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Bring Google (and people) to your website more often by adding Automotive News Feeds to any page - CaRP Video Tutorial (Free)

I’m building this really simple website for my Independent Used Car Store. Until I can afford someone like TK Carsites, I have to build it myself. Total cost for start up will be less than $600. And less than $200 per year after that. Yes it is almost ugly, but I am paying attention to function and usability first. Later I will contract out for the look and feel of the site. This site will be able to send Inventory Updates to my Autotrader and Cars.com accounts with the click of a button (or 2).

So, I was searching for a way to offer my visitors some quality content that would also help my Search Engine Rankings. I want to eventually show up high in organic (or free) search results.

I found a really neat way to make sure your front page has frequently updated information with minimum work (and cash) required. By adding Automotive News Links to my front page I always have freshly updated content pertaining to Automotive Industry News. Google and your visitors will love you for it. Make sure it is legal to use the links you choose to be displayed on your site.

There is an excellent software tool available for you that accomplishes many more things than most of the competing and over-priced software solutions can do. The tool is called CaRP Caching RSS Parser. It´s available in three versions. The basic version is free and the advanced versions of CaRP (CaRP Koi and CaRP Evolution), which you can purchase from GeckoTribe.com , have additional features and functions, some of them will be explained in this tutorial.

I hope to have my project completed soon. Once installed and configured, updates to your RSS Feeds will be automatic. Thus having a great way to add value to the site for both Google and our visitors.

The new generation of car buyers have been online since they were kids. They’re looking for dealers that understand them and how they shop. Does your Current Auto site give them what they want? Video, Mobile Phone Capable, Integrated Specials and easy to use direct navigation that takes them directly to what they were looking for from the search engines?

There’s a reason that TK has been named BEST Website Provider for 4 years in a row. We don’t just build websites, we study the market and track how customers find dealership websites. Then we build a custom site for each of our dealers that is specifically tailored to their unique market, makes, and demographics. The result is a beautiful thing indeed. It’s why our dealers experience 7% average conversion rate instead the industry average of 2%-3%.

And now we are proud to announce that the most advanced and powerful Automotive SEO Platform in the world has arrived. TK5 turns your single site into five separate, targeted and supercharged sites. With over 1,000 inbound links and a separate homepage for each department your Auto site will get more visitors and generate more leads than you ever thought possible.

Please visit http: //tkpowerof5.com to learn more.

Feel free to simply email jennifer@tkcarsites.com

This is an interesting article from Auto Dealer Monthly Magazine in the February, 2008 issue. Worth a read:

Search engine optimization is not an exact science. One website may rank well for certain keywords, while another similar website may rank well for a completely different set of keywords. Car dealers must be able to identify the “Money Terms” if they want their website to be as successful as it can be.

What are “Money Terms”? In short, they are the keywords that have the proper mix of relevance and search volume. By relevance, I mean the terms that fall within a dealer’s geographic reach as well as fit in with their product offerings. Search volume is the number of times that a particular keyword is typed into the search engines. The question now becomes, How do dealers identify their Money Terms?

For this exercise, we will look at Hoffman Ford Dealers in Harrisburg, PA. In June, 2007, they had a nice, new website, but they weren’t seeing much traffic to it. After a quick review, it was apparent why. Nobody could find them. They were virtually invisible on the search engines.

Paul Smith, Business Development Manager, talked to his Automotive SEO company. They defined goals and identified targets to go after, ranking them by priority. This list has become a blueprint for proper search engine optimization, and has helped them rank nationally for eSales through Ford Motor Company.

1st Priority: Own Your Name
Regardless of how well a dealership ranks in major search terms, their best set of terms will be related to their own name. Those actively seeking you better be able to find you. They are your very best traffic sources – definitely not to be missed.

Examples: “Hoffman Ford”, “Hoffman Harrisburg PA”

2nd Priority: Own Your Backyard
While owning your name is an absolute must, the best way to increase business is to be found by the people looking in your immediate area. There are 9 Ford dealers within 15 miles of Harrisburg serving an area with a total population under one million. When these people are in the market to buy a new Ford, most will type in “Ford Harrisburg” or “Ford Harrisburg PA”. Why? Because people are becoming aware of what will get them the best results on the search engines. They know that if they type in what they want and where they want to find it, they’ll get the most relevant results.

Examples: “Ford Harrisburg”, “Harrisburg Ford”, “Harrisburg Ford Dealers”, “Ford Dealerships in Harrisburg PA”

3rd Priority: Presence in Competitor Cities
Once a dealer owns their backyard, they can start spiraling out. Their primary targets should be cities and towns where they have competitors. While Hoffman is on the east part of Harrisburg, they have a couple of competitors in Mechanicsburg, a suburb just to the west of town. Being number one would be nice, but as long as a dealer can get on the front page of their competitors’ cities, they will generate leads.

