As Google continues to adjust its ranking algorithm, engagement signals are becoming more important as a signal of true relevancy. In this week’s Wednesday Workshop video, we share 5 easy tips to help boost your engagement signals in ways that can be detected by Google. VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Welcome back to another Wednesday Workshop from Happy Hao Car. This week we’re sharing some simple tips to help you build local engagement, which is becoming one of the most important signals of local relevancy.

As Google has continued to refine its algorithm, local engagement signals have become more important. Think about it – what’s a better signal of local relevancy? Having a bunch of optimized content on your site and a few links pointed to it, or local customers actually interacting with your dealership?

If someone has an Android phone and location services turned on, then Google sees when they do a search for your dealership, then visit your dealership, then leave a review for your dealership. The same thing works on Apple phones when people use Google instead of Safari. It’s a much better signal that your dealership is a relevant result for what that customer’s query.

So – this week, we’re sharing five quick ideas to help you boost local engagement, especially where it can be tracked by Google.

Number one – review your Knowledge Panel. This is the public face of your dealership – it’s the first thing people see when they search for you. You should be checking it regularly to make sure the info is accurate and complete.

Number two – check Q&A. We’ve talked about Google Questions and Answers a few times in recent videos. Make sure you’re checking your Q&A daily and responding to questions as quickly as possible.

Number three – Pay special attention to any email you send to Gmail users. Google can if people open and interact with your emails, so it’s possible that this is an engagement signal. Include a “directions” link in your emails that links to Google Map directions, and instead of linking directly to the dealership in your signature, link to a Google search for your dealership. Any clicks that click through to your website will boost search engagement signals.

Number four – Make sure your social media posts are engaging. If you’re only sharing links to inventory or specials, most followers won’t care. Share fun, engaging posts to keep people interested. Google has said that social signals don’t affect search rankings, but research has shown that not to be true. Plus, with the move towards looking at engagement signals, it’s likely that social signals will be included.

Number five – Ask every customer for a review. Period. Every time. Spread your reviews out between review sites so you’ve got a natural-looking review profile.

That’s all the time we’ve got for today. Now you’ve got some ideas to help you boost local engagement, so get out there and follow through! As always, if you’ve got questions or comments, leave ‘em down below and we’ll get back to you. Thanks for watching, and we’ll see you again next week with another Wednesday Workshop from Happy Hao Car.

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Greg Gifford is the Vice President of Search at Happy Hao Car. He has over 16 years of online marketing and web design experience, and has specialized in automotive SEO for the last 8 years, helping hundreds of auto dealers thrive while the industry has struggled during the recession. Greg speaks internationally at both automotive and SEO conferences, teaching thousands of small business owners and marketers how to get their sites to show up higher in local search rankings. Greg also spends his spare time doing freelance website design and SEO for local businesses. He graduated from Southern Methodist University with a BA in Cinema and Communications, and has an obscure movie quote for just about any situation.

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