Keep it Clean: Make Sure Search Engine Users Can Find Your Dealership

As you may have noticed, people these days typically are not using the Yellow Pages to find local business information. The business directory of today can be found online – in fact, you can even visit www.yellowpages.com and claim a listing there. Today, there are multiple websites that list company names, addresses, and phone numbers, and these are known as citation sites. Two of the most recognizable ones include Google My Business and Yelp. 

The use of citation sites, also called online business directories, is especially important in helping your dealership to successfully appear on the Maps section of search engine results. Showing up in search engine map results is crucial for local businesses, because potential customers need to be able to find your physical location. 

Search engine algorithms favor businesses that are listed on a large amount of high-quality citation sites. Every one of these websites that your dealership is listed on gives your business a better chance to rank higher in search engine results. Clean citations ensure that your dealership is easy to find both online and in person. 

What do we mean by “clean” citations? One very important aspect of listing your dealership on citation sites is that your information must be completely accurate and consistent. Even a small difference (using an abbreviated “N” versus spelling out the word “North,” for example) can damage your dealership’s reputation in business listings, because search engines will consider one of the variations inaccurate. It is worth the time and effort to list your dealership on as many reputable citation sites as possible, and to make sure that your information is entered perfectly in all of these places. Search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo will reward you for it. 

In an online-first world, a lack of presence in search engine results means your business doesn’t exist. Give your dealership a fair chance and put the work in to increase your rankings. Proper, SEO-rich content and consistent, accurate listings on citation sites puts your dealership in a much better position to turn online visitors into in-person customers.