"They get at least 3 clicks a month from me - it is my favorite way to check their sites out! They get a few more from people I've trained to also click on them each month...our GM's love spending their money too!" -Alex of Checkered Flag

@alex: I'm glad you and your GM's have such high moral standing. I'm off to go click a couple of your ads.

"Meaning, Reach Local has patented technology that is supposed to be more advanced than anything else out there." - regarding this line, I don't want to bore you with too many facts, but therre are over 40 companies claiming this and they all have somewhat of a case. The technologies range from outdated, to moderately performing to spectacular. There are industry experts that just evaluate the vendors of these systems and rate their overall performance.

If you find a good platform to work with (I'm not advocating one over the other - you need to do your own research and come to your own conclusions), you will easily outperform someone doing their program themselves. I now this last statement will upset some, but it is a fact. The ad systems and variables have gotten complicated and these sophisticated systems really deliver improved performance and results.

As fas as Reach Local's pricing model, it seems readily apparent to me that they are building their service fee into the cost of a campaign by building out the costs for the adwords based on a percentage. The question is what is the mark-up percentage they are using? Hopefully, they'll be able to tell us so we can use the information in assessing thier service.

Jamie,
I have been contacted several times by a Reach Local representative and I assure you I understand the basics of SEO and SEM. The reason for looking at an outside SEM company was from a time standpoint like Joe stated.
However, I think there was some misunderstand in part by your representative and how the program was initially presented to me. This actually prompted them to call me and re-explain the program after I submitted my first post.
Since you’re on here, let me verify something else. I was updated and told that Reach Local does not get a bulk discount but they do have a "special relationship" with Google because they bring them so much business. Meaning, Reach Local has patented technology that is supposed to be more advanced than anything else out there.
Here is my basic understanding of the program. You (Reach Local) have a patented technology that allows a computer generated system to determine the best keywords to use and automatically adjust and learn as time goes on. You (Reach Local) would buy a keyword for 92 cents and resell it to us for 94 cents and so on. This is the part that continues to confuse me if you don't charge any monthly management fees because in that example that would only be $40.00. Unless you are jacking up the keywords prices a huge amount. I must say that is not the way it is being presented.

IMO, the Internet Manager is too busy to learn and execute SEO and PPC.

List all the tasks that an Internet Manager (IM) has. Lil' dealer IM does all tasks, mega dealer IM has teams that execute tasks.

I say... Back to Basics.
Our photos suck.
Our options lists are rarely complete.
Our Veh. description writeups are empty, or, the same for all units.

Sexy, high quailty Photos sell cars, not the dark, inconsistant, fuzzy crap I see everywhere (my store included)

VIN driven options lists are only 60% of the option data. Bullet lists of options are rarely complete. If you have a used unit with a 6disc changer and rear DVD and no one knows about it, thats like cutting your phone lines and flushing gross down the toilet (when you finally do get a phone up).

Colorful, personal writeups sell cars, not not bullet lists.

IMO, 98% of all IM's need to focus on the basics of Internet Marketing before they move on and conquer PPC and SEO. Hire it out if you don't have the basics down perfectly.

Just my $0.02
Joe

Alex,

I run the automotive division of ReachLocal and as Umer pointed out - there is no bulk discount from Google, Yahoo, MSN - or any other publisher we may work with - although we do have a reseller agreement. If you would like more information and a visual walk-through of our technology platform, please feel free to give me a call or drop me an email.

Just a couple of comments on the article. I'm not of the opinion that SEM should only be targeted to "in market" buyers, or necessarily as a substitute to buying 3rd party leads. At the end of the day it is simply very targeted advertising that if utilized efficiently, will yield a much higher ROI than other forms of advertising. If you set realistic goals and have the right expectations about how paid search will impact your business - along with a solid understanding of SEM that will allow you to do it yourself, or select a respectable vendor - then you will get plenty of ROI from your SEM spend.

Every dealer principal, GM, BDC Manager, Internet Manager/Director should absolutely be educated on how the Internet (search/display/social networking) is impacting their business. I can't say I agree that every Internet Manager's job responsibilities should include managing SEM - say what you will, but to do this efficiently and effectively can be fairly time and labor intensive and isn't simply a matter of selecting keywords, bid prices, then rolling the dice. Most would probably agree that the automotive industry (as a whole) is experiencing tough times right now - and there aren't many dealers I talk to who compensate their IM's on how effective their SEM campaigns are on the bottom line.

