There are over 200 ranking factors that make up the organic search algorithm; and while Google doesn’t come right out and tell us what all of them are, experimenting with various elements of optimization is how we learn more about how sites best perform in search. Most of us are very aware of some of the biggest factors, including: keyword placement throughout your website, healthy backlink profiles, presence of a verified Google My Business listing, etc.; but what about some of the more obscure search engine ranking factors? How do we optimize for the unknown? To answer this question, we are going to break down four ranking factors in Google’s algorithm you probably aren’t aware of. 

1. Meta Description Duplication

You may know that having a meta description is important, as it indirectly impacts search rankings through click-through-rate. And while having one doesn’t have a direct impact on search results, using duplicate meta descriptions across your site can actually negatively impact your SEO. Meta descriptions are intended for search users to tell them what a page is about, and to influence clicks; but if you are using the same meta description across multiple pages you may notice that those pages, or even your whole site, don’t rank as well. This is why it is important to not only have a meta description, but to make sure it is unique to the page it is describing. Search engines recognize duplication and will not reward this lazy tactic with higher ranking. It’s always better to put the time in to creating unique and descriptive meta descriptions to improve the experience for search users and engines alike.

2. Contact Page Completion

Obviously, as a dealer, you want to make yourself available to customers in a variety of ways. You may add chat boxes, or an option to text the dealership; you could even have multiple phone numbers in the header, so the car buyer can reach each department more quickly. Unfortunately, the area of the website that is often the most neglected is the very page designed to connect you with prospective customers. While it may seem tedious, having a complete and robust contact page is a factor measured in the algorithm. Google has stated that when the correct information is found on a contact page, it is extracted and Google “is more likely to surface that information to searchers looking for the business.” This information can include images with appropriate alt-text, schematically marked up NAP information, hours of operation, etc. As long as this information is consistent with other citations across the web, you are more likely to show up as a local option for automotive-related searches in your area.

3. Up-to-Date GMB Categories

According to Local SEO survey data, using the right Google My Business categories is one of the top ranking factors for local packs. Now that we know utilizing the right GMB categories is crucial, it is important to know how to get the most out of them. You probably didn’t realize that Google My Business categories change all the time. For example, “Dodge Ram Dealer” doesn’t work as well as it used to – now, “Dodge Dealer” or “Ram Dealer” is preferred. So, the first key is making sure you’re using the right verbiage as your primary category. It needs to accurately reflect what you sell or how you serve. The next thing you need to look out for is the age of the category you’re using. Newer categories can actually boost your rankings in some cases, so if you’re still using something like, “Lincoln Mercury Dealer,” applying changes, such as separating these two makes into two different categories, can actually help your brand rank better.

4. Viability of Outbound Site Links

When it comes to outbound links on a site, there is a lot to unpack. Not only is having too many outbound links against best practice, but nofollowing too many outbound links can seem fishy, too. Rather than dizzying ourselves by discussing how to best approach link quantity and followership, let’s focus first on one thing: their viability. Having too many broken links, or links that lead to nowhere can actually impact how the search algorithm evaluates a page on your site, as it may think the page has been neglected or abandoned. You should regularly monitor the outbound links on your site to make sure that the pages they are linking too are still live, not redirecting, or not otherwise broken.

While trying to account for all of these different ranking factors may make your head spin, there is hope that by trying earnestly to do good with your site, not mislead people, and by following the key points mentioned in Google’s Quality Guidelines, you can avoid penalty and improve how pages rank across your site.

If you’re still trying to understand which factors are crucial to the search algorithm, check out Greg Gifford’s Local SEO book, which you can download for FREE right now.

Long gone are the days you would run around to every dealership and test out all the different cars until you found the perfect one. Your consumers are forming their own opinions and decisions before they even step foot on the lot of your dealership. According to David Mogensen, Google’s head of YouTube ads marketing and former automotive marketer, the average car shopper only makes two visits to the dealership. It’s because car shoppers are using the internet to find great deals, research different vehicles and more. 

