For a while now we've been discussing the concept of posting "sharable" content on your website to support your "money pages" and "SEO pages". Here's a quick breakdown of the three to act as a refresher:

• Money Pages - These are the pages that are designed to generate leads.…

Hootsuite has been on a tear over the last year. They've picked up a bunch of agreements with the various social media sites. They have a hip interface and a good reputation for quality of service, uptime, and ease of use. I like Hootsuite and use it for many of our accounts, but it's not my primary social post scheduling tool.

I like…

For years, marketers and search engine optimization gurus have been preaching something. They've been telling the world that "content is king" and that if you put the right content on your website, that it will rank well. After all, who would deny the king, right?…

Businesses and organizations have made strides in the last year to improve their overall understanding and strategy in social media. Many who once played in the social media realm using traditional internet marketing techniques such as posting only self-serving links have changed gears and focused on higher-visibility content such as images. Unfortunately, many are still lacking the understanding of how the networks work and how to post properly.…

Content marketing is internet marketing. It has been for a while (which I'll discuss below) but is 2013 it will emerge to become the "must have".

It was during a discussion on ADM…

In May, 2010, Matt Cutts denied that social signals had an effect on search rankings. In December of the same year, he declared that they were actually starting to work in the buzz and signals they were able to get through social media into the site authority factor of their ranking algorithm. Six months later, Google+ was born.

The Penguin Update and subsequent tweaks to it have changed the way that search engine marketers approach aggressive optimization. The days…

Most dealers know what to do. Get testimonials. Get pictures of happy customers. These can be turned into Facebook gold.

The problem is that the pictures of happy customers are often about as boring as a picture can be. There's a customer standing in front of their new car. Sure, they look happy, but is it going…

I ran across an obstacle with a dealer's Facebook page the other day. They were heavily supporting the local chapter of the March of Dimes and had some great pictures and videos compiled by the staff. None of this was on their website, Facebook page, or anywhere in their social media presence.

"We aren't…

When the topic of SEO comes up, many people envision HTML code and meta tag adjustments. They think of keyword stuffing. They consider the bounds set by the OEM of what they can and cannot do with their websites and how far they can push the boundaries to extend their market reach.

They don't usually imagine finding…

Social media is a visual experience. Sure, there are great links. There are insightful comments. There are cool videos. All of these are important, but for the most engagement, photos rule.

The video below is a short portion of our webinar titled, "…

This is one of those topics in which everyone will have an opinion. Some will agree in part and disagree with other components, but the hope is to stir up some discussion on the topic. We've tested these ideas and continue the constant flow of more testing; social media is always changing.

Before going much…

It's a question that is raised from time to time, particularly by sales managers and internet managers. Should employees, in particular the sales team, be allowed to connect with their customers through Facebook and other social media sites? It's not a question of whether or not they should encourage their customers to like the…

I vividly remember a conversation I had with Wikimotive's Tim Martell back in 2008. Even four and a half years later, the conversation has remained in my mind. We were discussing the rise of social media. We both agreed that Facebook would be the big thing, but…

Social media is about conversations. It's not a broadcasting platform like traditional advertising, search marketing, or other forms of internet marketing. Conversations on social media happen all over the place and are pertinent to your dealership's local area. YOU should be involved in as many of these…

There are a ton of numbers in the various analytics programs out there. Many are worthless. Others are even misleading. The concept of analytics is to help us to analyze the performance of our websites. Unfortunately, they often do little in the way of analysis and more in the way of promotion.

It's for this…

A couple of weeks ago, Facebook started cracking downon fake accounts and false likes. The network is finally at the point to where they believe quality is more important than quantity for their…

There have been debates in the past about whether or not it's good for businesses to follow everyone who follows them. The old way of thinking (for some, including me) was that if they take the time to follow you, that you should be courteous and return the favor.

I switched my way of thinking in 2009 but for many it…