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Nov 1, 2010

Congrats Alex, looking good! Can't wait to read the article.

Nov 1, 2010

Congratulations Alex. You deserve all the recognition as one of my most passionate clients. You really have a heart for understanding digital marketing and you are a fierce competitor. You are one of a kind and the best dressed man in the automotive community.

Andrew Ward · Dec 29, 2010

Alex, great post.

For over a decade we have seen the tremendous power of influence that user reviews have on online purchased decisions. The value of authentic user reviews of local businesses is even greater for consumers because the risk and cost are often much higher as is the case with purchasing a new or preowned vehicle. Google knows this better than most. Internet fads come and go but user reviews for auto dealers are hear for good. Dealers slow to move will be hurt.

JillB · Nov 3, 2010

Just noticed the user names dropped from google user reviews. No more clicking through to see if its real or fake! Is anybody else noticed this or am I seeing things?

Nov 2, 2010

A few people I know hate Google Instant. I love using it and absolutely love how it affects our SEO products. It'll work on mobile eventually I'm sure.

Nov 1, 2010

And we thought Google Instant was a game changer. This is much more important for local search.

Nov 1, 2010

@Paul

You bet it will. The gap between the "Digital Dealers" and the "Traditional Dealers" will widen even further.

Thankfully for our industry, more dealers are emerging and embracing digital. We had an excellent visit with a group on Friday that (1) Admitted that they hadn't paid enough attention to digital marketing, and (2) Were willing to do what it takes to correct that as quickly as possible. We're seeing these types of stories every day. It's refreshing.

ppotratz · Nov 1, 2010

This change will again allow dealers that are actively working diligently on refining and growing their digital marketing campaigns to move ahead even farther of those dealers that fail to understand the power and importance of a well planned out digital campaign.

@alex · Nov 1, 2010

@Ryan - Yep, all browsers are now reflecting the change. Mobile devices are next and I'm seeing tests on iOS and Android showing sporadically.

@Bryan - It's big. Huge. Until now it was possible to hide SEO deficiencies with a strong Local/PPC strategy. Now, that's more challenging as the algorithm driving Local results is tied in directly with organic SEO.

@alex - "I can’t stress enough how important it is to work on your customer reviews." No question. Reviews were often difficult to find in the old search as they only showed up in Places. Now, you can't really miss them. Also, GREAT observation on conversions. People use Google as the Yellow Pages now and having that important piece of data available without having to click may hurt traffic, increase conversion rates, and decrease "bad bounces" that occur when people click through just to get a phone number.

Nov 1, 2010

My bad. I tried some searches on Explorer today and same results!! Reviews are huuuuge!

Nov 1, 2010

Wonder how long until it will start showing on Explorer.

Nov 1, 2010

This is a MAJOR change in Google Page One and it impacts all previous strategies for PPC, SEO, and IRM. This is so disruptive that I hope this is the akeup call that dealers needed to start their processes for online review management.

Nov 1, 2010

Great post Alex!! The video was very helpful. I'm not sure I like the map on the right hand side.

Alex Snyder · Nov 1, 2010

Google is on the move again with possible (at the time of this posting) changes hot off the heels of a move to Google Instant. In my opinion these changes should have a much more obvious impact on local businesses than what we've seen from Instant thus far.

Google is becoming much more integrated by combining Places (formerly known as Google Local) with Reviews and placing it inside the organic listings.

This move calls for an immediate need to concentrate on your online reviews that push stars to Google. Right now that would be Google reviews themselves or DealerRater.

Dealers could get away with having bad reviews in the past because the maps and reviews were separate from the organic listings, but now it is really hard to miss those bad reviews.

So, what are the changes in this new integration?

Prioritization or organic rankings also being seen on maps
Reviews showing on Organic Listings
Address and Telephone number showing on organic listing (could change your website conversion numbers)
Ads from Google Places showing on Map and bottom of your organic listing
Removal of common links under the first organic listing
Link to Place page on organic listing
Links to Review sites on organic listings
Map moved to the right

I can't stress enough how important it is to work on your customer reviews. If anything that should be the most obvious thing these changes bring. He with the best and most reviews will be chosen when up against someone who has few and/or bad reviews.

