Recently a video surfaced with a fairly well known SEO that caters to the automotive industry talking about how vendor compiled keyword ranking reports were a load of BS. Certainly there is truth to this statement, especially when a big box vendor is reporting to you. But there are three main reasons and situations that this article will demonstrate as to why/ how keyword ranking reports are important… when done properly.
- Your dealership is in Atlanta and your SEO provider is in Detroit. A few hundred miles makes an enormous difference when it comes to how specific keywords rank in the search engines. Your dealership could show up #1 for a specific keyword when tracked by your vendor in Detroit, but be a bit skewed in your hometown of Atlanta. Take what a vendor in this situation reports and search out the keywords yourself to see how off things are. Don’t forget to clear your browser history if you do it this way. If you don’t have the time or patience for this, search out an SEO vendor who is local and will actually do a live keyword ranking report (do live searches to show how your dealership ranks in your local market, and yes, they do exist).
- If you’re getting monthly SEO reports and keyword rankings are part of the report, you may, especially in the beginning, see a few wild ranking fluctuations. SEO is a long term investment, a marathon if you will, not a sprint. If you’re looking to shoot up to the top of the search engines tomorrow, you should invest more of your money into Search Engine Marketing for your dealership. A wild fluctuation, or as some SEOs call it, the search engine dance, simply means that your dealership was not ranking for this keyword before and the search engine is attempting to find the right place for it. Just because your were #5 one month, then #17 the next month does not mean your SEO is ineffective. Again SEO requires patience, but pays off in the long run with increased traffic and website visitors who are far more engaged with your website than those who come from other mediums and platforms.
ex. 1
ex. 2
- Lastly, lets talk about the actual keywords you’re ranking for. In the two examples below, you’ll notice the first search is extremely specific (what we call a longtail keyword) and has far fewer search results than the second. Sure it’s great to rank high for such an incredibly specific keyword as the one shown in example one, but how many people on a monthly basis are searching for that keyword? Answer; not many. The second keyword, although FAR more broad, and harder to rank for, has a much better payoff in the long run as it is searched far more often and by more people than example one. While those very specific, longtail keywords are easy to rank for, it is the shorter, broader keywords that allow you to take up more first page real estate and be able to be in more of the conversations more often online.
Let’s break it down to actionable items. First off location makes a big difference. Second, realize that SEO is a marathon and wild fluctuations are not a bad thing, if anything they are the opposite. Now, IF you are not moving up from a far position once a keyword “settles,” THAT is the mark of ineffective SEO. Third, While longtail keywords are great and easy to rank for, it’s the broader, tougher competition keywords that will allow you to show up in more first page real estate and be able to be seen by those who are searching your competition.