Different Look – Different Feel – More Learning Ahead…

The reason my site looks different is that I have recently changed how it is being hosted.  Yesterday I changed from WordPress.com to WordPress.org.  What’s the difference??

WordPress.com is a free service that is a hosted solution, which means that there is no software requirement.  No downloads.  No installation or server configurations.  It’s all done for you on the back end, behind the scenes.  To set it up you go to WordPress.com, sign up, and away to go.  The limitations of this option is that you can’t do much in the way of customization or use the thousands of plug-ins available for WordPress on the Internet.  The option works great though and if you can use email, you can use WordPress.com.

WordPress.org requires a software download and some server space.  I signed up for a web server account at BlueHost.com, which was $6.95/month.  Then I fumbled around trying to get the software installed on my server.  WordPress.org claims a ‘5-minute install’ on their software, but that must be for people that are more computer literate than me because I spent an hour trying to get it working with no luck.  The nicest thing I discovered was the WordPress Instal4Free Team.  After going to the site, you give them your contact information and then they email you a list of questions about your account, your server space, and so on.  Then they go to your server and install the software for you….at no charge!  It was crazy!  I spent an hour trying to get the software working, contacted a free install service, and within 20 minutes, my WordPress.org blog was up and running.  VERY COOL STUFF!!! 

I’ve bought and read WordPress for Dummies and it has helped me walk through most of fumbling I’ve experienced.  I’d recommend this book to anyone interested in setting up and creating a blog as it is a really good introduction and resource.  In addition to the book, the Google Search bar on my Firefox browser has been a great ‘help’ menu.

I decided to go the WordPress.org route in order to learn as much as possible about this blogging platform.  In the upcoming days, weeks, months, and years, I will be experimenting with different plugins and themes to get DealerInternet101.com to look and feel the way I want it to.  My initial plan was to have a rating system for each vendor on the site that could be used to truly identify the best of the best with user generated content.  That is still my goal, but it is going to involve more fumbling to get the thing to work.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the content and that you participate loudly and often!

Google Local Business Center Listings – How Does Your Dealership Show Up?

Where is your dealership listed on Google’s Local Business Center Listings?  Are you listed?

Google’s Local Business Listings are part of Google’s ‘Universal Search’ that is attempting to blend local information with news, images, and videos for search terms.  Below is slide from David Kain’s JD Power Online Internet Roundtable Presentation that does an excellent job of showing the difference between paid, vertical, and organic listings on Google:

Getting listed in the paid search is simple.  Launch a pay-per-click marketing campaign and see your dealership listed as soon as Google processes your payment.   This is why Google’s stock price is in the $600+/share range.

If you want your website to be optimized in the organic listings, it is crucial that your website is being indexed properly by the search engines.  If your website has crazy graphics, flames, or purple gorillas holding balloons singing ‘Coom-by-ya‘, chances are your website isn’t going to be ranked very high by the search engines.  Search engines don’t have optical nerves like you and I  to see images and animation and frankly don’t have enough time to listen to your dealership’s website.  Before you do anything on your website, make sure it is inline with Google’s Webmaster Guidelines.

If a website yells on the Internet and the search engines (and more importantly, your customers) don’t hear it, does it make a sound?

BUT…with vertical search, getting listed is as easy as getting Google the information they require for your website.  Through Google’s Local Business Center, you are able to take control of your dealership’s information and make sure that each department is listed correctly.  If you Google your dealership’s city, state, and franchise and don’t see yourself listed, make sure you click here and take control of your dealership’s vertical search results ASAP.  In addition to Google, I also recommend going to Yahoo!’s Local listings and doing the same thing.

Another thing to be aware of are the reviews that are being posted by your customers about their experiences at your dealership.  It only takes a few negative reviews to turn a potential customer off on your business so make sure that your customer reviews are as positive as possible.  Don’t be afraid to reach out to customers that have left negative feedback in order to right any wrongdoing they feel that they have experienced at your store.

A few minutes spent on this simple task could result in more traffic, leads, and visibility in the future.

SeeToo – Video Sharing For Car Dealerships and Consumers

This is an interesting concept that I came across today that could be a great way for dealerships and consumers to ‘meet up’ virtually before meeting on the lot…

SeeToo.com is currently in Beta mode, but you can sign up as a Beta tester on their website. The basic concept behind SeeToo is a shared chat room where you can watch a video simultaneously with the person you are chatting with. Imagine being able to interact in the same virtual room as your prospects by just sending them a link and sharing video walk-arounds of vehicles you compiled. I think the coolest part of this technology is the way that you could interact with your prospects in a private environment to discuss their vehicle purchase needs in a personalized manner.

I use WebEx’s Meeting Manager to show dealerships what our Internet Marketing Solutions can do for them on a daily basis and have often thought that this technology would be extremely useful for dealership and consumer conversations. Instead of doing a basic talk-around of your virtual inventory, a SeeToo or WebEx type environment allows you to really connect with your customers to SHOW them the ins-and-outs of your products. These products and services are available today and dealerships that take advantage of these new virtual sharing environments will be able to stay that much further ahead of the competition. I expect to see more video sharing services like SeeToo come out in the future that will allow you to connect with your customers on a different level.

