Author Archives: Ananth Godavari

New Off-Site SEO Strategy for Car Dealers

There is a new social media site called pinterest.com that recently has gained a lot of popularity among social media sites. According to a recent study conducted by Cambridge, pinterest is driving more traffic to your main business website. In some cases dealers have seen an increase of over 400% traffic generated from pinterest.

Pinterest is a social media site just like facebook where you can load or Pin Images, like, follow and share. Obviously a strategy is needed for businesses to use pinterest. If you simply add images you would not see any difference in the traffic patterns, but if you add your business images along with not so selling type of content you are likely to get more traffic to your main websites.

I believe, as part of Automotive SEO strategy car dealers should load model pages and link them back to the landing pages on their main website.

According to Google, consumers visit 18.2 different sources before they make a buying decision and if optimized correctly, pinterest can be one of those 18.2 sources to influence Automotive ZMOT.

Automotive Advertising Network, with its strong offsite SEO strategy has started to use pinterest for car dealers as part of generating more traffic to the dealers main website.

AAN also helps dealers to collect reviews from happy customers while they are still in the dealership after they buy a new or used vehicle or service their car.

Along with pinterest AAN will be generating more traffic to dealers main website.

If you already are an AAN member please see your account manager and see how you can leverage the new social media wave with Pinterest.

Contact AAN to become a member and leverage strong Automotive SEO strategies for a low monthly price.

seo-strategy-for-car-dealers

Limited Retargeting on GDN expedites Mobile Apps

According to Jeff Ward-Bailey’s article on  The Christian Science Monitor

Google spent much of last week dodging criticism from Apple users about its online privacy practices. But when Microsoft got involved this week, that’s when things got really interesting.

Users of Apple’s Safari browser recently claimed that Google was violating their privacy by circumventing a mechanism the browser uses to disable tracking.

Here’s what’s (apparently) going on under the hood: by default, Safari disables third-party cookies, nuggets of code that companies can use to identify users returning to a site they’ve visited before, or to track what other sites they visit. Safari can accept cookies if a user explicitly gives permission, but Google’s ad platform reportedly used a workaround to mimic approval of its cookies.

We all know the Do Not Call law had dramatic impact on the telemarketing industry, the browser cookie privacy laws is expected to put a huge dent in the ability to build retargeting audiences. We are not sure how fast and how big this dent is going to be due to the privacy filters.

With this recent uproar dealers would need to expedite the roll-out of branded mobile apps and Automotive mobile websites. The apps provide a direct communication channel with customers.

With email delivery rates low and privacy concerns on the rise, mobile apps are a strong way to have two-way communications with your customers.

As part of the delivery process or service process dealers can encourage smartphone owners to download the dealership’s custom app right in the store.

Automotive Advertising Network will start offering Mobile Apps and Mobile Sites exclusive to AAN members during 2nd Quarter 2012.

AAN is a one of a kind Off-Site Automotive SEO platform with built in in-store review platform helping dealers to gain higher visibility for their online internet marketing campaigns.

limited-retargeting-on-GDN-expedites-mobile-apps

In-Store Reputation platform for Car Dealers

Car Dealers embrace In-Store Reputation Management Platform developed by Automotive Advertising Network, that was unveiled at the recent 2012 NADA and 2012 DMSC conferences.

The Automotive Advertising Network is the industry’s first content syndication and search engine optimized network designed to promote car dealers’ inventories on national, regional, local and specialty sites. Now AAN members have the ability to capture reviews while customers are still in the store finishing up the buying the process.

image

The in-Store review platform along with the syndication services for inventory and content is considered to have a heavy influence on Automotive ZMOT.

The AAN helps dealers dominate ZMOT by owning multiple AAN created web assets and syndicating consumer reviews so that no matter where the consumer looks, an AAN client is always top of mind and top of results pages.

About the Automotive Advertising Network

The AAN is the industry’s first optimized, dealer-centric network with no third-party ads, designed to promote car dealers’ inventories on national, regional, local and specialty sites.

AAN is a comprehensive digital marketing and branding platform that utilizes proven practices in Search Engine Optimization (Automotive SEO), inventory advertising, social media and content publishing to advertise and sell dealer inventory.

Using these proven SEO strategies, the AAN helps dealers establish high quality, exclusive leads for less money, translating into higher closing ratios and lower costs for the dealers.  Plus, unlike traditional third party lead collectors, the dealer’s own inventory-listing pages are free of competing ads.

The AAN has changed the playing field for dealers who have typically had to compete with national third- party lead providers who have long had an advantage on the search engines because of their national footprint and corresponding search authority.

For more information on becoming a member visit our website at http://www.automotiveadvertisingnetwork.com or give us a call at 732-450-8222

in-store-reputation-platform-for-car-dealers

Lexus Dealers Action Item–Impact on Automotive SEO

Lexus is making sure that all public directories or social media sites that have a website URL are all directed to Lexus approved domain. Lexus dealers have been getting mandates from OEM to comply.

