Absolutely this is true. You see it everywhere. Too many services are pushing all sorts of lead types, sending shoppers here and there rather than keeping them where they need to be. Dealers need to get back to basic web design concepts. Use third party services for CRM, DMS, data management, whatever, but have real designers develop the sites they need to actually get shopper engagement. Service providers are coming up with all sorts of new "tools" that really don't benefit anyone but the service provider. If a shopper goes onto a dealership lot, there's no way a dealer would have a big sign up telling them if they want more info on this or that to visit the store down the street, so why would they think it is a good idea on their own website. The logic does't make sense. One can say well we have stats about this and stats about that, but anyone can come up with stats about anything, doesn't mean it is good. Show the shoppers what they need in order to buy or inquire about the vehicle, nothing more. Shoppers are not asking for all this other stuff, so why show it to them.

I'm surprised you didn't at least use a screen shot of one of your own dealers. http://www.toyotaofnaperville.com/used-cars-naperville-il

For sure! I tried to keep all parties unidentified including the dealers themselves. As I said in the article its not only the web providers and 3rd party lead providers to blame, but also the dealers themselves demanding these things be added! P.S. DealerFire and Toyota of Naperville thank you for the link! ;)

For starters, there is no better place to convert a visitor than on the VDP of a website (assuming you have all the data on the page such as the installed options of the vehicle for example.) The question then is, why all the different ways to ask for a customers information? If you are asking me, I am going to rely on the DATA. Our DATA tells me that different forms appeal to different people, and some consistently out perform others. For example, one of the WORST performing lead forms on all dealer websites is "Schedule a Test Drive" which usually sits in the number one position. Two of the best lead forms are "Get ePrice" usually placed in the pricing fields, or "Confirm Availability" usually placed where the pictures are. These two lead forms convert the highest because they are discreet questions the visitor is asking themselves in their own mind. Would a customer ask themselves, should I schedule a test drive today? Of course not! Would they ask, I wonder what the payment on that car would be? -Bingo- payment lead form. Layout VDP- Personally I have driven 5 different makes of vehicles in the last 10 years. It wouldn't matter to me what the layout is, assuming the layout takes into account (regardless of the manufacturer) the important points customers are looking for before they decide to submit their information. In no particular order - Real Pictures, Price/Payments, Available Rebates, Installed Options . What more information do I need as a consumer to make a decision? Dealers who think their customers are special because they drive a Lexus or Mercedes versus a Toyota or a Chevrolet would be dead wrong from a navigational or VDP standpoint on a website. Their actions and expectations are the same. At the end of the day, ALL customers are looking for a few pieces of information to help bring them to a decision which makes a sale.

@Dave: Completely agree with you. You are correct, design/layout/add-ons is user specific. Toyota shoppers vary from mercedes shoppers. And the above mentioned link is an excellent example, in my opinion, of overkill.

Calls to action are no substitute for content, but that does not mean they are misplaced on the SRP and VDP. In fact, many of the items pointed out are links to content. I don't think it can be said that no shoppers are looking for the market price or the vehicle history report (VHR). Whether the dealer gives transparency to market pricing is a strategic issue, but VHRs are a must have. It would be great if we could get this information directly onto the site rather than a link, but when the information is critical to a significant segment of shoppers it's important to provide it. At the end of the day, there are very few ways the shopper can transition from the technological touch-points online to the first human touch-point with the dealership: phone, email (lead form), chat/text, walking in. All of these should be facilitated within the inventory. Let them contact the store the way they want to and more will. The same is true of content. Some shoppers will make contact with the store in less than a minutes. Some will read and click on darn near everything they can find. Dave's makes an excellent point about meeting the needs of all of them.

