Ultimate Guide to Blogs For Car Dealerships

Are you thinking about starting a blog for your car dealership? It’s an excellent idea that provides many benefits, but doing it right is more involved than slapping up some posts every now and then—and there is no point in doing it if you’re not going to do it right.

In fact, a poorly executed blog makes your dealership look unorganized and unprofessional, and that diminishes consumer confidence. If you’re not ready to create a blog with engaging content that is well written and updated regularly, it’s best to put the blog on hold for now.

If you are ready, then you’ll likely find one of the most challenging things about developing and maintaining your blog is coming up with the topics. It’s harder than it seems, but with a little inspiration and creativity, you can create a long list of blog topic ideas for car dealerships that will help to showcase your business in all the right ways.

How to Optimize Blog Posts for SEO

For some websites, the only goal is generating traffic for ad revenue. That isn’t the case with car dealerships. You need to convert visitors into sales and you won’t do that by posting unreadable articles that are only designed for the search engines. Don’t go into it looking at only how to write SEO articles. Instead, consider how to compose pieces that will offer real value to the reader and then work on making those topics work for SEO.

It’s true that a blog is excellent for SEO, and that is one of the main reasons for investing the time and money to develop one, BUT don’t miss out on all the other opportunities a well-maintained blog provides, including building customer confidence, earning followers on social media, and more.

One of the keys to all of it is well-written, carefully thought-out content, and that starts with choosing the best topic ideas for your car dealership blog.

The Best Blog Post Topics for Car Dealerships

It may help to think of your blog posts as falling into broad categories. Doing so can aid in guiding your thinking and help you focus when brainstorming. We’ll provide some ideas to help you get started.

To populate your blog content calendar with quality content for this section, think about everything you know about what’s on the minds of car buyers. Here are some examples:

1. Car Buying Advice

When brainstorming topics related to car buying advice for your car dealership blog, it can be helpful to start by coming up with a list of common concerns among car buyers and then writing blogs designed to address those concerns. We’ll give you some examples of common concerns and blog topics that address each concern.

Concern: How to Finance

• Leasing or Financing: The Pros and Cons of Each
• How to Finance a Car with Less-than-Perfect Credit
• Bad Credit Car Financing: Get a Fair Rate with a Low Credit Score
• Why Dealership Financing May be a Better Choice than a Bank

Concern: Getting the Best Price

• How to Master Car-Buying Negotiations and Get a Great Deal
• The Best Time of Year to Buy a New Car: When Can I Get the Best Deal?
• Sticker Price vs. Invoice Price: What’s the Difference?

Concern: Getting a Strong Warranty

• Car Warranties 101: Everything You Need to Know About the Fine Print
• When Extended Warranties are a Good Idea, and When They Are Not
• Which Car Maker Has the Strongest Warranty in 2020?

Concern: Choosing the Right Car

• The 5 Best Cars for Families in 2020
• Buying Used: What are the Most Reliable Used Cars Under $10,000
• 2020 Vehicles with Top Safety Ratings

Concern: Specific Vehicle Information

• Ford Fiesta: Everything that’s New in 2020
• 7 Things You’ll Love About Nissan’s 2020 Lineup
• 2021 Chevy Tahoe: Everything We Know So Far

Real Examples of Car Buying Advice Blogs

2. Car Maintenance Advice

These posts should be general enough that even people with (very) limited mechanical knowledge can appreciate them. You’re trying to drive business to your service center, so this shouldn’t be a how-to for changing the oil. Instead, focus on offering advice about how to follow recommended maintenance properly.

These topics could be general as in:

• 10 Maintenance Tips for First-Time Car Owners
• Must-Do Maintenance for Older Cars
• Why You Should NEVER Skip an Oil Change

Or it can be specific to the cars you sell, for example:

• 6 Tips to Properly Maintain Nissan Trucks
• Ford Maintenance Tips from Our Master Mechanics
• Tesla Maintenance Tips You Shouldn’t Overlook

Real Examples of Car Maintenance Blogs

3. Local Interest Topics

Local interest topics may include upcoming events such as car shows, a special sale at your dealership, or a human interest feature, such as if your dealership was involved in helping the community. Don’t discount the impact this type of blog can have, especially when used as a boosted social post.

Examples include:

• Norfolk Car Dealership Helps Struggling Single Mother
• Upcoming Car Show Draws Enthusiasts from Throughout the State
• Our Annual Sale Makes NOW the Best Time to Buy!
• The 16th Annual Car Expo: Check Out New Cars from All the Top Makers

Real Examples of Local Interest Blogs

General Tips and Tricks

Know the Purpose of Each Blog

Each blog you post can have a different purpose. For example, some can be solely focused on SEO, others can be for social to build brand awareness and community goodwill, and others can be to advertise a specific feature of your dealership. While most blogs will be written similarly, knowing the purpose will help you choose topics and titles that will get the best traction.

Feel Free to Write About General Topics

When coming up with blog topic ideas for car dealerships, it’s tempting to only write about things that directly sell your business or vehicles. While that is an option for some blogs, you should also include general topics of interest to car buyers or those looking for service and then use a call to action at the end. If done with some thought, this can be extremely effective.

Let’s look at the example of someone who is searching for “how to get better gas mileage.”

Your blog topic could be something like, “5 Tips for getting better gas mileage in an older car.” Give the tips, but then include a call to action such as:

“While these tips will improve gas mileage on your older car, they can only boost it so much. If you drive a lot and really want to save on gas, consider the 2020 Nissan Sentra that delivers 29 MPG in the city and 39 on the highway. Stop by Fred’s Nissan today to discuss your needs and drive away with a great deal!”

Any Idea Can Be Tweaked

When you’re coming up with blog topics, write them all down—even if it seems like a topic that won’t work. Keep a list of any ideas you don’t use now, and then use that list for inspiration during the next brainstorming session. You never know where inspiration might come from, and sometimes it can even come from yesterday’s bad ideas.

Include a Slant, But Don’t Be Obvious About It

A Nissan dealer will write in a way that makes Nissan seem like the far superior choice—but readers don’t like to be told what to think, so include your slant subtly.

Promoting Your Blogs on Social Media

You’ve spent the time to come up with a great blog topic, so make sure you get the maximum mileage from it. Post a link to it along with an attention-grabbing snippet. If appropriate, consider boosting the post in your local area. Why is this a good idea? Because the people who click are likely who you want to reach.

Think about when you’re scrolling on FB and an ad for a new roof pops up. If you’re not in the market for a new roof, you’re not going to click. If, however, you noticed a leak, you’re very likely to click.

The same is true for car buyers: Those currently in the market, or at least starting to think about their next car, are very likely to click.

We cannot overstate the value of a blog for your business. The right blog topic ideas for car dealerships help you leverage this valuable tool and, over time, turn the blog into sales.