February 3rd, 2010
With the NADA Convention and Expo just around the corner, I wanted to let everyone know the plans DealerOn has for the upcoming weekend in Orlando.
We'll be arriving around noon on Saturday, February 13, and headed back to the cold temperatures of the Washington DC area on Monday, February 15. During that time, Jeff, Amir, Ali, and Chris will be available to talk with any dealers about how our car dealer online marketing packages will increase your lead volumes and how DealerOn can measure your success through our digital marketing dashboard.
The DealerOn staff is excited about the new online media package we have available. This new program will supplement your car dealer websites and maximize your online and search engine exposure through our managed blogging platform, Twitter, Facebook, and other social media.
Leave us a message on the blog, or send an email to Jeff, Amir, Ali or Chris to set up some time to meet while in Orlando. We look forward to seeing everyone and discussing how we can help your dealership sell more cars.!
Tags: conferences
Posted in Auto Dealership ISM Resources | No Comments »
January 21st, 2010
Not all auto dealers use Twitter as part of their online marketing campaigns. For those that do or those that are considering it, it's important to know what criteria Google uses when ranking tweets now that the search engine giant is beginning to integrate real-time search results.
According to Amit Singhal, a Google "Fellow," Google will take into consideration not only the number of followers the person tweeting has, but will also look at how reputable those followers are. This means that a person's followers will be like an inbound link to your dealership website. While having a lot can help your search engine ranking, the quality is more important than the quantity.
Singhal confirms this by saying, "One user following another in social media is analogous to one page linking to another on the Web...as established users follow another user, the quality of the followed user goes up as well." Singhal also recommends using hashtags sparingly, since that is a common practice of spammers on Twitter.
Google undoubtedly uses other factors when determining which tweets to show in their real-time search results, but having some information is better than none. Contact your auto dealer online marketing provider if your dealership isn't using Twitter and would like to, or is and would like to see better results.
Tags: Google, search engine optimization, social media
Posted in Car Dealer Search Engine Optimization (SEO) | No Comments »
January 14th, 2010
While using Google's AdWords Keyword tool is a good place to start when you are trying to come up with a keyword list for your dealership online marketing, a lot of people start there, which means your competitors could have a very similar keyword list as your dealership. To help you stay a step ahead, I want to highlight some of the alternative keyword tools I've found.
Facebook has Lexicon, released in April of 2008. When you enter a keyword or phrase, the tool will count “occurrences of words and phrases" on the Walls of their users. This can be a great tool to track the trending of keywords your dealership is interested in, but it doesn’t show an actual total. You need a Facebook login to use the tool, and it appears they are working on a new Lexicon tool in Beta.
Another tool for keyword list generation is Google's Wonder Wheel search feature. After conducting a regular Google search for a potential keyword, click on "More Options", then "Wonder wheel". Google will then show you a diagram with related keywords as spokes around your original search. Click on any of the spokes to expand the diagram, showing related keywords to the spoke you clicked on.
While Google's AdWords Keyword tool is more in depth than the two tools I've talked about here, using alternative keyword list generation tools could possibly expose your dealership to new keywords to use while promoting your auto dealer website.
Tags: Google, keywords, search engine optimization
Posted in Car Dealer Search Engine Optimization (SEO) | No Comments »
January 5th, 2010
Google is continually working to make sure the people that use their search engine are able to find the most relevant and appropriate search results. To help achieve that goal, Google creates tools designed to help websites and advertisers using pay-per-click to properly optimize their sites in order to show in the most relevant results to their users.
A tool that Google launched last year is their AdWords Search-based Keyword Tool. Essentially, you can enter your auto dealership website into this tool, and Google will analyze the content on your dealer site. The search-based keyword tool will then generate a list of potential keywords you can use in your auto dealer PPC ad campaign. Google has put together a great video explaining the way this service works.
Determining which keywords are most cost effective for your auto dealer website can be difficult, but by using the tools provided by Google and the knowledge of your online marketing partner, your dealership can figure out which keywords will bring you the most sales. If you have questions about how to be successful with Google, contact DealerOn's VP of Marketing, Chris Deringer, at 877-543-4200 or email him at chris@dealeron.comfor help.
Tags: Google, keywords, pay per click
Posted in Auto Dealers Search Engine Marketing (PPC) | No Comments »
December 31st, 2009
Happy New Year from DealerOn!
On behalf of everyone that works at DealerOn, I’d like to give a sincere thank you to all of our auto dealer website customers and online interactive marketing partners. Our business is only successful when yours is, and working together is the only way we can both achieve our goals.
2009 has been a difficult year for most in the auto industry, but DealerOn has remained dedicated to helping our auto dealer customers increase their sales volume and profitability. We have done this by improving and expanding our online marketing platform (to incorporate car dealer blogs, automotive paid search, and customer support.
With the loss of our CEO and dear friend, Navid Azadi, DealerOn has had a difficult year as well. His loss has further strengthened the resolve of the entire DealerOn company to make our customers as successful as possible, and that means a focus on their results.
Again, have a wonderful New Year's celebration this weekend. We look forward to continuing to earn your business in 2010.
Posted in Auto Dealership ISM Resources | No Comments »
December 29th, 2009
Many people and businesses use the year changing on the calendar as a chance to reflect on the year they are leaving behind. This year, I've put together a list of the 5 most popular blog posts I've written over the course of 2009.
Ways Auto Dealers Can Better See Their Conversion Rate -- Conversion rate measurements aren't always as clear as they could be, so this blog post gives your dealership ways to segment the way you measure your auto dealer website conversion rate.
