Is The VDP a Good Landing Page?

[craigh]

The results were terrible. I couldn't believe how bad the metrics were.

What metrics did you use?
What was your determining factor in deciding which metrics determine success?

For example, if you were 100% accurate at advertising and your VDP converted at 100%, you would get 1 page view, 1 minute time on site and 1 action per visitor.

 

[Tallcool1]

OK, what got me thinking about this was a client requested research on a vendor that specializes in VDP traffic. The results were terrible. I couldn't believe how bad the metrics were.

So, instead of jumping straight to conclusions, I wanted to see if anyone else had a POV that would make me think about it differently.

My thoughts...It's a dead end page. The last place I want to drop an offsite click. @Tallcool1 said something similar to my initial reaction...It's like putting someone in a car for a test drive before you ask them a single question.

@Rick Buffkin & @Chris Leslie both made some really good points about reorganizing the page. I do think VDP's are organized poorly and lack the ability to lead the customer. We have tried dynamically driven pages in the past, with mixed results. That said, there were some things you mentioned that we didn't include.

All said, It seems like there is some solidarity. There are instances where it could be a good landing page, but more than the basic vehicle information is needed to help turn a casual shopper into an interested shopper. Ultimately there are better landing pages.

I'm going to turn this into a bigger research project and see what pages are better and why...I'll report the results. If anyone is interested in collaborating holler at me.

Interesting!

If the vendor is someone OTHER than LotLinx, please share who it is.

 

[Gayle Rogers]

@Tallcool1 ...

@craigh Total visits, Engagement (Bounce/TOS), Cost per Visit, Conversions (emails/phone calls), conversion rate, cost per conversion. I compared those metrics to GDN behavioral display and retargeting. Ultimately it came down to Cost per Visit and Cost per Conversion.

Hence the conversation...How much did the landing page play in the results, or is it just a bad strategy?

One thing that absolutely blew me away. In the report the vendor was taking credit for sales (and gross) if a visitor from their ad "looked" at a piece of inventory online and then said inventory was sold at some point during the month. There are a couple other vendors that do this...SMH.

 

[Tallcool1]

@Tallcool1 ...

@craigh

One thing that absolutely blew me away. In the report the vendor was taking credit for sales (and gross) if a visitor from their ad "looked" at a piece of inventory online and then said inventory was sold at some point during the month. There are a couple other vendors that do this...SMH.

I agree that this is really not a good way to determine that a vendor's product sold a vehicle.

I hear about all of these vAuto dealers that are on a 30 day turn, and now a vendor is going to use a 30 day cycle to determine the success of their product.

That's pretty loose logic.

 

[craigh]

@Tallcool1 ...

@craigh Total visits, Engagement (Bounce/TOS), Cost per Visit, Conversions (emails/phone calls), conversion rate, cost per conversion. I compared those metrics to GDN behavioral display and retargeting. Ultimately it came down to Cost per Visit and Cost per Conversion.

Hence the conversation...How much did the landing page play in the results, or is it just a bad strategy?

One thing that absolutely blew me away. In the report the vendor was taking credit for sales (and gross) if a visitor from their ad "looked" at a piece of inventory online and then said inventory was sold at some point during the month. There are a couple other vendors that do this...SMH.

Not sure I agree entirely. It's so hard to track these things. We have Silent Shoppers and so many other variables to consider.
That said, I'm certainly not suggesting it does work, but it's so hard to make a firm call on that.

 

[Gayle Rogers]

Not sure I agree entirely. It's so hard to track these things.

About the metrics I used or that sales attribution assumption?

 

[craigh]

About the metrics I used or that sales attribution assumption?

I'm sure the metrics are correct, but making an assumption based on only them can be hazardous.
I imagine you're right and, depending on the cost of the solution, I would be tempted to do just like you did.
The trick now is to use the same metrics to evaluate the replacement.

 

[Gayle Rogers]

Right on! That's the journey isn't it...Always looking for the common denominator to compare different solutions so we can continue to evolve to a better ROI.

And, I was attempting to do a comparison to behavioral display and retargeting metrics (which were the closest tactics I could think of), which greatly out performed the vendor solution. Is it red apples to red apples...maybe not, but close.

 

[Rick Buffkin]

The answer to this really depends on what triggered the click. As long as it answers the users query above the fold and in 5-10 seconds it is a good landing page.

@umer.autojini

I agree but, it would be nice to get them to scroll and interact with the page more. Alot of the time people are still researching even when they do search a specific make model vehicle. I think it would give the dealer and the website huge bonus points by providing this info to the customer. The current VDP is still very dated to an extent. My thoughts are to spotlight that specific vehicle and it's features. The normal VDP does this at a very scaled down level. My thoughts are if the click to the website is from a paid search ad for a Truck then something that might be very useful to a Truck customer is a Towing Calculator. Dynamically load the Towing Calculator on the page. If it's for a hybrid vehicle, load up a fuel savings calculator. You could do something similar with conquesting other makes with comparison data and ratings and reviews.

 

[joe.pistell]

The answer to this really depends on what triggered the click.

I'm in Umer's camp, pre-click context is very important... and, I'll double down on his observation.

In our industry... VDPs underperform because shoppers don't want a VDP.

Shoppers have workflow.
1). Shoppers use google to find the best aggregator.
2). They then use the aggregator to narrow the results and make a decision


Consider: "best hair dryer for under $50"

These are links to VDPs for hair dryers. Like Umer said, the context sets up a HIGH BOUNCE visitor (I'm looking for a range of hair dryers to compare). These keywords indicate that I am looking for an 'specialist aggregator' (i.e. amazon, overstock, etc) to let me see multiple units to consider.


To compare and contrast... consider Best restaurant near Burlington VT

​

In this industry, Google delivers a high quality aggregator solution (Maps and reviews = great shopping experience)


If my thesis is correct...
SEM traffic driven from long tail keyword phrases will have the highest ROI*

Why?
Long tail keyword phrases** reveal a highly knowledgeable and focused shopper looking for a specific product that they can't find from an aggregator (e.g. cars, AT, gurus, etc)


Wow, that was fun!
Just my $0.02
-Uncle Joe

**assuming the long tail is highly matched to the VDP (yr, make, model, trim, package, color, dealer name, etc...

*ROI = Engagement Metrics