The Internet has changed the way consumers shop and corporations sell their products. For auto dealerships, promoting their business online is very crucial as most of the consumers turn to Internet when purchasing a car. According to ‘Capgemini Cars Online Study 2009/2010’, almost 90 percent of consumers use the internet to research vehicles. Dealers need to use the right Internet marketing tools to push their auto dealership ahead of their competitors. One of the most important tools of successful Internet marketing strategy is ‘Local Search Submission’.
Historically, consumers relied on promotional flyers, local newspapers, local TV and radio stations to find information on local products and services. But with the advent of the Internet, search engines became the primary source of local business information for many people. According to a BIA/Kelsey survey, 97% of consumers use online media while researching products or services in their local area.
This major shift in consumer behavior proves local search submissions are very important for auto dealers seeking to generate local leads and sales. Online presence with a local business listing helps auto dealers stay ahead of the competition. Local Search Submission provides many benefits such as:
Improves online presence
Many customers have a tendency to search for auto dealerships in their own vicinity. When a San Diego based user searches for car repair shops, he/she will be more interested in results of San Diego based auto dealers rather than those in New York. Major search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing are aware of this and list the result of top 10 local listings above their organic universal search results.
When a user looking for local car dealership searches with the city name, search engines list the local dealership profiles in his/her area along with a snippet of their locations on a map. The local search listing also displays the URL, address and contact phone number of the dealer. This helps the user easily locate and contact the dealership. With a well managed local search strategy, your dealership would be available online 24/7.
Gets more quality leads
Auto dealers can effectively leverage local search advertising because it allows ads to be targeted very precisely to the search terms and location. Though the Internet has no geographical boundaries, some services are restricted to certain areas. For example, if a customer is looking to service their car, he/she will more likely search online for a car dealership in his/her local area. The conversion rate for local dealerships is often much higher than any other. This is where local search submissions could be useful for auto dealers.
Mostly, the consumers looking to purchase a car or accessories typically begin with online research. But when the time comes to buy, they move to offline shopping. Consumers switch to offline shopping because they want to get the item on the spot without waiting for it to ship. Also, they want to get a physical feel of the item before they buy it. In such cases, they find the closest store using local search to buy.
According to TMPDM’s study, 83 percent of local search users contacted businesses offline, with 46 percent of consumers making contacts over the phone and 37 percent visiting the businesses in person. This shows that local search brings genuine prospects to the dealership, making it an important tool to promote the business online.
Cost effective
It is very important for the dealerships to let local customers know that they exist to offer their products and services in that particular region. Placing posters, ads in newspapers, local TV channels, radio stations, dropping flyers or even going to the cost of organizing a local billboard may help but unlikely to be as cost-effective or profitable as local search submission marketing.
Improving the performance of the site in local search is very easy and cost-effective. Local site submissions are easy to get up and running. They won’t take much time or money to start making the website perform better in local search.
Remember, people searching for local auto dealerships typically have a need, and higher purchase intent. But in order to target and drive them to dealership a highly effective local search submissions strategy is very crucial. Dealers should be aware of many low quality SEO firms who concentrate on driving thousands of useless visitors to website who will never make a purchase. On the other hand, there are few firms who provide highly targeted local search submissions which are very valuable indeed.
Search Optics, Inc. is a leader in digital marketing solutions for the automotive industry. Search Optics interactive marketing services include custom websites, search engine optimization, paid search and mobile solutions that generate leads which result in sales opportunities. Search Optics specializes in automotive internet marketing, automotive marketing services.
