incredible amount of authority and hasn’t been dethroned in over a year.

Earlier, an argument was made to use your current content on your site rather than creating brand-new content. And then I just went and wrote about adding new content. For shame. But the next example will show you the power of using your current website content and how it can transform your organic presence.

Every time you add content to your site, you are running the risk of two pages competing for similar keywords. When that happens, Google will have to pick between the two when ranking, and it can often leave a search engine puzzled and go with a different result over yours. Search engines want to serve up a page that best matches the search term.

To avoid this “keyword cannibalization,” each page on your site should fulfill a unique purpose. You should create as few pages about your inventory, fixed-ops, financing, anything, as possible to increase the odds that a single page will rank well and build authority as a search engine’s go-to source for queries.

Almost every dealership that comes onto our platform has its models, service department, finance pages, and company pages already built out. However, they often leave them at a paltry two hundred to three hundred words on a page with sparse details. They’re often just a pencil banner and content. Not exactly the most exciting read.

Fixed ops is often the biggest loser in this category, with multiple pages serving the same purpose and none of them being comprehensive. We got to thinking — what if instead of adding several individual pages on a menu, we condensed it into one super-hub that served as a launch point for all the other, more specific, content pages.

It would contain links to your service team, collision center, tips and tricks, and where to schedule an appointment. It would be clean and dynamic, and funnel clients directly to the source of their query. Remember, we want to capture as many questions as possible for relevancy and doing so on one mega-page will help accumulate authority.

Unsurprisingly, the page, once again, took off.

Paramus’s Service Center page grew a massive 86.15% in organic traffic and over 565% as a landing page (which means traffic straight from a search engine). It now maintains that large increase and grows roughly 4.5% each month. It was a hit.

It cannot be understated how important it is to refresh and re-use current content on your website. Search engines crawl thousands of pages on an average dealers site due to different inventory configurations. Most sites have around fifty existing pages without including inventory pages. They’re a gold mine for improving your organic presence. Too often we brush them aside in lieu of something new.

So be sure to ask your current SEO provider what their plans are for re-using and updating existing content on your sites just as often as you drum up ideas for new content. By mixing the two, you’re guaranteed to succeed.