You probably think your site is great and you should be ranking for every term that someone searches for. But then what happens? You go home on a Friday night, Netflix Sweet November starring Keanu Reeves, pop open a nice bottle of Chianti, maybe light a fire, and open up your laptop to do some searches. You’re not showing up in the more populated areas and sometimes, you’re barely showing up in your hometown… for anything. (By the way, I searched for “kiante drink” and got the correct spelling in the first listing, because search works).

You probably start to get mad, maybe panic a little bit, begin to question life, why…why…WHY? Why have I been paying someone to “manage my SEO?” Why have I been paying someone to “write content?” Why is nothing working? And lastly, hopefully, you ask yourself one more question: “Were those the guys who told me templated SEO sucks right?” They were, they are, and they still are.

Look a little deeper into the structure of your website. Read through some of the content that is being provided for you (the content that targets nothing, offers no linking, offers no keywords; yes, that content). Look at the keywords listed in the reports you receive and see if any of them actually matter. It’s great that you rank #1 for “Honda motorcycle near me,” but you’re a car dealer in Chicago, so your traffic is garbage. After you see that, come back to me, pour yourself another glass, and read on. Let’s fix your problems. Let me help you.

Fix Your Google My Business Page

So it’s been over a year now since Google made some huge changes to their business pages. Therefore, it has probably been over a year since most people (including you) reading this have made any changes to their page. But I know you’ve been drinking, so let’s just roll through some of the basics.

Categories: Why aren’t you using them? Google gives every map listing 10 categories, but it’s rare that I see a dealer take advantage of all of them, or actually use them in the right way. Do a simple search and you’ll see both good examples and bad examples. Wait — I’ll do it for you. “NJ honda dealers” brings me to a map page with 16 different map listings. Come on VIP Honda, step up your game. Honda Universe and Honda of Toms River are at least doing the bare minimum. When you’re in the back end of your Business page, make sure the dealership’s hours are right, there’s some information about the dealership (no sales promotions; users aren’t on your map to be sold), and that you have some nice pictures.

Make sure you are also using a UTM code on the end of your store’s URL. When Google made their changes, they limited the amount of links on Page One that push a user to your website; this change also could have affected the way you are viewing organic traffic in analytics (meaning, a drop in visits). Tagging the URL with a UTM code will filter traffic back into the Organic Channel. You will also have access to a number of measurable engagement metrics within that UTM’s campaign in analytics. Simple, right?

No One Cares About Your Business Name

It’s completely unnecessary to have your business name on every single title and description tag throughout your website. It’s also an extremely lazy strategy—one from which you get from templated SEO. Oh, also, no one cares. If they did, they would have searched for it. Organic search should be seen as “people looking for stuff in a specific location,” not “people looking for a business name.” So, doesn’t it make more sense to tag your website with terms people are using in search and not your name? Keep in mind there are character limits for title tags and meta descriptions, so use them wisely.

So let’s fix it. You have access to most pages on your website, and hopefully, if you’re paying a company to build content for you, you should have access to the tags on these pages as well. We’re talking about your meta tags, meaning your title and description tags. Each page should have unique, custom tags that represent the content on that page. Here’s an idea: use Google to your advantage. Do a search for something relevant to your store and let Google’s auto-populate feature tell you how to tag your website.

Be Relevant, Not Generic

Do you know why “SEO doesn’t work?” It’s because you’re not building anything that has any SEO value. Google wants to show a searcher something relevant, not something that looks like crap and offers a searcher no information (i.e. a templated site). Does your dealership sponsor a charity or a little league team? Brag about it. Has your dealership won awards for customer service? Brag about it.

When you were in the market for a car, did you ever search with a term like “Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram dealer in Gainesville serving Gainesville?” No, you didn’t, so why is this on your website and why do you think people are using these search terms? Furthermore, why do you keep paying someone to consistently create content like this on your site? Oh right, because it’s cheap. You get what you pay for. *insert hand clap emoji here*

Using an example for the above images, I’ll toss out some freebies. “2017 Wrangler” is a perfect example of how you can be writing tons of content on subjects that are relevant to your audience and community. If you’re a dealership in Pennsylvania, pay attention. There’s a really good chance that there’s a bro in your dealership who is all about the Wrangler. Pay him a few bucks and have him write about his favorite area trails (blog 1), his lift kit (blog 2), and why he bought a Wrangler (blog 3). Need more? Create pages that compare the Wrangler to the Xterra (page 1), the Rav4 (page 2), the Tacoma (page 3), and the FJ Cruiser (page4). Still hungry? How about you create a video about how to link a phone to the Wrangler’s radio (video1), how to remove the soft top (video 2), and how to remove the freedom panels (video 3). That’s 10 pieces of content for your website, most of which (videos and blogs) can be shared across Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Can’t handle it? Invest in the right company to do it for you then.

Don’t tell me SEO doesn’t work if you’re not willing to do it the right way.