Automotive PPC: Google Ads Strategy for Dealerships & Garages

Automotive businesses need multiple campaigns targeting distinct customer types. A single campaign trying to cover sales, servicing, and parts will waste budget on mismatched intent.

Dealership Campaign Architecture

• Brand campaign — Protect your dealership name from competitor bidding
• New car campaigns — By make and model, targeting "[Make] dealer [city]"
• Used car campaigns — "Used [Model] for sale [city]", "second hand cars near me"
• Finance campaigns — "Car finance [city]", "PCP deals [Make]"
• Service/aftersales — "MOT near me", "[Make] servicing [city]"

Garage/Service Centre Architecture

• Emergency services — "Mobile mechanic near me", "car breakdown repair"
• Scheduled services — "MOT [city]", "car service [postcode]"
• Specialist repairs — "Clutch replacement [city]", "brake repair near me"
• Brand-specific — "[Make] specialist [city]", "BMW mechanic near me"

Automotive keywords vary enormously in intent and cost. Getting match types right prevents budget bleeding into irrelevant searches.

High-Intent Keywords (Exact/Phrase Match)

• Transactional — "buy used BMW 3 series", "book MOT online"
• Local + service — "car service Birmingham", "MOT Solihull"
• Brand + dealer — "Audi dealer near me", "Ford dealership [city]"

Medium-Intent Keywords (Phrase Match)

• Research with location — "Used cars [city]", "garages near me"
• Comparison — "Best used SUV", "cheapest MOT [area]"

Negative Keywords (Essential)

Automotive has enormous negative keyword requirements. Without a comprehensive negative list, you'll waste 30-50% of budget:

• Jobs/careers — "mechanic jobs", "car sales vacancy"
• DIY/parts — "how to change brake pads", "parts catalogue" (unless you sell parts)
• Unrelated brands — Makes you don't stock or service
• Free/cheap — "Free MOT", "cheapest possible" (low-value customers)
• Insurance/legal — "Car insurance", "accident claims"

Automotive ad copy must balance urgency, trust, and specificity. Generic ads perform poorly in a sector where customers compare multiple options.

Dealership Ad Copy Principles

• Specific stock callouts — "200+ Used Cars In Stock" beats "Wide Selection"
• Finance hooks — "From £199/mo" or "0% Finance Available"
• Trust signals — "RAC Approved", "12-Month Warranty", "4.8★ Google Rating"
• Location emphasis — Include city/area in headlines and descriptions
• Urgency (when genuine) — "Just Arrived", "Reduced This Week"

Garage Ad Copy Principles

• Price transparency — "MOT From £35", "Full Service From £149"
• Speed — "Same Day MOT", "While You Wait"
• Convenience — "Free Collection & Delivery", "Evening Appointments"
• Accreditations — "MOT Approved Centre", "[Make] Trained Technicians"

Ad Extensions

• Location extensions — Show address and distance
• Call extensions — Direct phone link, schedule for business hours
• Sitelink extensions — Link to key makes, services, finance page
• Price extensions — Show service prices directly in the ad
• Structured snippets — List brands, services, or vehicle types

Automotive CPCs vary dramatically—from £0.50 for "MOT near me" to £5+ for "used BMW dealer". Budget allocation must reflect these differences.

Bidding Approaches

• Start with manual CPC — Build conversion data before automating
• Move to target CPA — Once you have 30+ conversions per campaign
• Maximise conversion value — For dealerships tracking lead quality

Budget Distribution

• Brand protection: 10-15% — Low CPC, high conversion, essential
• High-intent sales: 40-50% — Used car and new car purchase queries
• Service/workshop: 20-30% — Lower CPC, high lifetime value
• Research/awareness: 10-15% — Broader terms, remarketing eligible

Geographic Targeting

• Primary radius — 15-25 miles for used cars, 5-10 miles for servicing
• Bid modifiers — Increase bids within 5 miles, decrease beyond 20
• Exclude irrelevant areas — Avoid spending on areas you can't realistically serve

Sending PPC traffic to your homepage is the most common automotive advertising mistake. Every campaign needs a purpose-built landing page.

Used Car Landing Pages

• Inventory search — Pre-filtered to match ad group (make, model, price range)
• Finance calculator — Interactive monthly payment tool above the fold
• Trust signals — Reviews, warranty info, accreditations visible
• Clear CTA — "View Stock", "Get Finance Quote", "Book Test Drive"

Service Landing Pages

• Pricing visible — Don't hide prices, display them prominently
• Online booking — Reduce friction to conversion
• What's included — Detailed service breakdown
• Location and hours — Map, directions, opening times

Mobile Optimisation

70%+ of automotive PPC clicks come from mobile. Landing pages must be:

• Under 3 seconds load time
• Click-to-call prominent
• Forms short (name, phone, email maximum)
• Swipeable image galleries

Automotive conversion tracking is notoriously difficult. Customers research online but convert offline—often weeks later. Set up tracking that accounts for this journey.

Conversion Points

• Phone calls — Call tracking with dynamic number insertion
• Form submissions — Test drive requests, finance enquiries, service bookings
• Online bookings — Service appointments, MOT bookings
• Chat conversations — Live chat and chatbot interactions
• Direction requests — Google Maps navigation clicks

Attribution Challenges

• Long consideration cycles — Car buyers may take 2-8 weeks
• Multiple touchpoints — PPC, organic, direct visits before purchase
• Offline conversion — Track showroom visits back to online source

Reporting Framework

• Weekly — Spend, clicks, conversions, CPA by campaign
• Monthly — Lead quality review, sales attribution, budget reallocation
• Quarterly — Strategic review, new campaign opportunities

Our Paid media management are built around this exact framework, designed for businesses that need predictable growth.

See how we applied this approach in our client case studies.