Yes they should. We removed washingtoncarsearch.com. Because washingtoncarsearch.com was being indexed, those cars were being tied to and displayed by washingtoncarsearch.com instead of sunsetcars.com, landroverseattle.com or jaguarseattle.com. We've removed washingtoncarsearch.com from the index. sunsetcars.com is now accurate. landroverseattle.com and jaguarseattle.com will flush out once we reindex them.
The Top Vehicle Listings Websites - Who's NEXT?
- Thread starter Jeff Kershner
- Start date
- Dec 30, 2009
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- Yago
I wish the best to MotoMiner and every other classified company out there trying to provide alternative solutions for the dealers to advertise but here are a few ugly realities:
:: All the extra tools are worthless unless you have some really heavy traffic.
We have seen many 3party classifieds over the years with pretty good ideas on how their stuff would work, offer cool tool to customers, better navigation, site speed, etc but in the end the lack of traffic on a national lever results in a small concentration of leads per dealer therefore dealers don't want to invest on it and the site has to close down for lack of revenue stream.
:: To get heavy traffic organically is difficult and other websites catch up quickly to your set up.
Cars.com ad several great ideas in the last couple of years, same as CarGurus. The problem with organic is that everyone can see your strategy and copy it. If your strategy actually works, the guys with $800M in revenue will implement it fast, nit because they think you are a threat, but because it will save them millions by having to spend less money on TV and radio.
:: Traditional traffic is very expensive.
The TrueCar story line is very interesting, same as LifeLock where their revenues are tied to the money they spend on TV advertising.
I think it was 10 years ago I called the owner of CarSoup because I wanted to bring it to WA and he told me that to do that he will put $1M and that I had to put $1M so we could successfully advertise it and get it to become a household name in my state. I didn't have the money nor I would have put it if I had it not I understood why I needed that money. I do now and I believe $2M would have not been enough.
:: All the extra tools are worthless unless you have some really heavy traffic.
We have seen many 3party classifieds over the years with pretty good ideas on how their stuff would work, offer cool tool to customers, better navigation, site speed, etc but in the end the lack of traffic on a national lever results in a small concentration of leads per dealer therefore dealers don't want to invest on it and the site has to close down for lack of revenue stream.
:: To get heavy traffic organically is difficult and other websites catch up quickly to your set up.
Cars.com ad several great ideas in the last couple of years, same as CarGurus. The problem with organic is that everyone can see your strategy and copy it. If your strategy actually works, the guys with $800M in revenue will implement it fast, nit because they think you are a threat, but because it will save them millions by having to spend less money on TV and radio.
:: Traditional traffic is very expensive.
The TrueCar story line is very interesting, same as LifeLock where their revenues are tied to the money they spend on TV advertising.
I think it was 10 years ago I called the owner of CarSoup because I wanted to bring it to WA and he told me that to do that he will put $1M and that I had to put $1M so we could successfully advertise it and get it to become a household name in my state. I didn't have the money nor I would have put it if I had it not I understood why I needed that money. I do now and I believe $2M would have not been enough.
- Apr 29, 2011
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- Chris
Yago I think you're missing the concept! This is not a 3rd party classifieds site where you have to advertise like crazy for an audience. I think this is much more akin to Google and in the early days they didn't really advertise. It was the best tool available, so people used it and told their friends. Plus, you don't have to pay Google to be indexed, unlike Cars.com or AutoTrader. I like this model much more.
- Dec 30, 2009
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- Yago
I disagree @Chris Cachor, what you write is exactly why I wrote my entry that way.
Is a 3rd party classifieds, is a search engine, is a meeting place, is a social media tool to buy cars, is a car enthusiast blog, makes no difference. They still have to earn traffic.
I believe, and maybe someone can perhaps bring a few other sites, that the only websites that displays cars (regardless of its purpose) that has gained notoriety in the last 5+ years are CraigsList and TrueCar. One by the power of the web community, the other by check book.
Is a 3rd party classifieds, is a search engine, is a meeting place, is a social media tool to buy cars, is a car enthusiast blog, makes no difference. They still have to earn traffic.
I believe, and maybe someone can perhaps bring a few other sites, that the only websites that displays cars (regardless of its purpose) that has gained notoriety in the last 5+ years are CraigsList and TrueCar. One by the power of the web community, the other by check book.
I believe that CarGurus is a legitimate player. We see more leads of higher quality than we see with Cars.com.
The "disturbance in the force" is absolutely not your imagination. Our Cars.com rep is bringing in new reports and working harder than ever to justify the lack of quantifiable results that their service currently provides. No you don't get the lead forms or phone calls that you once did...the industry doesn't work like that anymore. No you don't get the referral traffic to your site like you once did...customers open a new tab to go to your site now. But guess what, CarGurus provides lead forms, phone calls. Apparently Cars.com customers have changed, not ALL customers?
