Google confirmed another algorithm update, Panda 3.2, effective January 18th. Maybe you noticed some changes to your listings. (You are watching your search results placements, right?) Fortunately I haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary, just one new listing and it happens to be one of my favorites: our Foursquare venue pages made a significant jump to page 1, 2nd result; from page 2, 8th spot.  Click image to enlarge.     So, if Google is giving  preference to an optimized location based venue page - how can this be leveraged? (Plus, a few other ways to ensure your Foursquare venue works off-line as well) Verify your business on Foursquare. (If you haven't, you can do so in 3 easy steps) Create specials. More choices now let you that target new customers with first time check-in specials or check-in with friends and multiple visits or Mayor check-ins for returning visitors to help drive loyalty efforts. Add your category (EX: C...

Pinterest. The hottest new community everyone is rushing to. So, what's the big deal? Think of it simply as a digital pin board for the stuff you like online, letting you: "Pin" images Organize them within "boards" Allow others to pin items to your board Follow other people or just individual boards Like, re-pin & comment Share items socially Pin items using the browser bookmark Pinterest is very popular with the ladies. Beautiful images of landscapes, vacation homes, clothes and of course, kittens. The visual nature of the community and the "content stream" is an endless playground for those with ADD. Endless scanning of awesome pictures and cool content. What can we learn from Pinterest regarding how curate and organize content for our customers? Image quality makes a world of difference: Are you making sure your merchandising efforts are top notch? Segmented customer groups are powerful: People enjoy ...

Quora is one of my favorite sites for reading & discovering great info on various topics I find interesting. Why? Because of it's simplicity, the community dynamic and the ability to get credible information directly from sources I'd otherwise never have a chance to interact with anywhere else. (I've asked questions & received replies from the likes of Dennis Crowley, Ashton Kutcher & one of the original developers of Photoshop) I'm also a fan of being able to vote answers up or down; letting you weed through the junk very quickly. Here's a simple explanation of Quora, from CrunchBase, if you're not familiar with the site: Quora, founded in June 2009, first launched in private beta in January 2010. Quora is a continually improving collection of questions and answers created, edited, and organized by everyone who uses it. The most important thing is to have each question page become the best possible resource for someone who wants to kno...

Here's something for vendors to think about this year and as we prepare for NADA and other late-Winter/early-Spring conferences: Are you the vendor sales guy who makes dealer staff duck and cover?  We've all experienced this to a varying degree, it doesn't need to be this way. As much as we all love the shiny new tools, the cool new gadgets and next hottest thing that will provide an eternity of well-qualified shoppers, we still don't like to be "sold." Of course, we like to be challenged, educated & informed - but you know what we really like? We like being talked to first. Personally, I've enjoyed the relationships that have been created. Simple old adage: We buy from (& stay with) those we like. Here's a few of the characteristics & activities I associate with those I've worked with:  Be creative Be helpful Be real Be memorable Be available Be active in the off-line community ...

What were the most Googled cars in 2011?

Hat tip to VJ for this gem.

Source: Most Googled Cars Of 2011

Whether you've already created a Google Plus Business page for your dealership or plan on doing so eventually, here's two simple things you can do to help make sure it stands out. One is for esthetics, the other for search.  G+ Business pages allow for a profile image and five window panes to display images from your scrapbook. Why not dress it up a bit?  Use this tool to create custom profile images with G+ banners, logos and landscape shots for the window panes: Make Google Plus Banners   Once your page is set up, be sure to add a link to your site in the about page. You'll need a link on your G+ page pointing to your website and then from your website back to your G+ page to complete the loop required to have your page indexed properly and included within Google Direct Connect. (G+ Pages don't have custom URL's) You'll also need to confirm ownership of your G+ page by adding a short snippet of code to your website. Just as Googl...

One of the things I love to do is find the newest ways for people to connect with Auction Direct online. Here’s two ways that will become increasingly popular. Everyone on the Internet is looking for Information. What’s the best information we can find? Information from trusted sources such as our family, friends and co-workers. When our friends tell us about a restaurant, a clothing store or even an accountant, we listen to those recommendations because we trust the review. Word of mouth marketing is one of the most effective methods for any business to increase sales; Facebook and Google have introduced two of the most revolutionary online word of mouth marketing tools. Facebook understands one simple fact: People love to share the stuff happening in their life. Now, they’re making it even easier to for people to share life events – social consciousness. Items such as getting engaged, getting a new pet or even a new home will be shared even easier...

Google recently turned on it's newest analytics feature: Webmaster Tools SEO Reports. You're missing critical data if you don't integrate your sites within webmaster tools. Note: This assumes you have already added and verified your site(s) to Google webmaster tools. If you haven't, you can start here) The webmaster tools SEO reports will add a new layer to your SEO reporting with regards to the following activity:  Queries Landing Pages Geographical Summary For each category, you'll now see specific data for: Impressions Clicks Average Position Click Through Rate (CTR) This makes reviewing your data much more efficient by showing where your pages rank, how they perform and ultimately helps you drill down further to determine where your efforts should be focused. If a page is important, but doesn't rank well and isn't getting the desired traffic, you'll be able to identify these opportunities much quicker.&n...

