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FordDirect offering Clickmotive solution - Good? Bad? Ugly?

Wouldn't running two websites (FordDirect and the other one) for the same business hurt the organic search rankings for both sites? Apparently this FordDirect site is required, whether you opt for the Elite version or not. Even if we don't choose someone other than FordDirect to develop our site, we will still have this crappy baseline FordDirect site drawing our visitors away.

Spencer, we would love to talk through SEO and website optimization with you. We are committed to helping our dealers be successful in the digital space. I’d like to learn more about your needs, and as part of next steps, Rob Karlik from my team will be reaching out to you directly today.
 
FordDierct, GSMarketing, and CkickMotive won't let the dealers or any seo company do any major seo to their sites. Everything you want done has to be submitted to them and approved by them.

If your looking to dominate your competitors markets get ready to go through a lot of red tape!

No No NO!
 
Keep running away from them!

The awful service continues. I just sent new banners to them for this month. We use them on other sites, so they are not sized properly, which is why (at their request) I send .psd files each month so they can modify them. They posted them as-is, so they are stretched and barely readable. Every month they do this, and someone calls me and says it will never happen again.

Once again, they left the specials up from last month, even though there is a clear expiration date that we sent on them, plus I sent them new specials for this month.

Don't waste your money with them.
 
Sounds like the general feeling is to not use them and I would have to agree based on my experience. When I first took over digital we were in the process of re-signing web contracts. Reynolds was terrible and I figured we were already paying for Ford direct why not go Elite. It was decent looking but had absolutely no SEO control and the backend is Flash based and TERRIBLE. Very difficult to get regular support and then we found out Forddirect was directly marketing any leads coming from any form submission from the site without opt out options. This has since been fixed but it was the straw for us and we moved off. More recently we grew tired of paying for two Lincoln websites especially with the constant compliance issues. We lost 50% of our organic traffic when we moved to the Click Motive Lincoln site if that tells you anything.
 
FD/Clickmotive Sites have awful built in (and on going) SEO.

Do what you will, but any $ spent on these sites is a waste. I know you have to have a FD site, but I would do everything in your power to get a second site that is actually worth a sh!t, because FD is truly awful. I could go on and on..

Warning: Canadian information.

I don't know if you do have to have a Ford Direct website.
I've spoken with a couple friends (not clients) at Ford dealerships and had 2 very different experiences:

1. Client asked if they could point their Ford-owned domain to their 3rd party website. Ford agreed, my buddy signed a piece of paper and now their Ford site only exists at a subdomain of the dealer connection site. Their primary website is now a third party website and they put javascript on their Trader.ca/Dealer.com website to redirect it there as well.

2. Client asked Ford if they could have their Dealer Connection site domain (same request as above). Ford rep said, "We can just forward it". Now their DealerConnection website (subdomain and actual domain site) both have a javascript redirect to a third party website, effectively meaning they have no Ford-provided website available anymore at all.

Not sure if FordDirect works the same say, but my experience with Ford in the U.S. has been far more cooperative than my experience with Ford's digital team in Canada.
 
Keep running away from them!

The awful service continues. I just sent new banners to them for this month. We use them on other sites, so they are not sized properly, which is why (at their request) I send .psd files each month so they can modify them.

Can you not have someone on your end create a version that's the correct size for them?
There's loads of browser plugins and other methods to determine the size needed.
 
The bottom line is that if you must go with Clickmotive it's a big hassle, but when you have a job to do you cannot make any excuses.
Here's one that our SEO team is getting the job done with. "Don McGill"

Search Term "Toyota Houston"

It can be done but there's so much red tape!

P.S. they're in the process of changing platforms.