4 Reasons Your Dealership Should Be Listed on Local Directory Websites
I can still remember a time when I had to find a phonebook and turn to the yellow pages if I wanted to discover what local businesses were in my community and how to contact them. Of course, with the rise of the Internet, laptops, and smartphones, the days of thumbing through the phonebook are largely gone. However, it would be a mistake to think that directories of local businesses are no longer a relevant way to be found by consumers. In fact, local directory websites, such as Google My Business, Facebook, Yelp, Yellowpages, and Foursquare, provide some of the most high-quality leads out there. That’s why we’re taking a look at 4 Reasons Your Dealership Should Be Listed on Local Directory Websites:
First, by making sure your dealership has a presence on business listing and review websites, you are establishing another strategic method of increasing consumer awareness of your dealership. Among all search traffic, 35% are users who are looking for local goods, services, or businesses1. On Google alone there are approximately 5.6 billion searches performed everyday2, which means there are almost 2 billion local searches each day – and again, that’s just Google. Local searches are a huge market segment, and by placing your dealership on local directory websites, you help expand awareness of your dealership to those many prospects. This is especially true if you list your business on Google My Business, which can place your dealership in Google Maps and potentially in the search results sidebar3.
Second, ensuring your dealership is on business listing and review websites means you will generate greater website traffic from high-quality leads. Consumers on directory websites are specifically searching for local businesses, meaning that they are intentional shoppers who are further down the sales funnel. Consider that 53% of local searchers physically enter a business within 48 hours of their search and 14% are looking to immediately visit1. Contact is even more prevalent among those searching on a mobile device, among whom 75% enter a business within 24 hours, and 30% of those visits result in a purchase4. By connecting with driven, in-market consumers, you put yourself in a strategic position to generate more leads and sell more inventory.
Third, placing your dealership on local directory websites enhances your local SEO score, which in turn further increases your exposure and access to those in-market leads. When your information on business listing and review websites is accurate and up-to-date, your dealership will have an increased likelihood of showing up in local search engine results. These effects are especially amplified when your entries on local directory websites include a backlink to your dealership website5.
Finally, local directory websites help you keep up with your local competition and contend for a greater share of the local market. So often, the first to a new market are able to gain the lion’s share of available consumers, which means you should have a sense of urgency in your efforts to tap into the local directory market. Yet, even if your other local dealerships have beaten you to the punch, you still need to get in there and compete for customers. After all, the only business that has zero shot of gaining consumers in a market is the business that never shows up. Not having your dealership listed on business listing and review websites forfeits that advantage to competitors who are sure to be there already or one day soon.
If you are not currently listing your dealership on local directory websites – or if you have those listings, but struggle to keep them updated and worry that unattended listings with inaccurate information could turn off potential customers – let us know if we can help. We’re able to create and maintain entries about your dealership on local business listing and review websites for you, extending your online presence, ensuring consumers always have your most up-to-date contact information, and helping you generate more high-quality leads. In the next few months, we’ll also be rolling out reputation management and customer review solutions, so you can also let us know if you’d be interested in those products once they are available!
