It took a mini-debate with a potential client to bring me to a conclusion: numbers do lie. Conventional wisdom says otherwise, but in the digital age there is a huge gap between seeing the numbers and understanding them in a meaningful way.

I should go ahead and add an addendum to the premise before I begin. Numbers aren't really lying, but they can definitely be misleading if not discerned properly. The numbers I'm discussing specifically are mobile numbers. A brief look at Google analytics reveals that some of the old school key indicators like time on site and average pages per visit would put mobile traffic in a poor light. Then, cross-referencing these numbers to lead numbers would support the premise that mobile website visitors spend less time, visit fewer pages, and are less likely to fill out a lead form.

All of this is true. All of it is also false.

In the recent past, mobile internet speeds combined with slow dealer websites created an environment where most visitors on smartphones did exhibit these traits. Today, more people are using their smartphones to do the bulk of their surfing. Internet speeds are faster. Dealer websites are faster. The only other component now that would keep leads low would be the good ol' "fat finger syndrome" that shows people are less likely to fill out a lead form on a smartphone.

The truth is this: car shoppers definitely do use their smartphones to visit dealer websites in a meaningful way. You can see this anecdotally while watching customers just before they leave the dealership if they didn't buy a car. Sure, they'll make excuses that they have to pick up their kids or think about it or go to lunch or whatever, but many of them are finding the next dealership they're going to visit through their smartphone right before leaving.

Let's look at that person as an example. They went to a dealership and didn't make a deal. They do a search for another dealership and land on your website. They grab your address, plug it into their navigation, and head over. From there, they bought a car. Now, this person, based upon Google Analytics and lead form data, was "bad" traffic. They spent 10 seconds on the site. They didn't visit any other pages but the homepage. They didn't fill out a lead form or call the dealership. Three hours later, they're driving off the lot with a brand new car from your dealership.

Mobile usage on smartphones is different, but that doesn't make it less valuable than desktop traffic. In some cases, it's better traffic. We experienced this second hand last month when a client did nothing different but use dark posts on social media to drive traffic to a landing page on their website. Leads didn't go up much. Time on site went down while bounce rates went up. However, their $2000 investment yielded a 17% increase in sales month-over-month and a 29% increase year-over-year. They couldn't see any real difference in the numbers other than an increase in mobile traffic, particularly through Polk-driven dark posts.

There are different ways to measure the value of different traffic types, but our personal favorite is sales. If sales are going up considerably, and mobile traffic is the only thing that's new, then it is likely the culprit.

Common advice in the automotive industry: "There are very strict rules that dealers should follow when posting to social media, especially as it pertains to timing."

Pop quiz: Who says things like this?

• Companies who post on schedules
• Gurus who want to demonstrate the need for their expertise
• Anyone who wants to automate their social media
• Any of the above

There are many reasons that people want to apply rules to how and when to post to social media, but here's the thing: throw them all out. You don't need rules. Social media is an art that requires an understanding of the science behind it.

The artistic aspect is easy to understand. You have to be creative. I've talked until I was blue in the face about the need for companies - both OEMs and vendors - to make certain that the creative was unique to each dealer, localized, and relevant to what a person would expect a car dealer to post. Both dealers and their vendors need to make every post count.

What you post and how it's received plays an important role in the overall success of a Facebook page. That sounds like an obvious statement, but there's more to it than what it sounds like on the surface. A post that does exceptionally well and resonates with the audience improves the page's ability to show future posts to more people. It's about momentum. Applying all of the necessary creative juices to each post, crafting it to be awesome every time - this is the key to the "artsy" side of social media.

All of this affects the scientific component. As I said, there is a major influence that comes from post momentum. Great posts make future posts more visible. Poor posts make them less visible. This is the biggest reason that we're completely against scheduling posts far ahead of time.

Sure, it's fine to schedule when necessary. If you're off on the weekends, for example, there's no reason to have to go into your Facebook page on your day off when you could have scheduled it while you were working. However, this is not a license for laziness. You absolutely do not want to schedule for the week or longer as many do.

Manage and monitor. Make decisions based upon the current situation. In a way, it's like in Star Wars Episode 4 when Luke is told to turn off his targeting computer and to use the force. There's nothing mystic about social media, but it's important to feel your posts to determine whether or not to post again.

For example, you might have a post that's doing exceptionally well, "going viral" so to speak, accumulating hundreds of likes, comments, and shares. With a post like that, you don't want to have another one scheduled for later that day and possibly not even the next day. This will "run it over" and kill the momentum that the post was accumulating.

Another similar situation occurs when you have an important post up. Let's say you're promoting a big sale this weekend. You don't want to run that post over with something else the next day. You'll want it to run its course and get in front of as many people as possible.

