Ranking highly on search engines such as Google requires adhering to some key factors on your website (you can learn more about good SEO practices by visiting our guest blog with Powersports Business). In particular we want to focus on the importance of written content and how the quality of your website copy directly influences your website’s ranking in online searches.
Written content works alongside your website design to provide an attractive, informative platform for your online customers to browse through your inventory and services. However, written content goes beyond being informational (don’t get us wrong–that’s VERY important) and feeds directly into your website’s SEO.
When an online user submits a search query, the search engine combs the internet for websites that relate to the online user’s query and then generates a list of results ranked most to least relevant. One of the main factors of any search engine’s ranking algorithm is written content, especially keywords. Websites containing keywords that match or closely relate to a user’s search are more likely to rank highly in the search results.
It comes as no surprise that content keywords should include your inventory. Even if certain units are not on your dealership lot at the moment, you can still optimize your content now so that when your next shipment of inventory arrives, your website is already ranking highly in searches for those units. Keywords should also focus on other aspects of your dealership, including parts, accessories, services and more.
We’ve assembled the following tips for writing effective website copy that appeals to both your online visitors and the search engines they’re using:
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Avoid “keyword stuffing,” or filling up your copy with lots of keywords instead of useful information. Remember, you are writing for humans just as much as search engines, and people want to read content that sounds natural and provides helpful information. Consider which keywords apply best to the subject of each webpage, and focus on those.
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Make your content unique. Not only will this help your website stand out to online browsers, but it will help you avoid penalties from search engines for having the same copy as other websites.
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Limit your webpages to a single subject. The more you can narrow down the topic of your content, the more targeted your keywords will be and the better your website will rank. Search engines reward websites that provide singular, relevant content per webpage.
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Anticipate the questions your visitors will have while visiting your website, and answer them in the content. What will visitors want to know about a unit or service? Your website acts as the very first customer service representative that your potential customers will interact with–it should be able to answer all the basic questions.
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Long copy is good! Search engines are looking for more copy on webpages, and visitors appreciate the opportunity to browse in-depth information.
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Keep paragraphs short for readability. If visitors are met with a wall of block text when they click on a webpage, they are likely to become discouraged and abandon that page.
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Update your website content regularly to avoid having your website become stale. Search engines may skip over websites that haven’t been refreshed in a while, and the more dated that website copy looks, the less likely online users are to click on it. In addition to giving your overall website a good refresh every once in a while, maintaining a blog is an excellent way to keep people and search engines interested.
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Provide links within your copy to other relevant webpages on your site to direct visitors toward other content you want them to see and encourage them to remain on your site longer. If visitors are spending an extended period of time on your website, search engines will boost your website’s ranking.
Maintaining fresh, relevant, keyword-rich website copy requires time and work, and we understand if you don’t have the resources to take this on yourself. This is where Dealer Spike can help! Contact Dealer Spike today if you would like to learn more about our website content services and increase your website’s search engine rankings!