Nicely organized side-by-side comparison of Google+ and Facebook. Click image to expand.

Everyone knows how powerful Word of Mouth marketing is. It's about to get an incredible shot in the arm thanks to the new social graph features within the upcoming Timeline profile. Facebook's goal is to let you share evey facet of your life with anyone and everyone you care to. Sure, on a personal level we may not be in interested in all of this activity - but from a digital marketing perspective, this is just huge.  One of the activities users will be able to share, is that new car they just bought. (When, where, who they were with, description & share a photo) Should be a fun feature to leverage.  Click image to expand ...

Another wonderful infographic showing how businesses are using Facebook. As more business solutions such as Google Plus for businesses, social eCommerce tools and mobile pay wallets gain momentum; social retention will shift even more towards social acquisition. 

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Excellent infographic from KISS Metrics showing global Google analytics metrics and usage trends. Compare your website metrics to these statistics – how does your site measure up? Click to view full size.



 

Original post appeared on WhatDidEricSay.com

Be sure to check out the new release of Location Based Marketing for Dummies, written by Aaron Strout, one of the DrivingSales Executive Summit keynote speakers!  If you're still scratching your head about location based marketing, get this book. It'll quickly bring you up to speed about the tools, strategies & overall understanding of this segment. (And also cool to see a CarZar mention in the book as well!) Congrats to Aaron and his co-author, Mike Schneider.  ...

Google Authorship Attribute: The authorship attribute is a new element within the Panda update. It's another way Google is prioritizing content from published authors within the search engine results pages. This is a nice solution for experts in their respective field as it helps build greater awareness while improving authority. Authors and blog owners can now have their image appear in the right margin of Google's search results by following a few simple steps. Create a Google Profile - these are now wrapped within your Google Plus account. Don't have a G+ account yet? Get one here. Add your blog link to the right column of your Google Profile. Add the Google Profile Button to your blog. ...

Why is this significant? Google+ business solutions will be out soone enough. Will you be prepared?

The 10 Commandments of Link Building

Courtesy of KliKKi search engine optimization.

 

Get ready for a new round of changes within the social/digital marketing spaces. Google+ opened it's doors with a limited launch last week. After using it for a few days, I can tell this will shake things up.                       Google+ is Google's answer to Facebook and how they believe social activity should be done. Google knows social is all about sharing. They also know that not everything we share online is enjoyed by all of our friends. Their solution: Circles. Add people to your own custom circle to ensure the content shared fits a common or shared interest. Want deeper connections? Create a Hangout for your contacts and everyone can join you in a video chat. Content sharing is even made easier with Sparks, a content delivery/curation system providing you the topics you select. For example, I chose topics such as sports cars, tech news, website design, location based marketing a...

Google is raising the bar for local listing results again by introducing a new method of serviing results within Google Maps. (Not web listings - just when Google Maps is selected as the source) Google is experimenting with serving results which best matches the descriptive terms used to describe those establishements. What's the best place for these "descriptive terms" to come from? Your customer reviews! So, conceivably, our customers now have the ability to help improve our local listings and lend a hand with our SEO efforts when they write their reviews.  Just another reason why it's so important to consider the experience you're creating for your guests; their reviews may now hold even more weight.  For more info, check out Google's Small Business Blog Post.    ...

  During a recent conversation, I memtioned three items I felt were the most useful to post on Facebook Pages. Ironicaly, those items also created a less than fortunate, yet memorable acronym: C.R.A.P.  Coupons Reviews (and) Pictures   In my opinion, anything else is just...crap.  Anyone have a consistent formula they're using to post successful content on their Facebook pages? How are you gauging it's success? Comments, likes, data from your insights? ...

  Everyone wants a fair online review for their business. The probem is, where's the best place to get a fair review? We've all seen the ranges of reviews, from raving fans to ranting lunatics. According to a recent study which looked at the activity within CitySearch, Yahoo Local & Yelp - (Online Market for Reviews, Z Wang.) Yelp is the best place for fair and balanced online reviews. The reason? Yelp's social community dynamic. User profiles are prominently displayed, profiles can be followed and easily connected to other social platforms. Plus, Yelp's users are simply more active than CitySearch and Yahoo Local. Active users want to be seen as credible sources. 71% of CitySearch's users have only posted one review; 51% of Yahoo Local's users are in the same boat. Yet only 9% of Yelp's users have posted just one review. They're active and they're more balanced - providing more 2,3 & 4 star ratings than the other platforms....

Google just announced their newest feature enhancement to Google Place: Business Photos.  Marissa Mayer gave the scoop at today's Social-Loco event in San Fran moments ago. Very simply, Google will shoot panoramic photos of businesses and include them within Google Places Pages. Limited rollout though; apply here & see the list of the initial locations available. Location continues is evolution.     ...

