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SEO 101 For Dealers

So I have a few seconds and I figured I would cover H1 tags and what it means in non seo guru terms. You don't just have H1 tags you actually have H1 to H6.

What is H tags?
The <h1> to <h6> tags are used to define HTML headings.

<h1> defines the largest heading and <h6> defines the smallest heading.

What are headings? You should have learned this in school....
Headings are your subject before the body like....

"All About H1 Tags"

Body/Content area

So why is it in brackets above?
Great question. Those brackets make it HTML and tell the search engines to recognize whats in between the <H1></H1> as important. You headline for the content section should have your keyword it there.

One of the most common <H1> tags on a site is "Welcome". Welcome? Yes, and that doesn't do you much good but it reads ok. What if you got creative and put "Welcome to My Dealer".

I will just H1 all my content if google thinks it's important. Right?
WRONG!!! Keep your H1 tags to a minimum. Thats why they have H2 tags. Your text size will be smaller and so will your relevance. H1 is your main featured headline. Let me see if I can find an example.

headerexample.png


In a nutshell H1 tags are often miss used and abused on auto dealer sites for excessive use. Remember google is trying to fight spam hard and they consider spam sits with excessive keywords stuffed on the site and a lot of H1 tags. Stay away from these two things so you don't look like spam to google.

Most the time you will be working on a CMS that gives you an option for a title to your section of content. That title is probably an H tag of some sort. H1 or H2 or whatever.

You can check your dealership website by
1) right click your website
2) view source
3) left click on the page
4) hit control and F at the same time
5) type H1 in the search bar
6) Its different for different browsers but hit next so you can see all the different H1 tags if multiple

Thats my short little humble lesson. If some Gurus have something to say and want to add to this please feel free. I am only here to give basic knowledge so keep it simple but it is fair to say I may have missed something.

Have a blessed night dealer world!
 
Ryan, I am completely off the SEO wagon (figured out I didn't know anything) so rather than devoting any time implementing tactics I am placing it on a learning level. That last piece was right on my level and I did learn alot. Give us some more!!!
 
I've been researching this industry for about a week straight. I've only found a few dealer sites that have been listed in DMOZ and Yahoo! directories. This my friends is SEO 101! The links you gain back from these 2 directories are more powerful than all the niche directories you listed in combined.

Am I missing something? Is it that difficult to get for a dealer to get listed in these directories?

(Please note that you should wait until your site is set in it's ways before trying to get listed. Don't submit a brand new site that is going to be constantly changing it's format. I would personally recommend your site be at least 6 months old prior to submitting for a review by these directories, but I have seen sites that were listed as young as 2 months old gain acceptance.)
 
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I've been researching this industry for about a week straight. I've only found a few dealer sites that have been listed in DMOZ and Yahoo! directories. This my friends is SEO 101! The links you gain back from these 2 directories are more powerful than all the niche directories you listed in combined.

Am I missing something? Is it that difficult to get for a dealer to get listed in these directories?

(Please note that you should wait until your site is set in it's ways before trying to get listed. Don't submit a brand new site that is going to be constantly changing it's format. I would personally recommend your site be at least 6 months old prior to submitting for a review by these directories, but I have seen sites that were listed as young as 2 months old gain acceptance.)

You could write a book on how to properly submit your site to dmoz. I have tried everything imaginable and there seems not to be any reasoning to the madness. I think your best bet is to work for dmoz reviewing and accepting submissions. Some sites get in and others do not. No feedback!

As for yahoo...I don't find good value in paying $300 for a link.

Dealers before you go do this make sure you read the instructions carefully.
 
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Touche! Nice rebuttal.

I think I remember reading a book 3-4 years ago on the subject. If I didn't I know I read enough articles and such to create a book. (Thus I kinda posted the small disclaimer at the end of the post.) Maybe the industry could plant a reviewer... Not Seriously!

I also see your point on Yahoo! as the are not links from the SEO gods.

And please
Dealers before you go do this make sure you read the instructions carefully.

Just wanted to get some thoughts on the subject.
 
I've been researching this industry for about a week straight. I've only found a few dealer sites that have been listed in DMOZ and Yahoo! directories. This my friends is SEO 101! The links you gain back from these 2 directories are more powerful than all the niche directories you listed in combined.

Am I missing something? Is it that difficult to get for a dealer to get listed in these directories?

(Please note that you should wait until your site is set in it's ways before trying to get listed. Don't submit a brand new site that is going to be constantly changing it's format. I would personally recommend your site be at least 6 months old prior to submitting for a review by these directories, but I have seen sites that were listed as young as 2 months old gain acceptance.)

I find it almost impossible to get listed on DMOZ anymore. IMO it's nothing more than another link. It's a good link and go for the submission if you have the time (only a few minutes) but I wouldn't place a ton of importance on it anymore.

I found this thread awhile back when someone else asked me this same question.
Is DMOZ still relevant in 2009?

I believe that if you have a NEW site or a site with not traction, I would suggest paying the 299.99 for the Yahoo Directory listing.

I once had a site that was sandboxed and usually it can take awhile for your site to crawl out of there. I registered and paid up for a Yahoo listing and the site was out of the sandbox within a few days. From my experience, it usually takes longer than that. Coincidence..possibly? Either way, it's still known as one of the more weighted directories.

Here is a link to an updated post over on the blog for more listings and reference..
Submit Your Dealership Website to these TOP Online Directories
 
Touche! Nice rebuttal.

I think I remember reading a book 3-4 years ago on the subject. If I didn't I know I read enough articles and such to create a book. (Thus I kinda posted the small disclaimer at the end of the post.) Maybe the industry could plant a reviewer... Not Seriously!

I also see your point on Yahoo! as the are not links from the SEO gods.

And please

Just wanted to get some thoughts on the subject.

Tony,

I spend about 3 hours every morning before work reading about and studying search. I am familiar with these directories but I would not put them at the top of the list. Years ago maybe, but not now. Yes, yahoo directory is a great directory but I don't believe you should do that near the top of your marketing campaign. Dealers lack the link building process. Links are too time consuming for dealers without a marketing manager.
 
Since Google is not using the DMOZ description in the search results it has lost some of its juice... but in my IMO still a important directory... and if you submit to a category edited by say... someone like me... you will get approved... and since the crash of DMOZ two years ago... there are not that many submissions... so chances of getting approved in regional are good.

For Yahoo... I hardly use it... I would do business.com submit before that... and free JoeAnt and Skafee submits. For more directories checkout my list...
 
Since Google is not using the DMOZ description in the search results it has lost some of its juice... but in my IMO still a important directory... and if you submit to a category edited by say... someone like me... you will get approved... and since the crash of DMOZ two years ago... there are not that many submissions... so chances of getting approved in regional are good.

For Yahoo... I hardly use it... I would do business.com submit before that... and free JoeAnt and Skafee submits. For more directories checkout my list...

I submitted VinSolutions to DMOZ months ago and they never did post it... I kind of wonder if it has died off.