Dealers often invest ample time in Website aesthetics but ignore optimization. It’s great to have a good-looking Website, but it means nothing if no one ever sees it. Search engine optimization (SEO) is all about making sure that your dealership’s Website gets noticed.

We all know how a search engine works. Type in your keyword(s), press the button, and the search engine suggests two lists of Websites that can help you. One list of links is "natural," meaning that the search engine doesn't require a payment to list these Websites. Alongside the "natural" results is a list of advertisements. Since consumers are usually more likely to click on the natural results versus the advertisements, and since the natural results don't have a direct cost, dealers really want to be listed as high on the natural list as possible.

Here are the steps for optimizing your dealership's Website for search engines:

1) Get the structure under control. Just like a disorganized lot discourages drive-in visitors, a poorly structured Website discourages the search engines. A good Website structure starts with clean, human-readable URLs and descriptive meta and title tags. Traditional HTML hierarchy that uses header tags and bold text will also help search engines "read" your site. You should also make use of the sitemap XML standard as much as possible. If you don't know what any of these things are, don't worry—your Web person does. If you don't have a Web person, any number of SEO consultants can help you.

2) Come up with a keyword strategy. Decide which keywords you want the search engines to associate with your Website. If you sell Acuras in Anchorage, "Anchorage Acura" and "Alaska Acura" might be good keywords to target. Your SEO consultant can conduct some keyword research for you to help you identify the best terms.

3) Develop onsite links. Onsite links are a great way to show the search engines which pages of your Website you want to be associated with certain keywords. For example, if you link to your dealership's service department page with the anchor text "Milwaukee Mercury repair," you're telling the search engines to associate the keyword "Milwaukee Mercury repair" with your dealership's service department.

4) Develop offsite links. Offsite links (links to your Website from other, independent Websites) come in all shapes and sizes and there are literally dozens of strategies for developing them. It's important to remember that offsite links are absolutely crucial to your long-term success. Steps 1 through 3 might be enough to put you ahead of your competitors in the short term, but the long-term winners will understand that offsite links are best way to boost a Website's search engine presence. SEO press releases, submission to quality directories, and article syndication are tried-and-true tactics that build offsite links at a relatively low cost.

5) Build more offsite links. Every ad, every press release, every job posting, etc. should all be used to link to your dealership Website.

As the industry moves forward, more dealerships will begin to recognize the importance of good Website structure and links for SEO. Just like you can't afford to ignore your front line, you can't afford to ignore your dealership's SEO strategy.

Jason Lancaster is an auto industry veteran and Internet marketing expert. As founder of Spork Marketing, he now helps dealers nationwide to increase visibility and sales. He can be reached at www.sporkmarketing.com.

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