Car Dealership Keywords – For SEO & Google Ad Lists

If you are making a list of car dealership keywords, you find a large number and variety of keywords. There are many different types of automotive industry keywords. They can include year, make and model or type. Since most people are familiar with the Ford brand, that will be our example. First there are positive car dealership keywords for current makes, models and years. Then we will consider other types of words like brand and type of automobile. Then, we will discuss negative keywords for discontinued models. While discussing this we will also give you the methods needed to make a complete keyword list to use for SEO or Google Ads. Finally, we will also give you a free download of the example car dealership keywords list below.

Ford Car Dealership Keywords for Online Marketing

If you are a Marketing Manager at a Ford Dealership we have a great list of car dealership keywords. These will jump-start your Search Engine Optimization or Google Ads efforts. Selling a large number of cars is never easy and there are over 2,997 Ford Dealerships in North America. Buyers of your vehicles likely have several Ford Dealerships that are less than a few hours away. Online marketing for search engines is vital to having leads for your dealership. A great list of car dealership keywords is the foundation for buyer-oriented search marketing!

Make, Model, and Year Keywords

When you review this free download you will see keywords of Ford Models in the first tab of the Excel file. We have seen that when someone is searching for a model they have some knowledge of that vehicle. They may have seen a commercial, auto show, or a friend’s car. In this tab, we brainstormed 107 keywords that all have the year or the word “new” in them. With cars using general car dealership keywords is often dangerous, especially with brands like Ford. Ford has been around for decades. So using the year or some other terms they are looking for the new model are safer keywords. This list has the year of the vehicles for the last year and the next year. If you do not have a selection of certain years you could remove them. If you have a large selection of used cars you could run these back a few years as well. If your primary responsibility is pre-owned we have a separate used car keyword list. We recommend NOT running keywords for vehicles you do not have yet like a “2024 Shelby GT350”. These searches are not likely to bring a buyer or they may buy another car before it is available to buy. And if you have a good list of customers these cars will sell before they arrive.

Car Dealership Keywords with “Dealer” and “Dealership” in them

The next tab in the Excel file is over 50 keywords that include “dealer” or some variation of it. These are likely buyer words as well since they are not looking for car details. They are looking for a dealership to see, test drive, or buy a Ford at. In this tab, we have some variable words that you should edit to have it work for your city, state, or region. We have included a space for cities with a variable like {city} where there should be a city entered. You should change that {city} with the largest city your dealership is near. You can copy the city keywords first if you want to make 2 or more cities have keywords. For instance, if your dealership is in Santa Monica you may want to copy all the city keywords once. Make one of the city variations “Santa Monica” and make one of the city variations “Los Angeles”. That is if you have had success with getting people from that metro area to buy at your dealership.

Brand + Type of Car Keywords

In the next tab, we have 12 types of cars with the word “ford” and a type of automobile. These keywords are less likely to convert than the other types. But they are valuable in that they are bringing traffic to your site that likes Ford. These visitors know what type of vehicle they are looking for but may not know its model name. They saw one while driving and saw the Ford emblem or a commercial but do not know if it is an Edge, Flex, or Explorer. Implementing a Google pay-per-click Campaign or a search engine optimization plan is a good way to sell more cars to those people. Google Ads are faster but stop as soon as you stop paying. SEO takes longer and involves website development and public relations but is more profitable. This Ford keyword list has some good keywords but you should also structure any Google Ads account well. Then use careful keyword matching to maximize Return on Investment and lower your cost per lead. There are 3 settings of keyword matching and we recommend phrase and exact match. If you want to read more about controlling costs, please read our article “Best Negative Keywords”. Below is the other part of good advertising and that is selecting negative keywords. Below are instructions on creating a good list and some examples using the Ford brand. This shows which keywords should stop triggering ads. PS: We know Ford stopped making many car models and currently does not make a sedan or hatchback. The only car they currently make is the Mustang.

Make Automotive Keywords with {Model} + {Type}

Create Negative Car Dealership Keywords List

While you are working on keywords you should think about negative keywords too. With a good keyword list, you are bound to see some bad keywords less likely to convert. This keyword research might also show you when computers get confused. They cannot tell when someone is looking to buy a car or for service. Also, some are only looking for parts or pictures of a particular model. You do not want to pay for those searches if you can help it.

Free Negative Keyword List for Ford Dealers

While optimizing your Google Ads account it is important to have a negative keyword list. This will prevent showing your Google Ads to unlikely to convert traffic. Paying for online advertising like Google Ads is getting more competitive. Improving Return on Investment allows these efforts to break even and continue advertising. Automotive cost per click for good keywords is high so you should try to limit wasteful spending.

A Negative Keyword list will protect you from Discontinued Model Words

Most car models have been around for years and have been successful. Some are not. If a model is discontinued, you can enter them as a negative keyword in phrase match in as short of words as possible. If you are not sure of all the models of the brand you market, you can look on the web for a list of all the models of that brand. This for example important at a Ford Dealership because the Ford brand has been around for a long time. Lots of people already own a Ford, and the Ford brand will continue to get a lot of attention. The Ford brand is over 100 years old and has had many models and types of vehicles. There are dozens of models and decades of cars you do not offer at your dealership. Why show expensive ads to people that are looking for a picture of an Edsel? Don’t with careful positive keyword selection and thorough negative keyword list addition. There are models and years that generate a lot of interest and do not convert like Edsel, Falcon, or Ranchero. The Mustang pony car is still sold so you have the be careful with adding it to your negative keyword list. But with the models between 1964 through 2020 you can drop them by adding those years. Unless you are a classic car dealer with a large assortment of these cars. You can most likely add all years to your negative keyword list except what you currently offer.

Negative Keywords prevent Maintenance and Improvement searches

Many brands have thousands of vehicles that need maintenance and upgrades. For example, several Ford models have been selling for decades with the same model. Those owners will search for maintenance, tires, upgrades, and warranty work. Even if you have a service department that can service many years of vehicles you should be careful. Service-oriented and new vehicle traffic should be separate. If you have keywords for service and parts, they should have different ads and landing pages. Using the Negative Keywords below will remove traffic that is unlikely to convert from your new car advertising. You can of course make a separate auto parts keywords list and run them to different landing pages.

Negative Keywords protect from Brand Publicity

Many public relations departments of auto manufacturers work very hard. They want their models in movies, tv shows, and other public showcases. When that happens you may have searches looking for photos or movie clips. They are very unlikely to buy. So expensive traffic that is less likely to buy should not even see your ad. There is excitement about performance vehicles like the Focus ST and Shelby Mustangs. As new models get announced and you should avoid paying for traffic for these. Even if you will have some of those come to your dealership. There are also automobile-themed movies and video games and Fords could have a role in them. These will create traffic of people looking for pictures and videos of the stars, movies, or cars in them. Excitement for a car brand is great if it brings buyers to your website. But bad excitement can be contained by using the below negative keyword list. 

This list of negative car dealership keywords will help control your spending. It does this by not showing your ads when people are including bad words in their search terms. With a brand like Ford, there are many searches for images, videos, and parts unlikely to convert. If you control the phrases your car dealer ads show for you are more likely to have a successful Google Ads campaign. If you are looking for information, you can read our negative keywords guide. Click below for the free keyword list on car keywords.

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