Seasonal Trends
Visibility Vs Authority
Social Influence
Paid Media News
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Brand's Ranked
Report Updated October 2024
"I am massively grateful for this report and there aren't many other useful ones I have found for online flower services."
- Arena Flowers, Data Scientist, Aaron Grove
"Really impressed with the work done behind the research, really well done to the team and Salience"
- Funding Options, , Head of Organic, Sonia Morrison
"The report was very interesting as has been the case in previous years."
- BOX, Marketing Manager, Mike Hart
Every year, we release our Salience Index Report, exploring how different industries are performing in marketing and SEO. This report opens up the hood on the car dealership sector, revealing which brands are on the SEO podium this year, keyword opportunities, trends, social brand reach and reviews.
The report contains insider information to help put your brand in the driver’s seat, providing invaluable insight into how the market is performing and where your brand ranks against competitors.
Ready to unlock your potential in the car dealership market? Download the free Car Dealership Report for free, or keep reading for a sneak peek.
Car Dealership Market Leaders
The car dealership market has remained quite consistent over the past year, with only a slight increase of 1%.
Performing particularly well, these are the top 10 brands that are leading the market:
1. autotrader.co.uk
2. theaa.com
3. carwow.co.uk
4. rac.co.uk
5. motors.co.uk
6. arnoldclark.com
7. parkers.co.uk
8. cargurus.co.uk
9. motability.co.uk
10. evanshalshaw.com
Car Dealership Visibility Wins & Losses
Some brands have accelerated their visibility within the industry, experiencing the most growth in this category over the past year. Our top 5 winners are:
1. pistonheads.com (76%)
2. cinch.co.uk (56%)
3. motorpoint.co.uk (35%)
4. cargurus.co.uk (23%)
5. autotrader.co.uk (18%)
Congratulations to all of the brands that have grown in visibility this year! It’s clear that these are the brands leading the way in SEO.
However, of course, as well as those who have increased, some brands have decreased in visibility
YoY. The top 5 losses in the Car Dealership Market Report are:
1. heycar.com (-79%)
2. cazoo.co.uk (-76%)
3. evanshalshaw.com (-32%)
4. parkers.co.uk (-27%)
5. motors.co.uk (-19%)
If you have dropped in visibility this year, don’t worry. This information can be reviewed and learned from to help you increase in the future.
Wondering how your brand ranks on the visibility table? Download our free Car Dealership Market Report to see where you stack up.
Car Dealership Keywords & Trends
If you have seen a U-turn in your visibility this year, or you’re looking to increase your visibility growth even further, this section is for you. We’ve identified the keywords and trends that can help you boost your brand. Keywords can be split into two categories: high-competition and opportunity.
High-competition keywords are high in monthly search volume and, therefore, harder to rank for in SERPs as every brand targets them. Some examples in the report include: ‘electric cars’ with 48,000 SV and a competitiveness rating of 62, followed by ‘used cars for sale’, and ‘second hand cars’.
Opportunity keywords are those that are also high in monthly search volume but low in competitiveness, making them easier to rank high for. Some examples in our car dealership report include, ‘cars for sale’ with 102,000 SV and 13 competitiveness, followed by ‘sell my car’ and ‘best hybrid cars’.
Moving on to trends, which can be split into emerging and declining, and product, some of the key emerging product trends within the car dealerships sector this year are ‘used car’, ‘sell my car’ and ‘auto dealers near me’.
If you want to go up a gear and elevate your SEO strategy this year, download our free car dealership market report for more top-ranking keywords and trends.
Social Media & Brand Reach
Social media and brand reach are rapidly growing in importance in the world of SEO. They help boost brand awareness, visibility, and consequently, conversions. We combined the two to give each brand an ‘owned social score’, measuring its social media success.
Leading the way in the social landscape, carwow.co.uk is miles ahead with an owned social score of 2428 and over 2,037,800 followers across social channels. Their secret? They utilise high-quality assets and expert information and tips to keep users engaged and interested.
In terms of brand searches, the household name autotrader.co.uk is in the lead, with an impressive 6,120,000 brand searches per month, highlighting their position as a well-known and trusted brand in the industry.
Interested to see how your social media strategy is performing compared to the rest of the car dealership market? Download our free report today.
Trustworthy Car Dealership Sites
With E-E-A-T both important to users and a key ranking factor for Google, trustworthiness is vital for SEO performance.
Reviews are a great way to demonstrate that your brand is trustworthy and reliable. They can be signposted across your website at multiple stages along the customer journey and add a respected human element to your content.
In our car dealership market report, we analysed reviews submitted on Trust Pilot for all brands in the report.
Here are the top 10 brands with the best online reputation:
1. arnoldclark.com
2. autotrader.co.uk
3. sytner.co.uk
4. theaa.com
5. evanshalshaw.com
6. bigmotoringworld.co.uk
7. carwow.co.uk
8. rac.co.uk
9. cazoo.co.uk
10. trustford.co.uk
The Fastest Car Dealership Sites
Speed is vital not just for car dealerships but for all websites. If your website is slow, Google may lower your rankings, decreasing visibility. Keeping your site pages quick and optimised for both desktop and mobile creates a fast and, therefore, better user experience, leading to higher conversion rates.
The fastest car dealership websites are:
1. threebestrated.co.uk
2. arnoldclark.com
3. theaa.com
4. dicklovett.co.uk
5. exchangeandmart.co.uk
6. cazoo.co.uk
7. pentagon-group.co.uk
8. autovillage.co.uk
9. jardinemotors.co.uk
10. usedcars.bmw.co.uk
Download Our Free Car Dealerships Report
Keen to find out where your brand ranks against your competitors? Or want our SEO mechanics to give your site a full service in rankings, keywords and trends?
Download our free Car Dealership Market Report direct to your inbox, for free, today!
If you don’t see your brand, don’t worry! Our data includes all the brands in the sector, but we’d be here all day if we included them all in our report. Just get in touch for a personalised report.
If you want to chat SEO, want a free strategy audit, or have any questions, get in touch today, we’d love to hear from you!