The company that I am following right now is LotLinx. I really like their business model. I like the fact that they are ok partnering with me to build MY brand. I like the fact that I get to tell MY story. I don't know what the future holds for LotLinx, but I really like their attitude toward the industry. No set up fees. No contracts. No strings attached. No website traffic?...no bill.
We are trying to get in touch with today's shopper, and what they want. We are using terms like Customer Experience. We are understanding the reality and repercussions or our past. So the answer apparently is to step back into the past and battle it out over price on sites like Cars.com and Auto Trader? Their business model is outdated. They are old news and they are too big to change.
Damn right there is a disturbance in the force!
The "disturbance in the force" is absolutely not your imagination. Our Cars.com rep is bringing in new reports and working harder than ever to justify the lack of quantifiable results that their service currently provides. No you don't get the lead forms or phone calls that you once did...the industry doesn't work like that anymore. No you don't get the referral traffic to your site like you once did...customers open a new tab to go to your site now. But guess what, CarGurus provides lead forms, phone calls. Apparently Cars.com customers have changed, not ALL customers?
The company that I am following right now is LotLinx. I really like their business model. I like the fact that they are ok partnering with me to build MY brand. I like the fact that I get to tell MY story. I don't know what the future holds for LotLinx, but I really like their attitude toward the industry. No set up fees. No contracts. No strings attached. No website traffic?...no bill.
We are trying to get in touch with today's shopper, and what they want. We are using terms like Customer Experience. We are understanding the reality and repercussions or our past. So the answer apparently is to step back into the past and battle it out over price on sites like Cars.com and Auto Trader? Their business model is outdated. They are old news and they are too big to change.
Damn right there is a disturbance in the force!
- Dec 30, 2009
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- Yago
@Tallcool1
CarGurus is a great player, my point was that organic SEO can be copied therefore your competitive window is small.
LotLinx business model is restricted to a certain number of search engines, Google has the same system where you can PPC advertise your new/used cars and send the customer to the VDP on your website.
CarGurus is a great player, my point was that organic SEO can be copied therefore your competitive window is small.
LotLinx business model is restricted to a certain number of search engines, Google has the same system where you can PPC advertise your new/used cars and send the customer to the VDP on your website.
- Apr 29, 2011
- 505
- 262
- Awards
- 7
- First Name
- Chris
They definitely need traffic but it's my opinion that a new service like MotoMiner does not need a multimillion dollar advertising budget to drill the brand into their audience and generate traffic that way. If they wanted, and I encourage them to do so, put in a tell your friends feature (Facebook/Twitter) as just one way to generate traffic. Recommended traffic at that.
I've been using the site the past few days and it's a pretty awesome resource. Maybe not a disturbance in the force but I do like the model and how simple and quickly I can scan the market for a given vehicle. I wish Cars.com would offer a link out option in their SERPs the same way this is done.
Can't ALL SEO be copied? Organic or Paid, isn't there always someone that can do it better? Well...not better than CarGurus from where I look, but I admittedly am just learning. And talk about a small competitive window, what about all 3rd party sites? My competitive window is only limited by my willingness to give away gross profit.
What do you mean when you say LotLinx is restricted to a certain number of search engines?
I use PPC right now, and performance wise, it isn't very good. Sure I get to pay Google a lot of money which really excites me, but the traffic metrics are absolutely pathetic. 2.7 pages per session, about 25 seconds, with an 88% bounce rate. It cost a lot of money, but at least the traffic behavior sucks!!
- Dec 30, 2009
- 1,883
- 480
- First Name
- Yago
I don't argue that the site has amazing features, but a Social Media link will not build a business unless you are EXTREMELY lucky.
- Dec 30, 2009
- 1,883
- 480
- First Name
- Yago
Can't ALL SEO be copied? Organic or Paid, isn't there always someone that can do it better? Well...not better than CarGurus from where I look, but I admittedly am just learning. And talk about a small competitive window, what about all 3rd party sites? My competitive window is only limited by my willingness to give away gross profit.
What do you mean when you say LotLinx is restricted to a certain number of search engines?
I use PPC right now, and performance wise, it isn't very good. Sure I get to pay Google a lot of money which really excites me, but the traffic metrics are absolutely pathetic. 2.7 pages per session, about 25 seconds, with an 88% bounce rate. It cost a lot of money, but at least the traffic behavior sucks!!
I don't argue tat CarGurus has a great SEO team, a great website, and a great model right now, but from what we have seen in the past, sites that can't regenerate revenue fast to advertise end up closing or selling to a lead provider, etc.
If your PPC is not working well hire @JoePistell 's kid and he will get your PPC working right.