Car Dealers That Blog Earn Search Engine Benefits -- This blog gives reasons why auto dealers should have a blogging platform on their auto dealer website, and the search engine optimization (SEO) benefits of being a blogging dealership.
Facebook Sends Loyal Visitors to Your Car Dealer Website -- While search engines send a lot of traffic to auto dealer websites, some social networking sites send visitors that are more likely to visit more than once. This post also discusses the benefits of diversifying your online marketing efforts.
Goals for Your Auto Dealership Website Sales Funnel -- It can be difficult for auto dealers to tell when they are converting at the right rates throughout their sales funnel. This post gives guidelines for conversion rates throughout the sales funnel.
Raise Your Car Dealer Website Conversion Rate -- Once you've established how high your conversion rate should be, read this post for tips on how to raise your auto dealer website conversion rate through segmentation and measurement.
Let me know what you'd like to read more about in 2010. I'm always open to suggestions and love to write blog posts about subjects our readers request. Feel free to leave a comment below or email DealerOn about our car dealer websites and auto dealership online marketing offerings.
Happy New Year!
Tags: blogs
Posted in Auto Dealership ISM Resources | No Comments »
December 17th, 2009
I think you'd be hard pressed to find an auto dealer that doesn't agree that 2009 has been a difficult year for car dealerships, the auto industry, and their vendors. Sales were down, OEM's were restructured, dealerships closed, and far too many workers lost their jobs. With news like that, it's been hard to stay positive.
2010 is almost upon us, and there is no better time than now to start thinking positively. It appears as though the auto industry is turning the corner, along with the American economy. Now is the time to change how the auto industry thinks and conducts business.
I recently found this great eBook put together by Seth Godin, a well known marketer. He asked 70 business community leaders to write about an idea designed to "shake things up" and "turn the game around". After reading through "What Matters Now," I'm inspired to re-think the way I look at work and building our car dealer website business.
If your auto dealership could use a new way of thinking about business, or just a feel-good business read this holiday season, I highly recommend "What Matters Now". It will give you a new perspective on the way business is conducted, and maybe even help drive your car dealership to new heights in 2010.
Hope everyone has a very merry and successful holiday season!
Tags: economic downturn
Posted in Auto Dealership ISM Resources | No Comments »
December 15th, 2009
Google has been playing with real time search for a couple of years, but it appears as though it's finally showing up on most Google search result pages. This means that Twitter, Facebook, and news stories will start showing higher on Google result pages, leaving less room for traditional, car dealership search engine optimized (SEO) results.
How can your dealership tweak your SEO efforts to stay on top of Google's search result pages?
Make sure you are running an effective car dealer pay-per-click campaign. Since paid ads will continue to show at the top and the side of the search results page, your auto dealership will have more control over where and when your dealership ads will be shown.
It's more important now than ever that everything you post online is optimized for search engines. This means everything dealership related: Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, blog posts, website content. Use keywords in the titles, content, and URLs. With the spots on Google's search engine results pages limited, search engine optimization is all the more important.
If your dealership needs help or has any questions about Google's real time search results, pay per click advertising, or search engine optimization, contact your car dealer online marketing partner.
Tags: Google, pay per click, search engine optimization
Posted in Car Dealer Search Engine Optimization (SEO) | No Comments »
December 10th, 2009
Ever wonder what types of people are searching for your dealership online? The more you know about who is searching for your dealership, and the keywords they use, the better you can market your dealership online. Using this demographic information, your car dealership can better target the people that are looking for your dealership online.
When you have a better idea who is searching for your dealership, you can tailor your car dealership’s search engine optimization (SEO) content on your website. For example, if you find that men between the ages of 25-34 are searching for a particular vehicle more than women, try market segmentation for your car dealership and wording that speaks to men to help keep them engaged.
This information can also be helpful if your dealership is conducting automotive pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. Your dealership can tailor your dealer PPC ad copy to appeal to the target group. This will help your dealership's click-thru rate. Because of Google's PPC algorithm, a higher click-thru rate will help your dealership pay less for your PPC campaign.
Try using this Demographic Prediction tool from the Microsoft adCenter Lab. It's a great way to see what ages and gender are most likely using search terms to find your dealership.
Tags: Google, keywords, online marketing
Posted in Auto Dealership ISM Resources | No Comments »
December 2nd, 2009
Video is everywhere these days, and when used properly, can make for a great addition to your car dealer website. Video helps keep web visitors on your site for longer, keeps them more engaged in your dealership content, and can help your auto dealer website rank better in the search engine result pages. If you are using video on your dealership website, here are some tips on making sure you are getting as much search engine exposure as possible.
Use your Keywords: Use the keywords you are trying to rank well for in the URL, the file name of the video, the title of the video, etc. The more information you give to search engines about what the video is about, the higher they will be able to rank you.
Use Links: Link to your video the same way you would website content. Add links to your video on other pages on your car dealer website, as well as on other relevant websites. Videos benefit from internal and external links just as other website content does.
One per Page: Having only one video per URL will help with SEO. With only one video on a page, your website URL, when optimized properly, will tell search engines what the video is about.
If your auto dealership needs help making sure your online videos are properly optimized for SEO, talk to your car dealer website provider. They should be able to answer any question you have about adding video to your auto dealership website.
Tags: search engine optimization, video
Posted in Car Dealer Search Engine Optimization (SEO) | No Comments »
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