Whether or not you do it yourself, or you choose a vendor to do it - 9 dealers out of 10 need to be doing some level of paid search. They key to a successful campaign/strategy is understanding how to best measure results - and having the data by which to measure those results.

Jamie Adams
Director - ReachLocal Auto

Hmm... you can still do broad keywords and Geo Target. Why shouldn't my dealership come up when someone types in "Honda Accord" in my area...

Alex reach local is just a PPC consulting company... there is no bulk purchase option from Google. They do have reseller option... though.

Personally, I'm of opinion if your title is internet manager then it is part of your job description to manage PPC and work on Organic optimization.

@alex

Never heard of Reach Local, but they sound like another company I spoke with on behalf of a client last year. Dealers really need to be careful who they trust for campaign management. I documented my personal experience with one company at

search-engine-marketing-companies-for.html

Dealers seem to be targeted by a lot of these companies because lets face it, there are a lot of dealers who will throw money at something based on promises. Become better-educated on the subject and you'll spend more wisely.

Very interesting comments everyone. I am surprised to not hear too much about systems or solutions that are auto specific and that allow the dealer to run ads day to day and stop them on demand. After all you should be able to target your ads day by day if needed and control them with no monthly mgt fees all within a few easy clicks.

Additionally when it comes to tracking, with PPC you should not only know what you are spending and the cost per lead, you should also know the exact cost per sale. Ultimately this is the only number that matters.

With today's technology and tracking capabilities dealers can actually see the amount of leads they will generate in advance of spending any money! If you really think about what else could you ask for? Also, using the proper tools you should never "burn" through your budget as this can be automatically controlled day by day by bidding technology that staggers your spend equally throughout each day of the month. If you have a $3000/month budget then you will spend about $100/day on PPC and you can even target that spend to different vehicles, departments, and specific geographical areas. This is not guess work anymore it is 100% science and in general dealers should be generating leads at under $10 per lead. Launching PPC campaigns should take a dealer a minute or 2 not countless hours. Companies like ours have spent years studying the metrics, results and best practices to come up with software that automates the parts of the process that do not need to be humanly administered. One thing for sure is this, dealers are burning much more cash on Print, Radio and TV than they ever could on PPC.

Mark Bonfigli
President, CEO
Dealer.com, Inc
www.dealer.com

Is anyone familiar with the company Reach Local. They claim not to charge any monthly management fees. They say they are able to buy keywords from Google in bulk and sell them back to the client at a price they would have paid anyway. This is how they supposedly make their money. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Is anyone familiar with the company Reach Local. They claim not to charge any monthly management fees. They say they are able to buy keywords from Google in bulk and sell them back to the client at a price they would have paid anyway. This is how they supposedly make their money. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

I sincerely hope you guys that are so stuck in the SEO whirlpool are in my market area.

If you pay attention to your keyword and phrase click-throughs and conversions, dedicate yourself to being in the proper position in sponsored results (#1 is not necessarily #1), have the relevant content when that click becomes a visitor, have a mack-daddy presentation of your product, target the relevant demographic in relation to your ad/current promotion, know a smidgeon regarding internet statistics and trends, etc.... you shouldn't have a problem.

Having only been in the car business for 3 yrs (eCommerce 15 yrs) I'm simply amazed each and every day with the comments I hear from those in the car biz regarding SEM, SEO and eCommerce/eBusiness as a whole.

My opinion of most SEM and SEO companies are that they typically just throw up the keywords and phrases and set it on autorun. Paying no attention to the actual results but relying on stats spit out by software.

Look at your website statistics, referrals and keywords. Study, analyze and dissect each and every aspect of it. THAT is where you'll find out what's really going on (just before you fire your SEO/SEM vendor). You use autocount and others to determine your market areas and demographics for mailers, TV, radio and newspaper why not the internet?

SEM is exponentially more targetted than SEO or any of the traditional media options. You can highlight individual units or today's new incentives right away. Using landing pages you control in-house is critical to the use of SEM. If you decide to slash prices on old-age units you can let your market area know in moments, not months.

The bottom line is, unless you can find a legitimate SEM company to control this most critical cog of your advertising wheel, hire someone that understands it and train that person the automotive stuff.

We haven't done radio, TV or newspaper in 2 months now.

How much have you spent?

With all the hype about SEM in nearly every publication I've read as of late, I have a few questions. What is a good percentage of budget to devote to SEO/SEM for a major metro dealer? Is it true that a good percentage, say 40%, of sem generates leads for fixed ops? I've heard that number thrown out before. Seems to me that more google searches for make specific dealers in a certain city would be hunting for fixed ops rather than a used car of that make.
Last thing, what about diminishing returns? What B-man alluded to is the more active this medium becomes the more costly it becomes for everybody and the harder it becomes to justify. I'd appreciate your thoughts.

