SEO and redirects

Step 1 – Check the general settings (once)

1. Go to Car Lots › SEO › General. Car Lots SEO, Social sharing and Structured data are on – leave them on.
2. Site name (empty = your dealership name) and the title separator (e.g. |).
3. Default share image: shown when a page is shared on Facebook or text (1200 × 630).
4. Google Search Console code and Bing code: paste only the content="…" value.
5. Click Save.

Step 2 – Titles for every car and your inventory

1. SEO › Vehicles: the title and description pattern for every car, e.g. {year} {make} {model} {trim} for Sale in {city}, {state} | {dealer}.
2. The inventory title follows the filters by itself, e.g. "Used Ford Trucks for Sale Under $20,000".
3. Deep filter pages (many filters at once) are hidden from Google so it doesn't see thousands of near-copies.

Step 3 – Change one car (optional)

1. Open the car in Vehicles. Under it, the SEO box shows the automatic title and description.
2. Type your own to override it. Empty = automatic.
3. Add a focus keyword (e.g. "used RAM 1500 Seattle") to get a checklist of what to improve.
4. Share image: the first photo is used; pick another if you like.

Step 4 – Pages and blog posts

1. Every page and post has an SEO settings box under the editor: title, description, hide from Google, share image.
2. It fills itself in when you save, with live counters and a Google preview. Best: title 50–60 letters, description 120–155.

Step 5 – Redirects: send old addresses to new pages

1. Go to Car Lots › Redirects.
2. Add the Old address (e.g. /specials-2024/) and the New address (e.g. /specials/).
3. Type: 301 (moved for good – use this almost always) or 302 (temporary).
4. The Used column counts how often each redirect is used.

Step 6 – Fix "Pages not found"

1. On the same screen, Pages not found lists addresses shoppers tried that don't exist, with tries, last time and where they came from.
2. Click one to make a redirect to the right page. Moving from an old website? Check this list for the first few weeks.