Electric Chill: EZ Auto Movers' Winter Driving Tips for Electric Vehicles

As the winter season sets in, electric vehicle (EV) owners may find themselves facing unique challenges when it comes to maintaining optimal performance and efficiency. The team at EZ Auto Movers, a leading name in state-to-state auto transport and car shipping, understands the importance of providing comprehensive guidance to EV owners navigating winter weather. In this article, we’ll explore some essential tips to ensure a smooth and efficient winter driving experience for your electric vehicle.

Battery Management in Cold Weather​

One of the primary concerns for electric vehicle owners during winter is the impact of low temperatures on battery performance. Cold weather tends to reduce the overall efficiency of batteries, resulting in decreased driving range. To combat this, EZ Auto Movers recommends pre-conditioning your EV while it’s still plugged in. This involves heating up the battery before starting your journey, which can significantly improve its efficiency in colder climates.

Tire Maintenance for Optimal Traction​

Winter driving conditions often mean snow, ice, and slippery roads. Proper tire maintenance is crucial for maintaining traction and ensuring a safe driving experience. EZ Auto Movers emphasizes the importance of checking tire pressure regularly, as cold temperatures can cause tire pressure to drop. Additionally, investing in winter tires with adequate tread depth can greatly enhance your EV’s grip on the road, providing stability and control in challenging conditions.

Efficient Cabin Heating​

Heating the interior of your EV can be a significant drain on the battery. EZ Auto Movers advises utilizing the vehicle’s pre-conditioning feature while still connected to a power source to warm up the cabin without relying solely on battery power. This ensures that your EV is ready to hit the road with a comfortable interior temperature while minimizing the impact on driving range.

Strategic Route Planning​

For those embarking on state-to-state auto transport or shipping a vehicle during winter, strategic route planning is key. EZ Auto Movers recommends choosing routes that prioritize well-maintained roads and avoid areas prone to extreme weather conditions. Planning ahead can help minimize the risk of unexpected delays or challenges during your journey.

Regular Maintenance Checks​

Routine maintenance checks become even more critical in winter. EZ Auto Movers encourages electric vehicle owners to schedule regular maintenance appointments to ensure that all components are functioning optimally. This includes checking the brakes, fluid levels, and other essential systems to prevent any issues that could be exacerbated by colder temperatures.

Driving an electric vehicle during winter requires careful consideration and proactive measures. Whether you’re embarking on a cross-country adventure or shipping a vehicle to a different state, EZ Auto Movers’ winter driving tips can help you navigate the challenges of the season while ensuring your electric vehicle performs at its best. Stay charged, stay safe, and enjoy the winter journey with your electric vehicle.

ActivEngage Are you already using AI for your dealership?

Hi dealership friends,

as we all know, AI tech (artificial intelligence) has been the latest craze that everyone's been talking about. Internally we've been discussing AI for years and we feel that the technology is a great middleman to help out our live chat agents get relevant information quicker in front of customers. However, with the rise of ChatGPT and competitors, we're seeing many companies out there are trying to get AI chat in front of customers as the first impression.

This feels like a missed opportunity in our eyes to build trust, but maybe some of our dealer friends disagree with us on here. We're very curious...

What's been your experience with using artificial intelligence for your business? Are you using AI at all? Let me hear about it!

What's new about Google vehicle ads?

Here's a stupid question. Several news sites are reporting Google has launched "a new ad format, called 'vehicle ads', that shows Google search users nearby cars for sale." I believe this has been available for some time now. George Nenni shared a screen shot of vehicle ads in search back in January 2021. Perhaps the new element is that it's available on mobile now? Does anyone know?
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Geo keyword stuffing? Local landing pages that work - getting rid of the gibberish

I may have posted something similar to this in the past, but I am unsure. Excuse me if I have and appear a dolt. My frustrations with OEM-approved SEO are building.
I'm just wondering if anyone here has an example of a good or even great local landing page for a dealership. I'm looking for something that serves customers NOT search engines.

