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Pimp my Comment Generator

Hello Joe

I for one sincerely appreciate how much work and thought you have placed in developing your comment generator.

I developed our firms comment generator several months ago and enjoy “tweaking” the design and in seeing and making the program do all the work.

If you’re interested in comparing notes on methodology and how we respectively worked out some of the kinks I would enjoy corresponding.

Let me know and I will send an email.


Cheers from Canada
Johno
 
My marketing is better than my science. You did this in Excel? What was the impact of adding the payment?
We don't do it in our regular comments, but as a special on AutoTrader. Seems to get a nice little pop--it's held at between 6.6% and 7% of our AT VDP views, or a few hundred extra clicks monthly.

A little tedious, but we've developed our process to make it (relatively) painless. We'll take it.
 
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We don't do it in our regular comments, but as a special on AutoTrader. Seems to get a nice little pop--it's held at between 6.6% and 7% of our AT VDP views, or a few hundred extra clicks monthly.

A little tedious, but we've developed our process to make it (relatively) painless. We'll take it.

I'm curious to why you just use it for AutoTrader? It was a lot of work writing custom descriptions. I think that your percentages will rise, even more, over time.
 
I'm curious to why you just use it for AutoTrader? It was a lot of work writing custom descriptions. I think that your percentages will rise, even more, over time.

Billfred, I'm sorry I misread you post. You are saying that you added the payment, to the AutoTrader. That is some really good information.
Indeed--through an AutoTrader special. If I get the time though (ha!), I may play with some Uncle Joe-style sorta-kinda-automatic-but-I-have-to-copy-and-paste-but-they're-exactly-what-I-want descriptions.
 
"I am looking for some fresh eyes to rip it apart. What is it missing? Let me have it , give me your honest opinion".

Joe this a good start… I like what you are doing.


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One of the things i see is that you need to increase is the length.

While it is true and imperative that one writes specifically for the on-line customer, it is noted that one must also be writing search engine friendly ads.

No matter how good the quality of the sales ad, if people searching on line cannot find it, the ad fails to deliver. As I am sure you agree it is important that an advertisement has some substance and creative writing to create an advertisement that is Google friendly.

One of the key ways to do this is using Latent Semantic Indexing, that is, make sure that a full use of synonyms and related support words are being used throughout the write-up.
For example: the words AUTO, Autos, AUTOMOBILE, Automobiles, VEHICLE, Vehicles, Automotive, Car dealer , used car ... of course the list goes on these phrases could and should be interwoven in the write up. The key thing is that when Google scans the sales ad that the entire theme of the write up indicates to Google that you are writing about cars, albeit about a specific vehicle.

This is very difficult to achieve in a short write up.

Another thought is that if your Company name is a reconized keyword often used by your customers searching on the internet it should be firmly interwoven within the write up.

Comment generators are helpful, however it is the keyword research and implementation that makes sure people searching on line will find the write up.

If Google is not convinced of what it is your write up is about (as word count is minimal) and semantic indexing has not been applied the specific sale will not likely show up in individual search results.

It is noted that it is not what a business is selling on-line that is as important as what it is people on line are entering in while searching to try and find and buy that product. Those search phrases need researched and a sales ad write up integrating those words and phrases produced.

Are potential customers entering into Google “bluetoothâ€, “rear spoilerâ€, “xm radioâ€, “antilock brakes†when looking for a vehicle like a 2010 Chevrolet Cobalt ? Does keyword research show this to be the case?

Consider that no matter how many options you add to a write-up if the customer cannot find that advertisement in their on-line search it is moot.
For example: (Incorporating your contact information and "branded" business name and phone number, as keywords will generate more far more results in search then including multiple options, which is only useful if the customer finds the sale on line).

The question arises at what point in the buying cycle does a customer start to question exactly what options are on a vehicle? Is it online, or when they are firming up and sizing up the vehicle at the store with the sales person ?

Joe , good job on what you are doing , I hope you will keep posting your results and show the development to finished product.

I salute your work.

Johno
 
"I am looking for some fresh eyes to rip it apart. What is it missing? Let me have it , give me your honest opinion".

Joe this a good start… I like what you are doing. One of the things i see is that you need to increase is the length.

While it is true and imperative that one writes specifically for the on-line customer, it is noted that one must also be writing search engine friendly ads.

No matter how good the quality of the sales ad, if people searching on line cannot find it, the ad fails to deliver.


Johno,

I'm gonna talk some shop with you, I've been at this quite some time. I've been a key adviser on some national platforms. What's coming at you isn't minor league heat. This Comment Generator (CG) process has national implications. Craft your reply carefully (because you'll be supporting your platform) and include examples.

Here's my take...

There are 2 comment generators (CG) in my arsenal.
  1. A short one that sells cars,
  2. A long one for SEO (microsites).
They are different products and Dealers will profit both. Dealers need the short CG 1st.

The Short CG has to built and optimized to improve CTRs on SRPs. SRP's are the main stay of our biz. They exist on the dealer's site, on AT, Cars.com, CarGurus.com, EveryCarListed, etc.. AT's SRP is especially important as it has 145 characters as a teaser to create a VDP.
Example:
This 2011 Chevrolet Aveo has the fabulous LT w/2LT package! King size options are: leather seats, rear spoiler, heated power mirrors, sunroof, and 6..


Any CG solution that is not optimized for AT's SRP has it's ROI handicapped.

Once the shopper has reached the VDP (on AT, Cars.com or dealer's site) The next mission of the short CG is to energize the reader to SUFFER thru the bullet list of options (shopping online TAKES HOURS and is tiring).

The short CG is built to fit into a single paragraph and SMACK the shopper with it's best punch and keep that shopper from hitting the back browser button.


Long CG has it's place on a dealers site, but not without a great deal of VDP conversion optimization done in tandem with the Long CG. My instincts are telling me that in this example (Long CG on dealers VDP), the content needs to be sprinkled about so as to not smother the selling the car itself.

If you are deeply involved in the science of conversion optimization, I am a fan of the long page VDP are you? The problem is SEO fodder is noise to the shopper. Lastly, google recoginizes the the dealer site as a catalogue site, it sees duplicate content everywhere. IMO (at this hour), site architecture is where the SEO upside is at.

Lastly, regarding Long CG, I had high hopes for microsites galore, but the search results market place has turned and it has diluted microsites ROI. Smart players (like me ;-) are taking PPC campaigns deep into the long tail, thereby pushing microsites further down the fold. Microsites still have it's place, but all the low hanging fruit is now hard to find.
 
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TY Johno,

If you read these forums, I get combative in my core beliefs hoping that someone blows a hole in one to show me a weak spot in my game plan. DealerRefresh has the finest minds in our biz. The forums are a treasure chest of fantastic comments. I often find that I START my research here ;-)
 
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