All of this is possible with ad budgets, of course. With the potential reach associated with Facebook ads giving you an exponential increase in reach, there's no reason to try to play the organic game. On Facebook, organic is dead. With properly managed Facebook ads, you can have the juice running to your important or viral posts for 1, 2, or even 3 days without a problem. This is much better than sticking to a 1-a-day or 2-a-day schedule that most companies and many dealers utilize.

Social is about science. It's about art. It's about ROI. It's not about a strict process or an arbitrary set of rules.

There is a purge coming from Facebook and it affects all business pages. Various social media outlets have carried out their own version of “swift justice”. Twitter and Instagram recently purged a lot of fake fans and it seems Facebook is joining in too. So what’s going on exactly? Starting March 12, Facebook will begin to purge likes on business pages that are from duplicate, false or inactive accounts. If there’s one thing Facebook cares about the most, it’s authenticity.

As an advertiser on Facebook, you should care about your ROI (return on investment) and if your message is being delivered to the right audience. You’re paying for results and that’s what matters. Will your page’s engagement rate decline? Yes, if you’re all about is the number of fans and how popular the page is. The purge won’t affect your reach or true engagement at all. Think about it; the fake fans won’t interact with your page and they won’t see any of your posts because they’re not real.

The important thing to remember is that Facebook filters out fake profiles better than anyone else. That’s why it’s always been hard for people to “buy likes” for Facebook in recent years. You will lose likes during the purge but it won’t be catastrophic.

Facebook clearly states “We’re removing voluntarily deactivated and memorialized accounts from Pages’ like counts to ensure that page audience metrics are meaningful and consistent. As a result, you may notice a dip in your aggregate page likes in early-March. This change does not affect organic or paid distribution of your content.” In case you were wondering, if a person deactivated their account and decided to come to Facebook, their “like” that you’ve earned will come back as well.

This is truly a GOOD thing that Facebook is doing. When your fan count drops, your reach and engagement numbers will rise. Real humans interacting with your page will cause the growth. This is yet another reason why buying likes and fans just doesn’t pay. Facebook is just getting rid of useless space and it’s about time. With that being said, keep an eye on your pages and don’t panic when the dip happens.

When I first started working for automotive vendors around two decades ago, digital marketing innovation was a function of the outside world. The automotive industry was generally reluctant to embrace the internet as a marketing venue, so the majority of people who worked for my companies were outsiders brought into the business.

This was necessary because there simply weren't very many internet-savvy car dealership personnel at the time. Most dealerships didn't have a website, let alone an internet department, so we were forced to pull talent from other industries.

Things have changed. A valid argument can be made that the car business is the most savvy industry that's not based in Silicon Valley and that we're trendsetters for digital marketing practices. It's not just the vendors doing the innovating anymore. Anyone who has been to a Driving Sales Executive Summit knows that the best ideas come from dealers.

As the CEO of an automotive digital marketing company, I'm often tasked with finding new talent. Growth has been strong, so we're always on the lookout for talent. In every other company I've worked for, the mentality was geared around hiring industry outsiders to bring in fresh ideas and expertise. To me, this concept is antiquated.

Vendors can and should be hiring the vast majority of their people from inside the industry. This isn't just a call to other vendors to change their hiring practices. It's a call to those of you working in the trenches at dealerships to consider bringing your talents to the vendor side of the ball. I know that many of you have some tough vendor relationships. I also appreciate that working at a dealership can be one of the most satisfying and enjoyable professions in the world. Still, it's good to keep your LinkedIn profile updated and your ear to the ground.

This industry is at a crossroads. The prosperity that has come over the last couple of years wil have the unfortunate side effect of kindling complacency. Now more than ever, dealers and vendors need to put their foot on the gas and kick it into high gear so that the upward trends that we've been seeing can continue.

Forgive me for sounding like I'm delivering a State of the Union on job creation, but this is a crucial time for the industry. Many companies need good "car people" to fill their staffing needs. I know we do.

Photo Credit: Apple Chevrolet

I had a debate with an automotive SEO buddy back last year about the validity of high-quality inbound links for the purpose of search engine optimization. He contended that great content on the website was enough to boost rankings substantially. I argued that Google and Bing still look at outside signals such as links to help them determine the authority and validity of the content.

A few months later, I received a phone call that confirmed it. The best part is that I didn't even have to do any research or testing on my own. He had set up a very clear and easily duplicated test to see who was correct.

Two cities. Two Honda dealers. On both websites, he wrote up long pieces (over 1000 words) of content on similar landing pages. All unique content, all perfectly worded for SEO (which today means not written for SEO at all but written for real readers instead).

In one city, he used my link-earning strategy that I showed him to get some love for the Civic page. In the other city, he did the link-earning for the Accord page. After two months, the linked pages dramatically outperformed the unlinked pages in rankings, traffic, and most importantly in leads generated.

