A number of variables influence the competitiveness of an industry in search engine optimization, and it appears that a "perfect storm" is brewing that will greatly affect SEO for car dealers in 2008. Here's an overview of some of those factors, and how they'll contribute to the automotive SEO field.
First, more general managers of car dealerships are becoming web savvy, or at least understanding the importance of having good search rankings. I see this first hand through the quickly increasing number of dealers asking for, and ultimately purchasing, SEO services. With more search marketers writing great content and link building for car dealers around North America, expect it to become generally more difficult to rank for traditional, high traffic, phrases like "make + location" and "location + used car".
Another impacting factor is the current state of the economy. Analysts are suggesting that the weakening dollar, unemployment, energy costs and lower-wage jobs will translate to fewer car sales this year. With a reduction in revenue for car dealers, SEO will become a popular marketing option. In speaking to dealership general managers, it's not uncommon for them to dump $15,000 in a single month on newspaper advertising. With more potential traffic from the Internet, and a significant difference in cost, expect more dealers to move away from the traditional (out-dated) newspaper ads to search marketing. We are already seeing this occur. A dealer down the street from where I grew up has completely stopped purchasing newspaper ads and moved those dollars to Internet marketing and television.
In 2008 we may also see new search phrases popping up for marketers to target in the SERPs. With gasoline currently costing around $3.30 a gallon, and the ceiling yet to be hit, those looking for a new car will likely be searching for something fuel-efficient. This means more potential traffic from a variety of phrases, from the already growing "hybrid" and "fuel cell", to those that recently entered our consciousness like " e85 ethanol", "flex fuel" and "bio-diesel". The more phrases we have to target, the more difficult it can become.
What does it all mean? Us in the automotive SEO field have our work cut out for us, and car dealers will be looking more closely at their rankings. Every opportunity needs to be taken advantage of. From using the latest search-friendly web technologies, to exploiting dealers off-line marketing strategies online (like placing creative television ads on YouTube and other video sites). Marketers and dealers need to be gearing up for an online battle in 2008.
