@Brian P. As always, I so appreciate your opinion on this subject. My earlier comment was really focused on the "old think" regarding SEO, which you much more eloquently described in your response. The Automotive sector is very fortunate to have your group and you "out there" banging the drum regarding and facilitating the generation and proper distribution of relevant content. I like your evaluation - that we're experiencing evolution, not death. Hopefully the dealer body hears and sources you! Thank you!

I am in Bruce's camp. Search is working better, look at the way they "suggest" phrases for keywords prior to the search.

Call me crazy but I would say there are less searches because everything just works better now.

People are finding what they want on the first try rather than needed 4 different searches.

If I am right, it would actually mean that SEO is becoming even more important.

This was just off the top of my head though, so I could be totally wrong.

Alex

I love the title! Your future vision for the search and social markets is thought provoking. Consumers have always sought out good information and reliable recommendations and social media is part of that equation now.

Good Automotive SEO strategies have always relied on educating dealers that good content will be rewarded in search and by reader clicks. Today this content needs to be both on websites and on social media sites.

Regardless of how search and social pans out, the heart of good SEO has always been relevant content. Many

dealers are currently not equipped to create and engage consumers with good content. This also applies to content management strategies on Facebook.

Automotive SEO in the future may rely less on things like META descriptions and Page Titles and more on content, number of pages visited, number of likes and time on site. These may be better measures of content that consumers find useful

So, like anything SEO will not die but evolve to provide dealers with a better on-site experience and social media engagement for consumers. This should equate to better traffic and search rankings as well.

As we have discussed before, the #1 search phrase for any car dealer is their own dealership name. Since this is the case, dealers should inspect what appears on Google Page One for a search on their name.

Active dealers will see their social media sites like Twitter and Facebook on Page One which puts the dealers social media strategy right in the bullseye of consumer click paths. It better be brand enhancing!

The other results that appear on Page One often are not brand enhancing and in many case would deter consumers from selecting that dealer to purchase or service a car.

So until major shifts happen, dealers still need an effective SEO strategy at least to ensure that their #1 search phrase for driving traffic to their website is not being diluted by competitors, negative press or lead collectors.

In my estimates, 80% of car dealers have no formal policy for content development or social media engagement. If your prediction comes true in the next 5 years, we'll need to educate dealers on the steps they need to truly engage consumers online.

I'm betting that SEO and Social Media will be part of that formula.

Great article, Alex. You bring up great points on the changing landscape of SEO and how this plays out with organic search results. A few thoughts:

1) Do these figures take into account mobile searches, i.e. Safari, etc.? There are more mobile savvy consumers relying more on their mobile devices for research, information, directions and purchases. 72% of US population have phones capable of web browsing. This shift in consumer behavior will continue affect how people search for information.

2) Google randomly changes their algorithms - is there a possibility their formulas will change to accommodate the changing consumer search patterns?

3) As we've seen, social media is here to stay and as you commented, people are more likely to trust feedback from Facebook friends than random reviewer on Yelp, etc. Geo-modifiers and long tail searches are playing an increasingly critical role in consumer searching and displayed results, including local listings which are increasingly "pushing" organic listings below the fold.

What do you see happening with social media, geolocation based apps (i.e. Foursquare), SEO and search results?

I spent quite a bit of time last fall learning about Social Media as a real marketing implement and I was waiting for this to "happen". Love your take. In my mind, we're so far past the SEO/SEM question now that if a dealership hasn't gotten it dialed, it might not really matter. Just my opinion of course.

Rob, this is a great post and brings up a growing concern over content distribution. SEO has become a frenzy of distribution without control. Dealers have been convinced if you "vomit" all over the web it will be great for SEO. The downside is exactly what you're talking about.

Keep your eye on the ball - your website.

Well it seems like this issue may best be addressed by the search engines. Years back when people learned of the white on white trick they enjoyed results for a time by stealing competitive urls and embedding them in their own pages.

Once this was discovered, the search engines hammered these people.

Scraping twitter content and such may or may not justify the effort to do so, but from my chair it appears the only means to this end. Any other ideas out there?

Wasn't the Google Realtime search website put up to test and tweak what realtime search results could and should look like? Though it wasn't clearly stated, Google themselves stated that they finally gave realtime search it's own home. Does that mean that they didn't like it built into their main search rankings? I wonder if they will ever make it known to the average internet searcher that this even exists. I still think that for now, and hopefully for a while, Google's realtime search will stay in it's own home until it's more useful. For now 99% of people just go to Google.com and search.

Hopefully the people trying these schemes don't produce any profitable results and they quit!

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@Rob Ernst See thats insanity and it creates a very hostile environment. Why do you need 25 ford dealers

@Shawn I wouldn't do it I consider the 55 I do now to be a bit too much. So if you came to me and offered me a job at 60-70 hrs a week I'd decline.

@Erika Jones honestly having 2 days off a week sounds appealing and if I was in the area could be a convincing factor to make me come on over. After being in this business for 6 years its no longer about chasing the all mighty dollar (don't get me wrong I enjoy those $20,000 pay checks and still go after them) however I also want a life.

Believe or not, they ARE in Michigan! I've called for dealer trades and they're only open late one night per week (if any)! Some aren't open on Saturdays either. Indiana has a law against a new car dealer selling a car on Sundays. SOME places "get" it. Here in Greater Cincinnati, we have about 25 just FORD dealers....

Mike,

Thanks for the compliments, I really appreciate that.

