While at NADA, I heard quite a bit of buzz about mobile websites. Does my dealership need one?  If I already have one, do I need to actually optimize it?  Is mobile traffic really growing as rapidly as everyone says it is?  Should I be making my car dealership’s mobile website a priority to sell more cars?

The answer to all four of those questions is absolutely, unequivocally--YES.

Some stats:

• The number of mobile searches has grown 400% in the last year
• 1 in 3 mobile searches is related to local search
• 79% of smartphone owners use their phones to help with shopping (compare prices, find product info, locate a retailer, etc)
• 28% of those that see a mobile ad take action
• 59% of users visit an online store after looking it up online

In short, mobile traffic is growing extremely quickly, and is expected to be the predominant mode of searching online for local content by 2013.  If your dealership is neglecting your mobile websites, you’ll be behind the curve as time goes on.

Your car dealership mobile website optimization efforts should focus on two things: earning top rankings in the mobile SERPs and making the site's layout mobile friendly.

You can use this tool to test how your mobile site looks on an iPhone, or use Google's GoMo to preview your mobile site and find resources to help if your site isn't as quality as you'd like it to be.  Make sure you talk to your mobile website provider to ensure they are optimizing your mobile site and helping your dealership achieve your mobile optimization goals.

A few weeks ago I wrote about how Google was going to include items from Google+ in their regular search results when users were signed in, calling it “Search Plus Your World”. Now that users have had some time to get accustomed to it, I wanted to touch on how this new way of searching could benefit your car dealership’s local search optimization efforts.

This combination of social media and search allows your dealership to do the same–combine your social media efforts with your search engine optimization efforts on Google.  Some searches actually result in recommended “People and Pages on Google+”, and I would imagine this is only going to grow.  Imagine if someone searched for a car dealership in your area, and your dealership was recommended!

Step 1 - Create a Google+ business page if you haven’t already.  While Google is working on having the ability to create admins and having multiple emails tied to each account, this functionality doesn’t exist yet.  Make sure you use a Gmail account that multiple people can have access to, not someone’s personal email account.  The next few steps are similar to those for creating a Facebook page.

Step 2 - Choose a category, fill in your dealership name, and dealership URL.

Step 3 - Add a tagline (a short description of your dealership) and your logo.

Step 4 - Add some content.  You may want to wait to start promoting it until you have some content to share.  Update your Google+ page with relevant information, deals, and inventory.  Make sure you use keywords that people may be searching for; otherwise your Google+ page may not show up in search results.

Step 5 – Promote it!  Put it on your dealership site, blog, and in your emails.  Encourage customers to follow your Google+ account just as you would your Twitter and Facebook.

Is your car dealership using Google+?  Have you seen any results?

Rockville, MD - February 3, 2012 - DealerOn Inc. is the recipient of a “Top Rated” Websites award in the third annual DrivingSales Dealer Satisfaction Awards, presented in conjunction with the 2012 National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Convention & Expo.

"What makes this award so meaningful is that it literally comes from our customers—our partners," said Ali Amirrezvani, CEO and Co-Founder of DealerOn.  "At DealerOn, every single employee knows that our goal is to make our dealers truly happy in every way we can.  We work with them to improve our platform, our support processes, our products, and their results because that’s what makes our dealers happy.  We’re not building a customer base; we’re building partnerships with dealers.  Winning this award is further proof that we're on the right track."

DealerOn has become noted for documenting (through Google Analytics and 3^rd party CRM reports) an average increase of over 200% in lead volume for their auto dealer clients.  They have recently announced a Lead Volume Increase, Money-back GUARANTEE for new customers.

The DrivingSales Dealer Satisfaction Awards measure dealer satisfaction by allowing dealers to rate and review their vendors at DrivingSales.com Vendor Ratings, the industry’s only neutral, comprehensive vendor rating forum featuring real-time peer reviews and honest competitor comparisons.  Only vendors who achieved top rankings in dealer satisfaction in each category, as determined by the thousands of auto dealers who are part of the DrivingSales.com community, received awards. The awards also incorporate the results of the 2011 Vendor Ratings survey, which was deployed to nearly 18,000 dealerships nationwide.

“We are proud to present a DrivingSales Dealer Satisfaction ‘Top Rated’ Websites Award to DealerOn for achieving the most coveted accolade of all, the satisfaction of its dealer customers,” said DrivingSales CEO and Founder Jared Hamilton. “This award, based on the direct input of the dealer community, recognizes service providers like DealerOn who are leading the way in innovation, performance, and customer service. We congratulate DealerOn on their excellent results and for achieving the satisfaction of their dealer customers.”

Full award results are available online at http://dealersatisfactionawards.com/. Full broadcast coverage of the DrivingSales Dealer Satisfaction Awards ceremony will be available at www.drivingsalestv.com following NADA.

About DealerOn, Inc.

