There I said it. Forget about long-tail, short-tail, META tags, “page one domination”, link-building, URL strings, SEO training seminars and SEO wiz-bang nonsense. Forget it. At least for the moment.

Unless you have a website in development or are switching providers where an SEO strategy is vital during the implementation of your new website, your #1 priority should be to have a PPC (Pay Per Click) marketing plan and budget in place for 2011.

Obviously SEO is a massively important strategy - one that should be implemented carefully and with the right data and people in place to do so. But this industry has become borderline infatuated with SEO without giving PPC the attention it deserves. I have dealers consistently making suggestions about their Page Titles or META data (impressive), but then go on to ask me if that will help them show up in the “pink box” at the top of Google. No, those are “Ads”. You have to pay for those.

Below are 5 top-level reasons and stats to get your brain on the right track about Search Engine Marketing (SEM) – the umbrella of SEO and PPC.

GROWTH
Automotive PPC spending for 2010 increased by 35% over 2009 along with increases consumer demand. OEMs, Tier 2 Associations and Dealers alike are increasing their budgets for 2011, which means if you don’t have a plan for Paid Search then most likely your competition does. (Source: Efficient Frontier)


TIMING
SEO is a long-term strategy with long-term benefits. It could be weeks or even months before you start to see the fruits of labor. New domains can take up to 12 months to hit their stride, but most SEO programs don’t plateau until between months 6-9. With PPC, you could be on the first page of Google inside of 48 hours.




CONTROL
With SEO, you have minimal-to-no control over how you appear in the search engines. Optimizing your website requires a keyword strategy first – of which most dealers do not have. Once your site is optimized, Google will choose what it sees what it likes, and what to display. With PPC, you have direct control over where, when and how your ads appear. You control the ad copy, the day-parting, the sites you want to appear on, your geographical targets, and even the page you want your visitors to land on. Google is offering more and more tools to help you control your PPC campaign. Additionally, a solid PPC program will give you invaluable information such as top-trafficked terms which you can use to build a more effective and efficient SEO program

TRAFFIC
This one’s a biggie. Yes, your Google Analytics shows that 52% of your traffic is “Organic”. Guess what. The majority of that Organic traffic is for your Trademark terms. And it always will be assuming you have been around for a while and have done a decent job at branding. Take a look at the rest of the terms. There will be supplemental traffic from additional SEO rankings, but you won’t see the type of direct influence from SEO on individual keyword traffic as you will from PPC. Side note – a good SEO keyword strategy will include high-focus on 1-3 top-trafficked keyword phrases.




ROI
Here’s where it gets tricky. Although both PPC and SEO have been proven to produce the highest ROI when compared to traditional marketing, PPC should have a lower ROI in the short term, while ROI for SEO increases over the course of the program. For SEO, as organic rankings start to climb, traffic, leads and sales should go up thus increasing your ROI. However, with PPC your ROI can be measured instantly and more accurately. Within 5 days you should have your average Cost Per Click, your total spend, total traffic and total leads. From there, it’s a simple equation. More money = more leads. And it’s this direct affect that makes PPC an invaluable advertising medium.

Both SEO and PPC are changing dramatically, and obviously you as an automotive dealer (business owner) should have a solid handle on both. SEO has become more than just getting better /higher organic rankings with direct correlation to ORM (Online Reputation Management) and Social Marketing. PPC is also changing with new strategies and methodologies being adopted by the engines. Amongst many changes including comparative and more visual ads, we predict more emphasis by advertisers and the engines on CPA (Cost Per Action), which means you don’t pay unless someone takes action such as filling out a lead form or clicking to call.

Overall, it’s impressive to see the Automotive community come together, show interest and devote resources to improving their online marketing. My advice is to do your research, become knowledgeable and then put the right people in place to make it happen…preferably not you or anyone within your dealership. After all, you have cars to sell and customers to service.

Dealerskins and XIGroup

Nashville,TN, January 24, 2011 – Dealerskins, Inc., the premier provider of websites for automotive dealers nationwide and a division of Dominion Dealer Solutions, today announced its sister company, XIGroup, will unite under the Dealerskins brand to provide the most comprehensive website solutions for auto dealers.

