Leading Dealership SEO and Reputation Management Provider Significantly Expanding National Sales and Support Force   Riverside, CA – June 15, 2011 – eXteresAUTO, the top-rated SEO and Reputation Management provider[1] for auto retailers, today announced that the company has appointed dealership sales and training veteran, Bernie Mock, to the position of Regional Sales Manager. As part of the company’s overall expansion, they will be announcing numerous Regional Sales Manager appointments in the coming weeks. Mock, who will oversee client development, support and training for one of the top three auto sales markets in the nation, Florida, brings over 30 years of dealership experience to eXteresAUTO. His career spans every phase of dealership sales and operations, and he previously served as an award-winning consultant for over 15 years at companies ranging from Half-A-Car, Reynolds Consulting Services and Assurant Solutions. He is an expert in per...

  MediaPost reported today that Edmunds is launching a new program called “Edmunds Exclusives” modeled on a Groupon – but offering locally targeted deals on new and used cars. The details are here: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=152186&nid=127740 The program (now in beta in South Florida, but slated to roll out to other US markets this summer, and then nationally), gives ready-to-buy car shoppers access to local car deals directly at Edmunds.com. The goal, says Edmunds, is to give dealers and OEMs who have excess or slow-moving inventory a new way to move those cars. They describe it as “cash-back, financing and leasing deals from dealers,” although it may also expand to include “deals on repairs and parts, maintenance and body shops, aftermarket audio dealers and auto broker services.” They’re starting by simply offering invitations to Edmunds.com visitors, but after it rolls...

  Google Preview Now Extended to PPC Ads & Supports Most Flash Sites   Last fall, Google, on their nonstop new platform tear, launched Instant Previews, letting searchers get a quick look at websites in search results, to help decide if they actually wanted to click on them. Now Google has just announced some major updates: 1) Previews now applies to PPC ads 2) Flash is now supported for most Previews 3) Extended to mobile devices 4) Supports .doc and .ppt files, with a new, playable interface for video results.    Preview for PPC Ads: Starting yesterday, the Instant Preview icon (that now-familiar little magnifying glass) will appear next to ads at Google, so searchers can view the ad’s landing page. So, Previews now not only impacts your organic results and SEO campaigns, but your SEM as well. Google argues that since it lets users take a look at your landing page before they click (and that’s free, one is only charged if they actua...

  Google never rests: today they added a new feature called ‘+1’ that lets people share their recommendations for businesses, websites/pages, articles, etc., by clicking a new ‘+1’ icon on webpages/sites or ads they find cool, useful or they just plain recommend. Starting this afternoon (in experiment mode) those recommendations will show up to their friends, family and social connections (i.e., connections in Gchat, Gmail, Google Reader, Buzz – and soon Twitter). Searchers will see all the +1 votes that webpage or business has gathered, and the names and photos of the ‘likers.’  As publications like Ad Age have noted, the move represents Google’s most aggressive to date into social search and it’s the first time they will have baked DIRECT social signals into the search results. Ad Age argues that over time the search giant will integrate the +1 into the search algorithm, so these human votes will impact the organic...

I love the car business!  While at the Dick Hannah dealerships I had the great honor of working with amazing managers and staff - selling, training and managing ten different brands’ Internet teams over the years.  We sold thousands of cars through the Internet every year because the Hannahs were committed to both cutting-edge technology and sound core principles that drove massive success. Today, I train dealers daily and am inundated with questions from highly successful dealers on how to effectively get more phone calls/leads and how to convert those leads into butts in the door!  As a follower of industry blogs and news, it recently struck me that while it’s important that much of the advice served up to dealers is focused on the bleeding-edge of technology - it’s so easy for all of us to forget what we ONCE mastered and still NEED to master every day. So, thinking back on my long dealership career, I set out to distill what I learned are the c...

The FTC has made noises of late that it would be taking action about the growing problem of fake or paid for online reviews, but this week it slapped its very first fine on a company: $250,000, no small potatoes.  It’s the first clue as to what kind of enforcement and penalties are likely to unfold, according to a detailed article at PaidContent: http://paidcontent.org/article/419-ftc-fines-company-for-bogus-online-reviews/ A company called Legacy Learning Systems was hit this week with a quarter-million-dollar fine (and other sanctions) for hiring affiliate marketers to write glowing reviews about their educational DVD series, and failing to disclose they were getting paid for sales the reviews generated. The article notes that the fake review problem (that old  ‘sock puppetry’) has been around since the Web was hatched, but we’re only now just starting to see major legal action. (Prior cases included a handful of cases that involv...

