Auto Parts SEO: How to Optimize Your Website For Search
Here’s how to do SEO (search engine optimization) for parts and accessories website. Even if you’re trying to optimize your paid search campaigns, knowing how automotive enthusiasts search online is important for success.
Knowing these basic categories is critical when trying to reach enthusiasts online through Google. A parts and accessories website should be optimized for a variety of automotive search patterns.
This includes long-tail keywords, which are searches using three or more words.
Optimizing SEO for part type searches
Auto enthusiasts and do-it-yourselfers (DIY) look for parts based on part type, so this is important for car parts SEO. It’s also important if you’re optimizing your paid search campaigns. This includes keywords such as the basic term “brake rotor” but can be modified like “front disk brake rotor.”
This may seem pretty basic, but there are thousands of pre-defined part types recognized in the aftermarket. These are available in various data feeds and formats so they’re on websites and in search queries. There are also nearly unlimited variations used by consumers to search for aftermarket parts. For example, “cold air intake,” “CAI,” “performance air intake,” “cold air intake kit” and “cold air induction.” These are all synonyms for basically the same thing.
Some brand names or trademarks are substituted generically for part types, such as K&N’s “FIPK” product line. For more on this see “brand search” below.
Part type search query modifications
Part type terms are modified with words for location, function, brand, or year/make/model. This makes part type keywords excellent candidates to be found for long-tail searches.
Part types are often organized on websites in higher level categories such as “interior accessories” or “engine parts.”
However, enthusiasts who are shopping to buy will typically not look online using these higher level categories.
Many times part type searches are used early in the buying process and may be used with modifiers such as “reviews” or “best.” Examples are “best diesel oil separator” or “air intake system reviews.”
When working on aftermarket parts SEO it is important to show up for these modified terms. That’s because the enthusiast shopper may not have yet made a decision on where to buy or what brand to buy.
It is also worth doing a check on Google for synonyms. Google is always improving on synonym recognition in semantic searches. For example, Google recognizes “auto” as “car.” If Google recognizes the synonyms these will also show up in the search engine results page (SERP) in bold along with the original term.
PIES data in auto aftermarket SEO
When working with part types and your web content, it is helpful to be familiar with PIES (Product Information Exchange Standard) data. The Auto Care Association is responsible for maintaining the PIES standard, which is an aftermarket data standard. It includes among other things, over 20,000 automotive product types organized into 25 categories.
Some modifiers can be product attributes including color, finish, size, or similar attributes, and many of these are also included in the PIES standard, in the product attribute database or PAdb. This database includes more than 104,000 attributes for more than 11,000 Auto Part Terminologies.
The Auto Care Association publishes PIES standards and the standard part type taxonomy is part of the PCdb table they publish, covering product classifications. Some standard PIES product types may not be how a consumer searches but it’s helpful to understand the basic structure.
Optimizing for SEO by year, make, model searches
T
his type can be more difficult to optimize for aftermarket parts organic optimization or to build out paid search campaigns. This is related to fitment. There many variations of fitment, including year/make/model/submodel, manual/automatic transmission, front wheel drive/4WD and so on.
Here are some examples: “2014 Ford F-150 King Ranch,” “2015 Subaru WRX STI,” “4WD Silverado,” “2010 Dodge Ram long bed pickup” or “2021 Toyota Prius hybrid.”
We just showed you how enthusiasts usually modify part type or part function searches with year/make/model. On the other hand, new automobile shoppers (called “in-market shoppers”) don’t usually modify these searches unless it is with a word indicating purchase intent. Examples are “2022 Ford Mustang for sale” or “2022 Ford Mustang reviews.”
Year/make/model search modifications can be substituted with enthusiast jargon words. For example a Jeep enthusiast may search for a “YJ seat cover” instead of “1995 Jeep Wrangler seat cover.”
Year/make/model searches are long-tail searches. Also, enthusiasts searching for auto parts may not include the make, and if they are educated on the year range of part fitment may not search by year but instead use a generation or platform variation such as “5th gen Camaro.” This is important for auto parts SEO work.
These searches can go through an evolution as the shopper looks online, makes brand decisions and gets more educated. “1995 Jeep Wrangler soft top” can evolve to “95 Wrangler soft top” and eventually lead to “Bestop soft top for Wrangler.”
Optimizing a website for part function: verbs and adjectives
Enthusiasts also look for products based on part function. These searches include verbs like “fuel injection,” “improve handling” or “paint protection.” Part function categories are not standardized in the automotive aftermarket like part types. There is sometimes a thin line separating part type from part function; sometimes they can be the same thing. For example, the function term “paint protection” becomes a part type term “paint protection film” with the addition of a single word.
These are modified with year/make/model, brand, or other modifications. An example is “Jeep TJ headlight protection.”
As with part types, part functions are typically long-tail search terms.
Part symptom searches with modifiers for SEO
Symptom search is a major category, like “leaking radiator.” These searches will lead consumers to YouTube, to automotive forum discussions, or to website blogs. These search queries are often modified with words indicating purchase intent. Examples are “replace leaking radiator” and/or specific year/make/model words like “replace leaking 1990 Civic radiator.”
Part symptom searches can be top of funnel and have purchase intent, but are also used at the beginning of the search process. Automobile owners looking for local service repair businesses make these types of searches important for local search and mobile search.
Don’t forget brand search terms for auto parts SEO
Brand searches usually indicate high purchase intent and can be middle of funnel or bottom of funnel. These keywords suggest that a consumer has made a brand selection – or is in the early stages of making a brand selection – and is comparing features and benefits of products from different brands.
Brand search can include the brand of the reseller, or can include the brand of the manufacturer. These searches are relatively easy to optimize for, since the brand terms are usually on product pages already. The key is being found when these brand terms are modified by the shopper with part type, part function, year/make/model/submodel.
Brand search terms often use a modifier like “reviews,” as in “Hedges & Company reviews.”
Part numbers are important for auto aftermarket SEO, too
These are organic searches with high purchase intent. The consumer has done the research and knows enough to merely search at the part number level to find the preferred source. Typically, search activity for part numbers is very low.
Conclusions for auto aftermarket SEO
These search variations are part of what can make page optimization a difficult and time consuming task. A successful organic campaign, or any successful PPC campaign will analyze competitors, inbound traffic, various search terms with all variations, and then put this data into action with a marketing plan. You can’t improve organic rankings without quality content in the first place, so keep that in mind.
You must also be aware of the constant algorithm changes by search engines, specifically Google. It’s also worth mentioning that you shouldn’t turn to “black hat” methods in an attempt to game the search engines. That’s old news, but we recently discovered a website selling auto parts online (not a client of ours!) that was actually hiding keywords on the page, by making the keywords the same color as the background. This site was not ranking very well and its hard to believe there are still some websites turning to this method today, but there are.
One final thought: As the number of websites selling auto, truck, motorcycle, ATV and other types of parts grows, there is a growing dependence on various sources of product data. This in turn can result in problems with duplicate content. This is a great opportunity to utilize best practice, because you need to optimize your content anyway.
This can quickly turn into a full-time job if performed in-house, and of course you can always turn to an experienced digital marketing agency such as Hedges & Company to ensure that you will show up organically ahead of your competition! If you have any questions on all of this in the car parts aftermarket please give us a call in the office and ask to speak with one of our enthusiast online marketing experts.