The digital age says goodbye to dealership visits and hello to micro-moments. Micro-moments occur when people reflexively turn to a device to act on a need to learn something, do something, discover something, watch something, or buy something. How can you take advantage of these micro-moments? YouTube.

YouTube is a major touchpoint for the modern car buyer’s path to purchase. 92.4% of the U.S. population who plan to buy a new vehicle within 6 months, use YouTube. According to a Google Vehicle Shopper Path to Purchase Study, 49% of shoppers visited a dealership after watching a video. Here’s how you can harness the power of video content for your dealership.

Which-car-is-best moments

According to TNS Media Consumption Report, 69% of car buyers who use YouTube to research are influenced by it. This is more than all other mediums including TV, newspapers or magazines. YouTube has multiple advantages including,

1. Efficiency: YouTube is 10% to 80% more efficient to reach audiences. You only pay if they choose to engage.

2. No Bumps: With YouTube, it’s auction model and targeting flexibility means your ad will run in the designated flight period. Unlike TV, where they can bump your ads depending on the time of year.

3. Targeting: You can use advanced targeting with YouTube to target to specific consumers with things like In-market SUV Targeting or In-Market for Toyota targeting.

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• When consumers are deciding which car is best for them, they’re searching for car reviews on YouTube. They’re viewing videos like model comparisons, expert reviews and everything in between. According to Google, only 22% of buyers go on to purchase the make and model of the car they first searched on. This is where many can take advantage of video marketing to reach potential customers. Video advances brand discovery and consideration by introducing new brands and releasing knowledgeable information.
  
   
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Is-it-right-for-me moments

This is the moment when consumers need to see if the car will actually accommodate their lifestyle and needs. Video content ranks high in this stage by allowing consumers to view all the details of a car. Videos can include test drives, car feature highlights and walkthroughs. According to Google Internal data, YouTube schedules 2x the amount of test drives for dealerships. Also, 56% of In-Market shoppers can be convinced to buy a car from 360 online video without ever test driving the car.
 

Can-I-afford-it moments

So your consumers are hooked on the car your dealership is selling, they now need to ask themselves if they can afford it. Google Internal data shows 7 out of 10 consumers get buying relevant information out of online video. Also, 18-34-year-olds say YouTube is the best place to learn about a product or service that they’re interested in buying. Google released two recent ad formats in response to its rising popularity and potential reach with online shoppers.

• TrueView for Reach

TrueView for Reach ads are optimized to raise brand awareness. You can create ads that run before or during videos that users can skip after 5 seconds if they aren’t interested (you don’t pay for the view if the consumer skips the ad). The videos can be as short as 6 seconds, or up to 30 seconds in length.  Google’s testing saw a 20% increase of Ad Recall with the brands they tested.

• TrueView for Action

TrueView for Action ads have one goal: to convert more leads. Advertisers can include a customizable CTA banner either during the video or at the end, and Google will be adding lead forms later this year. They’re still working out the details for customer experience, but these ads will be globally available soon.

This would be perfect to attract potential customers viewing YouTube with specific models your dealership is selling. For example, you can use TrueView for Action to customize a CTA Banner to shows deals on a specific vehicle to get consumers in the door. If you’re trying to build brand awareness for your dealership, opt for TrueView for Reach and only pay for ads that are viewed.

YouTube is vital for the micro-moments in the modern car buyer’s path to purchase. Dealerships need to start working with their agencies and content partners to think about how best to create content for video that is quickly digested, gets the point across, and makes a consumer want to purchase a car from their dealership. If you don’t harness the power of video content, another dealership will. If you want to learn about how to attract consumers near the end of the car-buying journey, read here.

You hear those sleigh bells jingling, ring-ting tingling, too. The holiday season is upon us and it’s everybody’s dream to wake up on Christmas Day with a brand new car on their driveway. Dealers are in fierce competition during the final stretch of the year, with promotions happening everywhere. If you’re not preparing for the holiday season by getting your dealership SEM- and SEO-ready, then you’re already falling behind. Don’t be a Grinch - follow this handy little guide put together by the SEO & SEM experts at DealerOn.

