A Guide to Google My Business Nested Department Listings for Car Dealerships

The car buying process typically starts online, which is why it’s so important to ensure that your car dealership has a strong online presence. This includes maintaining a Google My Business page for your car dealership. 

Google My Business is a free service that you can use to manage how your car dealership appears across various Google products, specifically Maps and Search. In other words, maintaining a Google My Business page can make it easier for customers to find you when using Google Maps and Google Search. It also ensures that the information about your car dealership that appears in Search and Maps is accurate.

Setting up a Google My Business page for your car dealership is just the first step. If you want to maximize your results, you should also use Google My Business to create nested department listings for your car dealership. What are nested department listings? How and why should you set them up? Here’s what you need to know:

What Are Google My Business Nested Department Listings?

Google allows certain types of businesses, including car dealerships, to create nested department listings within their main Google My Business listing. 

The rules regarding nested department listings vary depending on the type of business. For starters, used car dealerships cannot create nested department listings. 

However, new car dealerships can create nested department listings that meet specific conditions. First, a new car dealership can create a nested department listing for every automotive brand they sell. 

For example, say you own a new car dealership that sells both Ford and Lincoln vehicles. In this case, you can create a main Google My Business page for your car dealership in addition to two nested department listings, one for your Ford car sales and the other for your Lincoln car sales. Each of these listings would have the same address and phone number even though they are separate pages. They would also be connected to one another to make it easier for consumers to understand that they are all the same dealership.

New car dealers can also create nested department listings for various departments within their dealership. For example, you may want to create nested department listings for your sales, service, and parts departments. 

If you sell more than one brand at your dealership or have sales, service, and/or parts departments, you can take advantage of this Google My Business feature.

The Benefits of Creating Nested Department Listings

Setting up a Google My Business page is crucial to your car dealership’s success. Without a Google My Business page, your car dealership’s information may not appear in local search results. This means local customers won’t be able to find you when they are in need of your services. 

Setting up separate nested department listings that connect to your Google My Business page is important, too. Why? There are many benefits to creating nested department listings within your main Google My Business page. Some of these benefits include: 

• Makes it easier for customers to contact you. If your customers are trying to schedule repairs at your dealership, they should be able to quickly find a phone number for your service department. But if you aren’t using nested department listings, the phone number that appears in Google’s search results may direct customers to your sales department.
• Provides more accurate information to your customers. Using nested department listings also ensures that your customers get the most accurate information possible. For example, if your sales department has different operating hours than your service department, the nested department listings will reflect these differences. 
• Establishes an identity for every department. Setting up nested department listings allows you to establish a unique identity for every department within your dealership. For instance, if you create a listing for your service department, you can add photos that show the comfortable waiting room and friendly staff. 
• Shows more specific reviews to your target audience. If you use nested department listings, customers will be able to leave reviews for specific departments of your dealership. This way, someone who is interested in getting their car repaired at your dealership will be able to read reviews related to your service department rather than your sales department.
• Increases your visibility. Setting up separate nested department listings can help you establish a strong online presence for each department within your dealership. In other words, it will make it easier for customers to find the various departments within your dealership when performing relevant Google searches.

These are some of the many reasons why you should take the time to create nested department listings for your car dealership on Google My Business.

How to Set Up Nested Department Listings for Your Car Dealership

Now that you know how important it is to create nested department listings, it’s time to learn how to set them up for your car dealership. Before you can create nested department listings, you need to set up a main Google My Business page for your car dealership. If you don’t have a main page yet, follow these steps to set one up:

1. Sign into Google My Business.
2. Click on “Add your business.”
3. Follow the on-screen prompts to set up your page. All you will need to do is provide some basic information about your car dealership to get started. 

Once your main page is live, you can move forward with creating nested department listings. Here’s what to do: 

1. Create a separate Google My Business page for each department. Follow the same steps you took when creating your main Google My Business page. However, make sure the phone number and category on your department listing are different from the phone number and category on your main page.
2. Then, go to Google and search for the department listing you just created. 
3. Once you find the page, click on “Suggest an edit.” 
4. You will be presented with a list of editing options. Select “Change name or other details” from this list. A new page should load after you make this selection.
5. Scroll down to the “Located within” section. Start typing in the name of your business as it appears on your main Google My Business page. Select your business’s name once it appears. This will connect your nested department listing to your main business page.

Now, when someone visits your nested department listing, they should see something that says “located within (your business’s name).” This tells them that the department listing they are viewing is connected to your car dealership.

However, it’s important to note that these changes will not take effect right away. Google reviews every change made to Google My Business pages, so it may take up to a week for the change to go live. Check back periodically to ensure the change was approved.

Tips for Optimizing Your Google My Business Listings

The purpose of creating a Google My Business page–and separate department listings–is to increase your car dealership’s visibility in local search results. But not every Google My Business page will land in one of the few top spots in the local search results. If you want your car dealership to appear in local searches, it’s important to optimize your Google My Business page just as you would optimize your car dealership’s website. Follow these tips:

• Use the right contact information. Google will compare the phone number and address you enter to the phone number and address listed for your car dealership on your website and in other locations on the web. If there are inconsistencies, this could affect the credibility of your Google My Business page, which will impact your ability to rank in local results.
• Fill out every section. Don’t skip over sections when setting up your Google My Business page. The more complete your business profile is, the higher you may rank in local search results. 
• Add photos. You shouldn’t skip any step in the setup process, including the option to add photos. Even though this isn’t required, adding photos will make your page look more complete, which could improve your chances at appearing in relevant local search results.
• Incorporate keywords. Try to toss in a few relevant keywords when writing about your car dealership on your Google My Business page. For example, if you own a car dealership in Miami that sells Toyotas, include the keywords “Miami Toyota car dealership” and “Toyota car dealership in Miami” in your Google My Business description.
• Select the right category. There are dozens of different categories to choose from when setting up a Google My Business page. Be sure to choose the category that best describes your business. Using the same example from above, the correct category would be “Toyota Dealer” rather than “Auto Dealer.” This is because “Auto Dealer” is a general description of your car dealership, whereas “Toyota Dealer” is a more accurate, specific description. The more specific, the better.

Follow these tips to increase your visibility in local search results. This way, potential customers will be able to find your car dealership when they are in need of a new car or auto repairs.