Expanding your Car Dealership Reach with Google Ads

Online shopping is the new normal for everyone. It’s how people shop for everything. Even unexpected things. Clothes, shoes, appliances – even cars. Car Dealerships need an online presence. That’s how the vast majority of people will find you online, by searching for something they want and seeing who out of every available dealership nearby will have it. If you want to be near the top of their list, you’ll need to make some space for Google Ads.

Formerly AdWords, Google Ads can help drive traffic to your website before anyone else. Here’s a brief breakdown on how it works, step by step.

Basic Research

What you need to know first is how to reach your customers. For this, you will need to know the proper keywords to set up the basis of your ad. Keywords are how people use search engines. For car dealerships, this will include the details of cars that customers are looking to buy. Consider what you offer and make the most popular selections in your lot the leading keywords. Do you specialize in new cars or used? What make and models do you have? What services can you offer?

Something that’s not adjustable is location.

Online car delivery is a thing, but it’s risky and fewer people are doing it. Plus, that might not be a service you offer. Instead, people will search for cars at dealerships within their budget and go to inspect them in person. There’s nothing that pushes a sale like getting a feel behind the wheel. Location targeting makes it so that people near you will see your ad and people far away, out of range to come and sign the papers in person, will not. You can select a range in miles of how far away your ad will be seen, so go small and local or branch out and challenge the dealerships within 100 miles for the top search spot.

Making the Ad

Google ads will display in banners, in apps and on websites. Promoted ads can also be seen at the top of a search page which matches the search engine optimization and keyword configurations unique to that content. You want it to look and sound good. You need a stand out picture, a photo of a car to keep the message straightforward, and convincing sales copy to make people curious to click.

Text ads are made of the following parts: the Headline is the first, main part which users will see before anything. You can have three headlines 30 characters each, just enough for a name or location. Then the display URL, this is the link people will actually click on and should be descriptive but also convincing. Then the Description, which is where most of the information is stored. This is where the copy is written, in 90 characters or less, which will guide customers to your website.

Hosting the Ad

Google Ads for Auto Dealerships

Google hosts and runs the ads you make automatically. However, this is a service. It’s not free. Google automatically puts your ad into a marketplace of sellers who will offer space on websites where your ad can be seen. This is done through a process of bidding where you set the price per click and see when someone will accept it and for how long. Payment is automatic, usually deducted from the payment account tied to the Google account which made or runs the ad. Each time the ad is clicked, money is spent.

This method can be a great boost for new dealerships that need an initial boost of customers, but as the ad gets more and more traction it will end up costing more and more. Limits can be set for the amount that is automatically paid so you never spend more than expected. When the limit is hit and the contract is complete, the ad goes down – but traffic is up, and sales can be made in just the first few weeks.

Ads are dependent on ad rank to get better bids and placements. Higher quality ad copy, matching keywords is needed to rank higher. These are tricky to figure out on the fly, but a professional online marketing expert can make adjustments on the fly to refine the searchability. The end goal is getting on the first page, the initial clickthrough where most customers will go to find the deals they want. Good ads lead to good business.

strategy with Google Ads to set your team up for greater success.

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