Yelp Can Be a Headache for Dealers – Advice on Getting a Successful Review Presence There One of the most common questions I get from dealers regarding online reviews is whether or not to gather reviews on Yelp.com.  I have found that there are definite do’s and don’ts – and that auto dealers face SERIOUS backlash if they don’t gather reviews the right way on Yelp. Why does Yelp matter? As of January 2011, more than 45 million people visited Yelp in the past 30 days, making it the most frequently used online review site today. Yelpers have written over 15 million local reviews, which get pulled right into Google Places listings.  That means that many of the reviews written on Yelp about your dealership will, of course, appear on Google too. Because of the special nature of the Yelp community (explained below), Yelpers uniquely trust and turn to Yelp reviews – so pound-for-pound a review on Yelp can have more impact ...

Company Ranks #1 for SEO for Second Straight Year – Merla Turner Also Honored as “Top Rated” Internet Trainer   The winners of the 2010 DrivingSales Dealer Satisfaction Awards were just unveiled at the NADA Convention, and eXteresAUTO has again won “Highest Rated” for SEO. The company received the #1 SEO ranking for the second straight year, as determined by the thousands of auto dealers who are part of the DrivingSales.com community. eXteresAUTO’s Director of Dealer Training, Merla Turner, was also honored as a “Top Rated” Internet Trainer.   “It’s a special honor to rank as the #1 SEO provider again for 2010 at DrivingSales, because their awards are uniquely based on the real-world opinions of dealers across the nation who actually use these products and services,” noted Richard Winch, eXteresAUTO’s CEO. “And I’m thrilled Merla Turner was so deservedly recognized as one of the co...

Will Provide Dealerships Crucial, Actionable Data on Phone Leads from Search Engines and Review Sites   eXteresAUTO, the leading “Search Asset Management” (SAM™) provider for auto dealerships, and CallSource, the industry leader in call tracking and management, today announced a partnership to provide eXteresAUTO clients with objective, robust and actionable data on phone leads they’re generating directly from search engines and online review sites/directories.   CallSource tracking and analytics will now be included with every eXteresAUTO SEO and Online Reputation Management subscriptions. Now, dealer clients will be able to view all their search- and review-driven calls (i.e., reporting on call volume/traffic, etc.); access detailed data behind each call (callers’ phone numbers, addresses, zip codes, etc.); listen to calls via recorded audio files; and utilize tools helping the sales and service departments to take action on thes...

For dealers trying to make sense of SEO, Online Reputation Management, social media, or online ‘piracy’, it can get pretty confusing, pretty fast. Across the blogosphere (the ‘techie’ and dealer media) there are firestorms of articles/posts that really function as conversations BETWEEN tech vendors to educate, and mainly argue, with each other. I work in the search industry and may find (… from this week) “Diving Into Cloud-Based Search” or “ACAP Versus Robots.txt For Controlling Search Engines” a good read…but it’s hard to think of ANY industry…ANY marketing platform ever…more dominated by complex, nitpicky, mind-spinning discussions than SEO.

DrivingSales’ core base/mission is dealers, and as an industry you’re all brothers and sisters in arms, trying, in this lousy economy, to reduce your spend and reach/sell more customers by MAKING SENSE of why you should tackle new search and social media realities.

…So, I’m taking a big step back to r...

It’s amazing how many dealer principals and GMs I meet that don’t feel empowered to make SEO decisions. For many reasons, lots of dealers still perceive it as a ‘technical’ issue  - a more minor concept – and it either gets semi-ignored, or the SEO decision is delegated to the Internet, BDC or IT departments. Everyone at our company is living proof: we get pushed from dealer management to the IT department, over and over.

SEO is ADVERTISING pure and simple, and, done right, it’s the most powerful, sustainable advertising you can do - for the smallest amount of money. I mean, advertising is your specialty – you know advertising – you’ve always understood the importance of home-run media placement. Years ago that meant splashy radio/TV/newspaper ads, but today your highest-impact ADVERTISING is quieter, less sexy -  but totally lethal (and nearly 100% targeted): ranking high, 24/7, when your potential customer types in ‘Philadelphia…Honda…dealer…’ (or tho...

When we started our Online Reputation Management program in 2008, talking to dealers about it was like talking to people about nuclear physics.  The concept was so new that it only seemed to add more confusion to the massive list of things dealers now needed to focus on in today’s automotive market.