Absolutely. It would be great if we could tailor the site to every persons' preferences, but the reality is that we can't, at least, yet. I would not take that to mean that we have to present every possible option to every possible shopper. Again, there is a general pattern to the majority of shopping behavior. I would think you'd use that to dictate the ideal flow of the site. For me it comes down to this: If you have 12 different calls to action potentially leading visitors away from your site, you could potentially distract them from the main goal. If you don't have a bunch of competing calls to action, they aren't going to NOT click through to the VDP. Hence, the article. It's worth noting that the intention of the article is NOT to point fingers at anyone, but to spark debate and shed light on an ongoing issue.

Do you have any data that can support whether there are more leads that come from the VDP versus the SRP? I don't think we can make the determination or assume that "ALL" leads have to come from the VDP. Keep in mind, sometimes the functionality of a website could affect "where a lead" comes from. For example, some websites allow you view "ALL" the pictures of the vehicle from the SRP, while some only let you see "ALL" the photos if you are in the VDP. That could easily affect where the lead submission comes from.

But you can tailer a website to your shoppers. As the website owner, whether you use a service or not, you should know your visitors, know their habits - stats show this. You know demographics, you know traffic flow, you know who is actually buying your cars and you should be conducting surveys from these buyers. It's easy to say you can't tailor the site, but you really can. Heck, with geolocation services you can even tailer messages based on location. The tech is there to know your visitors and what their habits are on a website.

Certainly have some data - but the article was written based on the premise that VDP views are so highly correlated with sales (not leads, those are different). We obviously know that only a small percentage of people that visit a site or buy a car submit a internet lead. So theoretically VDP views can become a better index of shopping behavior as a whole. This is why I really capped the whole thing off with a semi-hypothetical question: "The question becomes: Is the relentless push for more leads actually limiting your opportunity for sales?" Just something to ponder.

And in the spirit of debate, it is true that there is nothing to show that VDP's do push more leads than SRP. The only difference is email leads since the details page is where the email form typically resides. But from experience, phone calls and getting shoppers to come in from the site is of course much, much better than email leads. From a UI standpoint, showing all images, vehicle details, etc from the SRP is much, much better than having to go through another click to get this info. All the details page does is provide additional per vehicle stats. You can technically accomplish this same thing on the SRP, and it would be so much more friendly to a shopper. Many items on a site are truly there for the service provider as a way to provide stats to show proof the service is doing its job.

Having spent many years working in a dealership, I would take leads (form submissions, chats, & phones calls) as a much better measuring stick for an "opportunity" to sell more cars versus VDP views any day! VDP views can be so manipulated by site structure, PPC marketing etc, its not even funny. This is Autotrader Kool-Aid reporting.

I am all for as many call to actions as you can get. I want your name, phone number, and email address. If you are on my site and viewing my inventory, thats the most important thing to me. Leads over VDP all day, every day. Once I have your information, I know what my team can do, and what percentages will end up closing. Give the customer a reason to raise their hand and come out of anonymity, so we can help guide them to the right vehicle. Customers are fickle, and need to have their hands held. This isnt a $20 toaster on Amazon... Now with that said, things that drive the customer away from your site... you have a point there.

Aaron, I am ever so grateful for the post and your clarification. I am also a longtime advocate of VDPs as a key performance indicator. There are several issues here. I'll try to separate them and close by agreeing with you in large part, as well as Dave. I've been involved in the debate about ideal flow for over 10 years. I've never seen the data supporting limitation of content and links for the purpose of facilitating any concept of ideal flow. My early involvement was with respect to manufacturer sites. Fantastic advances were made in site navigation that enhanced the usefulness of the site, and I did have the data to confirm that. Manufacturers didn't need to cut down on the content, they could increase it as navigation improved. There is no single shopping path that meets the needs of enough people to triumph over an excellent site allowing each shopper to easily navigate their own path. I've heard tales and theories about the ideal path, but no empirical data. In much the same way, dealers need the freedom to have the site they think is best for their brand and their unique selling proposition in their market. Will there be times when things are added to the site that don't work out? You bet. Again, the data will help the dealer get back on the right track. One of the areas any dealer should be cautious about is linking off the SRP, for exactly the reasons you mention. The objective of the SRP is match making. Sometimes, the shopper can see from the limited information on the SRP that the dealer has that black platinum edition vehicle they have been looking all over for and that's all it takes to get them to contact the dealer. Most of the time, the shopper will go to the VDP first (your point). Therefore, calls to action are okay on the SRP, but they should not get in the way of content. Dave's right, it should be the data that defines what getting in the way is. Links off the SRP should be thought through even more judiciously. If there isn't some very good content on the end of that link that will likely bring the shopper back more ready to by, then it probably won't pencil out when the data comes in. I think that's pretty darn close to several positions on this thread. Thank you so much. The subject is always worth pondering. I hope others will add to the discussion in the hours and days ahead.

