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Sure, but do you see where I'm going with that line of thought? It's never actually about the car. It's what the car enables - in your case, cost savings, someone else is responsible for maintenance, etc. Maybe case studies, testimonials from businesses that have made the switch. I'd also be pitching stories to online business publications. Don't limit yourself to dry technical details.
Okay, so my first reaction is that the articles you're describing are probably better suited to the car rental pages themselves. That's where the conversion is going to happen, so that's where you want that long-tail, long-term content to live. Plus, since it's pretty formulaic, it's a good fit for an ecommerce page where that kind of info duplication is going to be expected.
For the blog itself, I would shoot for unique, aspirational articles. Getting a rental car isn't about the car - it's about the destination. Lists of great road-trip destinations stuffed with gorgeous stock photos. Infographics about where and when to buy gas. Tips for finding the best gas prices away from home. Go for shareability, not for SEO. Then promote the hell out of it on social.
I have a bunch of questions here that affect how I would answer this.
Google doesn't really have a preference since it's not a ranking factor. In fact, Google will often ignore your meta description entirely in favor of displaying a content snippet that it considers to be more relevant to the searcher's query.
However, you can increase your click-through rate by making it relevant to the query you're targeting. Make it descriptive and consider including a call to action to entice a searcher to click on your link. However, I disagree with another poster that click-through rate can affect rankings. It would be too easy to game the system, and search engines caught on to that trick a long, long time ago.
Basically, write unique, relevant meta descriptions for readers, not for search bots; and understand that Google will always treat your meta description as nothing more than a polite suggestion.
If you're thinking in terms of sprinkling good content in with crap content, you're already off to a bad start.
The solution here is simple: _Don't publish crap. _
Seriously, that's it. That's how you avoid a Panda slap. Shares have nothing to do with it.
Honestly, I like your example competitor's tag, and here's why:
Just look at all those beautiful keywords that look just like something someone would actually type into a search engine to find your product. It's descriptive and gets the job done pretty well. You could probably lose one of the printer names and add your brand, but I don't think it's so spammy as you think.
I honestly believe that Google probably knows what users are doing on your website with or without GA, and that GA is just a way for them to show it to you.
So, if I'm understanding this correctly, you're posting spun content? Are you spinning someone else's content or are you spinning your own content?
Separately from that, social media has no real direct impact on SEO, and duplication through shares across social is kind of the whole point of social, so I wouldn't worry about that hurting anything. Nor would I seriously pursue it as an SEO tactic. The value of social to SEO is that it amplifies your content's reach, and more eyeballs on your content translates to more potential for attracting natural links. But the shares themselves do nothing to help SEO right now. In the future, maybe.
Are you wanting these videos to drive traffic to your site? If so, then YouTube is not going to be the answer as it's pretty terrible as a traffic driver. I would host on site if at all possible. Maybe throw them up on YouTube because why not, but more for brand awareness than for SEO.
In addition to all of the above from Miriam and David, I am wondering if it makes sense for you to have traffic from Arizona, Utah, England and Sweden. Like, is your business something that tourists would be interested in? If so, then yes, it makes total sense to get links from those places. On the other hand, if your business is only of interest to locals, then it might not make much sense to chase links so far removed from your service area.
My approach to Google is often more philosophical than technical, and I'd expect Google may be more trusting of links originating closer to the business. Even if they aren't currently favoring local links algorithmically, it's what I would expect their goal to be since local authority would be a trump card in the real world. If you asked someone in Madrid and someone from New York where to find the best dry cleaner in Manhattan, whose opinion would you trust more? Even if the guy in Madrid actually was a dry cleaner but otherwise had no ties to Manhattan? Why wouldn't Google be trying to think the same way?
I agree with Umar that BIGSCHOOL's overall authority is probably getting in the way. Is there any way to get a dofollow link from their course page to yours to help reinforce the linkage? Funneling a little extra juice your way certainly wouldn't hurt and it makes sense contextually.
John Mueller said awhile back that if you're hiding content behind a "Read More" then Google may downgrade the importance of that content. Because if it really was essential text, then you wouldn't be hiding it in a collapsible div, right? Basically, don't abuse it and you should be okay, but it's not a 100% safe thing and the content in those divs may not be indexed.
FYI, Deb is an American clothing retailer, and they sell dresses. So even if it's not a brand in Australia, it is still a brand that sells the thing that you're trying to rank for. I can see where Google might find it semantically confusing.