Dealer awareness has radically shifted over the past 6 months: and now there’s major buzz for ‘Online Reputation Management’ – with dealers now actively seeking ways to improve, manage - and control - their presence at the review sites.  As always, the increased dealer interest/adoption has created a fairly decent-sized number of companies offering solutions. The solutions vary in concept, cost and implementation…so dealers have yet another ‘sea of information’ to wade through.

In my posts, I like to look at things (dealer Internet strategies) from the consumer position.  To keep in mind that the end consumer - that person you want to sell a vehicle to, that person ...

President Rafi Hamid to Direct Reselling and Support of eXtéresAUTO Technology to Dealerships Across U.S.

Riverside, CA – February 24, 2010 – eXtéresAUTO, the leading provider of SEO and Search Asset Management (SAM™) solutions for the auto industry, today announced that Chicago-based Dealers Technology Inc. would become an authorized reseller for the company’s award-winning suite of search solutions. eXtéresAUTO’s technology will be the only SEO, Online Reputation Management and Piracy solutions offered by Dealers Technology to its clients.

Earlier this month, eXtéresAUTO was named the highest-rated dealership SEO provider in DrivingSales’ Vendor Ratings Awards, and the only ‘top rated’ vendor to receive an overall 4.9/5-star rating, with a dealer recommendation rate of 98%.

The agreement authorizes Dealers Technology, under the direction of President Rafi Hamid, to resell, deploy and support eXtéresAUTO’s solutions to auto dealerships across the U.S. H...

Introduces Chatter Management, Complaint Site Management, Keyword Patrol - and Other Major Enhancements - to Make Process Easier Than Ever Riverside CA- April 20, 2010 – eXtéresAUTO, the leading SEO and Search Asset Management (SAM™) provider for the auto dealer industry, today announced major upgrades to its Online Reputation Management (ORM) technology solution. The company pioneered the first ORM solution for dealers in 2009, and over the next month they will be rolling out cutting-edge new reporting features and tools to further help dealers gain far greater control over, and capitalize on, the exploding world of online consumer reviews and social media – all from an easy-to-use back-office dashboard. From brand-new solutions like Chatter Management, Complaint Site Management and Keyword Patrol – to significantly improved Review Site Reporting/Management features – each tool is designed to help dealers establish the most powerful, positive...

Dramatically Improved Reporting, ‘Live View’ Of Potential Infractions, etc., Designed to Help Dealerships Stamp Out Costly Search Placement and Lead Theft Riverside CA- April 21, 2010 – eXtéresAUTO, the award-winning SEO and Search Asset Management (SAM™) provider for the auto dealer industry, today announced the roll out of major upgrades to its pioneering Piracy Management solution, the first technology to help dealers crack down on the growing, costly problem of online search piracy. Many dealerships remain unaware of the serious issue of online piracy, which is when third-party websites or direct competitors, for example, incorporate a dealership’s trademarked name or inventory into their site’s meta tags (organic piracy), or purchase a dealership’s name in paid search keyword buys (PPC piracy). The result: when a dealer’s potential customers are specifically searching for them, these pirate-sites ‘steal’ ...

First we had the new Google Places plastering a business’ reviews all over the local search results and Place Pages – and now another reason to get serious about Online Reputation Management…According to recent articles in Automotive News and MediaPost, Edmunds is about to unveil a major re-launch of its site in mid-December, and dealership reviews (and a new dealer rating system) will figure far more prominently.   If dealer reviews/ratings had traditionally only appeared under the “local services” tab at Edmunds.com, they will now appear every place a dealership’s name is mentioned – including both the new-car inventory and the dealer directory site areas. In addition, Edmunds is launching a new dealer rating system based on consumer surveys focused more on the online shopping experience. Edmunds reports they’re not using those traditional surveys that haven’t changed much since the ‘80s (i.e., irrelevant things...

  As many have noted, it’s become crystal-clear that a business’ online reviews have been given exponentially more power and visibility with the new Google Places format.   And Google’s ramped-up focus on online reviews has seemingly just been further confirmed by a patent they were recently granted in November called  “Systems and Methods for Reputation Management.” According to a recent, interesting wrap-up of the news (See: http://www.seobythesea.com/?p=4550)    …it seems Google is working on a way to devise an algorithm to, essentially, rate the raters – by ascribing a “Reputation Score” to online reviewers that could impact whether their reviews are included at all, along with assigning more or less “weight” to each review at Google Places.  The legalese/tech-ese of the granted patent is dense, and includes verbiage like this:    “A reputation manageme...

