Your Google My Business (GMB) listing is one of the most effective pieces of digital real estate for your dealership. After all, car dealerships receive the most direct Google My Business searches each month.

Direct searches for GMB profiles grew YoY by 38% because GMB listings help searchers see the credibility of your business and customers are 70% more likely to visit business with a GMB profile. 

By using best practices to optimize your GMB listing, you can increase your online search visibility and boost your organic website performance.  

Dealership Business Information

• Dealership name  
• Address  
• Business hours 
• Special hours (specific days such as holidays or certain circumstances) 
• Phone number 
• Website URL 
• Description – Highlight what makes your dealership unique and different to the other car dealers in your area. 

Category Best Practices  

You will need to select a primary category for your business listing. It is usually best practice to choose the main vehicle make of your dealership. If your dealership offers multiple makes, select “Car Dealer” as the primary category and select all car makes as additional categories. This ensures that your GMB listing shows up equally for all your offered car makes.   

EXAMPLE:  

• Primary category: Car Dealer 
• Additional categories: Chrysler Dealer, Dodge Dealer, Jeep Dealer, RAM Dealer 

Once your Primary and Additional Categories are selected, you can start adding services under each category to further optimize their listings for local search rankings.  

Given that the COVID-19 pandemic is still underway, this is a great way for dealers to easily differentiate themselves from competitors by creating custom services based off the online services they provide to customers.  

Upload Cover Photo and Logos  

Your GMB listing should always include: 

• A cover photo that clearly shows the outside of your dealership store front with your dealership’s name.  
• A logo photo that includes either your dealership’s car make or name. 

Best Practices for Ongoing Maintenance 

Google favors customer-generated content. Frequent customer photos and reviews will help increase online visibility for a GMB listing. To keep fueling Google’s algorithm, it is important to keep adding fresh content each month. Dealers should be posting: 

• Photos 
  • Cars that demonstrate a dealer’s identity 
  • Interior and exterior of dealership 
  • Staff photos 

• Videos  
  • Welcome to Our Dealership 
  • Why Buy? 
  • Message from the Owner 
  • Customer Testimonials 
  • FAQ
  • Reviews
  • Google posts, updates, offers and events

GMB best practices maximize your ability to show up more often in search results and bring more organic traffic to your website.

To learn more about GMB best practices and how to optimize your SEO strategy, contact L2T today to work on a strategy for your dealership.  

Source: BrightLocal; Hootsuite