Comments - How SEO is Ruining the Car Business - DealerELITE.net2024-03-29T09:57:50Zhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profiles/comment/feed?attachedTo=5283893%3ABlogPost%3A383545&xn_auth=noMr. Natural. No question that…tag:www.dealerelite.net,2013-09-03:5283893:Comment:3843782013-09-03T23:25:03.762ZTimothy Martellhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/TimothyMartell
<p>Mr. Natural. No question that process is another area of opportunity to focus on in auto retail. Be careful though, by your own statement, the same could be said for any form of advertising, not just SEO. Hell, why even have a website if you're going to direct consumers to sales people who tell an interested consumer that their trade is worthless and they'd do better to put a for sale sign on it than bring it in for an appraisal. </p>
<p></p>
<p>Dealers still need to advertise. You can pay…</p>
<p>Mr. Natural. No question that process is another area of opportunity to focus on in auto retail. Be careful though, by your own statement, the same could be said for any form of advertising, not just SEO. Hell, why even have a website if you're going to direct consumers to sales people who tell an interested consumer that their trade is worthless and they'd do better to put a for sale sign on it than bring it in for an appraisal. </p>
<p></p>
<p>Dealers still need to advertise. You can pay TrueCar, AutoTrader, Edmunds, Cars.com - add vendor here - to send you leads and give them to 5 of your closest competition or you can ensure your brand is the one consumers find when they search. </p>
<p>In terms of online marketing, SEO should still be first on the list. But one needs to know if they're actually getting SEO or snake oil. Sadly, there's a ton more snake oil out there. And its coming from places it shouldn't be at this stage in the game.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Its certainly terrible if you're getting leads submitted by spam bots trying to sell scam SEO services. There is a special place in hell reserved for those people, I am sure of it.</p> Great stuff Tim...I love it. …tag:www.dealerelite.net,2013-09-03:5283893:Comment:3844702013-09-03T22:51:31.689ZMr. Naturalhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/GillonSJohannson
<p>Great stuff Tim...I love it. As with all discussions about SEO and it's kin, the issues you bring to light above are brought into the light you cast by thousands of dealerships who's staffs do not understand the very basics of internet marketing and sales. For most dealerships, spending money on SEO is like buying Perilli tires for your 1998 Ford Escort... </p>
<p>When you can't make use of the leads you get already, how the hell is getting your Dealership Name up higher on some list gonna…</p>
<p>Great stuff Tim...I love it. As with all discussions about SEO and it's kin, the issues you bring to light above are brought into the light you cast by thousands of dealerships who's staffs do not understand the very basics of internet marketing and sales. For most dealerships, spending money on SEO is like buying Perilli tires for your 1998 Ford Escort... </p>
<p>When you can't make use of the leads you get already, how the hell is getting your Dealership Name up higher on some list gonna help. Take the money you were going to spend on SEO, and divert it to phone and follow-up training. H.S.A. training would be infinatley better. (How to Set Appointments) Better yet, get each internet sales person a water cooled Etch-A-Sketch to keep track of their follow-up.</p>
<p>Worst of all, these SEO marketers pester me with advertising disguised as internet inquires. I think I might even be paying for some of these. I call them back and read them the riot act.</p> Thanks, Jim. As always, I val…tag:www.dealerelite.net,2013-09-02:5283893:Comment:3842942013-09-02T18:21:13.331ZTimothy Martellhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/TimothyMartell
<p><span>Thanks, Jim. As always, I value your feedback. Thanks for taking the time to read. Good luck with surgery. You'll be in our prayers.</span></p>
<p><span>Thanks, Jim. As always, I value your feedback. Thanks for taking the time to read. Good luck with surgery. You'll be in our prayers.</span></p> Great article Tim, skillfully…tag:www.dealerelite.net,2013-09-02:5283893:Comment:3842912013-09-02T18:14:02.548ZJames A. Zieglerhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/JamesAZiegler
<p>Great article Tim, skillfully written and thought -provoking...</p>
<p>Great article Tim, skillfully written and thought -provoking...</p> Tim, thanks for your response…tag:www.dealerelite.net,2013-09-01:5283893:Comment:3844102013-09-01T16:58:27.726ZMichael Hillshttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/MichaelHills
Tim, thanks for your response. You make a lot of great points. Justin Brun and Ben Koller are very talented and I am lucky to work with them. By the way, at the footer of the homepage you will see website by Dealer.com, "Fueled by Dynamic Beacon".<br />
As you point out, a website is never complete, it's always evolving and a work in progress. There are always areas to focus and improve on. I hope you enjoy continued success with Wikimotive.
