CASE STUDY
Driving Traffic in a Mobile-First World
A Case Study on SEO, Paid Search, and an Integrated Digital Strategy
In the last five years, the world has shifted away from traditional media to favor connected and online products in ways big and small. For dealerships like BMW of Manhattan, such a shift wasn’t surprising, but it did present unexpected new challenges.
When Google primarily uses the mobile version of website content for indexing and ranking, how can dealerships maintain strong rankings and engage users?
BMW of Manhattan found the answer in Stream Companies’ integrated digital advertising strategy.
The Challenge
Traditional media tactics are no longer the norm when it comes to digital advertising.
Hypothesis
Digital advertising has transitioned to connected and online products. BMW Manhattan needs to adjust their method of advertising to maintain strong rankings and engage users.
Solution
This goal can be best achieved by using integrated digital advertising, focusing on mobile-friendly advertising to drive the most traffic.
Our Conclusion
With our new strategy in place, integrated digital advertising targeted toward mobile-first users will increase traffic.
SEO: Optimizing for Mobile Users
The challenge with mobile is that while many websites work seamlessly on desktop, that performance doesn’t always convert to mobile. Bad performance means a bad user experience, one that makes pages rank poorly and visitors exit the site without engaging.
Stream had the solution. Careful SEO maintenance goes a long way, and by employing the following tactics, BMW of Manhattan’s organic mobile traffic surged from 57,339 in 2017 to 104,186 in 2019, encompassing 53% of total website traffic:
- Running a PageSpeed Insights Report and cleaning up any pages with slow load times
- Including “Call Now” buttons at the top of high-performing pages
- Embedding videos into content to provide the information users want
- Enhancing content for easy skimming on mobile devices
- Creating “Near Me” content for searchers on the go
Paid Search Makes Big Mobile-First Choices
Mobile-first optimization isn’t exclusive to SEO. The left hand should always know what the right is doing, which means paid search needs to be working alongside SEO.
Since mobile devices are the main search device for many people, dealerships need to capture those users when they’re ready to convert. In the case of BMW of Manhattan, Stream created “Call Only” ads to seal the deal.
Call Only ads proved a huge success for BMW of Manhattan’s service campaign, enough so that cost per conversion (CPC) cost $6.20 less than the standard expanded search ad.
At the same time, Call Only ads to book a test drive were successful in the Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) campaign. Compared to the standard expanded search ad, CPC cost $129.67 less with Call Only ads. These synchronized paid search ads proved to increase conversions for sales and service, while saving even more money with low CPCs.
It’s Clear: To Drive Mobile Traffic, Integrated Digital is a Must
While SEO heightens the on-site user experience, paid search drives traffic and user convenience all at once. Separate these two tactics, and big gaps appear in your strategy (and in traffic and conversions). Tie them together instead, and you’ll reap major rewards.
Stream Companies delivers big results through an integrated approach. All digital efforts are performed in-house, in a high-touch, high-communication environment where teams are always aligned. Paid search and SEO have different experts, but they work together to ensure dealerships win.
