A recent study undertaken by NetMedia 360 highlighted significant differences in organic traffic over various time periods when a dealership implemented a comprehensive SEO and content strategy. Now we look at the impact of these strategies on a regional basis.
To understand the impact of content on search rankings, NetMedia 360 analyzed organic traffic changes for dealerships over the last 3 or 6 months depending on how long the dealer has implemented a content and SEO strategy. This content included vehicle reviews on models sold by the dealership, comparisons with competitor models, industry news, articles on safety and connectivity technology, and articles on upcoming models sold by the dealership. Each article was unique and written exclusively for the dealership and had at least 300 words. The articles were published at roughly the same time every month.
This data was compared with organic traffic for 100 dealership websites across Canada that have no content strategy or that have staggered content published every few months. See the results of the complete dealership SEO study here.
We then broke down each dealership in the study by region. Every region in Canada were included in the study, but certain rural areas or provinces didn’t have enough data to effectively measure on a regional basis.
That said, we were able to extract sufficient data to compare dealerships in Ontario, British Columbia, and Quebec as well as compare dealerships in the greater Vancouver, Montreal, and Toronto areas. We were also able to extract data and pool dealerships in Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. Here are the results.
Changes in Organic Traffic
| Content | No Content | Difference | |
| Ontario | 8.55 % | -15.95 % | +24.5 % |
| British Columbia | -0.31 % | -8.74 % | +8.44 % |
| Quebec | -8.43 % | -15.96 % | +7.52 % |
| Prairies | -0.87 % | -1.16 % | +0.29 % |
| Vancouver Area | 0.69 % | -11.27 % | +11.96 % |
| Toronto Area | 9.55 % | -15.03 % | +24.58 % |
| Montreal Area | -3.34 % | -15.10 % | +18.44 % |
Results Overview
- Dealerships with a regular, constant SEO strategy involving unique content published monthly located in Ontario increased their organic traffic by 8.55 % while dealerships with no SEO strategy or irregular content in Ontario saw their organic traffic decrease by 15.95 %, a difference of 24.5 %.
- Dealerships with a regular, constant SEO strategy involving unique content published monthly located in the greater Toronto area increased their organic traffic by 9.55 % while dealerships with no SEO strategy or irregular content in the GTA saw their organic traffic decrease by 15.10 %, a difference of 24.58 %.
- Ontario dealerships were the most beneficially impacted in terms of organic traffic across Canada.
- Dealerships with a regular, constant SEO strategy involving unique content published monthly located in Quebec saw their organic traffic decrease by 8.43 % while dealerships with no SEO strategy or irregular content in Quebec saw their organic traffic decrease by 15.96 %, a difference of 7.52 %.
- Dealerships with a regular, constant SEO strategy involving unique content published monthly located in Quebec saw their organic traffic decrease by 3.34 % while dealerships with no SEO strategy or irregular content in and around Montreal saw their organic traffic decrease by 15.10 %, a difference of 18.44 %.
- All dealerships in Quebec saw a positive impact on their organic traffic, but the difference was more noticeable in the great Montreal area.
- Dealerships with a regular, constant SEO strategy involving unique content published monthly located in British Columbia saw their organic traffic remain relatively constant with a small decrease of 0.31 % while dealerships with no SEO strategy or irregular content in BC saw their organic traffic decrease by 8.74 %, a difference of 8.44 %.
- Dealerships with a regular, constant SEO strategy involving unique content published monthly located in the Vancouver area saw their organic traffic remain relatively constant with a small increase of 0.69 % while dealerships with no SEO strategy or irregular content in BC saw their organic traffic decrease by 11.27 %, a difference of 11.96 %.
- All dealerships in BC saw a positive impact on their organic traffic, but the difference was slightly more noticeable in the Greater Vancouver area
- Dealerships with a regular, constant SEO strategy involving unique content published monthly located in the Prairies saw their organic traffic remain relatively constant with a small decrease of 0.87% while dealerships with no SEO strategy or irregular content in the Prairies saw their organic traffic decrease by 1.16 %, a difference of 0.29 %.
- The Prairies saw the smallest difference, although the sample size was less than 5 which could explain the lack of considerable difference.
“The original study found that dealerships with a content and SEO strategy improved their organic traffic by about 15 % overall. These regional findings follow the same trend although we see that the results are amplified in the three most important regions in Canada and the three most important cities. This could show an even greater impact of SEO in areas where there’s more digital competition”, says Charles Jolicoeur, general manager of NetMedia360.