SEM Wish List

How do you optimize your SEM efforts for maximum results during the holiday season? First, consider the vast amount of people considering purchasing a vehicle at the end of the year. According to a 2018 Google Consumer Survey, 1.5 million plan to or are considering purchasing around Black Friday or a Year End sales event. There are 9 million Google searches alone for sales, deals, and incentives around Black Friday and Year End sales. There’s an opportunity in there somewhere, and here’s what your dealership needs to do to increase its chances of getting it!

Start off by capturing buyers in their online search process. Spikes in Search Demand increase towards the end of the year, so we suggest you optimize your offers, incentives and sales automotive searches for these eager shoppers.

You’ll also want to increase budgets against Ready-to-Buy campaigns. Don’t forget to re-engage shoppers looking for other deals by increasing your bid to win previously-expressed intent. This can be low-hanging fruit, so don’t miss an opportunity to re-market to potential customers who have already spent time on your dealership’s page.

Maximize your messages to make it relevant to the season. For example, instead of just putting “Jeep Cherokee Deals” put “Jeep Cherokee Year End Deals & Offers” or maybe “Ford F-150 Black Friday Deals.” You want to appear when people search “Best Year End SUV sales,” continuing the Jeep example from earlier.

One other important advertising medium is video. As time goes on, it’s getting harder and harder to reach in-market auto shoppers with TV ads, since the average daily time spent watching TV for adults has been decreasing annually. According to Google’s Internal Research, theaverage daily time spent watching live tv has decreased from 4 hours and 32 minutes in 2012 to 3 hours and 32 minutes in 2017.That leaves online video as the next biggest channel, no pun intended. You need to take advantage of YouTube, since it reaches more people in the US on mobile alone than any TV network! In fact, Google’s own research shows that 92.4% of the U.S. population who plan to buy a vehicle in the next 6 months will get on YouTube and look at videos during the process. Check out these stats:

1. 56% could be convinced to buy a vehicle without a test drive with a 360-degree online video
    
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3. 7 out of 10 get purchase-relevant information from online video
    
4. YouTube CPPs are 28% cheaper then TV CPPs
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And don’t forget about YouTube’s TrueView, where you pay only for actual views of your content. And if you remember from our blog about Google’s recent updates, TrueView has two modes: Reach and Action.

• TrueView for Reach allows your dealership to run ads that viewers can skip after 5 seconds. If they skip the ad, and aren’t interested, then you don’t pay. If they continue to view the ad, then you do.
• TrueView for Action is still being fully rolled out to dealers, but Google has integrated clickable banner ads into the video ads, and you can choose to display them in the middle or the end of the video. (Google has promised to roll out embedded forms as an option, but it’s not here yet.)

SEO Wish List

We’ve established that online traffic picks up during the holiday season, especially for car buyers. So how can your dealership start driving some of that organic search traffic back to your website? Here are some quick & easy ways to win SEO during the holidays:

Keep Your Hours Updated: Always make sure to keep your dealership’s hours of operation up to date on GMB, i.e. closing early on Christmas eve, etc. You don’t want to create inconsistency, because that can create a baduser experience.

Link building: Consider making your dealership a drop-off site for a canned food drive, headquarters for a toy drive, or a place for the kiddos to meet Santa. You can use that to get good PR and links from related local sites and organizations.

Video additions:You should think about adding video to your site to attract viewers, as mentioned above. If you do this, make sure you’ve got event tracking added to each video, so you can see how long people are watching, when they’re pausing, etc. This way you can track the metrics and success of the content.

Don’t be dismayed by dips: Despite Black Friday, end-of-year traffic can vary depending on when Christmas and New Year’s fall during the week; so don’t be too worried if you see a slight dip in traffic in Q4. To better optimize for specific queries, use Google trends to see when patterns emerge during the holidays and create some content to target those trends.

Don’t abuse the holiday:Don’t just slap Santa on a graphic thinking you’ll convert more leads due to holiday interest. Sharing something useful like a winter tires special can be more effective than putting jolly old Saint Nick on a banner.