If you are a Lexus dealer and have already gotten a letter form the OEM, you know the drill. For others, make sure you check all your business listings and social media assets and change accordingly.

At AAN and IntelliFusion we have been using the Word Luxury instead of Lexus to comply with this rule for the dealers. Though the URL is not as relevant as an Automotive SEO company would like it to be, with the help of right content that is compliant, the Lexus Dealers’ assets will still continue to ran and maintain if not improve their Automotive SEO.

Automotive SEO Basics did not change much

Dealers and Automotive Advertising Companies have seen quite a few changes in Google Search algorithms. What we used to see in the early 2011 is entirely different from what we see today.

We now have Google Places, Google+, adding and then dropping third party reviews from Places Review Counts, etc. to name a few.

imageDespite all these changes the basics of Automotive SEO haven’t changed much. Page Rank, back links from relevant and authoritative sites, geo targeted domain URLs, etc. are still working and valid.

We will be seeing more changes to the way search results are displayed for users, but the basics of Automotive SEO haven’t changes much.

Granted the ongoing Google Panda updates are affecting linking strategies to some extent, but as long as the links are coming from reputable sites they are still being counted. It is also important to keep a tab on from what sites the links are generated from. If the links are generated from Google flagged sites, obviously it will impact SERPs.

The changes we see in SERPs are on top of the basic SEO strategies. For example Google+ is affecting SERPs but only to a certain extent and even less when users are not logged in to Google.

Automotive Dealers should be aware and be on top of these past changes. Not only that a dynamic dealer will also be watchful of current and future changes happening in the search world.

Dealer Microsites are still ranking high if designed and linked properly.

As search giants are refining their service to users, many of the Automotive Marketing Companies are not updating their services to reflect these changes or are very slow in adapting to the dynamics of search world.

Dealers should be on the watch for not only on Automotive SEO changes but also push their vendors to keep things updated with the changes.

Orlando Toyota Dealer takes AAN In-Store Reviews to the fullest

Orlando Toyota Dealer as part of AAN membership is using their network membership to the fullest. As per the latest trends in Automotive SEO, it is important for dealers to have a strong reputation management process in place. And online reviews play an important role in influencing Automotive ZMOT and improve dealership sales.

Toyota of OrlandoToyota of Orlando has been consistently using the AAN in-store review platform to capture and syndicate reviews on not only on the AAN network, but also on popular social media sites like WordPress, Posterous, etc.

Dealers who invest on Automotive SEO know the importance of “dealership name + reviews” keyword and as you can see Toyota of Orlando’s review page shows up on Google Page one for “Toyota of Orlando Reviews” keyword.

Toyota Of Orlando Reviews

As you can see, AAN members can leverage the network for not only strong Automotive SEO, but also as an even stronger Automotive ZMOT Influencer.

If you like what you see here contact me 732 654 9032 for a quick demonstration of AAN and its off-site Automotive SEO power along with completely optimized AAN in-store review platform.

New Off-Site SEO Strategy for Car Dealers

imageThere is a new social media site called pinterest.com that recently has gained a lot of popularity among social media sites. According to a recent study conducted by Cambridge, pinterest is driving more traffic to your main business website. In some cases dealers have seen an increase of over 400% traffic generated from pinterest.

Pinterest is a social media site just like facebook where you can load or Pin Images, like, follow and share. Obviously a strategy is needed for businesses to use pinterest. If you simply add images you would not see any difference in the traffic patterns, but if you add your business images along with not so selling type of content you are likely to get more traffic to your main websites.

I believe, as part of Automotive SEO strategy car dealers should load model pages and link them back to the landing pages on their main website.

According to Google, consumers visit 18.2 different sources before they make a buying decision and if optimized correctly, pinterest can be one of those 18.2 sources to influence Automotive ZMOT.

Automotive Advertising Network, with its strong offsite SEO strategy has started to use pinterest for car dealers as part of generating more traffic to the dealers main website.

AAN also helps dealers to collect reviews from happy customers while they are still in the dealership after they buy a new or used vehicle or service their car.

Along with pinterest AAN will be generating more traffic to dealers main website.

If you already are an AAN member please see your account manager and see how you can leverage the new social media wave with Pinterest.

Contact AAN to become a member and leverage strong Automotive SEO strategies for a low monthly price.

Limited Retargeting on GDN expedites Mobile Apps

According to Jeff Ward-Bailey’s article on The Christian Science Monitor

Google spent much of last week dodging criticism from Apple users about its online privacy practices. But when Microsoft got involved this week, that’s when things got really interesting.

Users of Apple’s Safari browser recently claimed that Google was violating their privacy by circumventing a mechanism the browser uses to disable tracking.