    So, the latest "time-waster" to show up in the social spaces is Empire Avenue. Here's a quick breakdown: You buy & sell "shares" of people; a virtual, wanna-be version of a stock market of social media personalities. I do like the creativity, the site usability (considering the intricate nature of the platform) and most of all, the behaviors of the users within the site - that's what I'm most interested in seeing. I'm curious how people will try to leverage Empire Avenue. Influencers, Internet Celebrities, major brands and plenty of people you have never heard of, you'll see them all. But what's their purpose for playing here? I say check it out at the very least. You can decide for yourself on the typical "why bother" question posed whenever a new concept catches fire. Sure, the "game" element is fun. The ultimate goal for Empire Avenue is obviously the in-game sales and upgrades availab...

Which social content helps you get better search engine results? Links shared via Facebook or Twitter? According to a study done by SEOmoz, the answer is a Facebook share. (according to their research) Makes sense to me. Simply stated: Search engines love Facebook's content Search engines want to index more shared content Search engines are moving towards ranking content shared by influential people (They need the content first - then they'll work on ranking those who shared it) Interestingly - no mention of the fact that Bing powers Facebook's search results. Bing recently announced they now hold a 30% share of all search activity. More content shared on Facebook ultimately means more content available within Bing... Read more of the SEOmoz study - great info on the shaping of social search. ...

A while back, one of the first business books I latched onto was Jeffrey Gitomer's "Little Book" series. Strongly recommend to anyone looking for branding, inspiration and sales tips. I tried something he mentioned and have been doing it ever since - at least for 10 years now. When someone tells me they're going on vacation, I ask them to bring me back a refrigerator magnet. They always ask if I'm serious. I always say yes. Sure enough, when they come back, they hand me my new refrigerator magnet. Like clockwork, they ask, "Do you collect magnets?" "Nope, just wanted you to think of me at least once during your vacation." Last weekend at a poker game, a good friend slid a new magnet for me across the table. I didn't even know he went away. Even cooler, he bought a car at one of our stores the following day. What are you doing to stand out and be memorable? Would love to hear other variations of your refrigerator magnet. ...

I love when Google shakes things up the moment you feel comfy with a new concept or strategy. Google just launched their new +1 service which makes search results "sharable" with your Google Chat network. You're already familiar with Facebook's Like feature and Twitter's Tweet button on thrid party site. Now, get ready to have the ability to share search results. Very interesting. Here's an example of how +1 will appear next to the results: Keep your eye on this - an interesting development as search and social activities take another step closer in building their connections with each other. ...

Here's something new I just found out about AutoTrader: Each delaership account can only have their leads sent to one (1) XML email address. I wasn't aware of this. Ever. Were you? Would love to hear from anyone who is experienceing anything different. I requested two new lead delivery addresses for our autotrader leads (regular leads & credit applications) to be fed into our CMS. No can do - only one XML feed allowed.  Catch up AutoTrader. This shouldn't be an issue. ...

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    5 Digital Marketing Changing Dealers Need To Watch In 2011   2010 was an incredible year. Technology improvements, significant search adjustments and a deluge of progressive marketing concepts have helped remove the late adopter label for a large portion of the retail automotive community. The tide is turning faster than ever. New strategies embraced within the retail segment are helping improve the car buying process and consumer experiences. Dealers are becoming more pro-active; they're listening and making a true difference. Dealers are positioned well for the anticipated retail recovery and consumers will continue to benefit. After all the advances, it’s time to look ahead. 2011 is sure to deliver a fresh buffet of new strategies and technology solutions. Here's a few favorite items I'm banking on to help consumers and dealers. Plus, a couple of them are pretty cool as well. Search. Still Supreme. Search strategies will ...

Keynote speakers, workshops, client meetings, vendor booths, casual lunches, classy dinners, vendor parties, VIP gatherings and more. So much to do at NADA 2011 in San Francisco. Everyone wants to see it all, nobody wants to miss a thing and noone wants to leave feeling like they missed the "good stuff." Here's a quick list of some of the hottest new tools behind the micro-trend centered around helping improve group communications, social activities and relationship building. GroupMe: Free, private group text application with the ability to name your groups, add unlimited users, add/delete users, share photos and also mute the group if needed. (I have a group created for NADA 2011 with 15 members already - shoot me your cell # if you'd like to be added as well) Beluga: Another free private group text application with the same feature set plus the ability to mark your location - a nice addition. Groups within this app are "Pods." Fast Societ...

  Millions of people are checking into location based marketing applications. Why? As more people use these services, more people will undoubtedly ask this question. People still ask why they should use twitter though. Similar thoughts…follow along. Foursquare wants users to check-in to “change they way we experience cities.” For this to happen, the location itself needs to participate with the platform. We’re still a long way from mass acceptance; fortunately, the momentum has begun and the inertia is in place. However, another trend has emerged: using the check-in as a means to update your network with your activity. This is simply moving the needle backwards by creating more noise within Foursquare. Twitter & Facebook included if the updates are pushed. Location based marketing’s true utility lies in it’s ability to help promote specific locations, create new engagement layers for their visitors and provide v...