This will be used as an example in an attempt to shift focus AWAY from geo stuffing. I have been fighting this fight for a while and I am starting to wonder if there's even a value here. I understand and accept that Google treats automotive differently than some other verticles. They are far more forgiving when it comes to thin or duplicate content etc etc. Is it the same with Geo stuffing? Are we truly serving our customers the best experience with pages literally built JUST to rank? I've been in SEO for nearly a decade now and geo stuffing goes against every SEO fiber in my body - yet it seems to be industry standard, which truly baffles me.

How does buying a chevy in portland at our portland chevy dealership near Yarmouth help customers in south portland with any service needs they might have for their Chevrolet Avalon in the freeport area?

Am I alone? Overthinking? Should I just get back to the grind and shut up? Can GOOD local SEO be done for car dealerships or is it just about proximity when searching?
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Inverse Relationship Between CarGurus and Cars.com SRP/VDP Conversions?

I've been tracking data from our 3rd Party Classifieds for a very long time and one of the (many) items I monitor is the SRP/VDP conversion. I feel this is one of the indicators of how well we are merchandising, pricing, etc our inventory. I've noticed this odd inverse relationship between Cars.com and CarGurus where if Cars.com SRP/VDP conversion raises, CG dips and if Cars.com falls, CG goes up. This is one of our stores in the Lincoln, NE market. The data below is USED Cars.com SRPs/VDPs vs CarGurus total SRP/VDP since they tell me 99% are USED.

Am I missing something? Is anyone else experiencing this? Obviously, these are the same cars with the same merchandising, etc so my theory on what information SRP/VDP conversion indicates about merchandising doesn't fly in this case. Math is total VDPs divided by total SRPs.

Cars.com and CarGurus SRP_VDP Conversion.png

PR & News Has the Used Car Market Bubble Popped??

POP!!??
Some are saying YES and some are saying not quite yet and even then, it may be gradual.

What do you think?
How was your USED sales in January - did they continue on strong or are you witnessing a POP?

For us Used sales were hot and consistent until mid December. Mid-December hit and our Used shopping traffic took a significant dip as did sales. January continued with the decline.

Lucky Lopez is seeing and predicting a Used Car Market POP! - explains it in the video below. Checkout this perspective on what is going on with banks and auto loans. He also mentioned the REPO rate going WAY WAY UP. What would cause the REPO rate to explode?

Lucky is also predicting this "Tax season" NOT having the positive impact it usually does. The FED has already announced a rate hike for mid February with Big Banks cutting back on loans.

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Lucky really focuses on the USED vehicle market and the Banks, and rightfully so. BUT it seems as if there's SO MUCH MORE going on, outside of the Automotive industry that's having an impact on the market.

*All these years in the industry and I never considered 60% of buyers are sub-prime - credit score 620 and lower. Too many years in the luxury side of the business.

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Breaking Down the First Page of Google // Local Marketing Insider #058

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Hey! Welcome to Local Marketing Insider where 10,000+ local marketing professionals get better at reputation strategy & more with insights delivered 2x a month.

Read the other articles. Subscribe.




Welcome back to another LMI.

This week I'm breaking down the first page of Google search results.

Where does the traffic go? What types of businesses compete for space in each section? Where should local businesses focus, and why?

Let's get into it.

3 Sections: Paid, Map Pack, Organic

For searches with localized intent (“store,” “near me”), normally the first page of Google is broken up into three major sections: paid, map pack and organic.

Here are the estimated click percentages:

Screenshot 2023-05-02 at 11.18.57 AM


What stands out to me is that 40% of clicks are going to the Map Pack. And 37% of those clicks go to the first business in that pack. This is a huge advantage to local businesses, primarily due to less competition, which I’ll explain in more detail later.

How Do Businesses Show Up in Each Section?

