Latest activity

ghen · Mar 22, 2010

I did a demo on eleads just the other day, I'm also implementing vinsolutions at my dealershp..

The UI is a win for VinSolutions, but only for people that keep up with technology. Eleads is visualy based off Outlook 2003 which is 7 years old now and shown up by the improvements in Outlook 2007 which eleads should again, hard core copy

Functionality is similar among both programs, they each have their pros and cons. I won't give an opinion here... I highly suggest doing many demos with the systems and figure out which one works for your dealership.
Vinsolutions integrating inventory and website management goes the distance though for an all in one solution. Its really well done.

Alex Snyder · Mar 22, 2010

POSTPONED? Happening? WHAT?

If you haven't been on DealerRefresh in a while you might have missed the proposed bake-off between VinSolutions and iMagicLab. It all started when Sean Stapleton, VP of Sales at VinSolutions, stated in a press release welcoming Sean Wolfington to VinSolutions:

Today VIN is 24 - 36 months ahead of all companies in our space.

This caught the attention of Mark Bonfigli, CEO of Dealer.com, and Richard Keith Latman, CEO of iMagicLab. Mark simply wanted to hear how VinSolutions thinks they're ahead, but Keith proposed a bake-off to see who was really ahead. Sean responded with:

Richard Keith Latman - Thank You for your response. I would love to have a vendor "Bake off" with you on video, live, or anyway our customers and prospects would like to see this. It would be great for the industry to really understand where everyone stands. NO BS, or "Coming Soon" stuff! Richard Keith Latman, remember you made the offer and I am 100% looking forward to this!

And ever since Sean Stapleton has gone silent. However...

Many folks from VinSolutions have been talking and quite a few rumors have also made their way back to DealerRefresh. Please keep in mind that these are rumors, but this one seems to have a little more weight:

A very big player (someone we all know) was approached by VinSolutions to find them a login to the iMagicLab system. That person did not get it for them, but did advise VinSolutions they'd lose this bake-off. Due to the neutral nature of this person his or her name will not be revealed here, but we did hear that the advice was heeded and VinSolutions has since been giving the world the silent treatment.

So.... is this happening or what? Sean - where'd you go?

P.S. I'm just inspecting what I was expecting.

Nov 17, 2010

Well thanks for this widget information, i was looking for one like this.

thanks for sharing.

bpulseadmin · Mar 21, 2010

Orlando, Florida, February 17, 2010— ActivEngage, the automotive industry's premium live dealer chat with business intelligence for dealer websites, today announced the release of ActivConnect, a new dealership website tool bar that lets consumers interact with the dealership via Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, DealerRater, live chat and more, all without leaving the dealership website. The new tool bar ushers in a new level of connectivity between auto dealers and consumers by solving the complex business challenge of leveraging social media, without pushing shoppers away from the dealership website.

In the past, consumers had to leave the dealership website to connect with dealers on major social media sites. While connecting shoppers with dealers through social media links was an important step forward, having consumers leave the dealership website decreases the chance that they will return to that website. Now with ActivConnect, dealers can leverage the power of social media and other interactive communication channels, while keeping consumers on the dealership website. The new tool bar sits at the bottom of the dealership's website and contains links for chat and all major social media sites. When consumers click on the links, the information appears directly on the dealership website, rather than taking shoppers away from the dealer's site. Further, the tool bar remains in place on all website pages.

"We are excited about the new ActivConnect tool bar's ability to help us engage our live traffic," commented Alex Snyder, Checkered Flag Motor Car Corp's director of eCommerce. "Not only will it help us increase a consumer's time spent on our website, which in turn establishes trust for better lead conversion, but it also creates a 'be back factor.' As ActivConnect does not move the customer away to a social media site, it makes it easier for them to join one of our social media efforts, and that helps us get an online 'be back.' Through chat solicitations, in the tool bar itself, we'll also be able to get very targeted ad messages to our current browsers and that is where the rubber really meets the road. ActivConnect is pure conversion."

ActivEngage's new ActivConnect was developed over six months and allows more dealership/consumer interaction from within the dealership website. Existing ActivEngage customers will receive the new tool bar free of charge.

