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SEO & SEM: Stronger Together

Oct. 22 2019 Dealership Tips By Dealer Spike

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While Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) operate in nearly opposite ways, they both serve a common goal – making your dealership website appear higher on search engine results pages (SERPs).

SEM contributes to paid traffic. Through this tool you can promote your brand and message to your target audience through pay-per-click (PPC), display, retargeting, and social media ads. SEO contributes to earned traffic. Through this tool you are building on-site content to attract search engine algorithms, encouraging them to rank your site higher in search results. When used together, these tools can help your dealership achieve the highest level of prominence on SERPs.  

Here are three key ways that SEO and SEM work better together than they do apart:  

  • Leveraging keywords. Best practices in SEO call for a large amount of high-quality, keyword-rich content on your website to match online searches that people in the market for your units are making. Targeting strategy through SEM also focuses on keywords, allowing you to show ads for your dealership to searchers using specific keywords. The types of keywords you use within the content on your site should match the ones you are targeting within your SEM strategy. Coordinated keywords maximize the performance of both SEO and SEM.


  • Alignment of messaging. In addition to keywords, the messaging and content within your SEM ads should match what appears on your website, and you can align this messaging in ways that allow the two channels to support each other. For example, if you are running an ad on lawnmower specials, the message in that ad should match longer-form content on your inventory pages that goes into more detail about lawn care, as well as perhaps blog content about the best lawn mowers for different types of properties. Ideally, your SEM ads and landing pages will align with the messaging and content on your organic website pages.


  • Positive influence between channels. The quality of the content on your site as well as the efficiency of your ad strategy can affect each other’s performance. If clicking on your search engine ads brings searchers to the information they are looking for, they are bound to stay on your site longer and click around to different pages. This activity signals to search engines that your site is a useful resource for searchers and will help your dealership increase its ranking or continue to rank in a high position. The higher your site ranks in organic search, the more likely it is to earn clicks on ads. This high ranking signals to searchers that your site is a credible and trustworthy resource. Implementing cohesive messaging and applying best practices help SEO and SEM influence each other in a positive way to perform at the highest level. Together, these tools help you achieve a holistic digital marketing strategy.

It may seem that if your dealership has the top spot in organic search through SEO, there is no reason to invest in SEM. Or if your ads run at the top of the SERP through SEM, implementing SEO isn’t necessary. But imagine the most ideal scenario for your dealership when a prospect makes an online search for a business like yours. With both SEO and SEM strategies in place, you are promoting a targeted message advertising your dealership at the very top of the SERP as well as appearing in an organic listing that appears right beneath it. Gaining visibility in both places reinforces to prospects that giving their business to your dealership is a good choice. It also shows them that you prioritize your customers by putting effort and investment into both strategies to help customers better find you. Why limit your opportunities for conversions to your site and potential sales? Implement both tools and align strategies to give your business the best chance for success on SERPs.