The tactics to show up in each section are a bit different for each, so I’ll briefly explain how they differ.

Paid Ads

How to show up
  • Buy placement with Google Ads
  • Optimize campaign architecture, bidding strategy & target keywords
Competition
  • Listing sites
  • Local businesses
  • Other non-local businesses in certain situations
Map Pack

How to show up
  • Google Business Profile optimization
  • Matching or related primary category (i.e. does your business offer the product or services the searcher requests?)
  • Review volume, frequency, quality and response
  • Proximity to the searcher
Competition
  • Local businesses
Organic

How to show up
  • On-page SEO
  • Keyword inclusion in site content, meta descriptions, title tags etc.
  • Domain authority
Competition

Listing sites
  • Local businesses

Where Should Local Businesses Focus Efforts/Budget?

Undoubtedly, the Map Pack.

The reason for this is two-fold.

One, listing sites, or any other type of non-local business cannot ever rank in the Map Pack (you need a GBP to be considered). Two, the Map Pack, in many localized searches, is the first group of non-paid listings shown.

The relationship between listing sites and local businesses requires a deeper explanation. The two simultaneously have a co-dependent and competitive relationship.

Any car dealer spending money with Cars.com or multifamily community spending money with Apartments.com is doing so to source leads. But, this money also finds the paid marketing strategy that will take up space on search results that the local business wants to rank for itself.

You’re paying listing sites to bid on the same keywords you bid on. And listing sites are serious competitors.

Before Widewail, I spent many years at CarGurus. The team there that is tasked with driving traffic to CarGurus via paid and organic search is comprised of multiple masters/doctorate-level mathematicians, spending seven figures a month while optimizing the site for tens of millions of keywords. That’s some serious competition.

Listing sites take the fee you send to them every month and put it back towards the same keywords you’re bidding on.

I see ranking in traditional organic search as even more of an uphill battle for local businesses. While still important, its resource-intensive, time-consuming, and a listing site with thousands of units of inventory objectively offers a better experience to the searcher in the eyes of Google.

To prove my point, just do a quick search for “car dealer near me” or “studio apartment for rent near me” and you’ll see how dominant listing sites like Cars.com and Apartments.com are in paid and organic search.

How Do Businesses Rank in the Map Pack?

Understanding that 40% of local search clicks go to the Map Pack and 37% of those clicks go to the first business listing in the Map Pack, how should businesses go about achieving better placement?

7 or 8 years ago, we used to think that the searcher's location was the primary driver of position in the Map Pack – as in, Google would show results in order of proximity to the searcher.

And it used to be that way. In 2020, it was proven that reviews actually carried more weight in local search than the location of the searcher.

Why? Because Google has the ability now to assess customers’ sentiment and reported experiences.

When you can understand what people are saying about a business, you can ensure that you're sending a searcher to an offline, real-life experience that is good for them.

Google wants to make sure people use Google. So just in the past few years, the importance of broadcasting that fantastic customer experience has continued to rise.

37% of the clicks in that Map Pack go to the first result. That first result, more often than not, is a location that has high transaction volume, is receiving a frequent number of reviews every single month, has a great quality of reviews, and has a response strategy. That's how we show we care about that resident, that customer, that guest.

Showing up in the Map Pack is about demonstrating a great experience by driving high volume and good quality reviews.


Earlier this week, this trend from Exploding Topics was passed around my team:

TikTok SEO


From the article: "37% of users discover new products and services on TikTok. And having posts rank higher on search results can significantly increase a product's or service's visibility. This explains why videos mentioning “TikTok SEO” have gathered over 1.2 billion views on the platform."


TikTok as an alternative, primarily visual, search engine continues to gain momentum. Read LMI #041 for more background.