I do have to first apologize to all the corp execs comments before this in their tech discussion, However... As a dealer.. I will say that we are a little schizophrenic and greedy when it comes to customers. With that said a little of both (or maybe a lot of both) used strategically is the best answer. When placing call to action, make sure they action is what you want and it makes sense. VDP in my belief,are best to create more content thus driving more traffic to my site(SEO). If you look at my site...(full disclosure is one of Dave's) you will see most call to actions have been retargeted from a standard form to another action (click to make demo apt calendar, Click to make service apt, etc) serve our goals. We have also layered hundreds of VDP as well as SDP pages to build additional content to feed and feed and feed that blasted "humming bird" I will say that since switching to Dave's platform our conversion rate has tripled.. No data needed for that one! .....

The faster I can get the customer to find the information they need the better, whether that is the SRP or the VDP it doesn't make much difference. Each further lick into the VDP increases the amount of information for a specific item (deeper click = higher reward). Here is an interesting thought; with schema .org coming soon and the vehicle data being available to Google to they can display a long tail search into their SRP (so not even need to click on the dealer's website), what would you do? Not use Schema so the client has no choice but to click on your website? What if Google penalizes websites without Schema? Information is going up the channel, whether we like it or not.

A friend of mine had a house in NY with book shelves and tables and chairs and all sorts of collectables everywhere. When he moved to Miami his condo had a great ocean view, a futon, high gloss wood floor and a giant screen TV. Minimalistic. No fat. That's how I do VDPs today. The clutter distracts from the only things that really matter. stevenc@theautogallery.com

What a great thread! Something I have been challenged with for the last few years. I remember in a post I generated a year back I asked the question one call to action or 12? I got 2 comments that stuck with me and have worked ever since quite nicely! (Re; VDP's) 1. You can't please everyone, so make sure you have enough CTA options that any given person can make a plausible decision that fits their needs. Call, Form Submit, SMS, telegram.... Whatever your data supports. 2. If the CTA is a link to somewhere else, you better be sure that it's bringing the customer to a valuable position that cues the customer to generate a phone call or form submit.

Great topic. User experience is everything, not only to the user, but bots. You should be doing A/B, Multivariate or Split Testing on your VDPs and SRPs: https://www.optimizely.com/ab-testing/ https://vwo.com/lp/ab-testing-tool/ (LOVE VWO) If you really have the money, hire a usability testing group, such as: http://www.userzoom.com/ (LOVE UZ) Web Remote Usability Testing UX Benchmarking & Measurement Competitive UX Benchmarking Information Architecture Prototype & Concept Testing Web Voice of the Customer Mobile Remote Usability Testing Mobile App Voice of the Customer http://teced.com/services/user-interface-design/ https://www.usertesting.com/ http://www.centralis.com/landing/usability https://usability.pro/landing/usability-testing etc. Subjective opinions are a bunch of BS, test your interfaces over and over and over again, until you get it right. I laugh at the number of large groups making this mistake.

Absolutely this is true. You see it everywhere. Too many services are pushing all sorts of lead types, sending shoppers here and there rather than keeping them where they need to be. Dealers need to get back to basic web design concepts. Use third party services for CRM, DMS, data management, whatever, but have real designers develop the sites they need to actually get shopper engagement. Service providers are coming up with all sorts of new "tools" that really don't benefit anyone but the service provider. If a shopper goes onto a dealership lot, there's no way a dealer would have a big sign up telling them if they want more info on this or that to visit the store down the street, so why would they think it is a good idea on their own website. The logic does't make sense. One can say well we have stats about this and stats about that, but anyone can come up with stats about anything, doesn't mean it is good. Show the shoppers what they need in order to buy or inquire about the vehicle, nothing more. Shoppers are not asking for all this other stuff, so why show it to them.