If you do it all the time, yes. If you keep it to a minimum, then no.

Minimums can be rather large.

Alex, I'm sure at this point, those clicks are getting discredited (or credited?) if they're coming from the same places click after click.

I'm glad he brought up something on buying competitors' names. I used to do this before I realized it was converting at almost 100%. Then I started looking at what was going on and realized I was just saving people a click at my expense because these customers were coming over (and converting) anyway.

There are a few of my competitors buying our name + franchise, and it just brings a smile to my face. They get at least 3 clicks a month from me - it is my favorite way to check their sites out! They get a few more from people I've trained to also click on them each month...our GM's love spending their money too!

I'm getting a "2003-ish" vibe from this article. Too bad we're in 2008.

Hhhhhmmmmmmmmm! Search traffic without conversion. The number one concern for every dealer should be "how am I going to convert this traffic to usable leads"? Conversion is a piece of cake - want o know how?

Never buy your PPC from a company that does organic and never buy your organic from a company that does PPC. Trust me this is the golden rule of search traffic.

Steve

This article is so far off track of what is actually true that its bordering on just plain stupid.

"“One example is ‘Honda Accord,’” he says. “If someone types in that when they are just researching cars, and it takes them to your dealership site, they often leave right away.”"

If you have the right text ad crafted then it shouldn't matter what phase the buyer is in. You will qualify them BEFORE THEY CLICK THE AD using the text in that ad.

We can see upwards of 10-20% conversion rates on some of those broader type terms.

I highly suggest you follow the advice in this article so our clients can get cheaper clicks on those broader keywords and all of YOUR leads.

P.S. To Ken: There is no where near the available traffic on organic local terms as there is on broader PPC terms that are locally targeted by IP.

B-Man

CPC is good for new sites, promotions, and arbitrage. What it is REALLY good for, is reaffirming your good organic positioning. So when someone searches for "2008 honda accord in massachusetts" not only are you ranking high organically, the user also is shown your ad, giving them a good feeling about your site right away.

CPC isn't as a sustainable source of traffic like good SEO is. That is where we spend the most time.

Ken H - I'll tell you why people still focus on PPC. All research concerning Search Marketing, public and private that I have seen, shows a multiplyer effect from placing in both organic as well as paid search. These studies have been conducted over the past 8 years and have been very conclusive. I've personally experienced this affect with my own sites.

There are companies who flat out dominate the organic results and still pay $100,000+ a month on paid search, and, they are not doing it for the fun of it. They have tested, studied the results, and understand the performance dynamics - it pays very well to succeed at both. Search marketing is a very detailed and knowledge based practice. Many who dabble in it feel they have a very comprehensive understanding of it, unfortunately they are mislead. They are only dealing with the tip of the iceberg. This is why it pays to hire Search Engine expertise, hold them accountable for their performance, and let them do their job.

Dealers should be concentrating efforts on the organic search side of the equation in which 75 to 80% of all searches occur at no fixed cost per click to the dealer also. There are "whitehat" companies offering good fixed cost organic SEO services out there. Why are dealers so concerned about PPC when only 15 to 20% of the activity happens there? Think about it, how often do you yourself actually click onto a paid listing? was it truly the most relevant for you in your search?

Any of the reputable web development companies will have measures against spam. We began adding captcha images to our client contact forms about a year ago and it cut down TREMENDOUSLY on the amount of spam submissions received. Any of the methods discussed by Cutts are simple and effective.

By the way, I still see a lot of dealers displaying their email address on their site. That's another way to open yourselves up to additional spam.

Heres somne places for CAPTCHAs

Good stuff. Does anyone know of a dealer website company that offers the type of spam fighting applications that Cutts discussed in this video or is it something that we have to go out and get on our own and "bolt on" to our websites? I've been asking Reynolds and Reynolds for this for over a year now. I really like the idea of having someone answer a simple math question before they submit a form.

Sending THANK YOU cards immediately after someone has left the dealership has some rewarding results. You may ask yourself if it's worth the 5 minutes, and first class postage - but consider the impact:

#1 None of your competitors is doing it.
#2 You stand out from the crowd.
#3 It show true appreciation towards the customer.
#4 Your chances of a be-back skyrocket.

I always learned that you don't have to be better than everyone else, just different.

Cheers!