DealerOn, Inc. is the leading website provider and digital agency serving the retail automotive industry.  DealerOn was named to the 2011 Inc. 5000 List of Fastest Growing Private Companies with a three-year sales growth of 127%.  DealerOn has pioneered the analytics-based marketing approach in the retail auto industry with their DealerOn Digital Marketing Dashboard.  The Digital Dashboard helps to document the precise impact of their services for every new customer.  Since creating this process in 2009, DealerOn has documented an average increase of over 200% in lead volume for their auto dealer clients.

About DrivingSales Vendor Ratings

DrivingSales Vendor Ratings at is the industry’s only neutral, comprehensive vendor rating forum featuring real-time peer reviews and honest competitor comparisons “searchable by category, company or rating”  and is one of the most popular features of DrivingSales.com. Dealers are asked to rate their vendors on a 1-5 star scale, including whether they would recommend the vendor product to colleagues, and why they would or would not recommend the product.

About DrivingSales.com

DrivingSales is the auto industry's fastest-growing, most influential trade media property focused on delivering actionable profit-building information and business intelligence to auto retailers and industry professionals. Approximately, one in every four dealerships in the United States has a registered member in the DrivingSales community.

DrivingSales' information network includes flagship property DrivingSales.com (www.drivingsales.com), the world's largest car dealer social network; DrivingSalesTV (www.drivingsalestv.com), an interactive web channel which helps car dealers and auto professionals keep tabs on their industry and emerging technologies 24/7; DrivingSales University, an on-demand training platform where dealerships learn the latest web strategies from top e-commerce experts; DrivingSales Executive Summit (DSES) the industry's leading conference where progressive dealers collaborate and learn from world renowned experts, and DrivingSales Dealership Innovation Guide, a quarterly free publication featuring case studies of the industry's most innovative dealerships, solutions and best practices.

DealerOn, Inc. Media Relations:
Chris Deringer (chris@dealeron.com), VP Marketing, 877-543-4200

DrivingSales Media Relations:
Melanie Webber (melanie@mwebbcom.com), mWEBB Communications, 424.603.4340

Angela Jacobson (angela@mwebbcom.com), mWEBB Communications, 714.454.8776

Many dealerships focus their search engine optimization reporting on how well they are ranking for certain terms.  As long as they show up on Page 1 of Google's search results, they are happy.  While search engine page ranking is an important part of every dealership's online marketing efforts, what happens if your auto dealer website is showing up on page 1 for every keyword, but you aren't seeing any traffic?

If you are seeing this happening at your dealership, here are some potential causes:

Optimizing for the Wrong Keywords:  Your dealership can rank first for "blue widgets", but that probably won't help you with leads and sales for the cars on your lot.  Make sure you, your website provider, and your SEO provider are all on the same page when it comes to ranking for effective, relevant keywords.

Double Check Your SERP Listing: Your organic listing should have an informative title tag and meta-tag to help entice searchers to click onto your website.

The only way your dealership will know how much traffic, leads, and sales you are getting from your high ranking keywords is by tracking all of these metrics.  Make sure your website provider and/or SEO providers are measuring all of these stats and that you are double checking them with Google Analytics.

While (I hope) most dealership websites won’t be affected by this, Google has recently announced they will begin penalizing websites that have too many ads at the top.  It's being called the "page layout algorithm" and affects sites that "don't have much content 'above-the-fold'", according to Google's Inside Search blog.

We've all clicked onto a site only to have to scroll down through the ads to actually find the content we are looking for.  This algorithm change will penalize sites with little or no “non-ad” content visible above the scroll line, so that they appear less frequently and with less prominence in Google’s search results.

So how does Google tell what is an ad and what isn't?  They have a "variety of signals that algorithmically determine what type of ad or content appears above the fold, but no further details to share.  It is completely algorithmic in its detection...".  Not surprisingly, Google isn't giving many details.

Double check your landing pages, micro-sites, and any sites your auto dealer website links out to, to ensure that none are so ad-heavy that users have to scroll down to see any content.  Keep in mind that the screen may appear smaller to those on an iPad or other tablet computer.

Google recommends using their Browser Size tool to see how much content and ads are visible under various screen resolutions.

In a recent study from retail analysis firm, RichRelevance, iPads and iPhones make up over 90% of online purchases that don't happen on a desktop device.  That means that 9 out of 10 mobile purchases come from an Apple product, a device that can't read anything in Flash. This is up from 88% when RichRelevance conducted the same study just last April.

While many auto dealerships don't make a ton of sales online (in the traditional, online store sense that this study refers to), this shows that the majority of those using their mobile phone for online shopping purposes are using these two devices.  If your dealership mobile website uses Flash technology, the majority of those coming to your site from a mobile device won’t be able to see it.  In fact, DealerOn customers typically see 2/3 of the traffic to their mobile website come from iPads and iPhones.  Can you imagine if only 1/3 of your website visitors could actually see the content on your site?

