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http://www.automotiveinternetsales.com
Why Every Marketer Now Needs to Employ a Google+ Strategy For SEO
marketing solution SusanGivens
video search engineoptimization increases salesby 45 percent
Video Search Engine Optimization (VSEO)
marketing solution SusanGivens
video search engineoptimization increases salesby 45 percent
Video Search Engine Optimization (VSEO)
their dealership dominates the most popularsearch terms on all of the major search
engines organically with high-impact videos.
This practice has become vital to successful
online marketing strategies. Online video is
fast-becoming a highly effective and cost-
effective means of advertising within the
automotive industry.
In the last two years, there has been an
undeniable surge in the number of online
video viewers, with approximately 175 millionunique viewers watching an average of morethan 900 minutes of online video each a
month, based on an October 2010 report by
www.comScore.com, and www.eMarketer.com
predicts nine out of 10 Internet users will beconsuming video by 2012.
In 2007, Google pioneered “universal search,”
otherwise known as “blended search,” where
multiple search results are returned in oneconvenient results display that includes
autosuccessonline.com
Websites, news
articles, images,
press releases,
maps, blogs, socialmedia, e-commerce
and video.
Google’s universal
search capabilityundoubtedlykicked online video
marketing into high
gear.
According toGoogle, searchersare 55 percent morelikely to click onthumbnail video
images than staticlinks and because
of this Googlegives more rankingauthority to video,
thus placing videoson the top of search
engine results.
“People would
rather watch the
movie than read the
book,” said KarryMoore, presidentand founder of
com, the company
is the process of ensuring that video assetsgenerate the highest-possible volume of
quality traffic to your Website. Dealerships
such as Gary Mathews of Jackson, in Jackson,
Tennessee, recently implemented a digitalmarketing platform to help them appear ontop of the leading search engines like Google,
Yahoo!, Bing and YouTube in their local marketto attract, sell and service more customers
profitably. “My Internet department has been
doing 40 to 45 percent of the dealership’sbusiness, and that’s true accountable sells,
not just sourcing,” said Duran Cage, InternetDirector for Gary Mathews of Jackson.
With more than 88 percent of ready-to-buy
consumers using search engines to shop,
most dealers are scrambling to outbid theircompetitors to appear on top for the most
popular search phrases in their market.
Gary Mathews uses a VSEO company thatautomates thousands of activities to ensure
that Gary Mathews uses. “VSEO is ‘targeted
TV,’ and VSEO allows dealers to deliver their
message to engaged consumers.”
Additionally, dealers can now have multiple
listings on “Page One” by implementing astrong SEO and VSEO strategy. Traditionally,
dealers could get only one listing for a
keyword or phrase such as “Jackson TN,
Hyundai Santa Fe” or “Hyundai Santa FeJackson TN” because they only had one
Website optimized for that phrase. Now with
VSEO, they can build on that single Website
return to have multiple video listings on thatpage, which creates more exposure for thedealership and keeps the competition relegated
to “Page 2” results.
Google indexes all video-sharing sites, not
just YouTube. This means that the more video
sites a dealer distributes their video content to,
the more opportunity that the search engineswill have to index those videos and consider
it relevant content for search returns; thus,
multiple listings for keywords or phrases such
as “Jackson Hyundai Santa Fe.”
Video has become such a game-changerthat VSEO companies like the one GaryMathews of Jackson uses have developed and
launched the automotive industry’s first truevideo search portal, www.CarBuyersEngine.
com, the only video portal of its kind whereconsumers can research and shop for new
and used vehicles, find a dealership, reviewvehicle comparisons or financing withoutthe typical online “clutter” — meaning, no
pop-ups or annoying previews to sit through
before video begins.
The Internet is an ever-changing landscape and
dealers need to keep pace with the changes.
There are no silver bullets, but clearly videoand VSEO need to be incorporated into a
dealers’ online digital strategy. “We want to
‘own’ the Jackson market and video is helping
take us to the next level,” Cage said.