If you are utilizing a service like SeeToo or WebEx at your dealership, please let us know because I’d love to hear how they are working for you!

Google’s Auto Industry Newsletter for Winter 2007

The Google Auto Newsletter team release their Winter 2007 Edition today. Most of the information is related to their AdWords program, but they do have an interesting piece regarding using Google TV Ads for media buys and tracking.

To be added to their email distribution list for future email, send a request to: auto-newsletter@google.com

To view their recent newsletter, follow this link http://www.google.com/adwords/newsletters/q407/auto/index.html

“Top Ten” Signs a Dealership is Not Serious About the Internet

This is a post from Dealer Impact’s Blog written by their President, Brian Cox, that is worth reading.  If your dealership falls into any of these categories, maybe it’s time for a change?

See the original post here

“Top Ten” Signs a Dealership is Not Serious About the Internet 

10. They have AOL or Hotmail email address.
9. They still have the Field of Dreams mentality (Build it and they will come)
8. The Internet Manager spends more time integrating that new flying airplane on the site than making sure leads get followed up.
7. They switch website providers every year trying to find a site that will sell cars for them.
6. The Internet Department thinks they can take the same number of smoke breaks as everyone else in the dealership.
5. Policies, Procedures, and Accountability don’t pertain to the Internet Department.
4. The newspaper is their primary advertising medium, where the average reader is 55 and the new generation doesn’t even pick it up.
3. They use Cobalt or Reynolds as their primary web solution because they were told to (can you say brainwash).
2. The GM/Owner doesn’t use the Internet so why would anyone else.
1. The dealership has handed over a multi-million dollar profit center to Internet Guru they wouldn’t trust to baby sit their 8 year old daughter.

Why You Should Create a Facebook ‘Fan’ Page For Your Dealership TODAY!!

Facebook recently announced their advertising platform and with it came the ability for businesses and individuals to create ‘fan’ pages. These pages are a great way generate buzz around your dealership and further extend your brand online.

Here are a few reasons it is a good idea to build a Facebook ‘Fan’ page for your dealership:

1. Fan pages are public pages. This means that they will be indexable by the search engines. Normally, Facebook pages are accessed through a login that is password protected. By having a Facebook ‘Fan’ page, hopefully customers will stumble upon your page while searching for automotive related terms in your area.

2. A ‘Fan’ page is a great way to provide updates to everyone in your network. Whether it be a community involvement project, or a weekend event, your updates will appear in each on of your fans newsfeeds.

3. When somebody becomes your ‘Fan’, everyone in their network will be notified via their newsfeed. This is a great way to get your dealership’s name in front of a large amount of potential customers through an online viral marketing effort.

4. You have 100% control of your page. Make sure you capture at least your dealership’s name before someone else or one of your competitors does.

5. Facebook ‘Fan’ pages are 100% FREE, easy, and only take a few minutes to create!! All you need is some basic information about your dealership, a logo, and your dealership website URL and you are done!

To create your page, click this link: http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php

DealerRefresh.com Post – Part Deux

Here is my response in the Autotrader.com Pricing??? thread from DealerRefresh.com.

It’s a shame that far too many dealerships are more concerned with finding sales and service opportunities through 3rd party sources when they have a website that their customers can’t find online. AND…when their customer’s do find them online, they are forced to listen to cheesy jingles or Charlie and Chocolate Factory mini people talk about how great the dealership ‘experience’ is.

Goto Amazon.com, eBay.com, Google.com, BestBuy.com, Walmart.com, etc. and see what the biggest and brightest players online are doing. Try to emulate their Internet presences vs. trying to build a Walt Disney like experience on your website.

Here’s a secret…consumers have better things to do than visit your website to listen your jingles and TV commercials!! They won’t come back daily to ‘check you out’. The WWW has far too many options for your dealership to become the online version of WallyWorld.

Step back for a moment and take your Internet advertising offline…

Do you spend a majority of your offline ad budget on off-site sales?

THAT IS WHAT YOU ARE DOING WHEN YOUR BUDGET IS GOING TO 3RD PARTY PROVIDERS!!!

Invest in yourself before you spend your money elsewhere. If your virtual dealership isn’t the best it can be, why would you concentrate ANY effort on online portals?

3rd Party Leads – What have you done for me lately?

With the annual increases in each of the 3rd Party Lead Providers monthly fees, the question of ‘what have you done for me lately’ really needs to be addressed.

Typically, dealerships will view a ’successful’ campaign by how many vehicles were sold as a result of a particular marketing effort.  ‘7 people brought in our newspaper ad this weekend and we sold 2 cars.  What an ad!’ is the way ROI is typically measured with print, video, and radio advertising.  The beauty of the Internet is that you can determine, down to the penny EXACTLY what each Internet Lead provider is worth to your dealership.

