Our SEO strategies have delivered astonishing results for major national automotive businesses. Here’s how we did it for them — and what we can do for you.
Here’s the problem with Search Engine Optimisation: the name leads people to think it’s about optimising your website for search engines. It isn’t.
Of course, that’s an easy mistake to make. Not just by clients, by the way; we’ve seen digital marketing experts make that same mistake time and again.
Here’s the truth: search engines aren’t in the business of collecting marketing materials from companies — their goal is to provide quality content to their users so that those users don’t turn to competing search engines. SEO is about optimising your content for searchers, not search engines.
So, what’s this got to do with automotive businesses?
Well, the automotive industry is a diverse place. Businesses that sell cars, supply car parts, sell only second-hand parts, offer panel beating services or repairs, or specialise in repairing specific components like radiators, all fall under the vast umbrella of ‘automotive business’.
Searchers know what they want. But are you the one supplying it? Do they know that?
An autocare SEO strategy can help you meet specific customers' defined needs and turn their queries into sales.
We know that for a fact because, well, we’ve done it. EngineRoom is the trusted SEO agency for major national automotive businesses like Natrad, Sheen and 1800 Salvage. None of them are alike, yet we’ve delivered astonishing results for each of them. Here’s how we did it.
Be specific
People don’t just search for ‘automotive businesses’. They search for ‘radiator repairers’, ‘local panel beaters’, ‘smash repairs insurance’ — they’re specific. Therefore, you need to be specific.
For your automotive business to thrive, your SEO strategy must offer solutions to create or refine your content to meet particular needs. You’ll need engaging pages to offer
- Specific products
- Specific services
- Specific advice
- All tied to specific locations
We use technical SEO details (keywords, backlinks, metadata, etc.) to make sure your content ends up in front of their eyes when they need it. Still, ultimately, we also need to create the content searchers are actually asking for.
Case study | Delivering 1,500% increase in SEO leads for Sheen Group
Sheen is a 50-year-old business. They’re a stalwart of the Australian automotive industry, specialising in smash repairs. Fortunately, experience taught them that to lead the market, you have to adapt to it.
The quality of Sheen’s work was undeniable. But they needed help building their online presence to connect their services with potential customers. They brought us on as their SEO agency.
Our autocare SEO strategy involved designing an entirely new website for them with over 500 pages of new content. We targeted over 8,000 specific search terms across those new pages, which included landing pages, product and service pages, and blog articles.
What was the result? They say a picture is worth a thousand words — well, this one is worth over a thousand new SEO leads per month.
Earn their trust
Searchers don’t care about keyword volume. They don’t know what site architecture is. Your website’s ‘technical score’ is meaningless to them.
Your searchers have jobs to get back to, alternative transport to figure out, credit card limits to stress about… They just need to know that they can trust you to do what you say you can. And trust is tough to earn — and even harder to keep.
You have the expertise and experience to excel at what you do. But an effective SEO strategy can help you compellingly communicate that. Done well, it’ll turn first-time customers into lifelong advocates.
Earning trust through SEO isn’t just about the quality of the written content, but also about those aspects we mentioned above — the ones searchers don’t care about. Nobody’s going to trust a website with unfocused and poorly written content, but they also aren’t going to bother with a website they can’t navigate quickly. They aren’t going to trust a website where half the pages are broken, or that load at a snail’s pace.
Every flaw could be the one detail that turns them off of you. But we can fix that.
Case study | Increasing Natrad’s client leads by 1,000%
Natrad is a 100-year-old business. They’re a stalwart of the Australian automotive— we really attract a lot of legacy businesses, don’t we? Natrad specialises in radiator and car air conditioner repairs, as well as general servicing and parts supply.
Once again, their expertise wasn’t the issue — it was standing out in the digital landscape. They worked with several digital marketing agencies to build out their website, but their agencies let them down time and again. None were able to translate their extraordinary wealth of experience into trust-building content.
And then we pitched ourselves to them. We knew they needed an SEO agency to bring in leads, earn their trust and convert them into sales.
We rebuilt their website, increasing their technical score from 60% to 90% to deliver a responsive and easily navigable experience. We also created a suite of new content to lure specific demographics. Thanks to our tailored autocare SEO strategy, we drove their site’s sessions from 2,000 to over 45,000 per month.
Tell them where you are
You’ve built a responsive, clean website packed with engaging, lead-converting content. But what good is any of it if your clients can’t access it? And we don’t mean digitally, either.
Approximately 46% of Google searches are made with location intent. That means searchers are looking for businesses that service particular areas — states, cities or suburbs.
Your SEO strategy needs to account for locational intent.
The easy way to do that is to load your written content with location-based keywords. Keep saying you’re a ‘Melbourne automotive company’ or a ‘Kew panel beater’. Unfortunately, the easy way is also the most irritating, making for unreadable content that frustrates more than enlightens.
But there are other SEO strategies.
Case study | Earning a 300% increase in domain authority for 1800 Salvage
1800 Salvage is a cash-for-cars business that buys, tows and recycles unwanted roadworthy cars and junkers alike. Their quick service, competitive prices and nationwide availability have earned them a strong reputation. The problem was that their reputation mainly spread through word of mouth.
We knew that with the right autocare SEO strategy, they could connect their proven service with people who wanted it but simply couldn’t find them.
Once they brought us on as their SEO agency, we gave them a complete website overhaul. The two pertinent aspects of that strategy were:
- Detailing their Google Business Profile (GBP). This is the business listing searchers will see on Google Maps. When potential customers look for a ‘scrap car buyer near me’, we wanted 1800 Salvage to pop up immediately.
- Creating localised content. We created dedicated location pages for every major city that they serviced. These pages gave us a greater opportunity to target location-specific keywords and detail how 1800 Salvage can quickly buy and tow cars in metropolitan or regional areas.
Our strategy paid off. Today, 1800 Salvage over 70% of their leads from our location-focused SEO strategies.
Final thoughts
Businesses in the automotive industry are particularly well-placed to benefit from SEO strategies. Whatever section of the industry your business exists within, chances are that you offer specific products and services that inherently require a high degree of expertise to perform.
Your business likely has all the raw materials it needs to build a successful strategy — you just need an industry focused SEO agency to help you do it.
What’s important is that you do not miss the forest for the trees; remember that SEO is about delivering a better user experience, not appeasing an algorithm. Remember that, and your auto-service business will thrive.