The fact that you came back and replied to every single comment here certainly speaks highly of your interest to find a real answer to this problem.

Ironically, I believe the answer is much simpler than we expect.

Make everything predictable from the sales experience to the service experience and that will take away any hesitation one may have in doing business with a dealer.

At that point it is simply facilitating the sale and ensuring that needs are met and followed up much like how you did here in this post.

The more we complicate the process with unclear processes and inaccurate estimations the less confidence one has and trust has been comprimised.

However, having a relationship with a customer prior to them coming to the dealer means that trust has been established and I would imagine the deal closes much faster.

Thanks for all your replies. Sorry I haven't commented on them, but I've been busy training a bunch of new hires.

Matt

I'm from the Detroit area, and at one time all our domestic dealership used to be closed on Saturday and Sunday. It really was nice to have every weekend off. But then the imports came in and opened on Saturday, so slowly but surely the domestics followed. I'm sure in order to go back to those days, all the dealerships would have to go into collusion, which you know won't happen. Thanks for the reply.

Arnold

Stress certainly is a problem, especially with manufacturers cutting dealership profits and the economy being what it is. But those that make it are the ones who "run their business like a business" and plan for how they want their business to be 5 and 10 years from when they start.

Ed

You're right about the way we incentivize, compensate, and motivate folks not working. Many Managers I've seen truly do not know how to motivate their staff. They rely on the "self-motivation" concept. But I think we've all learned that in order to have motivation work, and individual has to want make the necessary changes to reach another level of sales. But as Managers, all we can do is keep trying and hope that some of it takes. Thanks for the info on the video.

Wendi

For those of you who don't know Wendi, she is the consummate "Hiring" expert. She has written a book on hiring that has received wide acclaim both inside and outside of our industry. And you're right about hiring the right management to develop their people. Often salespeople are just thrown on the floor to sink or swim. Keep preaching the word Wendi!

Angela

You keep trying to figure things out. It will take a huge effort from everyone in this industry, but first, they'll need to realize there is a real problem here. Keep thinking about it.

Alex

These tools you speak of are definitely helpful. But I'll go into dealership that have these tools and ask questions like, "do you keep statistics? And they'll respond yes, we keep statistics on just about everything. Then I'll ask, "what are you doing with them? And they'll respond, "nothing!" Many dealerships don't take to change very easily. But those that realize that the internet and tools is their next step sales and profitability, the better off they'll be.

Scott

I really like your comment. It was professional and well thought out. I tell salespeople all the time that selling skills alone will not take a salesperson from one level to the next. It's all of the things around selling skills that they have to do. Tony Robbins said, "successful people do all the things unsuccessful people don't want to do." Isn't that true! Keep writing Scott, you do it well.

Debra

I think salespeople need two days off in a row also. We work in such a "high rejection" business that the mind and body need to recoup. I'm glad you have a plan that works for you and your dealership.

Joe

I haven't had a chance to watch that video yet, but when I do, I'll give you a special comment.

Shawn

I feel for you Shawn. No one should have to work that many hours and not have a life outside the dealership. I hope you don't burn out. BTW, I only used the 50-60 example because that's what that Manager said. I know there's tons of salespeople and managers who work a lot more than that. Take care of yourself.

Erika

Congratulations on finding a system that works. We had a dealership here in the Detroit market that got rid of all by 5 of their top salespeople, got rid of all but one of their Sales Managers, and got rid of the Finance Manager, invested in computer technology, got everyone Blackberry's so they could answer phone-ups on the lot, gave them all the tools to do their jobs easier and better, and increased sales and profits with over half his staff gone. I like the way you take care of your people. It was a great comment and I hope you keep writing.

Thanks again to all who commented.

We used to struggle with this but now have a plan that works. As of last month, we are closed Sunday and Monday. Ok, my competitors are open but you know what I have attracted the best talent in the valley so my salespeople will outsell them any day. My people come back refreshed and happy because they got some time with thier family that they work so hard for. By the way, this idea came from a salesperson which most other dealerships I know would never ask the employees what they wanted, why not? Not all of the ideas are bad. Has it affected sales? Nope, up 37% on the year and keep climbing. We do a potluck lunch every Saturday and we really enjoy each other as a team. The pay plan is a flat on every car because most of our deals are sub-prime and they take A LOT of work. We give them time off when they need it and don't make them feel bad about it. No one has taken advantage of this either. Our salespeople are happy and we have people from other lots wanting to come on board just to have the freedom to have a life. If you want to say you are going to hire sales professionals then treat them as such and listen to what they say. You don't have to do what they say, but some ideas might just suprise you!

Mike,

The only part about your post I disagree with are the hours..

50-60?

Most people at my dealership work 60-70, and the managers are doing bell/bell (8AM-10PM) 6 days, I had 97 hours last week.

It's a horrible situation to be in, and I am trying to hire the right people so the work load can be distributed.. But for now its: Wake up, go to work, come home, go to sleep -

This is literally my life. My one day off I spend catching up on rest.

This video fits this "work too much" theme

http://www.bobparsons.me/index.php?ci=14967&i...

I think the best solution is a rotation schedule. One week on 40 with two days off in a row and the following week 50-60 with one day off. People need two days off in a row. Another solution is to maximize hours the dealership is open cutting back on hours on days that are slow and expanding on days that tend to be busier. I know at our dealership Tuesday & Thursday evenings we could close earlier without much impact to business at all. This out of the box a little also by having your salespeople actually work their client base more efficiently I know we lose business as Sales does not follow their clients well enough.