I'm surprised you didn't at least use a screen shot of one of your own dealers. http://www.toyotaofnaperville.com/used-cars-naperville-il

For sure! I tried to keep all parties unidentified including the dealers themselves. As I said in the article its not only the web providers and 3rd party lead providers to blame, but also the dealers themselves demanding these things be added! P.S. DealerFire and Toyota of Naperville thank you for the link! ;)

For starters, there is no better place to convert a visitor than on the VDP of a website (assuming you have all the data on the page such as the installed options of the vehicle for example.) The question then is, why all the different ways to ask for a customers information? If you are asking me, I am going to rely on the DATA. Our DATA tells me that different forms appeal to different people, and some consistently out perform others. For example, one of the WORST performing lead forms on all dealer websites is "Schedule a Test Drive" which usually sits in the number one position. Two of the best lead forms are "Get ePrice" usually placed in the pricing fields, or "Confirm Availability" usually placed where the pictures are. These two lead forms convert the highest because they are discreet questions the visitor is asking themselves in their own mind. Would a customer ask themselves, should I schedule a test drive today? Of course not! Would they ask, I wonder what the payment on that car would be? -Bingo- payment lead form. Layout VDP- Personally I have driven 5 different makes of vehicles in the last 10 years. It wouldn't matter to me what the layout is, assuming the layout takes into account (regardless of the manufacturer) the important points customers are looking for before they decide to submit their information. In no particular order - Real Pictures, Price/Payments, Available Rebates, Installed Options . What more information do I need as a consumer to make a decision? Dealers who think their customers are special because they drive a Lexus or Mercedes versus a Toyota or a Chevrolet would be dead wrong from a navigational or VDP standpoint on a website. Their actions and expectations are the same. At the end of the day, ALL customers are looking for a few pieces of information to help bring them to a decision which makes a sale.

@Dave: Completely agree with you. You are correct, design/layout/add-ons is user specific. Toyota shoppers vary from mercedes shoppers. And the above mentioned link is an excellent example, in my opinion, of overkill.

Calls to action are no substitute for content, but that does not mean they are misplaced on the SRP and VDP. In fact, many of the items pointed out are links to content. I don't think it can be said that no shoppers are looking for the market price or the vehicle history report (VHR). Whether the dealer gives transparency to market pricing is a strategic issue, but VHRs are a must have. It would be great if we could get this information directly onto the site rather than a link, but when the information is critical to a significant segment of shoppers it's important to provide it. At the end of the day, there are very few ways the shopper can transition from the technological touch-points online to the first human touch-point with the dealership: phone, email (lead form), chat/text, walking in. All of these should be facilitated within the inventory. Let them contact the store the way they want to and more will. The same is true of content. Some shoppers will make contact with the store in less than a minutes. Some will read and click on darn near everything they can find. Dave's makes an excellent point about meeting the needs of all of them.

Absolutely. It would be great if we could tailor the site to every persons' preferences, but the reality is that we can't, at least, yet. I would not take that to mean that we have to present every possible option to every possible shopper. Again, there is a general pattern to the majority of shopping behavior. I would think you'd use that to dictate the ideal flow of the site. For me it comes down to this: If you have 12 different calls to action potentially leading visitors away from your site, you could potentially distract them from the main goal. If you don't have a bunch of competing calls to action, they aren't going to NOT click through to the VDP. Hence, the article. It's worth noting that the intention of the article is NOT to point fingers at anyone, but to spark debate and shed light on an ongoing issue.