If you are not doing this exercise on a monthly basis, I recommend you start ASAP!!!:

1.  Identify each of your Internet Lead providers.  These are your dealership website, your 3rd party leads, your manufacturer leads, and any other lead source that is supplying you with customer information in your market.

2.  Get the last three invoices from each of your Internet Lead Providers and find out if you are bound by any kind of contract.

3.  Using your ILM, CRM, or (if you are a caveman) your email account, calculate how many leads in the form of emails and phone calls each source has produced over the past 90 days.

4.  Average your monthly fee from your last three invoices and your average lead count from the past 90 days to determine the Cost Per Contact of each lead source.

The Cost Per Contact is the reason you are advertising online!!  The Internet is supplying leads to your dealership at a rate that is SIGNIFICANTLY less than ANY offline advertising source (See for yourself by performing the above exercise on your newspaper, radio, TV, and direct mail campaigns.  Prepare to be shocked!).  Make sure you are aware of the cost per contact for each one of your lead sources to REALLY determine what is cost effective and what isn’t.

BTW – Don’t be surprised if you find some $400/lead costs for 3rd Party Leads.  Just make sure you know about your contract end dates so you can take care of this problem once it is identified!!

I’ve complained to lead providers that they aren’t providing us with ‘good leads’, and in some cases, depending upon what their definition of a lead is, this can be correct.  BUT…a lead is someone that has expressed some interest in a product that you sell.   When all is said and done though, each incoming lead to your dealership is JUST like a walk-in customer, somebody looking for information on buying, trading, or servicing an automobile.  Make sure you have processes in place for constant communication for each of your customers and watch yourself sell more and make more!!!

AutoTrader.com Pricing??? Post from DealerRefresh.com

I posted the below message on DealerRefresh.com today.  I’ll never understand why dealers are paying to have their inventory leverage leads for themselves AND other dealerships in their market.  Crazy!!!

The most unfortunate part of this lengthly thread is that a majority of dealerships don’t understand what they are doing by participating in AutoTrader.com.

Without YOUR inventory, the 3rd party lead generating, portal business model doesn’t work!! If every dealership shut off their inventory feeds to Autotrader.com tonight, where would Autotrader.com’s website be tomorrow?

Here’s an exercise…

1. Pick a vehicle from your website and copy it’s VIN number

2. Paste the VIN number into Google, Yahoo!, or MSN

What do you see?????

Does the vehicle show online shoppers that the VIN number is parked at your dealership’s URL (your virtual lot)? Or is your vehicle only visible on the 3rd party sites that you subscribe to?

Web Design 101 isn’t being practiced by a majority of website providers in the Automotive Internet industry when it comes to your most valuable (and expensive) asset, your inventory.

Too many dealerships are 100% reliant on 3rd party lead providers because their inventory has been framed in using another 3rd party solution on their website due to their ‘website’ company not having an inventory module!! If your inventory is framed into a ‘New Inventory’ or ‘Pre-Owned Inventory’ section of your site, the ONLY chance an online consumer will find it is if they manage to stumble and fumble through your pieced together clunky website (very unlikely) or through an online automotive portal.

Here is Google’s take on frames:

‘Frames can cause problems for search engines because they don’t correspond to the conceptual model of the web.’

Until customers in your market are able to discover YOUR inventory on YOUR website through the search engines, sit back and enjoy the price hikes from each of your 3rd Party Lead sources…or do something about it!!!

Make sure your dealership isn’t cruising down the Information Superhighway in a 1972 Ford Pinto! The results are explosive.

10 Automotive Directories You Need To Be Included In

This is a great post from the guys at Dealer Website Review

While many directories & websites on the internet have recently been penalized by Google, niche directories have survived the storm. Directories & websites that are human edited and focused on a general topic can give site owners some powerful link juice as well as drive highly targeted to traffic to their site. Below we have compiled 10 high quality automotive directories & websites that are worth a visit and your dealership should be listed in.

1. AutoElf.com
This automotive search engine and directory site offers free listings in a variety of auto related categories. Get a preferred listing for maximum exposure.

2. DirectoryCar.com
An automotive directory that has everything you need to know about the auto industry. Free submissions with recipricol link.

3. Allthewebsites Directory
Website Promotion for webmasters and web site owners. Relevant categories such as Arts, Career, Automotive, Government, Internet etc., for promoting your website.

4. AngleseyMotoring
AngleseyMotoring is a directory of over 200 motoring related businesses and services on or near the Isle of Anglesey and Bangor, North Wales, UK.

5. Auto Enthusiast Online
Visit Auto Enthusiast , a resource for car enthusiasts to help them find information about all the automotive events (car shows, cruise-ins, conventions, races, track days, etc.) taking place March-November in the Southeast.

6. Global Auto Index
A comprehensive automotive directory featuring 1700 car makers and over 100,000 photos. This is a must see!

7. AutoFinder.com
A car buying guide and resource for consumers. Includes resources, links, articles and more.

8. Carvoice.com
Car Voice is your online review source! Features reviews by Aaron Esslinger as well as useful links, buying tips and more.

9.Crunchy LINK

10.Blog Directory