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acacia.grant@dealeron.com'
In Dealership Websites

Automotive Domain Extensions

True to its nature, the Internet is changing again.  2012 should see the emergence of new domain suffixes like .eco, .love, and .god.  And of course, this isn’t without some controversy.  This will open a ton of possible domains, which could either make the Internet more intuitive (you’d know what type of site you were going to if it have the domain suffix .god, for example) or confusing (who gets control of john.smith?).  There are currently 21 domain suffixes in use right now like .com, .org, and country suffixes.

A small non-profit organization, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), will be responsible for determining which sites have the rights to which domain suffixes.  The organization will start accepting applications from companies and governments, though the application process costs $185,000; organizations that are able to operate a domain also have to pay ICANN $25,000.  For controversial domains, ICANN plans to use “morality and public order” as their guidelines for approval.

I’m curious…what do you think of this opening up of domain suffixes?  Would you want your auto dealership website to have access to a .auto or .dealership suffix?  Even if it had a large cost attached to it?  Do you think it will make the Internet more intuitive or confusing?

acacia.grant@dealeron.com'
In Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Google Places Listing Deduplication

Have you ever gone to add your auto dealer website to Google Places only to find someone else has already claimed and verified it?  We run into this from time to time while setting up listings, and recently found this information on what to do.

First, make sure no one in your dealership has already taken the initiative to set up and claim your businesses listing.  Once you’ve done this, here are the steps to take:

Create your listing, making sure that:

  • Your dealership name, address, URL, and email address are exact
  • Add a local phone number, not an 800 number
  • Create a 200-character or less description of your dealership
  • Make the listing as interactive as possible with up to ten images smaller than 1MB and 1024×1025 pixels, as well as links to up to five videos.
  • Describe what makes your dealership different from your competitors in the additional details section.
  • Verify your listing through Google.

After you have your completely accurate listing created and verified, you have to tell Google Places that there are duplicate listings.  Go to the listing you didn’t create (that you want removed) and click on “Edit this Place”.

Select the “Place has another listing” button and enter the URL of your accurate listing and state that you want the previous entry removed.  Make sure you check back to ensure the listing was removed within a few weeks–you may have to go through the removal process multiple times.

acacia.grant@dealeron.com'
In

New Social Media Features and Layout

If you are an admin for your dealership’s Facebook Page, you should have received an email regarding an exciting update about the new layout and features available for your Facebook Business Page.  Now, your dealership’s Facebook Page will resemble a personal profile, and allows you to interact through Facebook as your dealership.  Here is an overview of what is changing:

  • Notifications when fans interact with your page or posts
  • A place to showcase photos along the top of your page
  • A news feed for your page
  • The ability to Like and post on other pages as your page

You can also find this information when you login and visit your Facebook Page.  I strongly suggest you take the “tour” of the new features, and upgrade as soon as the platform will let you.  Since everyone will be forced to make the change eventually, the more time you have to learn how to best leverage these new features, the further ahead of the game you’ll be.

Let me know if you have any questions about these new changes, or anything else regarding your dealership’s online marketing .

acacia.grant@dealeron.com'
In

Facebook Changes Promotion Restrictions

Since many of our social media car dealerships use contests on Facebook as a way of gathering more “likes” for their page, I wanted to help keep you up to date on the changes Facebook is making regarding contests on their platform.

In the past, any auto dealership looking to run a promotion (“sweepstakes, contest, competition, or other similar offering”) need to get prior, written permission from Facebook.  Unfortunately for most, if not all small businesses, Facebook wouldn’t grant this permission to businesses that hadn’t spent at least $10,000 in Facebook ads.  Disobeying this policy could lead to your Facebook page being blocked.

Turns out, Facebook has now dropped both the spending requirement and the need for permission.  Small businesses, like your auto dealer website, can now run promotions on the Facebook platform.  Since this can be an extremely cost-effective way to increase your brand awareness and number of “Likes” on Facebook, we encourage our auto dealer customers to take advantage of this new opportunity.

There are still guidelines and restrictions, so make sure you thoroughly read through Facebook’s policies. Also, please feel free to leave a comment here or contact DealerOn if you have any questions about conducting a contest or promotion on Facebook.

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