Articles: Marketing & Sales

Designing a Search Friendly Website

Dave LaLonde is Senior Vice President and Search Engine Optimizer for Auto Credit Express. The ACE Group is a special finance total solutions firm offering their dealership partners entry level and advanced sub prime training, an easy to use online software, and an expert auto sales lead system.

Web servers have traffic logs that record the actions of every visitor to the site. If you analyze the logs you should be able to identify two distinct types of visitors, those that visit your site only a few times and a small handful that return over and over again. Those that visit once, or a few times, are your web surfing customers. Most website designs focus on satisfying these visitors with pleasing visual displays, pertinent information, and an attractive call to action. The other small group of frequent visitors are search engine "spiders" and they return often, hungry for new content. The highest ranking sites place a strong emphasis on making their site "spider friendly".

Site Navigation

Most car dealer websites follow a top down architecture. In other words, from the home page a visitor chooses a main section such as New Cars, Used Cars, or Auto Finance to navigate further into the website. Once they visit one of the main sections they can navigate to other sub-pages below the main section. Rarely, however, can the visitor jump to related content in other sections of the dealer's website. If a visitor has to use the BACK button to navigate to other portions of your site, chances are they will leave your site and visit a more user friendly site.

Search Engines Emulate Human Behavior

Search engine spiders operate the same way. They most likely enter your site from the home page then select another link to follow. On the resulting page the spider chooses another link to follow until they hit the end of the road. At that point, they will leave your site and seek out a more user friendly site.

Website in a Box

Many web design companies offer dealers the website in a box approach. All they have to do is add the dealer's contact information and inventory and voila, the dealer has a website. These pre-fabricated sites almost always use the top down approach described above and most assume that the home page is the only doorway to the website. Furthermore, the website in a box approach also assumes that each page in the website's subordinate hierarchy is as important as other pages at the same level. For example, Ford stores may have a webpage dedicated to Explorers and another page at the same hierarchy dedicated to Crown Victorias.

Some Pages are More Important than Others

Most Ford stores, however, would rather have traffic directed to the Explorer page than they would the Crown Victoria page, yet the message the search spider receives from the website in a box design is that each of these webpages are equally important. The spider has no idea, nor does it care, that the Explorer is a top selling model and the Crown Victoria is on the endangered species list.

A large amount of car dealer websites that I have visited display their new and used car inventory immediately when the user clicks "View Inventory" or a similar link from the home page. From the vehicle inventory page the visitor can choose a specific vehicle and view its details on another webpage. This practice will get your specific vehicle pages listed on the search engines. The problem, however, is that once you sell the specific vehicle the page goes away.

For example, let's say you had a 2003 Ford Explorer listed on your site and your store is in Detroit. A person visits one of the search engines and searches for 2003 Used Ford Explorer Detroit. Assume your page is well designed and has been around long enough to get listed on the top ten results page. The person clicks your listing and is presented with the ever popular 404 Error; "The Page Cannot Be Found" because the vehicle was sold and the webpage was removed.

Worse yet, other sites have the visitor select filter criteria and click a button to view the vehicle listings. This may make for a great user experience but it does not satisfy the search engines. Search engine spiders cannot select items from a list and click a button to see what is behind the door. Any page on your site that can only be viewed after you select filter criteria and click a button, will never be explored by the search engine spider.

Link from "Low Value" Pages to Important Pages

Let the search engine know which pages on your site are most important. This is accomplished by placing additional links within your site to the important pages. If, for example, the search spider found ten links on your site that led to the Explorer page and only one link that led to the Crown Victoria page it would view the Explorer page as more important.

Review your site and determine which pages have low value. For example, I would ensure the Crown Victoria webpage contained links to top selling models. On the other hand, none of the top selling models at the same hierarchy would link to the Crown Victoria page. Other "Low Value" pages include the Terms of Use, About Us, and Testimonial pages, as well as, original content such as press releases and community service pages. Place a few subtle links at the bottom of each of these pages to your important pages. For Example:

Did you find what you were looking for? If not try one of these links:

• 2006 Ford Explorer
• Used Ford Trucks
• Easy Auto Financing

Or a simple most popular list on these pages works as well.

Most Popular Website Destinations

• 2006 Ford Explorer
• Used Ford Trucks
• Easy Auto Financing

Create Keyword Specific Doorway Pages for your Inventory

It is true that you can avoid the 404 error by manipulating your server settings. On the other hand if you created keyword specific doorway pages that led to your inventory you would be much better served. Doorway pages are not deleted after a vehicle is sold. The doorway pages would contain pre-filtered listing of your inventory. For example you could make a doorway page for Used Fords, Used Trucks, Used Explorers, or any other model or body style that is important to you.

Cross Link between Similar New and Used Listings

To break up the top down design you should cross link between related content. For example, from the 2006 Explorer page place a link to the Used Explorer page and vise versa. A lateral navigation structure will help keep visitors and spiders in your site longer.

Use an FAQ Webpage to Promote Important Pages

An FAQ page is a fantastic place to promote important areas of your website. Don't just list question and answers. Place a text link in the answer to direct the visitor and spider to your important pages.

Utilize a Website Map

Another fantastic place to promote important areas of your website is the Site Map. From the site map you should link to all your doorway pages as well as important pages that lie deep within your site.

Think Outside the Box

If you use a pre-fabricated website solution, chances are your results will mimic the scores of other dealers that are using the same design. If you want to stand ahead of your competition on the search engine result pages you will have to think outside the box. Add original content and navigation structure to your website and don't forget that this is a continuous process. Spiders love fresh content and new links to follow and they will reward your site for original, relevant material. Spiders don't buy cars, but they are frequent visitors to your website and if you feed them, they will bring you plenty of car buyers.

Published in World of Special Finance Magazine
May Issue 2006