Parking Next To...
Roughly 92% of transient parking customers start with an online search. That means that the vast majority of drivers are looking for parking well before they arrive at their destination. For parking operators to remain viable, they need to meet their customers at the moment they are searching for “parking next to” the venue to which they are headed.
A Multichannel Approach
Gateway Parking Services specializes in Search Engine Optimization for the parking industry. Unlike traditional SEO, designed to get eyeballs to websites, the Gateway Parking Services approach delivers drivers to the parking facilities' gates. This method requires a customized multichannel approach incorporating Google, aggregators, and website development tailored to specific parking operations based on regional and local needs. Our expertise is derived from a deep understanding of the parking industry and the digital requirement of search engine optimization.
GPS founder Andrew Sachs is a commercial real estate professional who owns and operates parking garages. He is also an experienced entrepreneur specializing in digital media growth strategies. His knowledge base has allowed him to refine an approach tailored to the parking industry. The lessons learned in his operations form the foundation of Gateway Parking Services’ technique to SEO for parking operations.
Hyper Local Search
All parking is hyper-local, and no one goes out to visit a parking garage. Indeed few people want to walk more than two city blocks from the parking lot to their destination – unless they get a deal! The value of proper SEO is that it allows us to market to both the value shopper and the premium shopper simultaneously. Indeed they can end up parking right next to each other, going to the same venue for the same length of time without knowing what the other paid.
But What Is SEO?
Simply put SEO or search engine optimization is the art of getting Google algorithms to steal your information and display it as their own on their SERP or search engine results page. This is as much science as it is art. Not only do the algorithms evolve and change, but so too how Google displays the information. Once upon a time, being the top listing, just below the paid adverts, was a recipe for success. But with the introduction of features such as the Three Pack, People Also Ask, & Business Listings, the first link now lives well below the fold.
So while SEO may be the gift that keeps on giving, a healthy SEO strategy is designed to evolve in lockstep with improvements in the search ecosystem.
Multiple Use Cases For Parking-centric SEO
While a healthy SEO strategy can drive sales and increase revenue, the value of SEO for parking operations goes well beyond revenue generation. Getting the best information tailored to a specific search into the smartphone of a driver who is searching while stopped at a light can help reduce traffic and guide vehicles directly to their destination. By way of example, there is a vast difference between “Hospital Parking Garage #6” and “Hospital Visitor and Guest Parking Garage #6”. Once the search engines have been trained to recognize the difference they can deliver results tailored to a specific need. As such hospital visitors can be guided directly to the gates of the parking garage dedicated to their needs, while doctors and administrators will be able to set their GPS devices to their separate parking facilities without having to get stuck behind confused visitors.
The same approach can help reduce traffic on university campuses as students, visitors, professors, and administrators can be guided to the most appropriate parking location for their needs. After all University Stadium Parking is usually distinct from University Library Parking or University Engineering Building Parking. Not only are they going to be in distinct locations but they are going to have different pricing, payment structures, and time constraints. Having all of this information properly indexed can increase revenue, reduce traffic, and all but eliminate confusion.