Websites, SEO, SEM, Display, Social, Marketing

• Poll

The thread debates whether encouraging customers to post reviews on their personal Facebook walls is valuable for dealerships, with Andrew Ward arguing that personal recommendations carry more influence than public reviews while Jerry Thibeau counters that review volume on Google and third-party sites is more important for attracting new car buyers. The discussion pivots toward practical alternatives like having dealers share delivery photos on their Facebook pages or asking satisfied customers to post reviews across multiple platforms simultaneously to leverage both social word-of-mouth and review site visibility. The consensus suggests that encouraging organic customer advocacy on personal social feeds, combined with strong Google review presence, offers better ROI than relying solely on either channel.

The thread discusses Google's penalties for websites that build backlinks from irrelevant sources, using JCPenney's public penalization as a cautionary example of black hat SEO tactics backfiring. The original poster emphasizes that link-building strategy should prioritize relevance and compliance with Google guidelines to avoid search ranking penalties. One commenter suggests such penalized companies should shift their focus to paid search (PPC) instead of organic strategies.

Stefan shares a video about Google's integration of social media results into organic search for logged-in users, asking if this is a recent development. Jeff explains that Google introduced Social Search in 2009 but recently expanded it to include publicly shared links from Twitter and other sites that appear annotated only to connected users. Stefan's key concern emerges: many dealers still struggle to understand why social media, reviews, photos, and descriptions matter for their online presence, despite these growing search integration features.

The thread discusses whether creating a separate mobile version of a website with a different URL (e.g., mobile.twitter.com) constitutes duplicate content that could penalize SEO rankings. The consensus is that Google recognizes mobile versions as legitimate and valuable for user experience rather than duplicate content, especially when properly implemented with separate URLs. Participants conclude that a dedicated mobile site should not trigger penalties and may even generate additional backlinks to the primary site.

Dealers discuss the merits and mechanics of automated PPC platforms like Haystack that dynamically generate search ads based on used vehicle inventory, with debate centering on whether highly specific long-tail keywords (e.g., "2005 White GMC Sierra") or broader match terms (e.g., "sierra") drive better ROI. The key insight is that Haystack's effectiveness depends entirely on how dealers configure it—the tool can execute any search strategy from ultra-generic to hyper-specific—but participants remain divided on whether searchers actually hunt for individual vehicles by detailed specs or use broader automotive terms.

A dealer seeks recommendations for an app or service to improve customer communication around service departments. One vendor suggests Teletext Solutions, while another hints at an unreleased product launching that month, and a third asks clarifying questions about whether the dealer wants a mobile phone app versus a broader service communication platform. The thread remains inconclusive with no clear consensus emerging on specific solutions.

Chris Fousek asks how to receive notifications for comments and posts on his dealership's Facebook business page, noting that Facebook doesn't natively offer this feature for business pages like it does for personal accounts. After several participants confirm that no built-in solution exists, the thread pivots to discussing workarounds including third-party apps (PageNotifier, NutshellMail, fanpagenotifier.com) and RSS feed services that can send email alerts for new wall posts, with mixed effectiveness depending on the specific notification needs.

Anirban explains the importance of meta title tags for on-page SEO optimization, defining what they are (the text that appears at the top of browser tabs) and outlining best practices such as keeping titles under 100 characters and incorporating 8-9 key phrases. The thread establishes that proper title tag creation is a fundamental SEO practice that significantly impacts search engine visibility for web pages.

The thread emphasizes that organic SEO is an effective and affordable marketing strategy, but requires patience and time to deliver results—unlike immediate-impact channels such as TV advertising. Anirban addresses a common client complaint about not seeing first-page Google rankings after just one month, setting up an explanation that SEO is a slower-moving but ultimately more valuable long-term investment.

A dealer asks about FanBullet, a service offering to generate thousands of Facebook and Twitter followers for a fee. The community consensus is strongly negative, with responders arguing that bulk-purchased followers lack genuine value, are likely sourced from foreign countries or contest-harvesting schemes, and won't convert to actual customers—ultimately emphasizing quality engagement over vanity metrics.

The thread discusses long tail keyword optimization as a cost-effective SEO strategy for automotive dealers with limited budgets, positioning it as an alternative to competing for expensive, high-volume keywords that require significant backlink investment. The poster argues that targeting long tail keywords and local search terms can deliver targeted traffic without the high costs associated with competitive, broad-match keywords. The key insight is that budget-conscious dealerships can achieve better ROI by focusing on less competitive, more specific search phrases rather than trying to rank for popular industry-wide terms.

