“Content is king.” That’s one of those common SEO buzzwords used so often that it makes content marketers cringe when hearing it. That said, as clichéd as the phrase may be, it’s just as true today as it was when Bill Gates first coined the term in 1996.

But creating content isn’t the same as it was in 1996. It’s not even the same as it was 5 years ago. SEO is always changing, and your dealership’s customer base is changing along with it. So, in an ever-changing digital world, what should content look like and how do you create it? And we’re not just talking about what content marketing and SEO should look like in 2019, but also what it should look like in 2020 and beyond.

Search for “cars” on Google, and at the top of the results page, you’ll find a map that shows as many as three car dealerships within a few-mile radius. Conduct the same exact search from the other side of town, and you’ll find that the three listed dealerships are completely different.

The whole purpose of Google is to address searchers’ queries as quickly and efficiently as possible, and on the local level, the algorithm factors the searcher’s location into the results. In addition to showing businesses that are nearby, Google also wants to make sure that searchers have a positive experience at those businesses, so the search engine is selective when it comes to their results.

To determine the best businesses to list, Google looks at over 200 ranking signals to ensure that the results are the best that they can be. Many of these signals come directly from the businesses’ websites, but there are also several signals outside the websites that are considered, such as online directory listings, citations, backlinks and customer reviews to name a few.