Do you have any data that can support whether there are more leads that come from the VDP versus the SRP? I don't think we can make the determination or assume that "ALL" leads have to come from the VDP. Keep in mind, sometimes the functionality of a website could affect "where a lead" comes from. For example, some websites allow you view "ALL" the pictures of the vehicle from the SRP, while some only let you see "ALL" the photos if you are in the VDP. That could easily affect where the lead submission comes from.

But you can tailer a website to your shoppers. As the website owner, whether you use a service or not, you should know your visitors, know their habits - stats show this. You know demographics, you know traffic flow, you know who is actually buying your cars and you should be conducting surveys from these buyers. It's easy to say you can't tailor the site, but you really can. Heck, with geolocation services you can even tailer messages based on location. The tech is there to know your visitors and what their habits are on a website.

Certainly have some data - but the article was written based on the premise that VDP views are so highly correlated with sales (not leads, those are different). We obviously know that only a small percentage of people that visit a site or buy a car submit a internet lead. So theoretically VDP views can become a better index of shopping behavior as a whole. This is why I really capped the whole thing off with a semi-hypothetical question: "The question becomes: Is the relentless push for more leads actually limiting your opportunity for sales?" Just something to ponder.

And in the spirit of debate, it is true that there is nothing to show that VDP's do push more leads than SRP. The only difference is email leads since the details page is where the email form typically resides. But from experience, phone calls and getting shoppers to come in from the site is of course much, much better than email leads. From a UI standpoint, showing all images, vehicle details, etc from the SRP is much, much better than having to go through another click to get this info. All the details page does is provide additional per vehicle stats. You can technically accomplish this same thing on the SRP, and it would be so much more friendly to a shopper. Many items on a site are truly there for the service provider as a way to provide stats to show proof the service is doing its job.

Having spent many years working in a dealership, I would take leads (form submissions, chats, & phones calls) as a much better measuring stick for an "opportunity" to sell more cars versus VDP views any day! VDP views can be so manipulated by site structure, PPC marketing etc, its not even funny. This is Autotrader Kool-Aid reporting.

I am all for as many call to actions as you can get. I want your name, phone number, and email address. If you are on my site and viewing my inventory, thats the most important thing to me. Leads over VDP all day, every day. Once I have your information, I know what my team can do, and what percentages will end up closing. Give the customer a reason to raise their hand and come out of anonymity, so we can help guide them to the right vehicle. Customers are fickle, and need to have their hands held. This isnt a $20 toaster on Amazon... Now with that said, things that drive the customer away from your site... you have a point there.

Aaron, I am ever so grateful for the post and your clarification. I am also a longtime advocate of VDPs as a key performance indicator. There are several issues here. I'll try to separate them and close by agreeing with you in large part, as well as Dave. I've been involved in the debate about ideal flow for over 10 years. I've never seen the data supporting limitation of content and links for the purpose of facilitating any concept of ideal flow. My early involvement was with respect to manufacturer sites. Fantastic advances were made in site navigation that enhanced the usefulness of the site, and I did have the data to confirm that. Manufacturers didn't need to cut down on the content, they could increase it as navigation improved. There is no single shopping path that meets the needs of enough people to triumph over an excellent site allowing each shopper to easily navigate their own path. I've heard tales and theories about the ideal path, but no empirical data. In much the same way, dealers need the freedom to have the site they think is best for their brand and their unique selling proposition in their market. Will there be times when things are added to the site that don't work out? You bet. Again, the data will help the dealer get back on the right track. One of the areas any dealer should be cautious about is linking off the SRP, for exactly the reasons you mention. The objective of the SRP is match making. Sometimes, the shopper can see from the limited information on the SRP that the dealer has that black platinum edition vehicle they have been looking all over for and that's all it takes to get them to contact the dealer. Most of the time, the shopper will go to the VDP first (your point). Therefore, calls to action are okay on the SRP, but they should not get in the way of content. Dave's right, it should be the data that defines what getting in the way is. Links off the SRP should be thought through even more judiciously. If there isn't some very good content on the end of that link that will likely bring the shopper back more ready to by, then it probably won't pencil out when the data comes in. I think that's pretty darn close to several positions on this thread. Thank you so much. The subject is always worth pondering. I hope others will add to the discussion in the hours and days ahead.