Tim, thanks for your response. You make a lot of great points. Justin Brun and Ben Koller are very talented and I am lucky to work with them. By the way, at the footer of the homepage you will see website by Dealer.com, "Fueled by Dynamic Beacon".<br />
As you point out, a website is never complete, it's always evolving and a work in progress. There are always areas to focus and improve on. I hope you enjoy continued success with Wikimotive. Mike, maybe you can direct me…tag:www.dealerelite.net,2013-09-01:5283893:Comment:3844052013-09-01T15:11:34.160ZTimothy Martellhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/TimothyMartell
<p>Mike, maybe you can direct me to the right website then. When I visit<a href="http://actontoyota.com" target="_blank">actontoyota.com</a> it says website by dealer.com. Perhaps I am missing something or there might be another website that you built for them? I'd love to take a look.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Also, Mike, over 72 is fine for SEO alone, but the picture needs to be completed by a synergistic social media initiative that connects the dots from seo, ppc and ties it all together with what it…</p>
<p>Mike, maybe you can direct me to the right website then. When I visit<a href="http://actontoyota.com" target="_blank">actontoyota.com</a> it says website by dealer.com. Perhaps I am missing something or there might be another website that you built for them? I'd love to take a look.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Also, Mike, over 72 is fine for SEO alone, but the picture needs to be completed by a synergistic social media initiative that connects the dots from seo, ppc and ties it all together with what it means for the consumer. Looks like no blogging has been done since last december.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Also, (and this is no fault of dynamic beacon's) the issue my article addresses is evidenced by the flags raised in the SEO section of the marketing grade report. This largely speaks to the issues with website providers and since dealer.com does exactly what I outline in this article, its not surprising that there are duplicate title tags and meta descriptions throughout the site. </p>
<p></p>
<p>That said, with a MozRank of 7.1, and 678 linking domains to the site, someone has done some level of credible SEO for this website. If thats dynamic beacon, then great job. But only half of the issue is being addressed. A lot of the issue regarding meta data centers around the improper way website providers (dealer.com in this case) handle inventory. This could be easily fixed, but has to be fixed by the provider - its not something a dealer or a SEO agency has the power to fix externally. </p>
<p></p>
<p>Mike, if dynamic beacon builds full functioning dealer websites, I would definitely advise moving away from the dealer.com site and implementing one of your own where you can control all of the parameters. If you handle inventory the right way and are building sites within googles webmaster guidelines, I would expect an immediate boost in traffic and leads upon implementation.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Happy to hear you are having success at dynamic beacon. Ben and Justin are incredibly talented. I'm sure you will have lasting success. </p> Actually, Dynamic Beacon not…tag:www.dealerelite.net,2013-09-01:5283893:Comment:3841952013-09-01T13:28:03.268ZMichael Hillshttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/MichaelHills
Actually, Dynamic Beacon not only built and manages Acton Toyota's website but about 25 others around the country. I was pleased to see that Acton's website grade was over 70.
Actually, Dynamic Beacon not only built and manages Acton Toyota's website but about 25 others around the country. I was pleased to see that Acton's website grade was over 70. Actually, Mike, I started out…tag:www.dealerelite.net,2013-09-01:5283893:Comment:3844022013-09-01T03:47:33.983ZTimothy Martellhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/TimothyMartell
<p>Actually, Mike, I started out at a Nissan store. Though, since I've left, they're not doing much better from a digital standpoint than the sister Toyota store you mention. Similarly, Acton Toyota's website grade could use some help: <a href="http://marketing.grader.com/report/actontoyota.com" target="_blank">http://marketing.grader.com/report/actontoyota.com</a></p>
<p></p>
<p>Wikimotive doesn't work for Woburn Toyota or Marlboro Nissan. Our clients however all have marketing grades above…</p>
<p>Actually, Mike, I started out at a Nissan store. Though, since I've left, they're not doing much better from a digital standpoint than the sister Toyota store you mention. Similarly, Acton Toyota's website grade could use some help: <a href="http://marketing.grader.com/report/actontoyota.com" target="_blank">http://marketing.grader.com/report/actontoyota.com</a></p>
<p></p>
<p>Wikimotive doesn't work for Woburn Toyota or Marlboro Nissan. Our clients however all have marketing grades above 80. Though, that should't really be the singular metric for success either. It does seem a bit strange, though, that you wouldn't use a website built by dynamic beacon for your own dealership. </p>
<p></p> Steve, you bring up a great p…tag:www.dealerelite.net,2013-09-01:5283893:Comment:3841932013-09-01T03:31:22.967ZTimothy Martellhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/TimothyMartell
<p>Steve, you bring up a great problem that has an easy fix from the provider level, but is almost impossible from the dealer level. Using simple code structure called rel=canonical, website providers could literally eliminate this problem overnight. In the process they could create centralized pages that would always remain fresh and relevant to consumers who land on them causing them to rank for the various models dealers sell. </p>
<p></p>
<p>Unfortunately, it seems no provider is even…</p>
<p>Steve, you bring up a great problem that has an easy fix from the provider level, but is almost impossible from the dealer level. Using simple code structure called rel=canonical, website providers could literally eliminate this problem overnight. In the process they could create centralized pages that would always remain fresh and relevant to consumers who land on them causing them to rank for the various models dealers sell. </p>
<p></p>
<p>Unfortunately, it seems no provider is even interested in admitting the inventory problem, much less doing anything about it. </p>
<p></p>
<p>Moz rank of 7 is nice, but whats the rest of the picture look like?</p> Tim,
You are right virtually…tag:www.dealerelite.net,2013-08-31:5283893:Comment:3841402013-08-31T00:58:00.756ZMichael Hillshttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/MichaelHills
Tim,<br />
You are right virtually no web provider is really doing any SEO even if they have their dealer clients on a "enhanced SEO" package. That is why dealers need consultants and agencies like Dynamic Beacon which Justin Brun, Ben Koller, and I started.<br />
Incidentally, the Toyota store that you started out of has a score of 50 using Hub Spots system; their website could use some help.
Tim,<br />
You are right virtually no web provider is really doing any SEO even if they have their dealer clients on a "enhanced SEO" package. That is why dealers need consultants and agencies like Dynamic Beacon which Justin Brun, Ben Koller, and I started.<br />
Incidentally, the Toyota store that you started out of has a score of 50 using Hub Spots system; their website could use some help.