Automobile: Why Engage in Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

For several years, the automotive sector has been undergoing significant changes, marked by the emergence of electric cars, the digitization of services, and increased competition from new players such as Chinese manufacturers or European pure players in the sale of used vehicles.

To stand out and attract customers, manufacturers and distributors must optimize their online presence and visibility on search engines. Therefore, the automotive sector must consider SEO in its digital strategy by having a high-performance website, producing quality content, using the right keywords, optimizing technical aspects, and enhancing popularity.

SEO is a crucial lever for differentiating from the competition and acquiring new customers. Through this article, you will discover the full significance of an SEO strategy for the automotive sales sector.

What is SEO?

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is the most important but also one of the most complex traffic acquisition strategies to implement. However, once in place, it requires virtually no monetary investment, only manpower and time, and the benefits to a website are excellent and enduring.

SEO is initially structured around three pillars, but a fourth has emerged in recent years:

1. Technical Aspect

   The technical pillar of SEO concerns the entire internal structure of a site, its foundations, on which we can base a sustainable SEO strategy. In essence, it involves optimizing the site to facilitate its understanding (including markup) by a search engine like Google and its ability to display a site's pages in the first results (crawlability and indexability).

2. Semantic Aspect

   The semantic pillar of SEO corresponds to the entire editorial part. It is the heart, the fuel of your website. Quality, relevance, authenticity, and targeting of your web content are essential for an effective SEO strategy. This key pillar is closely scrutinized by Google, which frequently makes changes to its positioning algorithm to provide the best possible answer to a user. It's important to stay updated on these changes to maintain or anticipate performance declines.

3. Popularity Aspect

   In SEO, the popularity of a site is measured by the quality and quantity of inbound links (commonly called backlinks) to your site. This is where linking, whether internal or external, comes into play. These links boost your visibility on the web.

4. User Experience (UX) Aspect

   Google aims to provide its users with the best experience, primarily through the choice of pages displayed in search results. If a page responds positively to the user with simple and clear navigation, as well as fast loading, Google tends to favor such a site over another that does not satisfy the user. This is especially crucial to avoid pogo-sticking, which can have a negative impact on SEO.

SEO Pillar: What is the Technical Aspect?

The technical pillar of SEO concerns the entire internal structure of a site, its foundations, on which we can base a sustainable SEO strategy. In essence, it involves optimizing the site to facilitate its understanding (including markup) by a search engine like Google and its ability to display a site's pages in the first results (crawlability and indexability).

SEO Pillar: What is the Semantic Aspect?

The semantic pillar of SEO corresponds to the entire editorial part. It is the heart, the fuel of your website. Quality, relevance, authenticity, and targeting of your web content are essential for an effective SEO strategy. This key pillar is closely scrutinized by Google, which frequently makes changes to its positioning algorithm to provide the best possible answer to a user. It's important to stay updated on these changes to maintain or anticipate performance declines.

SEO Pillar: What is the Popularity Aspect?

In SEO, the popularity of a site is measured by the quality and quantity of inbound links (commonly called backlinks) to your site. This is where linking, whether internal or external, comes into play. These links boost your visibility on the web.

SEO Pillar: What is the User Experience (UX) Aspect?

Google aims to provide its users with the best experience, primarily through the choice of pages displayed in search results. If a page responds positively to the user with simple and clear navigation, as well as fast loading, Google tends to favor such a site over another that does not satisfy the user. This is especially crucial to avoid pogo-sticking, which can have a negative impact on SEO.

Why Does the Automotive Sector Need SEO?

As we mentioned, the purchasing habits of buyers of new and used vehicles have evolved rapidly in the past three years. Every year, the impact of digital marketing on car purchases is significantly increasing, and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is becoming an essential acquisition lever for distributors and manufacturers.

Selling Cars Online and Search Engines

In France, a new trend is emerging under the impetus of manufacturers: the online sale of new cars. Today, in France, 7% of new car sales are made online. This figure is 14% in Germany and 19% in Great Britain, suggesting an increase for the French market in the coming years.

However, to sell a car online, or at least to consider a brand or model, visibility is crucial, and search engines such as Google are the ideal place. Search engines are considered the best source of influence in the purchase of a new or used car. Nevertheless, in SEO, being visible on the first page is not always enough. It is essential to aim higher and be visible in the top three results because 75% of clicks occur there.

Digital Usage in Car Purchases

Depending on the type of car purchased and the context, the use of digital tools is not equivalent. In general, 90% of buyers of new or used vehicles have used digital tools during their buying journey, whether to gather information about a brand, a model, prices, reviews, options, etc. This figure increases when the car is electric or hybrid (93%), for a first purchase (93%), or even 100% if the buyer is looking for a premium car with more technologies and more questions.

SEO is an excellent tool to capture the attention of these users by offering them relevant and quality content that addresses their needs and questions. This is especially true today with the integration of generative AI and the likely arrival of what is called the Search Generative Experience (SGE), which should make relevant and quality content even more strategic than today.

While one might think this concerns a younger target, it is not the case, as 81% of buyers who used digital tools during their buying journey are over 45 years old, corresponding to the core range of many manufacturers or distributors.

Automobile and Local SEO

Although digital, especially search engines via SEO, is now a cornerstone of car sales, visiting the dealership remains a crucial event. We deliberately use the term "event" because the buyer's decision now happens in one visit, compared to three just a few years ago. 60% of mobile searches are related to location. With a site technically optimized for SEO and mobile, organic search allows you to reach users looking for a dealer, garage, after-sales service, etc., near them, while eliminating the gap between digital and physical.

Finally, as with the latest cars, voice searches are booming, and SEO allows you to adapt to this change in user behavior by using conversational keywords and answering frequently asked questions. This helps position yourself on voice queries, which are often longer and more precise than written queries.