Why is SEO Important to the Powersports Website and How Can You Improve It?

SEO, also known as Search Engine Optimization, is the practice of writing web content so it ranks well on search engines such as Google. Having good SEO helps you rank above your competition, resulting in more sales from online traffic. Great SEO is essential for local retail businesses because customers that are new to the area will usually use Google to find the products and services they’re looking for.

WHAT ARE KEYWORDS AND KEYPHRASES?

Keywords are the terms that are used the most in your industry, and they are usually nouns. Aside from keywords, there are also key phrases. Keyphrases are usually questions. They are the phrases that are most often searched on Google by people who are looking for a business like yours.

HOW DO I MAKE A KEYWORD LIST?

• Start by listing all of the types of vehicles you sell.
• Next, list the dealers you do business with.
• After that, you can start listing specific terms that describe the features your vehicles have - like “horsepower”.
• Next, list the name of the area that your business is, and any surrounding areas that your customers would normally come from.

Those are the essentials! After that, there’s some less important keywords you can use - like nearby hunting grounds, trails, or parks and you can also lists the different kinds of hobbies, conventions, shows, and sports that your customers may be involved in.

HOW DO I MAKE A LIST OF KEYPHRASES?

Think of your keyphrases as being questions for an FAQ page. These phrases should represent the questions that are most important to your customers, and the ones they will ask the most. The best way to find out which questions are the most popular is to go to Google and start typing the beginning of a question in your search browser, using keywords for your business, and then see what Google’s auto-suggest feature comes up with.

Here’s an example: Go to Google and type in “How do boats”. Obviously, that’s not a complete question...so Google will make suggestions for you as it tries to anticipate which question you meant to ask. Read those suggestions as your top keyphrase clues, because Google only gives you the ones that are searched the most!

TOP 5 TIPS FOR BOOSTING SEO IN THE POWERSPORTS INDUSTRY

1. Include an “FAQ” page.

This is a great place to list all of the questions you found when you made your keyphrase list. Now, you can answer these questions on your website with short, concise answers. If you do well with your SEO, Google may even use your FAQ as part of it’s “Google Answers” feature. This feature is a perk Google offers - it allows Google to answer someone’s question at the very
top of the page when they search. If Google uses your website to write it’s Google Answer - that’s excellent for your SEO! That means you’ve achieved the highest rank on Google!

2. Include a “Definitions” page.

Write a list of terms that are related to your business, and define each one. This is a really easy way to include a lot of valuable keywords on your website.

3. Name your photos using keywords. Instead of spaces, use a hyphen.

For example: A photo of a jet ski could be named “Jet-Ski-For-Sale”. Naming your photos like this helps Google understand what kind of images you have. That will help you rank in Google’s regular search results, but it also helps you rank on Google’s image search as well.

4. Use action-packed headings. 

Your headings should have keywords that describe what you’re about to write. To see check how well-written your heading is, you can do the “heading test”. Simply take out all of the words in the heading that aren’t nouns and adjectives. If you can still read the heading and understand what the topic is, it’s a good heading. If not, add more keywords.

5. Find your keyword “specialty”.

This is a little-known, but extremely valuable SEO technique. Most of your competitors will be using the same keywords that you’re using. So trying to compete with them for Google rankings can be difficult and expensive. The trick to competing with other businesses is to choose a topic that is related to your business, but not strictly essential to it, to write about.

Here’s an example: If you’re a retailer for motorcycles and you’re looking to rank highly on Google, but you happen to have a lot of competition, try including a couple of blog posts that discuss the best tires to use on motorcycles. Tires, themselves, aren’t a topic that most motorsports retailers would think to write about. However, if a potential customer Google searches for “Motorcycle tires”, you will rank more highly than your competition, because you actually included some of that information on your website!

SEO is important for finding new customers and standing out against your competition. Although it can be expensive, using some very specific techniques like the ones mentioned above can help you save quite a bit of money when it comes to building your dealership's Google rank.