See you in 2 weeks - Jake, Marketing @Widewail
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#RefreshFriday New Inventory Rising - what's Digital Marketing like now? | Jessica Robertson and Tyson Madliger

Login to view embedded media View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBeYj8-427M


Google has been the reigning paid search champion, but is Bing growing? Did you know Bing Paid Search ads are found on several non-Google search channels? Jeff and Alex only use Google if they have to. Alex hasn't seen a Google Paid Search ad in years since moving to DuckDuckGo and/or Brave Browser. These non-Google places are growing in popularity, and you may not be reaching these shoppers.

Jessica Robertson and Tyson Madliger of Dealer Authority live in the social and paid search advertising world. They have been powering DealerRefresh's social presence since 2018. We invited them to talk about the current state of digital marketing as we are headed back into the world of having more inventory.

Join us LIVE on Facebook, LinkedIn, or YouTube Friday at 1PM
https://www.facebook.com/dealerrefresh
https://www.linkedin.com/company/dealerrefresh
https://www.youtube.com/dealerrefresh
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Our dealers using 360 cameras for inventory?

Is anyone using 360 cameras for your new or used inventory? And how are you displaying those on your website with what software? And are you finding that third party's offer support for 360 photos? If you don't do it or you don't see the support, is that something you're interested in?

Chrysler PAP and Chrysler Digital best results for the money??

Hello all. We have recently acquired a Chrysler Dodge Jeep RAM dealership and I have moved from our Chevrolet location with the intention of expanding the new store. Over the past several months, we've increased our volume considerably and I am left with a very good problem, a large surplus of unused PAP funds. My intention is to use them primarily for enhancing our online presence. There are several programs available to Chrysler dealers from a variety of vendors, primarily SEO/SEM services, with a bit of Rep. Mgmt and Social Media too. My initial instinct was to choose Dealer.com out of convenience since they're already the provider for my dealership site and some other tools. But, I've been getting the impression there may be better options out there. Is anyone currently using one of these Chrysler Digital Certified providers such as CF, Haystak, L2t, Pixel Motion, Search Optics, Dealer.com Adpearance, Mudd, etc. Who delivers the best results/value/service??

Ryan Everson has a NEW Job!! -- CONGRATULATIONS!

:dance2:

@Ryan Everson started a new job this week, and with the new job, comes new work attire. :rofl:



:yell:Big CONGRATULATIONS to @Ryan Everson and his wife Megan for welcoming a new Baby Girl into this world this week.:beer: CHEERS to the two of you!!




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Are you VIN-aware?

This will be the new Buzz Word for 21-22. Betcha!!

VIN-aware

How VIN-aware of you?
What percentage of your inventory are you VIN-aware of?
What’s your VIN-aware score?

I can hear and see it already.

“The objective of a VIN-aware campaign is to sell a car as quickly as possible and for the greatest gross profit.”

Sucks - the URL isn’t available.

SEO is Great but do you REALLY Know what Keywords Matter?

Search Engine Optimization has been the "key phrase" for the online automotive marketplace for about the last 18 months. Whether you are using your website, BLOGS, Press Releases, or Videos to rank well in the search engines there are still some interesting questions to answer.

What keywords "REALLY MATTER" when it comes to turning your search results into $$$$$$.
There are many "stats" out there about this...and you all know how I feel about "STATS"

It seems like every piece of information you get there is always someone who comes out with a write-up on research they have done on the opposite train of thought.

For example:
Most of us know that the highest searched terms are usually make/Geo area ex. "Honda Dallas" or "Acura Miami" etc.

However, we are told by other "research" that long tail searches like "2009 Honda Accord Dallas" are what the "buyers" are typing. I know we are in the car business but do we know anyone who would ever type in that phrase when looking for a new or used car. It just doesn't seem logical, but I guess the way people search may not be logical.

What does your research tell you?

A few other questions
-What Search terms do you DOMINATE in your market?
-Do you use the google keyword tool?
-Do you use your own website statistics?
-Do you use wordtracker?

Just food for thought...Chime in and let me know what you think.

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