A news story that was 100% bound to break - and now has...a dealership in San Antonio, TX in hot water because (it appears quite strongly) of the review-posting practices of the Reputation Management company Review Boost they hired. Read on (and watch the TV news clip) to see how the investigation uncovers these suspicious 'reviewers' bouncing around the ENTIRE nation writing 5-star reviews about all kinds of businesses and dealerships ON THE SAME DAY! It's not the dealership's fault - they were probably clearly told the company would be gathering and POSTING reviews of their real customers...This is a SERIOUS, emerging issue, as more companies/dealerships, understandably, need help with the heavy-lifting of Online Reputation Management/Social Media. Authenticity is KEY and it's going to get more CRUCIAL - and when it comes to Reputation Management/Social Media solutions there are NO 'magic wands' - there are good tools and good 'wands....

  “Highest-Rated” Across 2009 and 2010 at DrivingSales’ Vendor Ratings Program   Riverside, CA - October 19, 2010 - eXtéresAUTO, the leading “Search Asset Management” provider for auto dealerships, announced today that according to DrivingSales Vendor Ratings, the company ranks as the “Highest-Rated” SEO provider for auto dealerships in 2010. In the recently published DrivingSales Dealership Innovation Guide, the company retains its #1 ranking this year, after winning the award for #1 dealership SEO provider in 2009.   DrivingSales’ Vendor Ratings are determined by thousands of dealerships that are part of the DrivingSales community. According to the 2010 Innovation Guide, eXtéresAUTO SEO achieved a 5-star overall rating - with a dealer recommendation rate of 98%. The company also currently ranks as the #1 Online Reputation Management provider (with a 100% dealer recommendation rate) at DrivingSal...

One of Only Two SEO Providers Honored, eXtéresAUTO Tapped To Ensure Best-in-Class Search Performance for MBUSA’s Dealer Websites eXtéresAUTO (www.exteresauto.com) announced today that Mercedes-Benz USA has named the company a “Preferred Vendor” for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for its entire U.S. dealership network. The automaker’s selection of the top SEO providers comes as part of MBUSA’s comprehensive revamping of its dealerships’ digital platform, with all franchises launching new websites this month. One of only two SEO companies selected, eXtéresAUTO also represents the only U.S.-based, automotive-specific, “designed-for-dealerships” provider Mercedes has named. “Luxury auto shoppers are traditionally the heaviest users of the Internet and Search in their dealer and vehicle selection processes,” noted eXtéresAUTO CEO, Richard Winch. “We’re very honored ...

  RBM North’s Challenge:   How’s this for bone chilling? You’re a brand-new Mercedes dealership, whose gorgeous brick-and-mortar doors open the exact month the financial markets collapse (Oct. 2007), the long recession digs in, and auto sales begin their dizzying 30%-plus declines. That’s the story of RBM North of Alpharetta, GA, the newest store of a family-owned Mercedes dealership group that has been operating in Atlanta for 45 years. Their story began exactly as the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression dug its heels in, and their grand-opening balloons were set against the backdrop of bank bailouts and a bursting housing bubble.   And not only was RBM North by far the youngest Mercedes dealership in a metro market with four well-established Mercedes players, it was a ‘destination’ store situated in a near-rural exurb on the rim of ever-expanding Atlanta - with limited, natural physical traffic and vis...

eXtéresAUTO would like to extend its deepest thanks to DrivingSales' Vendor Ratings Awards program - and ALL our dealers - for honoring us with the highest award achievable among all SEO providers.

The DrivingSales awards program represents a real breakthrough in the industry because it objectively measures the REAL experiences and satisfaction of the thousands of dealers that belong to this online community--and across all the major vendor categories.

Here's eXteresAUTO CEO, Richard Winch, with his executive team - accepting their trophy for #1 SEO Provider at the NADA Convention in Orlando this past week.

Pictured right to left: Russell Grant, Kim Orr, Richard Winch, Dawn Varga, Peter Winch, Rafi Hamid, Roberto Rivas, James Tagalu (not pictured: Merla Turner)

To read details on eXtéresAUTO's award and DrivingSales' awards and methodology, click here....

eXtéresAUTO is proud to note that it has been named a "Top 10 Company to Watch in 2010" by AutoSucccess Magazine, a list that also includes DrivingSales.com.  According to AutoSuccess, the list encompasses 10 high-growth organizations that have helped dealers dramatically improve profitability during these tough economic times and created enterprises that blaze a trail for others to follow.

