Automotive SEO

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.

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

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.

According to Google’s data, on average a car buyer visits 18 different sources before they make a decision on what car they want and where to buy. An automotive dealer marketing campaign should include strategies in which the dealer online assets appear in more places.

Dealers need to invest time, effort and money to make sure the most popular questions are answered for the prospective consumers on different sources where the consumer is likely to come across during their ZMOT process.

According to Google the most important questions are related to price (64%), vehicle performance (44%) and styling (37%). Content should be written around these topics and published in places where consumers are likely to see. Obviously the content need to be optimized for search engines to capture as many places in searches as possible.

Assuming a consumers are educated on price, performance and styling, the other thing they would look for is where to shop for their next vehicle.

Online Reviews play an important role in providing a consumer an idea of the experience they would have when they visit the dealership. If dealer’s online reputation is great, you can expect more sales.

Google place reviews play an important role in Automotive ZMOT. And dealers need to put extra effort in making sure their online reputation is excellent. The best time to obtain a review is while the consumer is still at the dealership after they purchased their vehicle. This also gives the dealer an opportunity to reconcile any potential negative reputation that they might get from a not so happy customer.

According to Google “If your business received a review that you don’t agree with, we encourage you to use business owner responses to reconcile the situation with the customer. We know a negative review can be frustrating, but we believe that engaging with a customer to address his or her concerns creates the best environment on Google Places. “

AAN (Automotive Advertising Network) has tools and technology to address and be a big part  of ZMOT influencers. With content syndication across 100% automotive websites addressing the most common consumer questions, in-store reputation management tools and, Review Syndication across 100% automotive search optimized websites, AAN provides dealers a way to influence car buyers ZMOT.

Google has once again changed its position regarding reviews in Google place. It started dropping third party star count. This change is a welcome change for some dealers who have bad third party reviews but for those dealers whose reviews were better off with third party counts have to step up their game in getting reviews posted in Google Places from their Customers.

What can Dealers do to improve their review counts?

Automotive dealers need to have an in-store reputation management policy to manage Google Places. With a whole lot of smart phones on the market selling at considerably lower prices, dealers need to start using Android phones, iPhones, iPads etc. The Google Places app can be installed right on them.

Dealers can use Google Boost to spice up their PPC strategy. Boost is an up and coming strategic advantage which we have been discussing with clients.

Third party reviews are still important and will still be indexed and viewed by your prospective customers.

In-Store IRM Processes and Training

Dealers looking for direction on how to best adapt to these changes should start an in store reputation management process that include using 3G smart devices.

Dealers must set processes to identify consumers with Google accounts while they are in the dealership. 550,000 Android devices are activated a DAY and all have Google Accounts. Google empowered consumers can post reviews directly on Google Places, with their account, from a mobile device.

If you need help with in store training, processes, and strategy on reputation management, give IntelliFusion a call.

IntelliFusion Technologies is an Automotive SEO and IT company and AAN Reseller. For your automotive advertising needs send us a note or call us at 732 450 8222 and see how the Automotive Advertising Strategies are built for your specific needs.