Examples: “Mechanicsburg Ford”, “Ford Dealers Mechanicsburg”

4th Priority: Specialties
Most dealers have something they can boast about. Some have the newest and best staffed body shop. Others sell more accessories than anyone in the area. For Hoffman, their claim to fame was being the only Roush Dealer in the area. Still, they didn’t rank for “Harrisburg Roush Dealers”. Today, they rank number 1 on Google for “Harrisburg Roush Dealers” and “Pennsylvania Roush Dealers”. They also rank #3 in the world for the term “Roush Dealers”, which has yielded distant sales that they wouldn’t have had before.

If you also check the national term “Ford Dealers” they rank there on the front page as well.

Other Priorities: The Long Tail
The biggest “smoke and mirrors” technique used by many SEO and web design companies is the long tail. Search terms that are very specific fall into the category of high relevance but low search volume. If someone types in “2004 Chevrolet Cobalt Baltimore”, they are probably great candidates to buy your vehicles that match. The problem is, if only 2 people a year type that in, it isn’t worth much focus.

Dealers should consider the long tail keywords, but it should definitely be an afterthought. Focus on the Money Words first. The long tail keywords will naturally follow.

The most important advice in this column is that if a company approaches you touting their abilities to get their sites ranked for terms like these, they probably aren’t very good at what they do. They would convert, but they are too low volume to focus on and too easy to rank well for to be considered part of their “resume”.

Published in AutoDealerMonthly February 2008 Issue. Written by Jim Rucker, VP of Search Marketing for TK Carsites.

I have this idea for our dealer “megasite”. Well actually it is just my idea. If I wanted to use something or someone famous on my site (and make them say what I wanted pertaining to buying a car from myself), can I do that or will have I have get their permission, or give them royalties (as if I get any to give), or buy some images or video, or music of any kind, of this famous person or thing. 

Okay let’s say, I want to use that little Transformer, by Pontiac….ohhh what’s his name?

I may have him be a “tour guide”, to visitors at my dealer website, for maybeeeeee….Pontiac clientelle. So the Transformer could guide him/her (visitors) around the site keeping in mind that the visitors want to see Pontiac vehicles, while being sure they see the new and used cars that are similar to what they are looking at in the first place (this would work really well for dealers who have multiple manufacturer brands under one roof or on one lot. You could easily allow your visitor to see all their choices (that you offer) giving the feeling that they have shopped at multiple dealers and thus being more ready to buy). ###Did that make sense?###

Anyway, I would love to know the limits I have on this idea. I will be looking for this information for myself. But, I thought it would be a great topic here, so we can all learn from this. 

Maintaining a website takes a lot of pride, passion and hard work! It is not just there to be there.

Here are some great things to find out about who you choose to maintain your website!

I have been using TK CARSITES for a few years now and am very pleased with all of the results, customer service & support I had received from them. The technical skills used in creating a dealer website that is so define and appealing to the eye of the customer. Many of my customers have complimented on the website features, design, easy navigation & the vast of detailed inventory listed. Even other dealers will call up and ask who is running the website. Well, TK CARSITES of course!

The best thing of all is being blown away by the customer service that TK CARSITES has. Getting a fast response from a Customer care rep is very crucial in the automotive internet sales industry. The needs and must haves from the dealership can be very demanding at times which can cause the customer care reps feel pressured, but they don’t at all! Their team is held with a great structure, balance, talent and skill.

If you are looking for a website provider that is willing to go out and gather up your customers online to bring them toward you, then my best advice is getting TK CARSITES as a provider for it will not just benefit you or them but your customers as well.

To find out more about TK CARSITES click on the link above the home page where it list TK CARSITES, fill in the information!

It is bad when a customer calls in asking for a specific vehicle and you don’t even know what you have.  “UH, let me check into that for you and I will call you back”.   (I had done that before) Sorry but your customer is off calling someone else that knows what they have on the lot. 

Taking the walk around in the morning of your inventory will benefit you next time your customer calls up and asks what you have in stock, and right away you can reply right away with what is available and different choices of colors etc.

Having a list of your inventory in front of you will also help you keep on track with checking the availability of the unit that the customer is inquiring on.

If your GM does not give you the access to getting an inventory list, your sales in the Internet Department will not do well. Sitting with your GM and explaining to them the needs and benefits for your department needing the information on the pricing etc.