"ActivConnect makes it easier for consumers to connect with the dealership via all major social media sites including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and more, all without leaving the dealer's website," commented Todd Smith, ActivEngage president. "We knew there had to be a better way to connect consumers with dealerships' social media, without pushing them away from the dealership website. ActivConnect also creates a 'wow factor' that makes the dealership look more professional and can really set you apart from the competition."

For a live demo of ActivConnect, visit ActivEngage Automotive Live Chat | Car Dealer Live Chat.

About ActivEngage: (www.ActivEngage.com)

ActivEngage’s proprietary business intelligence helps automotive dealers meet the needs of shoppers by providing dealerships easy to use, powerful website tools. Advanced live chat services let dealers identify, initiate interaction and communicate with website visitors in real-time. The essential person-to-person Meet & Greet that dealers require at the physical showroom is now possible on the dealership website through ActivEngage. This proactive website engagement decreases abandonment rates and increases website lead generation with the thousands of visitors the average dealership receives each month. ActivEngage provides the edge that dealerships need to engage more customers who browse for information because it starts building a personal relationship with shoppers from the moment they hit the dealership website. ActivEngage offers three tiers of service to ensure that all website visitors' experiences are enjoyable and uncomplicated, thereby increasing the value of dealership websites through better lead generation.

Mar 19, 2010

Congrats on the Honda Business Bryce!

bpulseadmin · Mar 18, 2010

Los Angeles, California – February 10, 2010 – American Honda Motors has exclusively partnered with ClickMotive, a leading automotive software company based in Texas, to create and support Dealer Ad Association Websites on a nationwide basis for both Acura and Honda.

These groundbreaking websites will uniquely combine the most effective elements of Digital Marketing into a seamless geo-targeted website platform that will benefit local Consumers, Dealers and Ad Agencies.

Together, American Honda Motors and ClickMotive set out to build the automotive industry’s most complete Ad Association Websites by combining many on-line features for the first time into a single website solution that provides Consumers with everything they need to purchase or service a Honda or Acura with a Dealer in their area.

These websites feature compliant branding, customization tools, shared new & pre-owned inventory, complete vehicle research, video galleries, zip code mapping, special offers, dealer profiles, lead integration, phone tracking, reporting analytics, search engine optimization, search engine marketing, mobile websites, mobile texting, content management tools and more.

“American Honda Motors believes that consumers in a local market will really benefit from a brand-friendly Ad Association website and mobile portal that provides everything they need about all Acura & Honda Dealers in their area,” said Mark Ortiz, National Interactive Sales Manager - American Honda Motors.

“Local Ad Agencies and Dealer Ad Associations will finally have all the tools they need to quickly synergize traditional advertising with online advertising in a brand compliant manner. Web, SEO, SEM, Video, Mobile, Inventory, Integration, Analytics…we combined everything into these Ad Associations Websites,” stated Stuart Lloyd, CEO - ClickMotive

A complete mobile marketing solution will also be created for each Ad Association that includes a mobile website, mobile texting and mobile SEO featuring essentially the same content as the traditional website.

About:
ClickMotive delivers the powerful combination of website design, video, and dynamic search – in a single product, on a single platform, for one low cost, using 100% in-house technology. Led by the former owners of Third Coast Media and the former Vice President of RWS, ClickMotive combines powerful tech savvy with years of experience at all levels of the automotive industry.

Jan 3, 2011

You can also use HideMyAss.com to hide your location from the search engines. If you'd like to see how you rank in other countries - there is a Firefox plugin called Google Global (made by an SEO company in Ireland I think) Though, for an auto dealership, I'm not sure you guys would necessarily care much about that.

Oct 24, 2010

I'm interested Brian. I'm going to try your geo code regardless of the criticism cos it can't hurt. I appreciate the comments about syncing addresses cos it reminded me that I have a PO Box and a street address so I must go and check all those.

Thanks

Sep 26, 2010

I have a new "trick" to share if you want your dealership to appear in the Google Maps listings (7-pack)for OEM brands other than your own.

Any interest?

Sep 26, 2010

The Google Local Listings 7-pack. For instance, if you were to type "car dealership virginia beach" or just type "car dealership" into google, you'll get the local listings 7-pack (which could be anywhere from 1-7 results depending on the search term & area). These are the top local (Google Places)results for the keywords you have entered.