Most of you know that backlinks matter for SEO, but do you know why? If you’re new to the digital space, you may not realize how important backlinks are; or that their importance ebbs and flows as the search algorithm is updated. Understanding what backlinks do and how their impact has changed over time can help you build a better link profile that will help you get found more readily in the SERPs.

So, let’s dive into to why you should care about backlinks.  If you don’t already know, a backlink is a hyperlink that points back to a page on your website from another site. Just like other websites can create backlinks to your site, so can you create external links from a page on your site to another website. This type of linking relationship is very important to SEO, because each backlink in your link profile is an indicator of the importance of your website; and because of this, quality matters more than quantity. For example: in local SEO, you want to have backlinks from organizations you partner with, city business directories, local publications, etc. These types of links establish your business as an authority in your targeted metro, and you don’t have to have as many to attain this authority. In contrast, you could have thousands of lower quality links from other countries, but these can be spammy and reduced your authority and ability to rank in SERPs.

Now that you have a refreshed understanding of why backlinks are important, it is key to know how their weight in the search algorithm as changed since the dawn of the Internet. The very first algorithm update was in December 2000. Since then there have been dozens of confirmed algorithmic changes that have affected how we optimize for search; and this doesn’t even consider the dozens of additional, unconfirmed updates. Let’s discuss some of the major updatesthat have affected backlinks, specifically.

1. Brandy: In February 2004 Google rolled out several changes and new concepts including “link neighborhoods.” This is one of the first times that Google gives reference to the ability to link one website to another.
2. Jagger: This update began in October 2005, and targeted low-quality links from paid links and link farms.
3. Caffeine: After a long testing period, Google rolled out Caffeine in June 2010 as a virtually new search index that resulted in 50% fresher results. Rather than analyzing the whole web in slower layers as the previous algorithm had done, Caffeine analyzed the web in smaller portions and updated SERPs continuously. This new index was the foundation of some big updates on down the line.
4. Penguin: Most of you have probably heard of this update from April 2012. Also known as the “Webspam Update,” Penguin handed out major ranking penalties to businesses engaging in over-optimization tactics; including the purchase of irrelevant links through “link schemes.” This algorithm went through ten evolutions between 2012 and 2016 (with a few tweaks in early 2017) and affected a whopping 3.1% of English search queries at its launch. Penguin is now a core part of today’s algorithm.
5. Hummingbird: The newest index was announced in August 2013, making the algorithm more complex by adding over 200 factors that affect a website’s ability to show up SERPs. This algorithm included previous updates, like the earlier versions of Penguin, and made it even trickier to understand the weight and quantity of requirements a site needed to meet to rank well.

So, now that you’ve been briefed on the history of the Google algorithm and its impact on backlinks, what does it all mean for you? There’s one thing you should know for sure: backlinks are likely to stay in regard to their place in the algorithm. The importance of reducing spammy tactics and improving search results for its users is a core focus of Google search; so, you can bet that as the web evolves, so will the search algorithm to exposed additional black hat linkbuilding tactics.

Hopefully, you understand the history and importance of backlinks better; but just in case, here are a few key takeaways:

• When it comes to backlinks, quality matters more than quantity
• Using link schemes or other black hat linking practices can get your site blacklisted in Google
• Over the last couple of decades, links have only increased in importance in regard to ranking

When it comes to icons, these visuals that constantly surround us, we automatically connect messages to them. Stop signs tell us to stop, speed limit signs tell us how fast we can go and so on. Icons on a website are very similar, these image shortcuts convey a message. Websites sometimes use icons instead of text because the goal is to be concise and to the point. Icons can create simplicity, they’re easily configurated, moved, and applied. However, sometimes icons can be used in the wrong way, causing a poor user experience. When used in the right manner, though, these icons are subtle impressions that go a long way.

Icons stand out to the viewer and drive attention from one part of the page to another. For example, a call-to-action like the telephone icon quite obviously tells a site visitor that they can call the business. The phone icon naturally translates to, “Call our company now!” You can convey a whole message in one simple image, but our official recommendation is to stick with universal icons for important actions on your site. Which ones? We thought you might ask that.

