Google, in an effort to help small business ensure they have an effective mobile website, has launched "GoMo".  This website (http://www.howtogomo.com) lets users learn about why having a quality mobile site is important, test how your site looks in its mobile version, and find resources to help if your mobile site isn't quite up to par.

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For the most part, search engine optimization (SEO) is a recognized necessity of running a successful auto dealer website.  Not just in the auto industry, but there are still some hold-outs that think building websites and content to be found by search engines is a little spammy.

According to Matt Cutts, the head of Google's web spam fighting team, his company does not consider SEO to be spam.  "We don't consider SEO to be spam," and SEO is a "valid way to help people find…

The amount of "best practices" and "tips" involved with social media marketing can be overwhelming to say the least (and yes, I'm guilty of sharing my own).  In the spirit of KISS (Keep it Simple, Stupid), here is a short list of Must-Do's for dealerships using social media as a part of their online marketing efforts:

Have a Plan: Before starting any…

Having videos on your auto dealer website has been shown to increase website leads, and when done with video search engine optimization (VSEO), helping your site climb the search engine result pages.  If your dealership has videos on your website, you should have those videos uploaded to your own dealership YouTube channel.

Here's why:…

It is so frustrating when trying to send a legitimate, valuable email to a customer (future or current), and have it be blocked by a spam filter.  While there are some auto dealers that do send emails that might be properly classified as spam, most dealers who have spam issues are sending real emails to real customers.  Their email campaigns are being inappropriately blocked by various spam filters.

Here are some tips to avoid the dreaded spam filter in your customer's email…

The verdict on Google+ for personal use still seems to be out for many (myself included).  But according to Christian Oestlien, group product manager for social advertising at Google has said that they are “close to unveiling Google+ business profiles”.

Only Ford and GM have official profiles right now (interesting that they are both automotive brands).  Some…

For those that use Google AdWords for your auto dealer website, this is big news.  After some testing in foreign markets, Google has announced that they are changing the algorithm used to determine the Quality Score of PPC ads to give landing page quality more weight.

According to Jonathan Alferness, director of product management on Google’s ad quality team, Google wants their advertisers to focus on relevance and “choose a landing…

I recently wrote about how important it is to keep the NAP (name, address, phone number) the same across all local listing sites.  Typically this isn't a problem, but if your dealership wants to use tracking numbers for auto dealer website, you usually won't be able to keep your NAP the same across the board.

Luckily, a call…

Most people tend to focus a lot of their local search engine marketing for their auto dealer website on Google Places.  While it's true that a lot, if not most, of your search traffic comes from Google, it's still important to make sure your dealership is properly optimized for the other major players as well.

Here are…

If you aren't happy with the way your dealership website is performing in terms of search engine results (and you aren't violating Google's webmaster guidelines), you can ask Google to "reconsider" your site.  Essentially, you can ask Google to take a look at your site to see if it was manually marked as spam.

Over the years, Google has improved this process to make it more transparent.  After submitting a site, Google will let the webmaster know that they received the…

I try to spend at least a little time each day reading forums and blogs from outside the auto industry because I think there is a lot to learn from other business communities.  Today, I found an interesting question up for discussion, and would like to pose the same to you.

What would it take for you to leave the auto industry?

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Google has just bought Zagat, a company that provides ratings and reviews of restaurants, entertainment venues, and travel locations.  Known primarily for their yearly restaurant book guides, they have been doing quite well with their online subscription based site and community.

Google plans for Zagat to be the "cornerstone of our local offering", helping them  to compete directly with Yelp and other online review sites.  Think it was a coincidence that Google recently…

Google is at it again.  According to the Google Operating System Blog, an unofficial source of news and tips about Google, the search engine giant will soon be launching Google Trusted Stores.  This new service is designed to make it "easy for online shoppers to identify stores that provide an excellent online shopping experience."

I have to wonder how closely this will be tied to the reviews a…

DealerOn, the premier car dealer website provider, has been named to 2011 Inc. 5000 List of Fastest Growing Private Companies at #2002, based on a three-year sales growth of 127%.  "DealerOn is thrilled to be a part of such an elite group of companies," said DealerOn co-founder and CEO, Ali Amirrezvani.  "This recognition means so much to the DealerOn family.  It is confirmation of, and a testament to, our employees’ hard work,…

Within the past year, Maryland has been hit by an earthquake and a hurricane (in the same week!), as well as a huge snowstorm, all fairly uncommon occurrences in our state.  While DealerOn, both the office and our employees, were lucky enough to dodge any real damage, it definitely made us all think about how prepared we are for these kinds of emergencies.

DealerOn had enough warning before Hurricane Irene (and dodged…

After writing my post on QR Codes Best Practices, I wanted to make sure those dealerships interested in starting a QR code marketing campaign knew to create QR codes in a way that will allow your dealership to track them through the Google Analytics on your car dealership website.

Here's how to create a QR code that is trackable by Google Analytics:

First, make sure you are signed into Google (in the account that houses…

Some of DealerOn's car dealer website customers are incorporating QR codes on their sites, though it remains a technology that’s still maturing.  While others in the industry have debated the benefits of using QR codes as a part of your dealership’s marketing strategy, I wanted to share some tips for running a QR Code campaign if your dealership is going to test this technology.

Before you start any marketing…

One of the difficult parts of maintaining a successful social media marketing campaign is attracting the "right" people and getting your customers and prospects to interact with your dealership online.  While this won't solve all of these problems, being able to find your dealership contacts in social media accounts is a start.

There is a pretty simple way to find your dealership contacts in social media sites like Twitter that I found while reading…