If you were to just type "car dealership" Google Places will show the top results from your area since they know where you're searching from.

Sep 26, 2010

7-Pack = Local Search Map with 7 map pins (results). Used to be called the 10 Pack.

Example:
car dealer near boston ma
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&expIds=17259,237...

Sep 26, 2010

What is a 7-Pack?

Sep 26, 2010

Thanks Brian, that's very helpful, however it does not trigger the local 7-pack which is our main source of site traffic.

Sep 26, 2010

Brian

You can use the Adwords preview tool which you can use to show how a search page looks like in a different zipcode or city.

https://adwords.google.com/select/AdTargetingPrev...

Sep 26, 2010

Just curious... how do you guys test out results in areas out side of where you are doing SEO testing from. For instance, I am unable to get accurate local or organic results for my wife's massage business located in West Hartford, CT 06117, when I am testing from our home office in West Hartford, CT 06119. Is there any way to view accurate results for areas outside of your own? How do professional SEO companies test outside of their area with geo-targeting playing such a major role in seo these days?

Thanks for any help.

Brian

Paul Rushing · Mar 21, 2010

Richard you pretty much hit the nail on the head. If your listings are congruent across multiple mediums it appears that google will recognize your listing as being the most relevant.

In addition to that you need to

Complete your profile - images, videos, hours, payment methods, etc...
Build some links with good anchor text to your map listings. Including passing some link equity from your main website back to your map listing.

Make sure when you are syncing up there is a link to your website in your example.

Mar 20, 2010

Alex, you are absolutely correct. Map listings are partially driven by compiled information from authoritative directory services. If your information isn't synced, you will have problems. Not only that, it helps with your overall SEO. Another ingredient in the SEO secret sauce.

Mar 17, 2010

Google Maps incorrectly indexing your company?

Not quite alone there:

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=124254

As always with the internet, trust but verify ~often.

Mar 17, 2010

Brian,
What you stumbled upon on Best Buy is a microformat (subset of "Rich Snippets"). These are standardized ways of listing certain objects in HTML. Google actually has a Rich Snippet validator to confirm they are parsing these correctly. We have these elements on a number of our sites, but until recently the spec really only supported people and reviews. Google now supports businesses and events as well. Although there is no definitive evidence that the geo aspect of the business microformat can change your business' location on Google maps, microformats themselves have many benefits. If you would like to discuss the broader ramifications of these let me know.

Mar 17, 2010

I took out your invite remark for you Joe.

Mar 17, 2010

Jeff or Alex,

Please delete my comment to invite Troy to comment (above). I just visited Troy's personal promotion platform (his web site) and it's packed with criticisms and no real information. This is the exact model used in his reply above.

Compare and contrast Troy's personal promotion methodology to Mr. Transparency, Brian Pasch, a real DR community asset.

Mar 16, 2010

Troy,

C'mon dood, your not a noob. Think deeper.

Your geo-tag black hat logic was LAME.

Mar 16, 2010

Thanks Brian!

You know, I added those GEO META tags to our dealer website platform a couple years ago. Every single one of our sites has it... and to this day... I have no idea if it helps with anything at all. But seemed like the right thing to do at the time and it couldn't hurt!

I would be interested to learn more if anyone has seen these GEO meta tags help with anything.

Mar 16, 2010

A good "how to" for Google Maps but the real answer to the question is - no.

The inclusion of geo-tags will not help you in SERP positioning. Its not the Google way. (Yahoo and Bing might use them initially, but I doubt it for the same reason Google won't) And the reason Google won't use geo-tags is...because geo-tags can be used to game the SERPs.

Think about it. Your dealership is on the outskirts of a major metropolitan area. What are you going to do to get more exposure to the largest possible audience?

A big part of the SEO game is to learn how the search engines think. And they think you are going to trick them if you can, when it will benefit you, and that might cause them to serve erroneous results. And they would be right.

I know Google, I've worked with Google. Geo-tags are a waste of time. I'll bet on it. Ever hear of the Revisit-After Tag? Same thing.

Beyond those basics, there are SEO techniques to get your dealership better SERP position on Google Maps, but that's another story

Mar 16, 2010

Any chance that plug in is available for download?

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