House icon for the Homepage tab

Map icon for the Map tab

Envelope icon for the Contact tab

Wrench for the Schedule Service tab

Steer clear from unconventional icons like unconventional phones, nonstandard printer icons, engine or gears (assumed service and or parts), checkmarks (assumed certifications), ribbons (assumed awards), thumbs ups (assumed reviews), chairs (assumed staff), magnifying glass (assumed unknown search) or head or brain (assumed research).

Pair Your Icons with Text

Now, this next part is very important. What can be an obvious association to one type of business can be a completely different meaning for another. This is why you always want to include text with an icon. Fewer things are more frustrating than clicking something, only to find out it wasn’t what you thought.

True, people often process visuals faster than they do text, but you don’t want to rely on a single icon to convey the same message to everyone. On mobile, you get even less of an opportunity to impress, so our own data-driven research recommends dropping icons all together and sticking to text. Icons might be faster, but words are more reliable, at least for mobile.

As for the color scheme for your icons, contrast is all that matters when it comes to icons. As for the color scheme for your icons, contrast is all that matters when it comes to icons. Just make sure it's a good fit for your aesthetic too.

Overall, make sure your icons are consistent and that they convey a distinct message within seconds. Keep your icons simple and conventional so as not to confuse the reader. Double-check that your icons have widespread recognition and always include text besides your icon to avoid message ambiguity.

And keep in mind that these icons are ubiquitous among car dealerships. Like I said earlier, images sometimes have different meanings. A wrench on a retail site probably means “account settings,” which is why it’s crucial that you stick with universal icons. Getting too creative with it may seem like a good idea, but it ends up creating a confusing user experience. And what do people do when they’re confused about what to do on your site? They usually just leave.

Recap: Don’t lose clicks because your visitors are confused, use brilliant icons that are universally recognized, well-placed, and paired with text.

5 stars, 2 stars, 0 stars. For more than a hundred years, we’ve been ranking businesses with a star ranking system. “It’s a 5 star hotel, we have to go!”  or “Eh, it’s only 3 stars. I’d rather skip out.” We chose businesses entirely on their stars and that’s about to change. Facebook has decided to make it simpler for people to interact with local businesses with recommendations. The recent switch will  help people discover new services, places or events based upon their friends’ recommendations.

What to Expect

What should you expect with the new recommendation system? Simplified, it’s giving consumers more freedom to express how they feel about a certain business.

Facebook now asks consumers if they want to leave a recommendation about your business or not instead of just ranking you with stars. Somebody may ask a question like “Where’s a great dealership to buy a new Ford?” on their timeline or a Facebook group, and your friends have the power to reply with recommendations. The recommendations will show to their friends, but also show on your dealership’s page.

Local Reach
Recommendations will help you attract more local customers. Facebook collects recommendations from individual timelines and combines them with recommendations left on your dealership’s Facebook page. Any recommendation made by a user’s friends will be auto-sorted to show at the top of the list.

A recommendation must be at least 25 characters, so users have to provide a reason for their recommendation.

Multimedia/GIFs
Have you ever had the perfect gif to explain your experience at a local business but weren’t able to share it? Well, now you can. If you tag a business in the comment section when your friend asks for a recommendation, you have the option to post photos or gifs.

If consumers are leaving a recommendation in their standard Facebook feed, either on their own, or as a response to a friend, that recommendation can show up on your page – depending on how the recommendation is shared.

Specific Sharing
When somebody decides to share a recommendation about your business, it doesn’t automatically show up on your dealership’s page. It only “counts” for your dealership if the recommendation is shared publicly and your dealership is tagged.

As for the old ranking system, don’t say goodbye to it just yet.

Old Reviews
Don’t worry, your old reviews are still here and still count toward your overall review score. However, you can’t filter by best or worst reviews – only most helpful or most recent.

Accelerated Mobile Pages, or AMP, is an open source initiative Google launched in October 2015 designed to create pages that load quickly on mobile devices. AMP are lightweight pages that use a subset of HTML with few extensions, and are Google’s response to Apple News and Facebook’s Instant Articles. Those AMP pages take out all the nuts and bolts of a web page to create fast-loading, mobile-friendly pages.