Here’s what’s (apparently) going on under the hood: by default, Safari disables third-party cookies, nuggets of code that companies can use to identify users returning to a site they’ve visited before, or to track what other sites they visit. Safari can accept cookies if a user explicitly gives permission, but Google’s ad platform reportedly used a workaround to mimic approval of its cookies.

 

We all know the Do Not Call law had dramatic impact on the telemarketing industry, the browser cookie privacy laws is expected to put a huge dent in the ability to build retargeting audiences. We are not sure how fast and how big this dent is going to be due to the privacy filters.

With this recent uproar dealers would need to expedite the roll-out of branded mobile apps and Automotive mobile websites. The apps provide a direct communication channel with customers.

With email delivery rates low and privacy concerns on the rise, mobile apps are a strong way to have two-way communications with your customers.

As part of the delivery process or service process dealers can encourage smartphone owners to download the dealership’s custom app right in the store.

Automotive Advertising Network will start offering Mobile Apps and Mobile Sites exclusive to AAN members during 2nd Quarter 2012.

AAN is a one of a kind Off-Site Automotive SEO platform with built in in-store review platform helping dealers to gain higher visibility for their online internet marketing campaigns.

In-Store Reputation platform for Car Dealers

Car Dealers embrace In-Store Reputation Management Platform developed by Automotive Advertising Network, that was unveiled at the recent 2012 NADA and 2012 DMSC conferences.

The Automotive Advertising Network is the industry’s first content syndication and search engine optimized network designed to promote car dealers’ inventories on national, regional, local and specialty sites. Now AAN members have the ability to capture reviews while customers are still in the store finishing up the buying the process.

image

The in-Store review platform along with the syndication services for inventory and content is considered to have a heavy influence on Automotive ZMOT.

The AAN helps dealers dominate ZMOT by owning multiple AAN created web assets and syndicating consumer reviews so that no matter where the consumer looks, an AAN client is always top of mind and top of results pages.

About the Automotive Advertising Network

The AAN is the industry’s first optimized, dealer-centric network with no third-party ads, designed to promote car dealers’ inventories on national, regional, local and specialty sites.

AAN is a comprehensive digital marketing and branding platform that utilizes proven practices in Search Engine Optimization (Automotive SEO), inventory advertising, social media and content publishing to advertise and sell dealer inventory.

Using these proven SEO strategies, the AAN helps dealers establish high quality, exclusive leads for less money, translating into higher closing ratios and lower costs for the dealers.  Plus, unlike traditional third party lead collectors, the dealer’s own inventory-listing pages are free of competing ads. 

The AAN has changed the playing field for dealers who have typically had to compete with national third- party lead providers who have long had an advantage on the search engines because of their national footprint and corresponding search authority.

For more information on becoming a member visit our website at http://www.automotiveadvertisingnetwork.com or give us a call at 732-450-8222

Automotive Microsites – A Major Influence on ZMOT

Until recently dealers and dealer website vendors have thought Dealer Microsites are an important tool for Automotive SEO. Generally Automotive Microsites are created for a specific reason, for example to appear high in SERPs for a targeted keyword or to focus on a particular dealer topic.

And its true that Microsites if done correctly can provide these benefits. There is an additional benefit that these Automotive Microsites provide. They become a part of Automotive ZMOT influencers.

According to Google on average consumers would visit 18 different sources before they decide on what brand of car they want to buy and where. On top of it the most common search queries are related to Price, performance and styling.

If the microsites created for dealers answer these questions and are keyword targeted at the same time, chances of these sites appearing among the 18 different source is high. This means consumers are most likely to come across your assets online than your competition’s assets.

This is very important to capture the online audience.

If your online reputation far exceeds than your competition than the likely hood of a consumer shopping for their next car in your dealership is higher.

Automotive Microsite ZMOT Strategy

An Automotive Microsite done to be part of ZMOT influencers need to have content that addresses Price, Performance and Styling of the brands they carry. It needs to target the most competitive keyword in their market and GEO-Target.

A microsite also needs a strong linking strategy for the keywords it was created for.

Having relevant content, answering common questions, strong linking strategy and keyword rich content makes the microsite appear strong in search results and becomes a part of the 18 different sources that influence consumer to shop at your dealership.

Automotive IRM influences ZMOT

There are other ZMOT influencers, dealers online reputation being the most important factor that need to be constantly monitored and improved. Google Place reviews, AAN Reviews, Yelp, Dealer Rater etc. are some of the places where the dealer need to concentrate on. It is important to have positive reviews to demonstrate the experience a consumer will likely have when they visit your dealership.

In summary, to sell more, dealers need to have to have an effective online strategy that includes microsites, positive online reputation, inventory, content and review syndication. Automotive Advertising Network provides all this for a low monthly fee.

Call us at 732 450 8222 and we will demonstrate how AAN can help you in providing more online resources to help in the ZMOT process for a car dealer.