Websites, SEO, SEM, Display, Social, Marketing

A dealer seeking graphic design help for promotional content on their Dealer.com website asks the community for referrals to outside designers. Respondents suggest several practical options: hiring local photo studio designers, connecting with college students or interns (sometimes at reduced rates), using freelance platforms like Elance, or working with specialized automotive marketing firms that can customize graphics for dealer websites. The consensus is that quality graphic design work is readily available through local networks, educational institutions, and specialized vendor partners—dealers don't need to rely solely on their website platform's built-in capabilities.

A dealer new to PPC advertising seeks recommendations for management platforms and best practices to scale his campaigns beyond manual management, citing time constraints and the need for keyword expansion and conversion optimization. Respondents recommend several solutions including Dealer.com's Total Control Dominator, ReachLocal, and Clickmotive, with emphasis on using dedicated landing pages and structured campaign organization across multiple ad groups. The consensus emerging is that successful PPC management requires both the right tools to automate bid management and a disciplined approach to campaign structure, keyword grouping, creative testing, and data-driven optimization over time.

A Washington Post article about a customer's frustration trying to purchase a 2010 Camaro sparks dealer discussion about poor sales follow-up and customer service practices. Dealers criticize automated CRM systems that remove interested customers from follow-up lists and highlight the tension between high demand for the vehicle and extremely limited inventory from GM, leaving salespeople unable to fulfill customer interest. The thread reveals systemic issues in dealership processes—both from manufacturer production constraints and dealer operational failures—that actively prevent sales during a critical period for the auto industry.

Automotive dealers discuss whether to handle SEO in-house or outsource to vendors like Dealer.com, with one participant (Brent Palen) seeking to supplement his current service provider's work. A more experienced community member (joe.pistell) provides competitive analysis showing that while a competing dealership ranks significantly higher in search traffic, much of that advantage stems from having 5x more inventory; he advises Brent to implement Google Analytics as a baseline and work to close the traffic gap through strategic SEO efforts. The key insight is that inventory size directly impacts SEO potential, but there's significant upside opportunity for dealers willing to invest effort in optimization despite being smaller competitors.

Dealers debate how much marketing budget and resources to allocate to the Cash for Clunkers program, with the original poster cautioning against over-investing (recommending 15-20% of budget) while others report allocating 60% of their volume to it with strong ROI (under $171 per sale in advertising costs). The consensus that emerges is that while Cash for Clunkers is a temporary, highly profitable opportunity that should be capitalized on aggressively, dealers should still maintain focus on their core business to avoid losing sales once the program ends.

Dealers discuss tools for simultaneously updating multiple social media platforms, with several solutions mentioned including TwitterFeed (free, RSS-based), Ping.fm, and Digsby. While no definitive winner emerges, Ping.fm receives the most endorsements for its ease of use, though one user notes limitations with Facebook groups. Alex Snyder hints at waiting for something more integrated with existing dealership systems, leading to speculation that Google Wave may be the anticipated solution.

Brian Tucker asks for feedback on his dealership website's performance when displaying vehicles with 18+ photos, noting customer complaints about slow load times despite his own experience being fine. Community members test the site and generally report acceptable performance, leading to the conclusion that hardware limitations on older customer machines—rather than the website itself—are likely the culprit, with image compression offered as a potential solution.

A dealer explores adding instant messaging (AIM, MSN) to their communication channels to better serve customers who prefer convenience over traditional phone calls and emails, particularly targeting younger demographics in Southern California's quality-focused market. A respondent affirms the relevance of this question and directs the original poster to consumer behavior research studies that address modern car-buying preferences. The thread suggests that adapting communication methods to match customer preferences may be more effective than traditional dealership marketing approaches.

Hazell51 explains the basics of COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act), enacted in 2000, which requires websites collecting data from children under 13 to post privacy policies, obtain parental consent, and allow parents to review and revoke consent. The post emphasizes that while COPPA primarily applies to child-focused sites, all web businesses should understand the law and its compliance requirements. The thread appears to be an educational overview of COPPA regulations relevant to automotive industry professionals managing websites and digital marketing.

Will from EasyAutoSales.com requests DealerRefresh members complete a brief online survey to provide feedback on dealer services and online marketing practices. The survey aims to gather collective dealer input to help the company improve its offerings and better support car sales. Respondents can opt-in to receive a summary of the survey results.

A Corvette dealership owner in the Gulf South region explores launching a customer message board using vbulletin software to increase daily customer engagement. Respondents share mixed experiences, with one dealer reporting low consumer interest from a previous forum attempt, while others suggest alternative platforms like Ning or WordPress and recommend leveraging local Corvette clubs to generate initial momentum. The original poster decides to proceed with the project, planning to target enthusiast communities and invest in marketing to grow the forum organically.

Indie Results shares a 12-week SEO roadmap guide for getting new websites off the ground or revitalizing existing ones, which receives positive feedback from other members as a useful resource beyond basic SEO knowledge. A brief discussion confirms that forum links are no-follow and therefore don't provide SEO value. The thread concludes with a question about whether SEO toolbars like SEOquake for Firefox violate Google's terms of service and could result in account bans.

Alex Snyder shares an article outlining eight signs that a dealership website needs a major redesign, emphasizing that outdated or unprofessional sites actively lose customers and revenue. Kevin Frye contributes a practical example, noting that his dealership moved away from a Flash-heavy site that ranked poorly in search results and saw significant improvements in leads and sales after switching to a better platform. The key insight is that website redesigns—particularly moving away from image/Flash-based designs toward more search-engine-friendly platforms—can deliver measurable returns on investment through improved search visibility and customer acquisition.

Dealers debate the best methods to track which marketing channels drive website visits and showroom traffic, since multiple touchpoints (SEO, paid ads, traditional media, location) often influence a customer before they arrive. The consensus approach involves using tracking domains with redirects, custom landing pages, multiple analytics tools, and proper sales staff sourcing interviews—while acknowledging that attribution is inherently imperfect because customers rarely know which single source motivated them and location itself is a legitimate (if hard-to-measure) marketing factor.

A dealer seeks advice on efficiently listing thousands of MOPAR parts and accessories on eBay, suspecting that large sellers must use automated tools or data imports rather than manual listing for each item. Responses suggest checking eBay Motors FAQs and inquiring whether the dealer has electronic parts data available, implying that bulk uploading from existing inventory databases may be the solution rather than manual data entry.

Dealers discussed creating dynamic Google Ads for individual used vehicles by pulling inventory data directly from their DMS to generate targeted PPC ads with specific vehicle details, pricing, and photos. Several vendors confirmed existing solutions (Dealer.com's Dominator platform, AutoJini, and e-dealer.ca), with one noting that custom development would require approximately 11,000 Google API units for 150 vehicles. The thread suggests this is an emerging but viable strategy with established platforms already offering it, though no specific ROI data or effectiveness metrics were shared.