Come see what the buzz is all about at AutoSuccess's VIP Dealer Cafe cocktail reception on opening day at NADA, 2:30-4:30 PM, in Booth 2307.  Several eXtéresAUTO executives, including CEO Richard Winch, will be on hand to answer questions and talk about your specific dealership.  Click here to RSVP.

Thanks to AutoSuccess for their recognition, and see you at NADA!

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AutoSuccess Magazine Releases 'Top 10 Companies to Watch in 2010'

LOUISVILLE, Ky., Feb. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- AutoSuccess Magazine recently released the 2010 Special Edition recogn...

I hope you’ll enjoy this series of Q&As that will bring you answers to real questions posed by real dealers and dealership employees. I also hope you will also send me your questions – I’ll do my best to answer them simply and quickly.

My goal is to help you better understand the world of SEO and Online Reputation Management. Some answers may seem too simple, but the truth is that many people still feel like a fish out of water when it comes to using search and SEO to attract more customers and reduce marketing costs.

I believe that dealers are fully equipped to make Internet marketing decisions with the same ease that they make a decision to advertise on the radio or TV. And I want to simplify that decision process. I also firmly believe that your online search assets (SEO, online reputation, etc.) are the most important aspects of your Digital Dealership, which includes parts and service as well as sales.

Your Digital Dealership is the portal to your Brick and Mort...

Basic Tips To Ensure Your Dealership Ranks Higher in Service-Related Searches at the Googles

Here’s a well-publicized fact: the service department represents the lion’s share (now over 80%) of dealer profits--and with new-vehicle sales at 25-30-year-lows each month, it’s a bigger lifeline than ever.

A couple more facts: roughly 9 in 10 consumers now use search engines to hunt down local businesses (up from 70% just a year ago)--and 8 in 10 now use search engines to locate car dealers, making search the #1 way they find and choose dealers (handily beating out Yellow Pages, TV, print, radio, etc.). I mean, when’s the last time you picked up a Yellow Pages?

Driving more service business is more critical than ever—and consumers overwhelmingly find service providers at the search engines…You can see where I’m going… one of the most logical and effective ways to drive service business directly to your dealership is to improve your ranking/visibility at the Googles, where t...

I get it. Most dealerships don't have time to deal with various social media applications. However, even if you choose not to use these sites, it is important that you set up a dealership account for each one. Doing so will help protect your trade name and URL from use by your competitors, employees or others that may compromise your dealerships online reputation.
Sites to Lock Up!
MySpace
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Naymz
Flickr
Set up an account and be very careful to use your dealership name, i.e. ABC Motors. Huge added benefit? Using your dealership name will help your future search engine optimization results, especially if you ever decide to actually use the accounts set up.
Want more Online Reputation Tips? Request to join my Online Reputation Management Group here on drivingsales.com.
Happy Selling,
Merla Turner
Director of Dealer Training
eXtéres Auto
ask.merla@exteres.com
...

It's 2007 and I'm the Internet director at a large, family owned dealership. I type in my dealership's name on Google and what shows up on the first page? Negative customer reviews that say things like ‘Worst place to buy a car ever’ and ‘Manipulative Sales Techniques’! Now the killer was that the dealer group I worked for was not only 100% committed to customer satisfaction, but we regularly bent over backwards to do things right.

It got me thinking – we sell hundred of cars and create hundreds of happy customers a month. Why don't they go online and write something good about us? I was reminded of the old customer service adage – happy customers tell two people while unhappy customers tell 22. However, in the 21st century, the damage of an unhappy customer is far greater.
"Sharing negative customer-service experiences, both via word of mouth and particularly through the internet, has become a powerful weapon in the hands of consumers to damage companies that p...

In all my reading over the years about the SEO industry, two things stand out. First, how the conversation in the general technology/Internet press is almost entirely dominated by discussions about how this SEO strategy is ‘wrong’ or this one is the ‘ultimate’. And secondly, how relatively silent the major automotive press has been on the serious benefits of SEO. For instance, recently, when I was researching what was being written about automotive SEO at the dealer trades, I did what every other person on earth would do—I googled it and found that while there’s a towering mountain of articles on every aspect of dealer Internet marketing (leads, paid search, email, etc.) and much technical bantering and sales pitches for SEO services, there’s hardly anything written in the form of truly objective journalistic information on SEO.
And while the conversation has been trapped between nitpicking…or no conversation at all…the upshot is this: the lack of good SEO is transla...