So, can AMP help your dealership? The short answer? No.

If your dealership already has a responsive website with good page speed, AMP won’t do much to improve your site.  AMP pages primarily benefit sites who focus on publishing and news content. So, if you were running a news site and looking to get your latest article in front of your users as quickly as possible, then AMP makes sense for you.

Google’s goal with AMP is to make mobile web browsing faster. Optimizing your website for speed is a good idea, but you don’t want to sacrifice important data to do it. One issue with these pages is that they’ll block your Google Analytics tracking. When a user clicks the AMP listing within the search results, they are taken to a Google hosted page, not your website. This strips away your ability to track how users interact with your content. It also means that if someone shares your AMP page, they aren’t sharing your website, and you lose any potential SEO boost from that action.

Another issue with AMP is how those pages are branded. AMP sites look like a Google site instead of your brand. You work hard to ensure your dealership’s branding is recognized across multiple channels, and your website’s visibility may be negatively impacted when AMP pages strip out that branding. Creating AMP pages is locking you into a dependency on Google’s tools, instead of giving you the freedom to explore options.

Creating a fast website is possible without AMP. Customers looking to purchase a car or truck are going to spend tons of time researching before they convert. A fast, well-optimized website full of gorgeous photos and loads of details about your dealership and inventory will convert those visitors to buyers. The faster the site loads, the better your customers experience will be, and the more likely they are buy from you. Use Google PageSpeed Insights to see how fast and friendly your mobile site is.

As it stands now, creating AMP pages doesn’t make sense for dealerships. Website providers who are pushing AMP pages are trying to leverage the hype of a platform not designed for dealerships’ success. We are always testing, and if we see a change from Google resulting in benefits to dealerships, we’ll let you know.

Location, location, location. It’s important, but are you really using it to your best benefit? Geo-fencing lets you target specific locations with a unique offer to create a more personalized experience for your customers, and there are lots of ways you can utilize this high-tech tool. So, how can geo-fencing help your dealership? 

I'm glad you asked. First, if you're not familiar, geo-fencing is a powerful digital website & advertising tool that serves ads to people in specific locations. You can set this up in a Facebook Ad, in a PPC ad, or as a banner ad on your website (as long as your website provider has that tech). It's quite versatile, and if you know how to leverage it, you can see some serious results from a well-executed campaign with geo-fencing enabled. So let's take a look at the three best ways you can use geo-fencing to your advantage.

Get Local

Look into targeting local events, universities, and any other groups or activities that come out of your community. Try, for example, giving local college students $20 off an oil change, and get their attention by targeting campuses near your dealership. Or, push vehicles by targeting areas with specific demographics. Nearby neighborhoods, for example, will be more responsive to family-friendly vehicles. Military offers at nearby bases could also see some positive return.

Get Further

If you’re located in the suburbs of a nearby city, you’re probably thinking of ways to get those city dwellers into your dealership. Though we encourage dealers to focus on their local community, since consumers are more likely to stick to a dealership closer to home, you can still make your store appealing to outsiders. By using geo-fencing to highlight your prices and special offers, you can make a mini road-trip well worth it for some potential customers.

Get Competitive

Promoting your better price by targeting your competitor is not a new concept, but it’s popular for a reason. Google's research shows that half of all car shoppers will price-shop the competition inside a dealership as a last-ditch effort to ensure they're getting the best deal. That's an opportunity, if I've ever seen one, and you can use geo-fencing to serve an ad to shoppers in your competitor's showroom to try and capture some business.

Get Strategic

There are lots of ways you can utilize this tool, so getting creative and thinking outside the box is essential, but be wary of highly precise geofences that offer low return for a high value. You should be targeting universities and military bases with specific offers, but casting a wider net to hit your community with more generalized offers can also get you some serious leads. The key here is balance, and knowing how to strategize.

Geo-fencing is a versatile tool that can help get your dealership noticed. By starting with these strategies, you can start seeing the rewards.

