To Micro-site or not to Micro-site?

[scm]

How many micro sites does one need to expect to build before they starting seeing results in search engines ?

 

[DigitalRalph.com]

In regards to the post below... During my consulting visit to Scott Robinson Honda when we developed the strategy and acquired the URL's, I had an AHM eBusiness executive with me as an observer. He had no problem with the URL's because they were geographically localized to the community that is in the dealer's primary area of responsibility. The URL acquisition was not the reason I brought Honda management with me, but it sure made the dealer principal more comfortable with the URL acquisitions with the factory guy present. Since 1994 I have bought THOUSANDS of URL's for many dealers, and for my own purposes. In my opinion, the acquisition o keyword laden URL's is an important aspect of an effective microsite strategy. I have been to court, deposed, sued... won and lost several cases. I get attorneys calling me all the time as both an expert witness and to testify on "customs and practices" in the auto industry. I have reviewed nasty, threatening letters from just about every car company in America... And, I have had Mike Devereaux at GM come to my dealership in person, with his entourage to discuss my store's acquisition and use of over 350 URL's that GM decided they wanted us to transfer... When the dust settled We kept them, and used them is a responsible and legitimate manner. I am not sure that all the battles I have fought on the URL issue have been worth the time and energy, but when you win it feels great! When you lose because of intimidation tactics and unfair business practices, it does not. If anyone ever gets in a jam, or a pissing match with an OEM, give me a call or write and I can refer you to an experienced attorney.

Oh yeah, one last thing... We did buy www.TorranceCarMax.com and www.CarMaxTorrance.com while I was at Scott Robinson Honda... One quick visit to the URL's will show you what the dealer decided to do when he got the letter from Carmax's Legal Eagles!

Moral of the story? If you are a Honda dealer selling cars in Torrance, you are VERY OK when acquiring URL's that contain "TorranceHonda" in them! And the same applies to just about every other make and location... BUT... What If you are a Hyundai dealer in Tucson and you already own www.HyundaiTucson.com when Hyundai decides to come out with a new model called a "Tucson"? Yummy... Let me be THAT Dealer!!!!
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Hi Everyone,

I'm new with dealerrefresh.com and I have one issue regarding micro sites. Whats does everyone think about the trademark issues regarding these domain names ? For example,

www.TorrnaceHondaAccord.com
www.TorranceHondaPilot.com
www.TorranceHondaCivic.com
www.TorranceHondaCivicGX.com
www.TorranceHondaCivicSI.com
www.TorranceHondaCRV.com
www.TorranceHondaElement.com
www.TorranceHondaFit.com
www.TorranceHondaOdyssey.com
www.TorranceHondaPilot.com
www.TorranceHondaS2000.com

Notice the terms "Honda Accord", "Honda Civic SI" etc.....

Don't those terms belong to Honda Motor Company ?

All comments and opinions are welcomed.

SCM

 

[scm]

Hi Ralph,

Thanks for the reply. Does it matter what the extension is ? .net, .org, .info etc... ?

 

[Joe Pistell]

Ralph P. and the group, I’d love your opinion on a microsite project.

Topic: Adjoining Market Microsites.
This whole concept needs one of two "engines" to drive commerce. #1) is large amounts of population in adjoining markets
#2) Enormous inventory

We're a number2 dealer (aka big fish in small pond). I’ve got 3 microsites on the drawing table built specifically for SEO'ing into the rural regions that surround me.

IMO, because we have no brand established in these markets and we're far away, I need to get the surfer comfortable with contemplating a long distance transaction into a strange place. I am thinking that we'll profit from having a "point man" or a go to person assigned to the region (read: microsite). This sales rep should have a personal connection to the region so the rep can demonstrate local authority making our caller more at ease. We'll create an personal intro video and assign the rep a toll free# to a cell phone. We'll make any deal we can to the 1st dozen buyers to create Local Testimonials (with photos/videos) to help that shopper visualize a successful transaction.

I assume that I am not the 1st person with this concept, I'd like to benchmark, can you think of another dealer that has done this? The URLs?

Any other ideas/examples?
Joe

 

[Tim Morris]

"Moral of the story? If you are a Honda dealer selling cars in Torrance, you are VERY OK when acquiring URL's that contain "TorranceHonda" in them!"

What if you are a Ford dealer in a small town 20 minutes from, let's say...Knoxville, TN? Would it be ok, in your opinion, to use KnoxvilleFordF150.com or FordFocusKnoxville.com in order to draw web traffic from a more metropolitan, more heavily populated area??? Does that infringe upon the Ford dealers who are actually INSIDE Knoxville city limits?

I like this thread, I have already learned quite a bit!

 

[Wayne Anderson]

If microsites can generate a good ROI, its good. If not, don't do it. Generating leads is not enough anymore in this current business climate.

I'm always reminded by dealers - "Wayne, if we're not selling cars, none of what you are doing really matters."

 

[Alex Snyder (blog)]

Joe - what about offering a delivery service coupled with some kind of "do the deal from your house" ad campaign? Flat bed deliveries aren't that much - we do them all the time with our highline franchises.

 

[scm]

Hi Everyone,

This question is for the "experienced micro site developers". Have you ever witnessed a site of yours generate a great deal of leads in a short time and then all of a sudden die out ? Do a lot of your micro sites generate a stable amount of leads over time ? Or do you need to keep adding to your portfolio ?

Thanks

 

[JamesKovacs]

Great topic Alex.

We have found that the best way to utilize microsites, and to keep the consumer confortable within the confines of your dealer branded site is to incorporate the two. By delivering the consumer directly to the page they asked for, they can still convert at a high rate, or click to another area within the site quickly and easily. We have went beyond A/B testing on this issue and have shown proven results.

Example:

Google - 2008 Chevy Tahoe Cincinnati

The first organic listing is for Jeff Wyler Chevrolet. When you click on the link, you don't go to the home page or inventory, but rather to a page designed specifically for the Chevy Tahoe customer. It includes all of the information on researching/buying a new Tahoe, Tahoe video/pics, plus links to specific pages on Tahoe service or parts. Pages like these convert very well, plus allow consumers to navigate to any other page within the site.

These pages can also be used for SEM campaigns.

James Kovacs
ClickMotive
www.clickmotive.com

 

[Lao Shi]

This will have an impact on Micro Sites as well as Flash Sites. It is expected we will see more of these types of "Quality Control" solutions added in the future in an atttempt to clean and streamline the web.

"Landing page load time will soon be incorporated into Quality Score"

As part of our continuing efforts to improve the user experience, we will soon incorporate an additional factor into Quality Score: landing page load time. Load time is the amount of time it takes for a user to see the landing page after clicking an ad.

Why are we doing this?
Two reasons: first, users have the best experience when they don't have to wait a long time for landing pages to load. Interstitial pages, multiple redirects, excessively slow servers, and other things that can increase load times only keep users from getting what they want: information about your business. Second, users are more likely to abandon landing pages that load slowly, which can hurt your conversion rate.

When are we making this change?
In the next few weeks, we will add load time evaluations to the Keyword Analysis page (we'll notify you when they are available). You will then have one month to review your site and make necessary adjustments.

After the one month review period, this load time factor will be incorporated into your keywords' Quality Scores. Keywords with landing pages that load very slowly may get lower Quality Scores (and thus higher minimum bids). Conversely, keywords with landing pages that load very quickly may get higher Quality Scores and lower minimum bids.

To learn more about the upcoming change, please see this article in the AdWords Help Center.

Posted by Vivian, Inside AdWords crew