Thorp Group

Google Ads, Search Engine Optimization

The Thorp Group is a leading automotive retail and services company in Cape Town. It operates a network of car dealerships that specialise in the sale and servicing of vehicles from renowned brands like Haval, GWM, Suzuki, Chery, Omoda, Jaecoo, and Jetour. The group offers a range of services, including vehicle sales (both new and used), parts, and after-sales services such as maintenance and repairs. The Thorp Group has a long-standing history in the automotive sector and is known for providing tailored customer service and financing solutions such as their unique 10 Year / 1 Million KM warranty. Their dealerships are primarily located in N1 City, Plumstead, Table View and Table Bay Mall.

481%

increase in paid conversions for Suzuki by Thorp

310%

increase in organic search conversions for Chery by Thorp

209%

increase in organic search conversions for Haval by Thorp

Thorp Group

Google Ads, Search Engine Optimization

The Thorp Group is a leading automotive retail and services company in Cape Town. It operates a network of car dealerships that specialise in the sale and servicing of vehicles from renowned brands like Haval, GWM, Suzuki, Chery, Omoda, Jaecoo, and Jetour. The group offers a range of services, including vehicle sales (both new and used), parts, and after-sales services such as maintenance and repairs. The Thorp Group has a long-standing history in the automotive sector and is known for providing tailored customer service and financing solutions such as their unique 10 Year / 1 Million KM warranty. Their dealerships are primarily located in N1 City, Plumstead, Table View and Table Bay Mall.

481%

increase in paid conversions for Suzuki by Thorp

310%

increase in organic search conversions for Chery by Thorp

209%

increase in organic search conversions for Haval by Thorp

Brief & Objectives

The Thorp Group approached Ruby Digital for SEO and Google Ads Services to increase leads on their various vehicle-offers, as well as their various after-sales services.

With research, Ruby Digital developed a comprehensive SEO and PPC strategy focused on achieving specific goals and measurable success indicators. The SEO strategy aimed to enhance visibility by creating high-quality content based on specific industry-related search terms. It also focused on setting and optimising key performance indicators (KPIs) aligned with the client’s objectives, while narrowing the gap between direct and indirect competitor keywords.

For Google Ads, we aimed at improving the number of form submissions, finance applications, test drive bookings, and after-sale services. Additionally, the strategy aimed to improve click-through rates and the conversion rate for high-intent actions, while improving ad spend and cost per click.

Challenges

Between March and December 2024, Thorp faced three key challenges that Ruby Digital’s Comprehensive SEO & Google Analytics strategies had to overcome.

The first challenge was the highly competitive nature of the automobile industry in the Cape Town region, where Thorp is focused. With numerous dealerships competing for the same audience, the pool of potential converters is limited.
Secondly, we faced a significant challenge with the absence of historical Google Ads data. Without past performance insights, we had to build our strategy from the ground up, relying heavily on initial data collection and continuous real-time adjustments to optimise the campaigns effectively.
As mentioned above, the limited number of vehicles sold each month directly correlates with a low monthly sales volume, resulting in limited keyword opportunities. Additionally, being a niche brand, the search volume for the most relevant keywords is significantly lower compared to more established products, services, or brands, leading to higher keyword difficulty. This was particularly evident with brands like Chery, which had fewer than 12,100 monthly searchs nationwide when Thorp first approached Ruby Digital.
Another contributing factor to the limited monthly search volume was that when Thorp approached Ruby Digital for Google Ads services for the Omoda Jaecoo and Jetour, both brands were newly introduced to the South African Market. As a result, most of the website traffic was driven by brand awareness and interest in vehicle information, with minimal lead conversions occurring.