It’s not rocket science: doing the same over and over again isn’t going to improve your results, so if you’re making the same mobile mistake over and over again, it’s going to keep costing you money. But I’m here to help. I’m going to talk about a few common mobile mistakes that can cost you some serious cash. 

First things first: you have to remember that your mobile site does not have the same goals as your desktop. We covered this a few weeks ago and broke down some of the details, but the most important thing to remember is that your mobile site isn’t there to convert leads. Instead, it’s a well-optimized way for potential customers to find out information about your dealership.

Poorly Designed Landing Pages

We all know that there is a certain science behind landing pages. A high-converting page requires a careful combination of well-placed elements that encourage users to hand over their info. This includes a single Call-To-Action placed above the fold, and a form that’s easy to tap. Repeat after me: no one likes typing on a phone, so make the process of filling out a form as easy as possible. Request only necessary info and keep that form short and to the point.

Busy Homepage

It’s probably the first thing a user is going to see, so why would you make it busy and difficult to use? Video backgrounds are not a good idea for a homepage. They’re confusing and distracting and could slow down your load time, especially on mobile. A rotating banner is not going to get your promo across, and it’s difficult to see on a phone, and chat functions on mobile only distracts users from their goals. Include an obvious Click-2-Call button and keep everything else simple and easy to use. Users want the path of least resistance.

No Directions

Your mobile device has two main goals: to bring in calls, obviously, and to show people where you’re located. If your mobile site doesn’t have an imbedded Google map, you’re missing out on in-store visits from users who are too lazy to plug your address in somewhere else. Don’t miss out on a sale just because you didn’t include a map.

These are some of the common mobile mistakes I see dealer sites make, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. A lot could still go wrong and cost you a lot of money, so make sure you're on top of the latest trends and that your site puts mobile first. 

We’re diving deep into the car-buying journey over the next few weeks and giving you an inside look at the tools and strategies that line up with each micro-moment. You can check out our previous post here, which gives you a brief overview of the micro-moments dealers should pay attention to, as well as some useful tips to get you started.

But now we’re going to get into the nitty gritty details that are really going to set you over the top.

As we mentioned before, your secret weapon in this stage is your SEM strategy, but one that focuses on purchase intent versus research terms. Purchase intent includes keywords like “2017 Toyota Camry price” and “Chevy Tahoe lease,” while research terms can be as generic as “Camry specs” or “Chevy cars.”

Think about it: by the time a consumer is searching for pricing, they’ve already decided what they’re going to buy. If you’re digital advertising budget is limited, then it’s important that you focus on keywords that have a greater chance of getting a sale. It may look great to see clicks and conversions on those research terms, but odds are higher that “2017 Chevrolet Tahoe price” will turn into a sale, as opposed to “2017 Chevrolet Tahoe specs” or some other research-related query. Buy terms with purchase intent and you’re advertising budget will go a lot further.

Of course, you can pay for some killer keywords with purchase intent all day long and never see a single conversion if you don’t think about consumer devices. You know where this is going: your site should have a mobile-first strategy and a mobile-responsive landing page. That means your site should adapt for the device, including desktop, tablet, and mobile.

Google says it best: Search interest for MSRP and list prices are growing, and 70% of these searches are happening on mobile. If you want to turn those searchers into leads (or, even better, customers), you need to have a mobile site that gives them what they want. That includes a fast loading time (since 53% of site visitors leave a page that takes longer than 3 seconds to load) easy-to-click CTAs, properly sized images, and navigation that isn’t cramped.

Your search widget is one of your most popular tools on mobile, so make sure it’s accessible and easy to find, so your website visitors are engaged beyond just the page that brought them in. Don’t distract with unnecessary assets, like moving banners or pop ups. And if you have a chat function, it’s a good idea to turn that off on mobile. You want to keep your visitors focused on your deals and prices. If they have any questions, make sure your Click-2-Call button is clearly marked so they can, you know, give you a call.

Google’s micro-moments are an excellent digital marketing roadmap, but you have to use the right tools during the right micro-moments to see serious results. Now that we’ve covered the Can-I-Afford-It Moment, keep an eye out for our next post on Where-Should-I-Buy-It Moments.