Susan Givens is the publisher of AutoSuccess.
She can be contacted at 877.818.6620, or by
e-mail at sgivens1@autosuccessonline.com.
http://www.internetsales20group.com
Recently Google created a Tsunami of change by integrating Google Places into organic search results. Dealers called me to ask what I thought these changes would have to their Automotive SEO strategies. I was not quick to answer because I think that Google is still refining their balancing act of SEO, SEM, and Google Places.
With that said, I am feeling much better about the changes that are in play. I was worried that the new Google Places integration would start at the top of organic listings which would favor websites connected to a Google Places page. From what I can see, Google is still rewarding exact match domain names and highly optimized websites before the “mosh pit” (in green) is displayed.
In the example below, a broad search phrase like “Los Angeles Dealers” produces a list of car dealers that have Google Maps, but before those listings, three company websites appear.
In the search results shown above, you can see that an “exact match” domain with good content, links, and relevance PRECEDES the massive block of results shown in green that are enhanced by Google Places data. You can also see the other two websites that rank above the Google Places block are not slackers at all: Automotive.com and Cars.com.
Google SERP Find Exact Matches First
I’ve said this before and will repeat it again, Google always tries to present, on a search results page (SERP), the best matching assets in its database. Google, Yahoo, and Bing all weight exact matching domains very high as long as the websites have relevant content. Redirected domains that are not hosted will never appear in search results so all those parked domains you may own are not helping you. It may be time to get those parked domains on a real content publishing strategy!
Don’t Forget The Stars
When Google integrated Google Places, the normal 8-10 organic listings were changed dramatically which created a “jump ball” once again in the search marketing Olympics.
I would like to remind all car dealers that they MUST develop a comprehensive Internet Reputation Management (IRM) strategy to increase participation of their clients to posted reviews. My recommendation is that a successful dealer should have TWICE the number of positive reviews “stars” of their nearest competitor. That may be harder in years to come but all dealers should have a few HUNDRED reviews posted from authentic customers.
Testing Search Results Start To Show A Trend
From recent testing that I have done, websites hosted on great domain names may actually have an edge over local car dealer websites. Take a look at the search listed below. The websites that Google felt were best matches and NOT in Google Places were listed first. Then the local dealers were listed.
Once again, the TOP websites above the integrated and enhanced Google Places organic listings are two heavyweight contenders UsedCars.com and Yahoo Autos. For the car industry, the bigger, more established inventory advertising websites could be getting more traffic because they are NOT in the green Google Places area and shown at the top of the page.
This trend continues as you type in even broader searches, and you can see that websites that are EXACT matching or that have high SEO inbound links on targeted keywords, appear on Google Page One before the Google Places block. So, in essence, Automotive SEO strategies are still in tact and dealers that have EXACT matching microsites with great content are getting a boost.
The Future Automotive SEO
Since I am an advocate of Automotive Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies, you would expect me to defend this marketing strategy but I will be the first to say that the changes with Google Places is still a dynamic event. I’ll keep you posted on what I find and make recommendations to take advantage of opportunities I see.
About the Author
Brian Pasch is the CEO of the PCG Digital Marketing and an active writer for the automotive community.
http://www.internetsales20group.com
***Re-Published from Dealer.com Site
How to use Facebook to promote your blog & engage your customers - Syndicate your blog through Facebook to gain readership - Pete Jewett, SEO Analyst
You don’t have to be a social media expert to know that posting fresh relevant content on your Facebook Page is a must if you want to keep your customers engaged. One way to consistently post content and engage with your consumer is by syndicating your blog to automatically feed into your Facebook page every time you publish a post. Whenever a post is added to your blog, it will automatically display on your Facebook page's news feed for all your fans to view.
Whether you subscribe to Dealer.com’s blog platform or not, if you have a blog you should be syndicating it to gain readership and offer your customers fresh content on a regular basis.
It is easy to link your blog and Facebook fan page for automatic syndication! It takes less than 5 minutes to configure... here's how you can set it up:
1.Find your RSS feed URL - Visit your blog's home page and click on the orange button labeled "RSS 2.0", click it and copy your RSS feed's URL in the address bar.
