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Want to drive more traffic to your website and get more customers through the door? Search engine optimization (SEO) is a marketing strategy essential to the auto repair industry as it improves your non-paid search results and visibility to potential prospects. SEO is one of the most well-known tools for driving more website traffic — and ultimately, more conversions.
SEO, however, is not easy to master. A successful SEO strategy takes time (and patience) to see results, and even the smallest missteps can be detrimental to your efforts.
To help you increase your organic search rankings without any setbacks, we put together this list of SEO mistakes to avoid.
Mistake #1: Not optimizing for local search
In the auto repair industry, you want to promote your business to potential customers who live nearby, as most people don’t want to travel too far to get their car serviced. According to a consumer survey, 28% of users searching for a local business ended up making a purchase. You could be losing out to your competitors if these potential customers can’t find you online.
When you optimize for local search, you are essentially improving the online search visibility of your auto shop throughout a specified geographic area. By doing this, users that are needing automotive repair services can be sure to find you.
You can begin optimizing your site for local search by:
- Adding your business to local directories (and there are tons out there), just be sure they all have a carbon-copy of your business information.
- Creating a page for each location of your business. This could be your contact, about page, or even a dedicated landing page for each of your shops’ locations.
- Optimizing your title tags and metadata on your website with location-specific keywords.
- Clearly stating your location in the footer of your website so search engines can easily register and identify this information. This also makes it easier for users to find your physical address. In fact, 50% of users making local searches are looking for information like your address or phone number.
- Working with an auto repair shop marketing agency that offers local search optimization services to fine-tune your strategy.
Mistake #2: Failing to use anchor text
Using anchor text can be a powerful tool to put the pedal to the metal and blow past your competitors’ rankings. This gives search engines context regarding a hyperlink that helps them gather information about your content’s topic. When you create a hyperlink, the visible, clickable text that is displayed when linking to another webpage or document is called the anchor text.
Search engines like Google have algorithms that use anchor text to assess the themes of your linked-to pages and then determine which keywords your page should rank for. So it’s important to research the information you provide and share concise, relevant, and non-generic content that offers your readers and customers value.
Mistake #3: Not doing your keyword research
Keyword research can be one of the most difficult aspects of your SEO strategy, but it is generally the first step of any SEO campaign. Not only should you optimize for keywords on your website, but you should be optimizing the right keywords. A good place to start is by researching these three questions:
- What are your customers searching for? Are there specific search terms they tend to use?
- How many people are searching for it and when? Are there seasonal trends?
- What format are people using to look for this information?
Analyze the search terms your customers are using to find the services and products you provide. When writing content, you’ll want to know the exact words and phrases they are using to find you so that you can tailor it to fit their needs. Be as specific and relevant as possible to get the best results.
Keyword research can be intimidating, even to seasoned marketing professionals. Search engines are constantly updating and algorithms frequently change, making it a challenge to improve your organic search rankings. So staying up to date with the most recent SEO strategies is key to achieving better search visibility.
This is why we recommend getting help from a professional team that fully understands the automotive industry and proven SEO strategies that will drive customers straight to your front door.
Our experts specialize in both print and digital marketing for auto repair shops and are offering a free marketing assessment when you contact the team at UpSwell!