I do have to first apologize to all the corp execs comments before this in their tech discussion, However... As a dealer.. I will say that we are a little schizophrenic and greedy when it comes to customers. With that said a little of both (or maybe a lot of both) used strategically is the best answer. When placing call to action, make sure they action is what you want and it makes sense. VDP in my belief,are best to create more content thus driving more traffic to my site(SEO). If you look at my site...(full disclosure is one of Dave's) you will see most call to actions have been retargeted from a standard form to another action (click to make demo apt calendar, Click to make service apt, etc) serve our goals. We have also layered hundreds of VDP as well as SDP pages to build additional content to feed and feed and feed that blasted "humming bird" I will say that since switching to Dave's platform our conversion rate has tripled.. No data needed for that one! .....

The faster I can get the customer to find the information they need the better, whether that is the SRP or the VDP it doesn't make much difference. Each further lick into the VDP increases the amount of information for a specific item (deeper click = higher reward). Here is an interesting thought; with schema .org coming soon and the vehicle data being available to Google to they can display a long tail search into their SRP (so not even need to click on the dealer's website), what would you do? Not use Schema so the client has no choice but to click on your website? What if Google penalizes websites without Schema? Information is going up the channel, whether we like it or not.

A friend of mine had a house in NY with book shelves and tables and chairs and all sorts of collectables everywhere. When he moved to Miami his condo had a great ocean view, a futon, high gloss wood floor and a giant screen TV. Minimalistic. No fat. That's how I do VDPs today. The clutter distracts from the only things that really matter. stevenc@theautogallery.com

What a great thread! Something I have been challenged with for the last few years. I remember in a post I generated a year back I asked the question one call to action or 12? I got 2 comments that stuck with me and have worked ever since quite nicely! (Re; VDP's) 1. You can't please everyone, so make sure you have enough CTA options that any given person can make a plausible decision that fits their needs. Call, Form Submit, SMS, telegram.... Whatever your data supports. 2. If the CTA is a link to somewhere else, you better be sure that it's bringing the customer to a valuable position that cues the customer to generate a phone call or form submit.

Great topic. User experience is everything, not only to the user, but bots. You should be doing A/B, Multivariate or Split Testing on your VDPs and SRPs: https://www.optimizely.com/ab-testing/ https://vwo.com/lp/ab-testing-tool/ (LOVE VWO) If you really have the money, hire a usability testing group, such as: http://www.userzoom.com/ (LOVE UZ) Web Remote Usability Testing UX Benchmarking & Measurement Competitive UX Benchmarking Information Architecture Prototype & Concept Testing Web Voice of the Customer Mobile Remote Usability Testing Mobile App Voice of the Customer http://teced.com/services/user-interface-design/ https://www.usertesting.com/ http://www.centralis.com/landing/usability https://usability.pro/landing/usability-testing etc. Subjective opinions are a bunch of BS, test your interfaces over and over and over again, until you get it right. I laugh at the number of large groups making this mistake.

Yes, this is the exact issue we had. Tims article was specifically talking about my store. I was down almost 60% because of these bad practices. Anyone using big name website providers or SEO companies that service hundreds of dealerships or more should carefully look into this.

Got ya! I thought your issue was more the standard web content and not that they had been adding duplicate content to the site as a service. It's amazing how many times we have someone who understands duplicate is bad but is then swayed that it's ok because of minor changes! Are you getting things turned around?