Jeff Kershner announces that Cars.com Dealer Advantage is hosting Reputation Management workshops and mini labs at NADA 2011, with a lineup of automotive and online reputation professionals. The thread draws brief enthusiasm from attendees and participants, including a noted session featuring Jeff alongside moderator Jack Simmons. The post primarily serves as a promotional heads-up for dealers planning their NADA schedule.

Shereef introduces Dealer Mouth, a platform that enables dealership salespeople to create individual personal websites and social media presence while maintaining management control, with integrated client communication tools. The thread reveals initial skepticism about the intentionally vague product website, but the company defends this strategy to avoid shortening the learning curve for competitors, while offering direct demos to interested dealers. A key concern about duplicate content hurting SEO is addressed by clarifying that these individual sales rep sites are marketed through social channels rather than search engines, with the dealership's main site handling SEO efforts.

The thread discusses Google's efforts to reduce spam in search results, citing Matt Cutts' statement that spam results dropped by more than half over five years. The post highlights Google's focus on eliminating content from automated sources and hacked sites while improving overall search quality through updates like Caffeine.

Joe Pistell recommends Dan Zarrella as a valuable resource for data-driven social media marketing, sharing an infographic on Facebook marketing tactics and highlighting Zarrella's article distinguishing between legitimate social media science and questionable "snake oil" approaches. Craig amplifies the recommendation by endorsing Zarrella's parent company HubSpot, praising their free tools and training resources like Inbound Marketing University. The thread's consensus is that Zarrella and HubSpot offer credible, research-backed social media guidance worth exploring for automotive professionals seeking legitimate marketing strategies.

Dealership professionals debate whether social media marketing (Facebook, Twitter) can effectively drive automotive sales, with skeptics questioning whether success stories from Dell and Walmart apply to high-ticket car purchases and emphasizing the need for ROI data and proper implementation strategy. The thread concludes that while social media remains a valuable marketing tool for dealers, the key to success lies not in chasing sales metrics but in building genuine customer relationships and community engagement.

The thread discusses the critical role of quality content in SEO strategy post-Google's MayDay update, emphasizing that while backlinks are important ("King"), content is equally vital ("Queen") for search rankings. Anirban outlines key content characteristics dealers should prioritize—productivity, informativeness, uniqueness, freshness, relevance, and human editing—and notes that top-ranking websites combine strong content strategy with link-building campaigns. The thread appears to set up a framework for creating effective content, though the specific recommendations are cut off in the excerpt provided.

The post discusses Google's evolution in displaying video search results, noting that Google now surfaces the most relevant video content from multiple platforms (YouTube and competitors) rather than just YouTube links. The key insight is that Google's algorithm has become more sophisticated in curating diverse video sources to provide better search results for music video queries.

The thread uses the carnival barker metaphor to discuss how dealers can better engage website visitors and convert them into leads, exploring tools like trade appraisal widgets, live chat, downloadable content, and incentive-based games. Participants debate whether "circus barkers" should focus on lead generation or lead-to-show conversion, with the key insight that effective barkers must understand what questions and concerns are actually on shoppers' minds rather than relying on generic engagement tactics. The emerging consensus is that dealers need to combine engaging lead-capture mechanics with immediate, high-quality follow-up and incentives that actually motivate showroom visits.

Autofair Honda seeks guidance on hiring a dedicated in-house used car photographer to replace underperforming vendor Dealer Specialties, while struggling to convince their GM it's a necessary full-time position rather than something to fit into existing staff schedules. The thread reveals that quality photo work is significantly more time-intensive than non-technical managers typically understand—taking 1+ hour per car when accounting for shooting, processing, uploading, and vehicle data entry—and emphasizes the importance of hiring someone genuinely passionate about photography rather than trying to absorb the work into existing roles. Key advice includes quantifying the business case financially, clearly communicating expectations to vendors before making the in-house investment decision, and considering unconventional hiring sources like retirees or community college students if proceeding with a dedicated hire.

A call tracking study of 17 dealerships in November revealed three key lessons: branding drives a significant share of inbound calls, smart marketers optimize spend by tracking ROI precisely, and using tracking numbers as caller ID can yield up to 37% appointment sets on return calls. Commenters from vendors and dealer groups broadly validated the findings, while later replies expanded the discussion to emphasize that call tracking alone is insufficient — someone must actually listen to recorded calls and train staff on phone handling. The thread converges on a three-pronged approach: call tracking, call monitoring, and phone sales training.

The thread introduces Animoto as an affordable video creation tool for car dealers, highlighting its new call-to-action feature and the pro plan at $249/year. A vendor reveals they integrated Animoto directly into their platform but admits that despite the seamless integration, not a single dealer has actually used it to create vehicle videos. The discussion surfaces a key tension: dealers recognize video's value but still fail to act, raising questions about adoption barriers beyond cost and complexity.