SEO audit + keyword strategy · Specialist car dealer (UK)
Finding why a prestige car dealer wasn't on Google
A UK specialist car dealer wanted more buyers from search. The audit found the site was blocked from Google entirely, benchmarked five local competitors, and built a buyer-intent keyword plan. The client came back for a second round of research.
- 1
- critical issue: the whole site was blocked from indexing
- 5
- UK competitors benchmarked
- 200+
- keywords researched across two rounds
- 230K
- combined monthly search volume mapped
The challenge
The client sells Land Rover Defenders, prestige cars and commercial vans. The audit covered speed, on-page SEO, content, images and backlinks.
Critical finding: the homepage audit returned "This site is blocked from indexing." Until that setting was removed, no amount of content or keyword work could bring in search traffic. This was flagged as priority one.
| Area | Finding | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Mobile speed | Performance 26; main content appeared after 20.2s; layout shift 0.403 | High |
| Desktop speed | Performance 66 | Medium |
| Server response | 1.04s, well above the 0.4s target | High |
| Meta | Missing meta description; title too short (brand name only) | High |
| Page structure | No H1 heading; skipped heading levels | Medium |
| Content | 290 words on the homepage | Medium |
| Images | 7 images without alt text | Low |
| Backlinks | 2 backlinks from 1 referring domain | Medium |
What I did
Competitor benchmark
Five UK specialist and prestige dealers were analyzed for traffic, organic keywords, paid keywords and backlinks. Only 2 of 5 ran Google Ads, so most of the market competes on organic search alone, an opening for a dealer that fixes its basics.
Buyer-intent keyword strategy
Round 1 delivered 111 keywords focused on Land Rover Defender buyers, 79 of them with difficulty 20 or below, realistic for a new site. When the client returned, round 2 added 91 more keywords.
| Keyword | Intent | Monthly volume | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| land rover defender 90 for sale | Transactional | 2,400 | 16 |
| transit custom van | Commercial | 3,600 | 19 |
| sports cars for sale | Commercial | 1,900 | 19 |
| affordable prestige cars | Transactional | 1,600 | 14 |
| defender d90 for sale | Transactional | 720 | 16 |
| land rover defender 90 for sale uk | Transactional | 590 | 14 |
| classic commercial vehicles for sale | Transactional | 260 | 9 |
UK search volumes from Semrush. Difficulty on a 0-100 scale; under 20 is generally achievable with good on-page work.
Starting point and what was delivered
| Area | Starting point (audit) | Delivered |
|---|---|---|
| Indexing | "This site is blocked from indexing" | Flagged as priority one, fix first |
| Competitors | - | 5 UK dealers benchmarked; only 2 of 5 run Google Ads |
| Keywords, round 1 | - | 111 keywords, 79 with difficulty 20 or below |
| Keywords, round 2 | - | 91 more keywords after the client returned |
| Search demand mapped | - | 230K combined monthly search volume |
Why it worked
Clear priorities
The indexing block was found first, so the client knew exactly what to fix before anything else.
Keywords they could win
The list focused on "for sale" searches with low difficulty, not vanity terms dominated by national dealers.
An organic opening
Only 2 of 5 competitors ran Google Ads, so most of the market competes on organic search alone.
A repeat client
The client came back for a second round of keyword research.
Questions about this project
Why wasn't the car dealer showing on Google?
The homepage audit returned "This site is blocked from indexing." Until that setting was removed, no content or keyword work could bring in search traffic, so it was flagged as priority one.
How many keywords were researched?
200+ across two rounds: 111 in round 1 (79 with difficulty 20 or below) and 91 more in round 2, mapping 230K combined monthly search volume.
What keyword difficulty is realistic for a new site?
In this plan, difficulty under 20 on Semrush's 0-100 scale was treated as generally achievable with good on-page work.
Client and domain withheld. Audit data captured Sep 12, 2024 (PageSpeed Insights, SEO site checker, Semrush).
