Websites, SEO, SEM, Display, Social, Marketing

The thread explores how auto dealers can waste their SEM budgets by bidding on overly broad keyword terms, drawing on a real example from Shaw Automotive Group in Denver. Participants debate whether dealers should manage PPC campaigns in-house or through agencies, with some noting that self-managed campaigns can be cost-effective while others warn about vendor markups and poor oversight. The key takeaway is that specificity in keyword selection, matched with relevant ad copy and landing pages, is critical to avoiding wasted spend.

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.

Alex Snyder shares his enthusiastic impressions of a visit to Dealer.com's headquarters in Burlington, Vermont, highlighting the company's energetic workplace culture, casual atmosphere, and forward-thinking product development. Fellow industry professionals Timothy Martell and others chime in with their own visits and evolving opinions, with Martell notably reversing his long-held skepticism about Dealer.com's SEO capabilities after meeting with leadership and previewing upcoming features. The thread builds anticipation around a new Checkered Flag website build and hints at significant SEO improvements in testing.

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.

The thread profiles Dealer HD, a Chicago-area automotive website design and SEO company, featuring two glowing client reviews praising their responsive customer service, customization options, and ease of managing multiple dealership sites. A representative also announces an upcoming platform update introducing social media tools, including 'Auto Tweet,' which automatically posts new inventory to Twitter. The overall tone is promotional, with no critical voices present to balance the positive feedback.

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.

A guest post by Audrey Knoth proposes adding a formal Web 2.0 social networking policy to dealer employee handbooks, encouraging staff to promote their dealership through personal profiles on Facebook and MySpace. Commenters largely support the concept, with some sharing firsthand results like generating one sale per month through personal networks at zero cost, while others raise important concerns around legal liability, brand control, and the risk of ex-employees engaging in negative branding. The key insight is that social networking works best when it feels authentic rather than commercialized, and that dealerships need clear policies and cultural buy-in before formalizing such a strategy.

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.

A dealer asks whether other automotive professionals use Carfax reports as a lead magnet by requiring prospects to fill out a form before receiving the report via email, and requests performance metrics and clarification on Carfax agreement restrictions for this practice. The thread receives minimal engagement with only one enthusiastic but non-informative reply, suggesting the original question goes largely unanswered regarding both effectiveness data and contractual limitations.

A dealer warns that offering 24/7 chat support can harm dealerships more than help, since most dealers aren't staffed around-the-clock and implementing chat without proper strategy mimics outsourced call centers. A commenter agrees, emphasizing that dealers often adopt chat tools impulsively without developing adequate processes or training staff on how to effectively communicate with customers through this channel. The key insight is that chat implementation requires the same careful planning and agent training as phone support, not just a quick tool deployment.

The thread explains how to audit your dealership's digital footprint by using Google's "site:" search operator to see how many of your website's pages are indexed, then comparing that number against competitors. A key insight emerges that **more indexed pages isn't always better**—the quality and relevance of content matters more than quantity, and duplicate or outdated pages (old inventory, expired coupons) can actually harm your SEO performance rather than help it.

A dealer expresses frustration with spam and missing emails after switching to Dealer.com's email hosting, prompting discussion about alternative email providers and solutions. Responses suggest checking Dealer.com's built-in spam filter settings through webmail access, with one commenter recommending third-party services like Google's Postini, while another shares a negative experience with eBizAutos's restrictive email server policies. The thread highlights common pain points when consolidating services with all-in-one dealer platforms rather than maintaining independent email hosting.

A dealer tests Press1toTalk, a tool that converts online leads into instant phone calls to sales teams with automated speech reading customer details, to improve conversion rates and response times. Responses reveal mixed results: while the concept is sound, several dealers report their in-house teams already call prospects faster than the automated system delivers, and the tool's value depends heavily on existing dealer processes and team responsiveness. The broader consensus is that response time remains the critical bottleneck in internet sales, with successful conversion ultimately depending on people and process rather than technology alone.

Alex Jefferson initiates a discussion about which marketing metrics dealers should prioritize when analyzing end-of-month performance, sharing his own tracking methodology that includes expenses, ROI, gross profit, units sold, leads, sales costs, and closing ratios broken down by source and time period. The post invites peers to discuss which metrics they monitor and implicitly raises the question of whether website-specific metrics should be evaluated separately from traditional sales and financial KPIs.