Thanks to JD Rucker for putting this screen cast together:

And for additional reading Matt Murray has a take on what this means as far as screen real estate goes: Google Heightens the Space Race.

Has anyone seen how and if this changes the need to keep up with a Places listing for your dealership? We've had some significant amount of pain with Local/Places for years (as seen from these DealerRefresh forums threads):

Jul 24, 2012

I've found that it's best to target users with specific keyphrases as well as broad search items such as "new ford mustang."

I autoknow · Feb 5, 2011

As I consult with 100's of Dealers both New and Independant I can tell only about 1% will have any clue as to what was presented here. Not that the information is not important or valid. My point is, that most dealers are just learning to text for the first time. They are painfully aware the business is changing. They know they need to change. There is lots of stats and information that shows them how consumur behavior is changing, They are simply overwhelmed with what to do first and how to exicute a plan to get it done and then figure out what the next priority should be. The real day to day of most dealers is void of the changes happening now. So the question is .......and this is what I hear from them....." I know I need to change.......I just don't know who is going to do it for me"

gosollc · Nov 10, 2010

If you want to get the best results, instead of split testing, you can use Multivariate testing. It allows you to test more scenarios faster. For example, if 3 different images are to be tested in 3 locations, there are 27 combinations to test instead of 2 (A/B). Check out Wikipedia for more info: Hotelling's T-squared distribution - Wikipedia

LarryBruce · Nov 1, 2010

Richard Nielson's eye tracking studies are telling but don't really reflect user behavior. These studies focused on attention but that attention doesn't mean you got the click and it doesn't account for user behavior or inter action with the page.

This was the reason we chose to video users and just give them one simple instruction "find a car you would buy online however you would normally go about doing it." keeping it simple eliminated any personal bias or agenda.

Nielson's studies are also dated, the recent changes in google RTS, and local search have permanently altered the way people interact at the SERP level.

Bottom line you better start figuring out PPC and conversion this is starting to be a big boy game now. More competition will drive up CPC and if you can't convert at a profitable level you will not be able to play in this game.

Nov 1, 2010

This is great information, but some of it contradicts other studies such as eye tracking data from Jakob Neilsen that indicate organic links receive more clicks than ppc links.(ppc blindness) Other studies show that banner ads are also getting a higher click through rate than text links on Google's platform.

I'm sure the data can change somewhat based on niche or vertical, but one thing is certain; the Internet never stands still, it is continually evolving as users, businesses, and technology continue to mature.

As a third-party lead provider and Internet consultant, I'm interested in hearing from auto dealers as to how I can better help them directly generating leads in-house or through normal third party channels.

LarryBruce · Oct 31, 2010

Thanks Kevin that is a really big compliment comming from you. I will work hard to live up to it.

Great seein you in vegas, lets catch up soon.

Oct 31, 2010

I sat in this session while at DD9 and it was excellent. You can count on hard facts and concepts that will help you sell more cars and service when you attend one of Larry's sessions. I am all about conversion when it comes to online shoppers, and Larry is the king of conversion as far as I am concerned. Great job Larry!

DigitalRalph.com · Oct 31, 2010

Sales Pitch, Sales Pitch! Larry is trying to sell common sense and rational decision making!!! Oh, and I guess this is yet another basic and beginner digital marketing lesson for the dealers on the Digital Dealer Conference short bus... NOT!

Nice work Larry, but I already complimented you on this gem of a workshop you delivered at the 9th Digital Dealer Conference.

Will what you recommend help a dealer's POD Score?

LarryBruce · Oct 31, 2010

Wow thanks Jeff, I am sorry I didn't ask you if you would like to post this. Just put it on slideshare yesterday and was putting in places this morning that I can.

I hope your readers get enough from this deck to get out there and start marketing online, and you're right if anyone needs help I am more than happy to do what I can.

[email protected] / 281.455.3811 / @pcmguy

Nov 27, 2010

Great topic. I firmly believe that you can have your cake and eat it too. A good salesperson through both training and intuition understands when you must price to sell and when you must price to negotiate.

Oct 29, 2010

Jeff, you are so right. The perception has to change first. There is always a way to structure a good deal. If you go into it with a pre-determined mindset that the Internet customer is different, you have already lost. Nice comment.

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