Yes, we are going with another provider. We chose DealerInspire after talking to several providers and really sitting down with Tim and my SEO guys (Wikimotive). Vinsolutions knows of this issue, and they are partnering with Haystack to have a new platform in the next few months. Hopefully they will fix this, but we couldn't wait to see. I liked that DealerInspire was built on WordPress so its very easy to customize and change almost anything you can think of, and the level of support and access they are giving to Tim and his SEO team is top notch. Anyone looking for a new provider I really suggest having your SEO team in the discussion. I had Tims team on the phone with me as I interviewed providers, and made sure they were happy with the ability for them to do their job. So my new site should be up within a month or so and hopefully ill not only capture my 60% back, but actually grow from there... that or Ill fire Tim. :P

Awesome! I know Tim and the DealerInspire team pretty well and you are in capable hands! Best of luck!

Ya, You guys at DealerFire were a close second. I would definitely tell anyone looking for a new provider to check both of you guys out. Your company is one of the good guys out there. Also and I cant stress this enough... Vet your SEO guys out! So many dealers pay people $1000 to just check off a box that says they do SEO without making sure they are doing SEO right. I took over a year of looking before I decided on my SEO guys. SEO costs money to do right, but you are just wasting money and usually even hurting yourself by paying a few hundred bucks and getting a company that is using outdated or Blackhat SEO. Also make sure any provider you go with is willing and can make the changes your SEO teams needs. We were close between Dealerfire and DealerInspire, both good companies.

Does this hold true with Blogs as well?

Absolutely. Anything that's on your site. Of course there are going to be some areas where you are bound to have some of the same things repeated - but the majority of the content should be original. Think about using a lot of the same placeholder text on your VDP's as well...

Yes it does... now lets face it, a little bit of duplicate content is inevitable. But everywhere you can make custom content you should.

Thanks guys, appreciate it.

Great article, an eye opener for many people. i have a feeling a LOT of dealers have been taking a much closer look at the content of their websites since reading this.

Yes, this is the exact issue we had. Tims article was specifically talking about my store. I was down almost 60% because of these bad practices. Anyone using big name website providers or SEO companies that service hundreds of dealerships or more should carefully look into this.

Got ya! I thought your issue was more the standard web content and not that they had been adding duplicate content to the site as a service. It's amazing how many times we have someone who understands duplicate is bad but is then swayed that it's ok because of minor changes! Are you getting things turned around?

Yes, we are going with another provider. We chose DealerInspire after talking to several providers and really sitting down with Tim and my SEO guys (Wikimotive). Vinsolutions knows of this issue, and they are partnering with Haystack to have a new platform in the next few months. Hopefully they will fix this, but we couldn't wait to see. I liked that DealerInspire was built on WordPress so its very easy to customize and change almost anything you can think of, and the level of support and access they are giving to Tim and his SEO team is top notch. Anyone looking for a new provider I really suggest having your SEO team in the discussion. I had Tims team on the phone with me as I interviewed providers, and made sure they were happy with the ability for them to do their job. So my new site should be up within a month or so and hopefully ill not only capture my 60% back, but actually grow from there... that or Ill fire Tim. :P

Awesome! I know Tim and the DealerInspire team pretty well and you are in capable hands! Best of luck!

Ya, You guys at DealerFire were a close second. I would definitely tell anyone looking for a new provider to check both of you guys out. Your company is one of the good guys out there. Also and I cant stress this enough... Vet your SEO guys out! So many dealers pay people $1000 to just check off a box that says they do SEO without making sure they are doing SEO right. I took over a year of looking before I decided on my SEO guys. SEO costs money to do right, but you are just wasting money and usually even hurting yourself by paying a few hundred bucks and getting a company that is using outdated or Blackhat SEO. Also make sure any provider you go with is willing and can make the changes your SEO teams needs. We were close between Dealerfire and DealerInspire, both good companies.

Does this hold true with Blogs as well?

Absolutely. Anything that's on your site. Of course there are going to be some areas where you are bound to have some of the same things repeated - but the majority of the content should be original. Think about using a lot of the same placeholder text on your VDP's as well...

Yes it does... now lets face it, a little bit of duplicate content is inevitable. But everywhere you can make custom content you should.

Thanks guys, appreciate it.

Great article, an eye opener for many people. i have a feeling a LOT of dealers have been taking a much closer look at the content of their websites since reading this.