Studies like this one show how important it is to ensure your mobile website can be seen by everyone that wants to see it, and if it is built using Flash, 2/3 of your web visitors won't be able to.  Check with your auto dealership website provider to find out how your mobile site is built, and if it’s in Flash, make sure they provide you with another option.  You could be losing out on 2/3 of your mobile website traffic.

I've written multiple pieces on how to properly set up and maintain your Google Places listing and account, but haven't touched on the mistakes you could be making, hurting your car dealership online marketing strategy.

Here are the places where you could really screw up your listing if you aren't careful:

Don't use a post office box. Even if this is where you get mail, make sure you use the actual address of your business.

Only enter the address into the address field.  That means no directions, no landmarks (turn left at the yellow building), and no descriptions.

Don't hide your address.  Google gives you the option of hiding your physical address--don't do it!  Google Places wants to be able to show users where you are located on a map, so let them.

Using a tracking number?  Stop.  Google has officially stated "Types of phone numbers that should not be included are: call tracking numbers and phone numbers that are not specific to a business location."

Don't ignore errors in your account, including a misplaced map pinpoint.  Google is notoriously difficult to get a hold of, but don't let that deter you from reporting an error if and when you see it.

A well developed and maintained Google Places listing can be a huge asset for your dealership's online marketing efforts.  If you need help with your Google Places account or other aspects of your Internet marketing program, feel free to contact DealerOn for help.

Now that Google+ is open to businesses, many are trying to figure out the best way to utilize this new social media portal (including DealerOn).  I’ve gathered some of the more common mistakes that businesses are making to shorten the learning curve for auto dealerships.

Like all other social media sites, not posting on a regular basis can hurt your marketing efforts.  Consistently providing visitors with quality, worthwhile content is the best way to attract (and keep) potential dealership customers engaged in your social sharing.

Google+ really lends itself to sharing photos, so make sure you take full advantage.  Switch up your text posts with photos of your vehicles, dealership, and staff.  Make sure your profile photo identifies your dealership to help ensure your visitors know they’ve found the right Google+ page.

To further help identify your profile, make sure your tagline is clear and descriptive.  Use it as a way to stand out from other dealerships and make it very clear to visitors that this is an official page for your dealership.

One of the great things about Google+ is the ease in which you can segment your viewers…so make sure that you do!  Consider separating potential customers from those that have previously bought from your dealership, or segment those that bought used cars from those that bought new.  Take advantage of the ability to tailor the information you are sharing with your visitors.

Those that are using Google+, what mistakes have you made and learned from so far?

DealerOn.com, the premier auto dealer website provider is expanding its executive team to further accelerate the steady growth trajectory of its business.  DealerOn, Inc., a leading online marketing company serving the retail automotive industry – today announces the appointment of Gerard J. (Jerry) Petrotto to the newly-created position of Chief Sales Officer.

In announcing his appointment, Ali Amirrezvani, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, said, “We are delighted that Jerry is joining the DealerOn family.  Jerry brings a wealth of industry experience from his tenure at Black Book as Vice President of Retail Sales at the Online Division.  In his five years with Black Book, Petrotto was an integral member of an executive team that drove the meteoric growth of Black Book Online in the retail automotive sector.  His expertise with online sales distribution strategy, sales management, and product merchandising will be indispensible to DealerOn’s continued growth.  In the role of Chief Sales Officer, Petrotto will oversee all aspects of sales and sales strategy/management for the company.”

DealerOn, Inc. is known as the premier online marketing companies serving the retail automotive industry.  DealerOn was named to the 2011 Inc. 5000 List of Fastest Growing Private Companies with a three-year sales growth of 127%.  DealerOn has pioneered the analytics-based marketing approach in the retail auto industry with their DealerOn Digital Marketing Dashboard.  The Digital Dashboard helps to document the precise impact of their services for every new customer.  Since creating this process in 2009, DealerOn has documented an average increase of over 200% in lead volume for their auto dealer clients.

HTML5 has been in the tech news lately, especially since Adobe announced that they are going to stop developing Flash in favor of HTML5 on mobile browsers.  This doesn’t mean the company is abandoning the technology on desktops, but according to Mike Chambers, the lead in Adobe developer relations, “a lot of the things that you have done via Flash in the past will increasingly be done via HTML5 and CSS3…”.

HTML5 hasn’t quite arrived yet. None of the major Internet browsers fully support HTML 5, but most industry people agree that this is the technology of the future. If your mobile dealership website is heavily dependent on Flash, switching to HTML5 would most likely give your mobile dealer site a boost in search engine results since search engines can read things coded in HTML5.  If your dealership website isn’t reliant on Flash, switching won’t give your dealership site many benefits.

As I’ve written before, DealerOn doesn’t use any Flash on our mobile sites, minimal Flash on our traditional websites, and we are completely migrating away from that technology.  We have implemented the technology to eliminate all flash in our platform and are now in the process of rolling it out to our customer base.  Once HTML5 is released for stable public use and major web browsers start conforming to its standards, DealerOn will begin to ensure our websites are HTML5 compliant, across the board.