5 Reasons to Forget About Your SEO

[Joe Pistell]

Dear Jeffery T,

You started by replying to Brian Pasch, he said:

"...and they should test the broad high volume phrases like "used cars", "used ford", "used nissan", "cars for sale", "toyota dealers""

You replied:

"...those keywords are terrible... way to broad..often very expensive, and will drag down quality scores because they won't have a CTR above 1% (If you are lucky). Thus making a dealer pay even more per click for all other keywords in a campaign..."

I run my PPC totally in the dark, I have no one else to study with or to compare to and I was puzzled by your response, I took the bait from YOUR reply and posted my non-model specific generic keywords and their CTRs.

"used cars" = 7.9% CTR
"buy used cars" = 14.8% CTR
"used car for sale" = 19.05% CTR
buy used cars = 3.49% CTR
and on and on and on...

From that, you told me you needed to retire.

Listen Jeffery, you have to work on your intensity. Not sure if you know it, but its not coming across well, you're so intense I want to nick name you Jeffery T Napalm.

Look at the opportunity you missed. Same message, but with out the angst... You could have written:

"Joe, we are a service that helps people like you excel. I'd bet if we did a thorough review of your work to date, and compare it against our model, the gains we'd bring to your campaigns could be easily pay for our fees and leave you room to expand your reach! Then Joe, for the full picture, let's tally up all the time and research you make into PPC and re-apply that new found time into other areas that need your attention. Now, we're selling more cars and that s a productive partnership!"

Opportunity is everywhere Jeffery T. Even with the know-it-all independents like me.

 

[Jeffrey Tognetti]

Fair enough...However...Food for thought...my angst wasn't directed at you initially, you just decided to put yourself in the middle if it

 

[Joe Pistell]

With ya Brian, we're on the same page. I am afraid of over simplifying optimization. Lots to consider.

 

[Joe Pistell]

Yes Jeffery, that's how community threads work. It's an open exchange. Its how we grow. Inside your napalm attack, you've left me (and the community) a challenge that I have no answer for. It's these discoveries that I treasure. You wrote:

"...anything more then a dozen or two keywords in a group is a waste and is not structured right... "

That's news to me! Back to the drawing board!

 

[Michele (blog)]

great post! love the feedback! other than when it turns into catfights between vendors and/or dealers n vendors everyone play nice. everyones in the same sandbox - just trying to grow

 

[Ryan G]

This post makes me think of a song called "Get Along" by a band called the Holy Cows from my home town in Chelsea Michigan. Gosh I miss the old days.

You know, there was a time, not long ago, that almost nobody in the auto industry knew what SEO or SEM or PPC was. Now it seems like everyone is an expert.

But think about something, if so many experts can rise up in just a few shorts years of practice, then how difficult is Search Engine Marketing really?

So, it's a time-issue really, not a matter of smarts or wits. Sure you can make it complicated but in the end, effective PPC and SEO comes down to understanding a few basic principles and taking the time to apply them.

The smart dealer will do two things…

1.) Have at least one person in-house who understands this stuff and can do it.
2.) Give that person a directive and a budget to work with trustworthy experts.

This way, the dealership can be part of the strategy and not consumed by it. In my experience, dealers with understanding and oversight get better results than those that hire people only to expect miracles after not being involved. Strange, I know.

 

[Shaun]

Great article Terrence! Nice to see you posting in the community.

 

[@shaunraines]

Technically a vendor to vendor spat followed by Joe's bully-like defense of Brian. It's all good and I'm sure they'll hug it out later.

 

[Reifel]

It would be interesting to see click through data for a few result pages with the following variables:

1. Organic only
2. Organic and ppc placement
3. PPC placement only

I understand the importance of owning % of page using seo/ppc, however, I am not sold on having ppc only for terms you should organically rank for.

Have there been studies on user behavior regarding chances of grabbing the click with ppc and no organic?

I imagine a study on this would get dicey as the search engines would naturally want to boost ppc revenue as would SEM providers.

From a personal standpoint, I rarely click on ppc results. The only time I would is when there are organic results to re-enforce the ppc. I'm your "average" consumer.

Love the topic. If anyone would like to discuss offline I would love it. I'm always looking to learn more about this. Email me.

 

[Joe Pistell]

Jeffery T, I found another error for you to address. You wrote:

"...anything more then a dozen or two keywords in a group is a waste and is not structured right... "

Google doesn't follow your advice and I haven't found any reference to this, can you supply a link to back your findings?

Here's my findings. A Google real life example:

We're using Google's new ad service call "Google Boost". It's a Google Places service, but its keyword driven and it's 100% built and managed via adwords.

At the center of the new Google Boost is a system that automatically builds adwords for you based on your Google Places account.

It has the common adwords hierarchy we all know (Campaign >> Ad Group). Google automatically populates the adgroups and fill up the folders with LOTS OF KEYWORDS (aka Google doesn't follow your advice).

If you look below, I've listed the 77 KEYWORDS that Google has placed in the adgroup Google labeled: basic_cardealer.

Keyword:
used auto
usedcars
used cars for sale by owner
used car search
used car classifieds
sell used car
used car finder
used cars
used cars for sale
japanese used cars
japanese used car dealers
used sports cars
used car values
second hand cars
used cars dealerships
find used car dealer
used auto dealers
used cars dealers
used cars dealership
find a used car dealer
used car dealers
best used cars to buy
used car dealer
find used cars
affordable used cars
pre owned cars
used cars online
used trucks for sale
used cars and trucks
used car listings
buy used car online
used car dealerships
used car dealership
used car shopping
used car auctions
second hand cars for sale
certified used cars
used car trader
private used car sales
used car lots
cheapest used cars
used sports cars for sale
local used cars
used cars sale
used car deals
auto used cars
new and used cars for sale
used cars by owner
car lots
used car auto for sale
used car search engines
used car lot
pre owned used cars
discount used cars
used car websites
find used cars online
cheap used cars for sale
local used cars for sale
local used car dealers
local used car dealerships
buy cheap used cars
buying a used car from a dealer
online used car dealers
pre owned car dealers
used cars vans
new and used car dealers
car dealers used cars
find used cars in my area
used cars for sale by dealers
find a used car dealership
used cars by dealer
used car dearer

Jeffery, Right now, Google is telling me that your statement is wrong, but, Google has been known to make inter-department errors and this could easily be another example!! Please send along your research and references to support your claim.