Our Solution

Comprehensive PPC Strategy

Ruby Digital created and implemented relevant conversion actions that aligned with the Thorp Group’s business goals. This included the setup of Google Tag Manager and the optimisation of Google Analytics according to Google’s best practices.
We designed and created specific campaigns targeting the various focuses of each vehicle brand, including the diverse services offered, such as vehicle sales, including New & Pre-owned and after-sale support and vehicle services.
We created relevant ad copy and assets that not only attracted potential customers to the ads but also effectively communicated the expertise and quality offered by Thorp.
Using the data from June 2023 till April 2024, Ruby Digital restructured the various vehicle-focused campaigns to target an 80%/20% conversion focus, with each vehicle having two specific campaigns; one which has 20% of the vehicle budget aimed at generating brochure download conversions and the other, 80% of the vehicle budget aimed at generating lead conversions. This aimed to limit the Ad spend on targeting new users who were researching the vehicle and, instead, target those that were looking to test-drive or enquire about the vehicle.
This adaptation to the comprehensive PPC strategy, that was implemented across Vehicle Brand PPC Strategies, has helped to reduce the ad spend on brand awareness conversions, and has improved the number of lead conversions dramatically.

Comprehensive SEO Strategy

We then began building a strong consistent SEO campaign, ensuring that the technical SEO and user experience were best optimised.
A detailed competitor analysis was compiled to ensure that our SEO strategy was expected to meet the business goal of the client but also to ensure that Thorp Haval could have a competitive edge over the other dealers in Cape Town.
SEO keyword research was fundamental in our approach, as Thorp Haval has a limited number of keywords that are relevant to the portfolio and the brand, with other dealerships targeting the same industry, meaning that it was important for Ruby to understand all types of long-tail, short tail and exact matched keywords.
We created a keyword-rich and audience-focused content strategy that helped to not only improve the visibility of the various vehicles but also helped to provide information for potential customers to convert and book a test drive.
Ruby identified important keywords and referring domains that competitors are ranking for or have pointed towards their websites. With this information, we created a strategy to improve Haval’s domain authority by submitting specifically targeted articles on high-authority domains.
We have also implemented various best practices to help improve the Visibility of Thorp’s Google Business Profile, leading to better positioning in the Map Pack and helping local customers make better decisions about choosing Thorp.

Results

The results for Haval and Suzuki by Thorp represent the total data recorded from May 2024 to December 2024, compared to the full annual data

Haval by Thorp SEO Results

239.66% increase in key events
209.21% increase in lead conversions
133.63% increase in organic sessions
The brand’s keyword strategy also saw significant success with the number of keywords ranking on the first page growing from 20 in May 2023 to 121 in December 2024.
From October to December 2024, impressions increased by 99.5%, clicks rose by 123%, and the average position improved 17.2% compared to the previous period.

Haval by Thorp PPC Results

107.14% increase in conversions
187.77% increase in impressions
103.67% increase in clicks
50.56% improvement in Avg CPC
51% decrease in Cost per Conversion

Suzuki by Thorp SEO Results

129% increase in key events
16.4% increase in lead conversions
76% increase in organic sessions
The brand’s keyword strategy also saw significant success with the number of keywords ranking on the first page growing from 15 in May 2023 to 77 in December 2024.
Impressions improved by 410%, clicks by 343%, and the average position by 13.4% compared to the previous period.

Suzuki by Thorp PPC Results

481.72% increase in conversions
138.03% increase in impressions
41.36% increase in clicks
29.54% improvement in Avg CPC
82.88% decrease in Cost per Conversion
17.15% increase in impression share

The results for Chery by Thorp are recorded from July 2024 to December 2024 and compared to the same period in the previous year, unless stated otherwise. This is because no historical data is available prior to July 2023.

Chery by Thorp SEO Results

310% increase in key events
356% increase in lead conversions
356% increase in organic sessions
The brand’s keyword strategy also saw significant success with the number of keywords ranking on the first page growing from 13 in July 2023 to 53 in December 2024.
Impressions increased by 653%, clicks by 950% and the average position by 7.7% compared to the previous period.

Chery by Thorp PPC Results

1488.55% increase in impressions
103.33% increase in clicks
54.57% improvement in Avg CPC

Thorp Group only approached Ruby Digital for Google Ads Services for Omoda Jaecoo and Jetour.

The results for Omoda Jaecoo by Thorp are recorded from September 2024 to December 2024 and compared to the same period in the previous year, unless stated otherwise. This is due to there not being any historical data available prior to September 2023.

Omoda by Thorp PPC Results