The question that most automotive SEO vendors hate answering is, "How much traffic will I get?" In PPC, estimates are easy. In SEO, they are often harder to find and more importantly they're misunderstood.

Vendors often point to the Google Keyword Tool or other tools that allow dealers to see how many searches are done per month on a given keyword. This can be an…

I was having a discussion with a dealer over a nice vodka tonic and a nice cigar when the discussion turned to conferences. "There are just too many that it's hard to know which ones to go to and which ones to skip," he said.

This concerned me a bit. I've been on that side of the debate before but with the help of friends like Jared Hamilton, Brian Pasch, and Ralph Paglia I have come to the conclusion that the industry doesn't have enough conferenes. Before…

It's not necessary for most dealers to have a complete understanding of the art and science surrounding automotive SEO. What is important is realizing that whether you're doing it yourself, working together with a partner vendor, or having the vendor do all the work, your overall search (and social) strategy should be intimately tied in together to make sure you're getting the most out of…

Every few months, I read articles or hear at a conference about how search engine optimization is dead. I've heard these statements for the last 5 years and they often attribute the same reasons for the demise of SEO (even years later).

Search engine optimization is still the single most important component for driving additional buyer traffic to a car dealer's website. Period. I would absolutely love to…

If you take a look at this heatmap, you'll see something very interesting. People don't scroll unless they have to. If they find what they're looking for in the first 4 or 5 results, they won't even look to see what's "below the fold". I only bring this up because we're due for one of those studies that comes out…

I just got finished with a fun session at the Innovative Dealer Summit in Denver and as promised to the DE community, I'll be doing a video on the topic. We decided to do it in the form of a webinar to keep it on pace with the original presentation, so I'll post it here once it's done on March 28th.

In the meantime, there's no need for suspense. Here are the daily activities that will allow you to make a difference in your SEO. One of the participants at the session asked me…

There has been a lot of discussion on the various automotive social networks about SEO of late. That's good - dealers need to stay focused on search despite all of the other things out there that are pulling our attention away from the single most powerful traffic-driving tool to our websites.

One thing that hasn't been discussed enough is the art and science of keyword research. I often field questions from dealers asking why this keyword or that keyword doesn't show them. They're…

If your website isn't built on a true content management system (CMS) that allows you to put up pages in minutes without technical experience, don't read this article. It'll only make you jealous.

If you are on one of the various platforms (TK Carsites, Dealer.com, etc) that has a robust and easy-to-use CMS, today's the day to start using it more often. Google (and…

First and foremost, if you're not on top of your other marketing priorities, there's no need to even look at Pinterest at this point. Those priorities should be:

1. Websites
2. Search Marketing (SEO and PPC)
3. Classifieds (AutoTrader, Craigslist, Cars.com, etc)
4. Google Places and Reviews
5. Facebook
6. Other Reviews that Rank for your Name (Yelp, DealerRater, etc.)
7. YouTube
8. Twitter

If all of those are in order and…

Facebook is free to join and build a page, but it's definitely not free to use effectively. Time is money. Advertising is money. This infographic by our partners at Column Five Media for Flowtown breaks down the true costs of Facebook marketing. Click to enlarge.…

Let's face it. In the real world, big corporations have an advantage. They have more money for national television ads. They have armies of people marketing and advertising their products and services. They have name recognition and branding. None of this matters (as much) on the web.

The internet gives a venue for small businesses to have more equal footing with the larger…

There is a distinct taste of irony to this post. I made my feelings known about cross-posting on all of the social networks earlier this month. Now I must break my own personal rule.

This time, I have good reason.

We're trying to compile a…

Everyone knows that Facebook is good for branding and customer relations, but so few in the industry are using it to generate actual sales. Here's a tip that I'll be presenting at next week's AMP UP conference in Vale, Colorado. It's arguably the best single piece of Facebook advice for aggressive car dealers that I've ever given (and I'm doing so exclusively on…

Influential people on Twitter get hit up by so many different businesses and organizations hoping that they will help promote their product or service. It's challenging to truly engage with these influencers in a meaningful way that they will appreciate and reciprocate.

Challenging. Not impossible. Here, we discuss ways to engage with them and have…

Over the last several months, really since speaking at the Digital Marketing Strategies Conference in Napa Valley earlier this year, one of the themes that we've been focused on is this:

"What happens on your Facebook, Twitter, and other social media pages is not nearly as important as what happens on other people's Facebook, Twitter, and social media pages."

Every few months I…

In 2012, there's a person you need to hire if you haven't already. Every dealership or dealer group that wants to succeed MUST hire a Digital Manager. I go into more details about what a digital manager does in a blog post on Techi, but here I want to shed some light on the differences between an internet manager/BDC manager and a…

One of the biggest challenges that the automotive industry has faced over the past few years has been the ebb and flow of sales. Nobody's buying, then everyone's buying, then...

Between natural disasters, recalls, lawsuits, and bailouts, the past 4 years have been a roller coaster ride of epic proportions. Still, things seem to be looking up. For many, they're looking up in a big way. Take a look at this infographic by TK Carsites for a recap of where we've been and where we are.…

This is a portion of an article titled Why the Automotive Industry is Shifting to New Media.

The concept of local marketing encompasses everything already covered. Mobile, search, and social all have branches and integration with local marketing. The…