Checklist: Is Your Service Department Ready for Today’s Search Techniques?
You are almost invisible if you are not found first in a search. This is particularly true for organic content, such as blogs, social media postings, and site pages, which are backed by an optimized and pertinent approach rather than by the money you spend on advertising.
Every modern business needs to focus on search engine optimization (SEO) and social media, but dealership service departments can have a particularly big impact by developing and promoting this soft content.
Only if you can mark each optimized method off the list below will you be able to guarantee that your dealership service department appears when buyers begin looking.
Maps, reviews, and the Knowledge Panel for Google My Business
When you Google “your dealership,” you will see:
Do you have a separate company listing for your service department on Google Maps?
Are the actual service address and phone number listed? What about the proper operating hours?
Have you routinely answered comments or inquiries made online?
Do you have images of your service department on display, along with URLs to your service website?
Why it’s important
Verifying your company with Google and the public
The data you enter into Google My Business appears in the “Knowledge Panel” of search results, along with connections to your website, maps, and other information. Since this listing appears prominently in almost all searches for your dealership, maintaining it consistently is crucial.
Google began automatically separating dealership service divisions into their own business “pin” on Google Maps a few years ago. Incorrect information may be provided for unclaimed firms, which could harm how people perceive your department.
If you’re unsure whether you’ve already claimed the listing, look up your dealership name in Google Maps and look for a distinct company pin on your service drive. If it isn’t claimed, a claim option for the company will be presented. Here’s how to manually split your parts and service departments in Google Maps if it doesn’t already do so.
establishing the foundation for your business partnership
Along with popular postings and your comments, the Knowledge Panel will also gather your overall star ratings from Google and other review sites like Facebook and Yelp. In order for customers to know what to expect from your business, it also has a Q&A area where they can inquire and get answers about your services, holiday hours, policies at your dealership, and more.
Content Promotion
Do you have any service-specific blog posts, such as seasonal maintenance advice, explanation videos, and other content?
Do you write your content with particular consumer searches in mind?
Are your website’s content and schema.org data optimized to appear in featured snippets, which are panels of data that Google has identified as particularly pertinent to a search query?
Do you use social media as part of broader initiatives to advertise your services?
Are links, language, and content tailored to user intent and engagement in each social media post that is hosted natively within each channel?
Why it’s important
Developing trust to meet the demands of your consumers
A content marketing approach focuses on providing relevant and educational content via blogs, social media, and newsletters. Since your customers can interact with you directly and gain knowledge from your content, this technique fosters trust between you and your audience.
Your overall marketing approach will greatly benefit from this content, especially in terms of SEO. In order to choose which websites to display with each Google search, Google’s algorithms and bots continuously scan websites for relevant, helpful material.
Bots are more likely to find and display your social media profiles in response to searches when your social media is optimized for each channel. The user experience (UX) within applications is another benefit of optimizing your content since it increases engagement and conversions.
The most crucial point to emphasize on this list is to always keep your clients in mind when creating listings, blog posts, and web pages. Think about what they could be looking for and the simplest method to provide them with the knowledge they require to make decisions.
The majority of vehicle owners will put off service at some point or another, so when they do start exploring, be there as a reliable and supportive resource.
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