But... Penguin

Any time I discuss links, I get hit with the Google Penguin argument. It's a valid one. The only fallacy in the argument is that Google did not penalize all links. They are going after the low-quality, purchased, or non-contextual links that many SEOs still use today. Those have been devalued and can actually do harm to your rankings.

On the other hand, high-quality contextual links on relevant sites denoting resource quality rather than pure SEO juicing have not only survived Penguin. They've flourished. My research before (and now my friend's research more recently) show that great links are actually more powerful today than they were before.

So, Links are Better than Content?

NO! Absolutely not. Content is definitely more important today than ever before and continues to increase in its necessity. There was a time in the past that you could take a blank white page with no content at all and link-bomb your way to getting it ranked for the term "White Bunny in a Snow Storm". Today, the content is a must.

Just like it is with offsite signals, onsite content that is high-quality, unique, relevant, and purposeful is absolutely necessary. The key is, of course, quality. No syndicated content. No "spun" content. No boilerplate content. No fluff content. Bring value and the content has the opportunity to shine.

Where do Links Fit In?

Offsite signals like inbound links are the validating components that Google and Bing use to determine whether or not one piece of content is better to serve than another. A great piece of content that truly tells something incredible and useful about a vehicle is not very different from a weak piece of content that talks about the same vehicle, at least in the eyes of Google. Semantic indexing allows them to understand algorithmically what a page is trying to talk about, but it's the credibility given to that content from offsite signals that lets the search engines know which piece of content to trust.

Think of the content as the engine and the offsite signals as the modifications done to improve the horsepower. You could line up a couple of Mustangs with 5.0L engines and race them. If the drivers are equal in skill and the conditions are right, they should finish the race very closely. It's a tossup. On the other hand, if you add headers, throttle bodies, and a cold-air kit to one, it should win the race easily.

That's what links do. They increase the ability for the content to get the ranking it deserves.

Then Why Doesn't Everyone Do It?

Inbound linking is not easy. Many have tried using link networks or other methods to "build" links, but the real strategy that works requires manual effort. You have to "earn" the links based upon quality content and networking with the right people.

Old-school link-building is dead. Today, the process is one that cannot be easily scaled. If one of the large website vendors tried to pay me a million bucks to get them an offsite signal strategy that they could implement to thousands of websites, I would have to pass. It's something that is unfortunately (or fortunately, from a certain perspective) very challenging to bring to the masses.

Using aggressive SEO strategies is not for every dealer. In many cases, it's not cost-effective. However, dealers who want to dominate in high-volume areas should take a closer look.

"We can't sell the cars for you, but we can help get you more opportunities."

I've heard that line dozens of times from many different vendors. I've actually said it myself at times over the last two decades on the vendor side of the automotive industry. Today, I'm here to tell you that it's not true. We really can and should help you sell more cars, and not just in an indirect way.

No, I'm not suggesting that a vendor should be flying over to the dealership and taking ups on Saturdays, but here's the reality of modern automotive sales: the sales process starts before they ever hit your lot. The concept that everything leading up to them driving on the lot is "research" and that the sale itself starts when they shake hands with the salesperson is an antiquated notion.

We all know that car shoppers buy cars from people and dealerships that they like and trust. Before they call, fill out a lead form, or make the choice to drive to see you, they're already being sold on the dealership and the people from whom they will be buying. The consumer mentality has changed because of the internet.

They aren't just researching when they go online. With many products outside of automotive (and in some cases within automotive), they are completing all or part of the transaction online. They no longer need to go to the dealership to get a price, get a value for their trade, secure financing, learn the options for warranties, determine their monthly payment, or learn about the available trim level options. They can get a relatively accurate idea about all of these things before you ever hear from them. More people today are going through a good chunk of the buying process before they visit the lot.

In essence, they are completing much of the sales process on their own. Since we influence that portion, we have now become part of the sales process.

A proper vendor mentality takes all of this into account. We were in a meeting with one of our department managers this morning discussing this very topic. He is relatively young and completely understood what we were saying. It was natural to him. He grew up in a world where most things can be accomplished through a computer or smartphone, so grasping the concept that the sale starts with our activities for our clients made instant sense to him.

It's us, the older generation, that has trouble grasping this sometimes. We grew up in a world where the sales process started at first contact, not before. This paradigm shift is extremely important to understand and unfortunately most vendors and many dealers are still viewing it incorrectly.

We, the vendors, can and should help you sell more cars. The KPIs we measure are important: traffic, leads, reach, exposure... all great stuff. However, the only KPI that truly guides our success and the success of our clients is sales.

In the movie Field of Dreams, a ghostly voice tells Kevin Costner's Ray Kinsella character, "If you build it, he will come."

The first question you'll want answered is, "What is it?" In the movie, the 'it' was a baseball field, but it was actually so much more than that. In reality, the 'it' in the movie was the dream of baseball itself from a bygone era when the game was pure and joyful.