2.Edit Your Facebook Page -Go to your Facebook Fan Page and click "Edit Page" beneath the Page profile picture.
3.Find Notes - Find Notes among the list of applications and select "Edit." Click "Edit Import Settings" under the Subscribe Section
4.Paste the URL - Paste your blog feed URL in the Web URL box and start importing.
Be aware that once you set up your blog to be imported into Notes, Facebook will pull previous posts into your feed. Once set up, it will scrape your site daily for new posts.
Now that you have your blog set up to post to Facebook, start writing!
How people search
EDITOR'S NOTE: Transcript of Presentation: How people search - Presentation Transcript 1.7 Myths about How, Where and Why people search for a car and what they do when they get there VINSolutions Dealer Advisory Board Meeting Las Vegas NV 10.12.10 Larry Bruce President / CEO MicrositesByU.com @pcmguy. 2.PPC #1 way you can conquest new business for your dealership 3.What’s holding you back? 4.7 Myths that have been heaped on us with little or no basis of actual behavior •People trust 3rd parties more than the dealer •Internet shoppers are price driven •The internet is better for used than new cars •Organic links are trusted more than sponsored •The long tail search phase •People will go online and just come into the dealership •You can’t compete with the budget of the OEM , AutoTrader or Cars.com 5.•Over 35 hours of video •109 users •436 searches 6.Myth 1: People trust 3rd parties more than the dealer 7.Myth 1: People trust 3rd parties more than the dealer Of the 26% that converted: 8.Myth 1: People trust 3rd parties more than the dealer Why did they convert there? This same scenario happened 86% of the time a user landed on a 3rd party site 9.Myth 1: People trust 3rd parties more than the dealer How did they get there? 10.Myth 1: People trust 3rd parties more than the dealer What would have happened if?… Number of Mustangs available What types are available How much they cost 11.Myth 1: People trust 3rd parties more than the dealer Version 2 payment 12.Myth 1: People trust 3rd parties more than the dealer Version 3 trade‐in 13.Myth 1: People trust 3rd parties more than the dealer Things you can do to your website / landing experiences to instill trust. Reviews used by 32% of the users tested •Put your eBay rating on your home page with a link to the ratings •Put your Google ratings on your home page with a link •Put your Yelp ratings on your home page with a link •Use some excepts from letters or surveys on your home page •Facebook Like button on your home page and in special pages and your blog. 14.Myth 2: The Internet is all about price It is actually about saving time and hassle – 1st Concern, do you have what I want? 28% of the time a visitor will search themselves right out of a car 15.Myth 2: The Internet is all about price It is actually about saving time and hassle – 1st Concern, do you have what I want? Volzauto before 16.Myth 2: The Internet is all about price It is actually about saving time and hassle – 1st Concern, do you have what I want? Volzauto After 17. 18.Myth 2: The Internet is all about price It is actually about saving time and hassle – 1st Concern, do you have what I want? 19.Myth 2: The Internet is all about price It is actually about saving time and hassle – 1st Concern, do you have what I want? •1 click access to the most popular selling vehicles •UserTesting.com to find trouble spots in you conversion funnel •Crossbrowsertesting.com to find the breaks in code This has doubled Volz Auto Groups Lead Conversion Rate 20.How Split Testing Works Split Testing Platform 21.How Split Testing Works www.google.com/websiteoptimizer Split Testing Platform 22.Myth 3: The Internet is more suited to used cars than new Search testing found New & Used to be evenly split 23.Myth 4: Organic links are clicked and trusted more than sponsored links For pure purchase intent sponsored links converted 300% higher than organic links 24.Myth 4: Organic links are clicked and trusted more than sponsored links CarMax landing pages showed up in 33% of the searches that were performed in this test all sponsored links 25.Myth 4: Organic links are clicked and trusted more than sponsored links For pure purchase intent sponsored links converted 300% higher than organic links 26.Myth 4: Organic links are clicked and trusted more than