The merger of the two Dominion website businesses is part of an overall company strategy to provide a complete website, CRM and Inventory solution to reduce the time and frustration often experienced when using multiple technology products. Robert Berndt, president of Dominion Dealer Solutions, stated, “We recognize the need to simplify the technology options available to auto dealers. By integrating two premier website providers and leveraging best in breed products and services, we create a powerful solution for existing and future clients that is difficult to match in the automotive industry.”

Joe High, general manager of Dealerskins and XIGroup, will remain general manager of Dealerskins and will lead the unified team. High explained, “Our organizations have been providing custom website solutions to car dealers for over a decade. Through the joining of these award-winning companies, our clients will benefit from shared technology, in-depth industry knowledge, and increased resources. We emerge with a common vision, strong product strategy, and the ability to deliver optimized web solutions to our clients in 2011 and beyond. It’s a perfect way to begin the New Year.”

The company will continue to maintain existing products and services for both Dealerskins and XIGroup clients with the same level of support and dedication. Additional product and service offerings which result directly from this unification will be announced in early 2011.

Dealerskins will remain headquartered in Nashville, TN, with a regional office in Baltimore, MD.

About Dealerskins
Dealerskins, a division of Dominion Dealer Solutions and leader in automotive dealer web services has been building the most innovative dealer websites in the automotive industry since 2000. The company’s expertise comes from real-world dealership experience and a passion for listening and responding to dealers’ needs. With a staff of industry leaders that stays on top of the trends, Dealerskins is focused on designing beautiful websites and building comprehensive web tools for auto dealerships while optimizing the car shopper’s experience to deliver more quality leads to car dealers. For more information, visit www.Dealerskins.com.

About Dominion Dealer Solutions
Dominion Dealer Solutions helps car dealers attract, retain, and service customers for life. Dominion Dealer Solutions products include: lead generation through IFMG; customer relationship management tools through Autobase, AVV, and @utoRevenue; Web sites through Dealerskins and XIGroup; and specialized data aggregation, management, and reporting services through Dealer Specialties, Cross- Sell, The DataCube, and DataOne Software. These businesses serve more than 60 percent of auto dealers nationwide. Learn more at Automotive Software & Technology | Dominion Dealer Solutions. Dominion Dealer Solutions is a division of Dominion Enterprises, a leading marketing services company serving the automotive,
enthusiast and commercial vehicle, real estate, apartment rental, and employment industries. Please see Dominion Enterprises.

Do You Know Your BBB Score?

If you don’t… you and your shoppers will very soon.



You remember the BBB (Better Business Bureau) don’t you?  Yea, it’s the auto dealers nemesis from days of old and it has been totally off Google’s radar…forever.

Those days are about to end.  How do I know? Let’s take a walk, let me show you around and you tell me what you think after.

While looking into FaceBook best practices in the DealerRefresh forums, I came on to Terrance Gordon's post of John Eagle European's excellent FB work. I Google'd John Eagle European and GAK! to too my surprise, there it is! BBB at POSITION 7, just below the fold!

Next was to Google: John Eagle European reviews. GULP!  Position #1!

WOW!  I scurried around to other dealer SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) that I was familiar with and found little evidence similar to John Eagle's SERPs.  What do we have here?  Is this a new day for the BBB, or, is this just noise?

I say it’s a new day for the Better Business Bureau.

Few automobile dealers know Google like we DealerRefresh’ers know Google.  Google is all about improving the user's search experience and we all know Google is ATTACKING local search results with all of the fire power Melissa Mayer can bring.  We know Google is all about authority and the BBB has mountains of off-line authority, measured in decades.

The BBB has what Google wants.  A Brand known everywhere, a new website makeover,  a decades old dispute resolution system, a simple grading system,  AND it's reporting transparency. All the above makes the BBB website the mother of all review sites.  For the Google's search quality team, it's got HOMERUN written all over it!  Oh, did I mention it’s a non-profit organization?  IMO, its indisputable that the BBB is one of those sites that Google wants in every search for a business name.

If this happens, it begins a new cycle of power for the Better Business Bureau.  Shoppers see and read the BBB reports. Then, as the shopper becomes a buyer, should the new buyer have issues, they will turn to the BBB for resolution.

Most dealerships with poor scores treat the Better Business Bureau as the crazy uncle in the closet, they all know he’s there, but no one talks about him. Well.. that crazy uncle just inherited a million dollars and he wants OUT. I've been watching this set-up for months. Here it comes!

Are you ready?

Remember, you heard it on DealerRefresh first!