The second question you'd want answered is "Who are they?" In the movie, the question wasn't about 'they' but rather 'he.' We go through the movie (spoiler alert) thinking that 'he' is Shoeless Joe Jackson, but it isn't until the end when we realize that Jackson was the voice guiding him and 'he' was Ray's father who was broken as a man but happy when he was young and playing baseball.

This isn't a post about symbolic movie analysis. Let's talk about your dealership's digital marketing. There has been a semi-true notion that 'content is king' for some time. In the world of SEO and social media, it's a fact that content is the cornerstone of success, but things have been changing. Today, building content alone is not enough to help it stand out.

Many dealers (dare I say most) are building content of some sort. They're either doing it themselves or paying a vendor to do it for them. This is great and has been a much-needed element in automotive digital marketing, but it's not the end of it. With so many building content, the true key to success is supporting the content with external elements.

From a search engine optimization perspective, the outside elements are links and social signals. They are the support mechanisms that give content validation in the eyes of the search engines. If you're building content on a topic and your competitors are building content on the same topic, Google and Bing must choose which to serve for their searches. Links, despite the negative press they've received here and on other forums since the rise of the Penguin algorithm update, are still the most powerful way to help your content stand out from your competitors'. The important thing to know is that high-quality contextual links from strong sources are the only types of links you want. Low-quality, spammy, or purchased links can be the kiss of death.

In social, the outside force propelling great content is money. Some think it's unfortunate that sites like Facebook and Twitter have pretty much become 'pay to play' if you want exposure due to the decrease in organic reach. Twitter is doing something about it with 'while you were away', but even in a best case scenario the 140-character social network has minimal organic reach.

Ads work wonders when done properly. Most companies and dealers are throwing money away in social media because they're not handling their ads appropriately. However, when you mix strong content with proper social advertising management, the result are miraculous.

Building content on your dealership's website is extremely important, but don't let your marketing efforts end there. Do the things that are necessary to support the content and it can work wonders on traffic, leads, and sales.

Google loves social/mobile/local interaction. They have always coveted the personal data that Facebook has, the mobile data that Apple has, and the local data that Yelp has. They continue to make strides in all three areas with the most recent advancement coming in the form of "Local Guides".

It's like Yelp Elite, so much so that I would be shocked if Yelp doesn't cry fowl in one way or another. People can apply to be these Local Guides and they can earn minor benefits for hitting milestones such as 50 high-quality reviews as well as 200.

Before anyone starts alerting their staff, friends, and local cousins to get their Google Reviews pumped up, let's keep one thing in mind. Google has the money to try and fail at things and they do so much more often than they succeed. I learned long ago not to jump on something that Google rolls out just because it says Google. In fact, I'm less inclined to try their new products or services or to even pay attention to them when they roll out.

With that said, it gives us a valuable piece of information that can help dealers. They aren't giving up on local as some had started saying last year. They're pushing forward and are likely developing additional ways to innovate the product.

The action plan here is simple:

1. Continue to get more high quality Google reviews.
2. Don't give up on Google+. There's still hope! Post regularly.
3. Monitor and reply to everyone.
4. Make sure your Google+ page and information is accurate.

Nobody knows if Local Guides will work out, but we can be certain that Google is still trying to make their local services more relevant.

Word on the street in the SEO world is that Google just had a big algorithm update that is finally starting to match what they've been saying for a while: mobile-friendliness is important for search rankings.

The move was first noted by Bronco's update watch on January 26th. Speculation was that it had to do with changes to Panda, but on a Google Webmaster Help hangout, John Mueller ruled out a Penguin or Panda update.

Perhaps the biggest evidence was the Webmaster Tools message reported by many saying that their website was not considered "mobile friendly". When the algorithm update hit, many disappeared from the rankings.

It seems to be progressive as well; webmasters are reporting fluctuations in their rankings even today.

On Android search, there's a tag showing next to some of the listings called "Mobile-friendly" that you can see below on a search for "Automotive SEO".

As Search Engine Journal says:

"If you see a notable decline in mobile traffic starting around January 24th, then that’s a good sign you have been affected. If that’s the case, then the best course of action would be to upgrade your site to a mobile-friendly design."

We've been promoting for a while that dealers need to make certain their websites are completely mobile-ready. We saw nice moves on our own sites as well as client sites that were on a responsive website design platform, which for dealers means using companies like FlexDealer, WorldDealer, or Dealer Inspire amongst others.

Check your rankings on an incognito browser on both mobile and desktop. There are reports that it only affected mobile, but we've seen otherwise with many of our clients. The ones on mobile-friendly platforms moved up!

We all know the world is going mobile. Google knew that before any of us. Now, it seems they're finally starting to do something about it.