sponsored links Organic traffic is inconsistent. You have no idea what the users intent really is other than 70% of the time they were looking for your dealership to do something The term Random access website refers to your main site where the users intent isn’t clear and there is a lot of navigation for them to get lost in the page shuffle 27.Myth 4: Organic links are clicked and trusted more than sponsored links Organic traffic is inconsistent. You have no idea what the users intent really is other than 70% of the time they were looking for your dealership to do something 28.Myth 4: Organic links are clicked and trusted more than sponsored links You will get higher conversions and better results out of PPC than organic SEO efforts but to do so you have to optimize at all 4 dimensions of online marketing Test‐Driven Marketing: •Geo‐location •Keyword / placement Making •Ad position agile marketing strategic •Landing / Conversion growth engine. 29.Myth 4: Organic links are clicked and trusted more than sponsored links Test Driven Marketing Ad Group Ad Split testing for Ad Ad Ad CTR Ad Split testing for Landing Landing Landing Conversion 30.Myth 4: Organic links are clicked and trusted more than sponsored links Test Driven Marketing Ad Group Ad Split testing for Winning Ad CTR Ad Split testing for Winning Conversion Landing 31.Myth 4: Organic links are clicked and trusted more than sponsored links A culture of constant improvement Ad Group Ad Split testing for New Ad New Ad Control Ad CTR Ad Split testing for New New Control Conversion Landing Landing Landing 32.Myth 5: The long tail search phrase Yes in overall internet searches long tail search phrases 4+ words are 23% of the searches and do have higher intent. But in the car business this is not the case. 33.Myth 6: People are going to your site and looking at vehicles then showing up on your lot The internet is an “Influencing Medium”. If you believe that then I have other stuff I want to sell you 34.Myth 7: You can’t compete with the budget of the OEM, AutoTrader, Cars.com Yes at the local level you absolutely can and you absolutely should. Other contributing factors to the search •Location 54% •Product 80% •Avg number of searches 3.5 35.Myth 7: You can’t compete with the budget of the OEM, AutoTrader, Cars.com Yes at the local level you absolutely can and you absolutely should. Location 54% 36.Myth 7: You can’t compete with the budget of the OEM, AutoTrader, Cars.com OEM Involvement 37.Remarketing 23% Email Capture Rate / 37% Call Rate 38.Remarketing 39.Remarketing 40.Remarketing 41.Remarketing 12% Click Through Rate 17% Conversion Rate 42.Integrated Channels Honda CTR – 3% Conversion – 31% 43.Integrated Channels 44.Integrated Channels Budget ‐ $500 Honda Service for Schools www.supplies4kids.com ; Service Your Honda and Help a child with School Supplies! CTR – 7% Conversion – 23% 45.Integrated Channels Budget ‐ $200 CTR – 3% Conversion – 47% 46.Integrated Channels Important: Service your Honda help a child get school supplies http://bit.ly/4kids Haynes Honda donates $1 for each RETWEET Retweets – 1112 142 new followers Conversions – 115 last count 47.Integrated Channels 48.Summery •3rd parties DO NOT have a Brand or a trust advantage. They don’t really even have an SEO advantage •You’re going to get a lot farther if you give visitors what they want, when they want it the way they want it than trying to run a bunch more people to your website and convert the same lousy percentage. •Internet user don’t play favorites with new or used and they both convert just as easily. •Organic links do not have some magic hold over the customer and are very inconsistent when it comes to intent. •To make PPC really work you have to control all dimensions of the online marketing experience. •Split testing is really the only way to consistent double digit conversion rates and constant improvement. • if you’re one that believes the internet is an influencing medium then you may be joining some of our less fortunate car brethren that no longer have a store. •You absolutely can and should eliminate 95% of your dependence on 3rd parties between you and your visitor / customer. •Targeted PPC + Remarketing will pick you up to a 40%+ Conversion Ratio •Integrating Channels the right way increases conversions into the 30%+ range
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