How to Use A Blog to Drive Traffic to Your Auto Dealership’s Website

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Blogging isn’t easy. In fact, it’s hard work, but that doesn’t mean you should give up on it. There are a number of reasons why you need a blog on your auto dealership’s website. Blogging gives you an opportunity to promote your business and establish yourself as an expert in the local automotive community. But more importantly, a blog can drive traffic to your website.

Why is this so important? The consumer car buying journey no longer starts in a dealership–it starts online. You can’t wait for a customer to walk through your door to sell to them. Instead, you must connect with your target audience online before they ever step foot inside your dealership. Blogging can help establish this connection by driving these potential customers to your dealership’s website.

Here’s how to use your blog to drive traffic to your auto dealership’s website:

Publish New Content Frequently

Starting a blog is hard, but maintaining it is even harder. Why? You have to post content on a regular basis in order to achieve results. In fact, one study revealed that companies that publish at least 16 blog posts per month receive 3.5 times more traffic than companies that post fewer than five blog posts per month. If you want to drive more traffic to your website, it’s important to invest your time and resources into blogging.

So how often should you post blog content? It depends. Experts recommend that small businesses aim to publish at least three new pieces of blog content per week, whereas large businesses strive to publish a minimum of five new pieces of content per week. 

It can take a long time to write a single blog post, which is why it’s best to write blogs in advance so you aren’t scrambling to produce content at the last minute.

Drive Traffic to Your Auto Dealership’s Website

Incorporate Keywords

If you want to drive traffic to your auto dealership’s website, every blog post you publish must be optimized with relevant keywords. This gives you an opportunity to rank high within the search results for your targeted keywords, which will make it easier for potential customers to find you.

The first step is researching relevant keywords. There are a number of free tools you can use to conduct keyword research, including Answer the Public, Ahrefs Keyword Generator, and SEMRush Keyword Magic Tool.

Create a list of keywords you want to target in your content. Avoid broad, generic keywords. The narrower the keyword, the better. For example, instead of choosing “auto dealership,” choose “vintage car dealer in Orlando, Florida.” Targeting narrow keywords will give you a better chance of connecting with consumers who are interested in the products and services you provide. 

You should target one or two keywords per blog post. Incorporate these keywords into the content, title, URL, meta description, hyperlink text, and alt image text. Make sure the keywords fit naturally into the content–don’t stuff keywords in places where they don’t make sense. 

Following this advice will help you secure a high ranking in the search results for your selected keywords, which will drive more traffic to your website.

Include Images

It’s best to add high quality car images to every blog post. Why? Images can help readers better understand the content. Adding images can also break up large chunks of text, which will make the content look more readable and appealing to your website visitors.

Because visual search is becoming increasingly popular, including images in your blog posts can help drive more traffic to your website, too. 

Just like the blog content, the images you include must be optimized in order to appear within relevant search results. Start by incorporating your targeted keywords into each image’s file name, caption, and alt tag text. 

You may also need to resize your image before uploading it onto your site. This is because page speed is a major component of SEO. If you upload large images, this could slow down the speed of your site, which could negatively impact your search results ranking. 

A slow site can also lead to a poor user experience, which can affect your ability to convert website visitors into loyal customers. To avoid these problems, resize large images before using them on your website.

Post Links On Social Media

You must establish a presence for your auto dealership on the popular social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Being on these platforms gives you the chance to engage with your target audience. It also gives you the opportunity to promote your blog content and drive traffic back to your auto dealership’s website

Every time you publish a new piece of blog content, post a link to it on all of your social media platforms. Include a short caption that explains what the blog content is about and why your target audience should read it. 

You can promote older blog content, too. Post links to any blog on your website that you believe your target audience would find interesting. This is a great way to introduce your social media followers to your blog and increase your website traffic.

Drive Traffic to Your Auto Dealership’s Website

Add Social Sharing Buttons

You shouldn’t be the only one sharing your blog content on social media. Encourage your readers to share your content with their followers, too. But don’t make them go through the trouble of copying a link to your blog, opening a new window, logging into their account, and posting it on their social media page. Make it as easy as possible for your followers to share your content by adding social share buttons to your blog.

These buttons allow your website visitors to share your content to their social media pages with one click of the mouse. All they need to do is tap on the icon of the social media platform they want to share the post to. Then, the button will direct them to their profile so they can post the link. 

Choose Relevant Topics

One of the hardest parts about blogging is coming up with a good topic. It’s important to choose relevant topics that your target audience will want to read about. If the topic isn’t relevant, your target audience won’t be searching for it, which means the blog won’t help you drive traffic to your website. 

Some examples of topics you may want to address in your auto dealership’s blog include:

  • Recaps of popular car shows 
  • “How to” articles on DIY car maintenance and repairs
  • Educational articles on financing, leasing, and other car-related topics
  • Car buying tips
  • “Best of…” or “Most popular…” articles that highlight the best or most popular vehicles in a specific category

Let your keyword research guide your topic selection. For example, if you discover that a lot of consumers in your area are searching for electric vehicles, you may want to do a couple of blogs on this topic since your target audience is obviously interested in it.

Write Better Titles

Many people don’t put a lot of thought into their blog post titles. Instead, they come up with a title at the last second before hitting “publish.” Don’t make this mistake. Blog post titles are just as important as the blog post content. 

The title of your blog post is the first thing that potential customers will see when looking at your link in the search results or on social media. If the title doesn’t grab their attention, they may not click on the link to see more. So if your goal is to drive traffic to your website, you need to write compelling blog post titles. 

Don’t be afraid to test different blog titles to see which one works best. This will help you learn more about what your target audience responds to so you can write stronger titles in the future.

Drive Traffic to Your Auto Dealership’s Website

Welcome Guest Bloggers

Reach out to other bloggers in the automotive industry and ask if they would be interested in writing a guest blog for your dealership’s website.

Guest blogging is a win-win situation for both parties. The guest blogger benefits from getting exposure on your website. Your dealership benefits from getting a high quality piece of content written by another trusted source in the industry. 

Plus, the guest blogger will most likely promote their content to their followers, which could drive traffic to your website.

Look for Guest Blogging Opportunities

You should also actively search for guest blogging opportunities for your team. Look for blogs that are aimed at your target audience and reach out to them to ask if they accept guest blog posts. Being featured as a guest blogger on another site can help you reach consumers that you otherwise wouldn’t have been able to connect with. 

You can also include a link to your dealership’s website within the guest blog post, which can improve your SEO and drive even more traffic to your site.

Blogging isn’t easy, but your hard work will pay off. By following these tips, you can use your newly improved blog to drive more traffic to your website, attract new customers, and generate more sales at your dealership.

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