Most successful business owners have some kind of strategy for marketing, growth and development. As such, most marketing now includes a digital budget, with various channels including display, pay-per-click, social, video and others.  However, half of the companies doing digital marketing have no content marketing strategy.  This is a major misstep, not only for SEO, but for overall brand growth.

While many companies understand that customers are searching online and have developed keyword-centered SEO content marketing strategies to address this, most of these strategies revolve around creating content with very little value, other than a higher rank in search engine results.  Due to the amount of information available online for almost any product or service, the power in sales has shifted to the consumer.  A good content marketing strategy is not only in line with a business's sales goals, but also provides enough useful information that it can be used as a resource for research as well as a landing page for sales.  This "double duty" helps keep search engines and searchers alike happy, while creating authority and building trust.

While writing keyword-centric content is a good first step in a piece of content marketing, the aim should be to provide useful information (building trust and authority) while aiding in and aligning with the sales process of the business in some way.  That way, a site doesn't just end up with a bunch of empty keyword optimized fluff for content, and will actually get visitors organically that choose to stay on the site to conduct research and shop.

Content marketing isn't just about pleasing search engines, it is also about aiding the sales process and building trust with consumers that have endless options for research and purchase.  How are you all making your content beneficial for other things besides SEO?

Many dealership websites suffer from high bounce rates and low VDP views.  These issues ultimately impact their ability to raise their SEO and get leads.  While there are many factors that can raise bounce rates and lower VDP views, fortunately there are also many solutions available.  One such solution is to present suggested inventory to a shopper viewing a VDP.

This lesson comes straight from the largest online retailers such as eBay and Amazon.com.  Both present related inventory on their product pages.  Many times, a shopper is almost sold, but there are just one or two more things about a vehicle that could sway the decision.  If color, price or amenities are keeping a potential buyer on the fence, showing suggested inventory that is similar but with enough variation could present them with an option to solve for that.  The odds that they will find the perfect vehicle and submit a lead improve in this scenario.

Bloggers use "related articles" links all the time to keep readers browsing various pages on their website.  If a visitor is interested in one article on a topic, then perhaps they will want to continue reading similar articles on the same site.  This ultimately leads to lower bounce rates as the average pages per visitor increases.  In the same way, dealers can benefit by showing suggested inventory on a VDP.  This should improve a dealer’s bounce rate - which ultimately leads to better SEO!  If shoppers come into a site, look at one page, and then leave, search algorithms may perceive the site as having low relevance and may show links to the site in search results less frequently.  Providing suggested inventory boosts the chance that a shopper will visit more pages on a site and stay browsing for longer amounts of time, which search engines may pick up as being the result of a highly relevant website.  This in turn could positively impact the odds that search engine results will rank the site higher.

The impact of adding additional suggested inventory on a vehicle's detail page can theoretically improve a website's relevance and ability to generate leads.  Are you all displaying other inventory options on your VDP's?

There are many reasons that paid search ads won't show up on Google.  One of the most obvious reasons that people still struggle with is a small search engine marketing budget.  In general, a very small budget will result in ads being difficult to find when searched. However, there are ways to optimize what little advertising dollars might be available.

A low search engine marketing budget often finds itself eaten through within a short time every day.  One way to stretch these dollars is through the practice of day parting.  AdWords allows an advertiser to only show their ads during certain parts of the day.  After running the campaign for a while, some insight can be gained from the traffic and conversion data, and optimal days and times can be assessed.  Then it's simply a matter of "day-parting" the low-budget campaign to only show ads when they appear to be most effective.

High-search volume keywords can often eat through a small search engine marketing budget.  Long tail keywords, while not as frequently searched, can show higher buyer intent.  Generally, these are a safer bet than generic keywords for those who don't have a lot to spend on advertising.  They will get searched less and will drum up less expense, while often times delivering a more willing shopper.  Utilizing exact, phrase and modified broad match terms can help ensure that searchers are only costing advertising dollars on clicks when they search a phrase with high buyer intent.

Finally, relevance between the keywords, ads and landing page can change the effectiveness of a search engine marketing budget.  Higher relevance generally leads to a higher quality score, which often results in lower costs per click.  The lower the cost per click, the more clicks an advertiser can fit into their daily budget.  Search engine marketers should pay special attention to making sure that all items in the campaign are aligned for optimal relevance, and thus lower overall costs.

There are a few ways to make the most of a search engine marketing budget at any level.  What are some tips you all have for low budget SEM campaigns?

The most used SEO buzzword out there today is probably "content is king".  Search algorithms are constantly checking through the text on millions of web pages in attempts to figure out what the pages are about and what kinds of search queries should have them in their results.  With all the new versions of search engines releasing and different algorithm tweaks occurring, one of the most important SEO items for any web page is still it’s title tag.

Typically in the source code of a web page, a title is in the <head> area and looks like this:

<title>John's Used Jalopies</title>

Google views the title tag as a key element of a web page, representing a concise description of the page's content. It will typically show the first 55 or so characters of the title in search results.  Therefore, a keyword-centric, well-branded use of this field can result in great SEO benefits.  When keywords are used in the title tag, search engines tend to highlight them in the search results if a user has performed a query including those keywords. This results in greater visibility which could mean more traffic to a website.

There are a few easy steps one can take to ensure that they are getting the most from their title tags.  One tip is to put a desired keyword close to the beginning of the title.  Secondly, brands should be leveraged in the title tag.  They can appear further towards the beginning of the tag if the brand is already well known.  Finally, designers should keep in mind that title tags are often the first thing a searcher sees in search results and are sometimes the first impression they will have of a brand or site.

Title tags are an easy item to optimize in order to achieve greater SEO benefits for a site.  Are you all using optimized title tags?

When visitors come to a dealership site, most dealers should want them to figure out how to navigate it quickly.  Therefore, most websites have a navigation area ("menu bar") at the top or side of each page that stays the same and contains links to other areas of the site.  Referred to by SEO experts as internal linking, this is incredibly relevant for SEO because every link in the top-level menu will rank better than pages further down in the navigational set up of the site.

To a search engine, top level menu links look like every page on a site is linking to the pages referenced.  One way to take advantage of this is to cross reference important keywords with site categories and making sure that pages that need to be ranked highly in search engines are linked to in the main navigation of the site.

Another way to use site navigation properly is to identify what pages get the most traffic and making sure that they are easy to find via the menu.  This will in turn show a lift on the already popular pages, driving up the SEO relevance even further.

Finally, one should examine exit pages and make sure that they are accessible in the menu as well.  If clients are coming to a site looking for directions, phone numbers and/or a contact form, these should be easy to get to via the site navigation.  This will help clients have a more intuitive visit on a site and increase chances they will return.

Site navigation seems to be used on every website, but many underestimate the user experience and SEO potential to be provided via internal linking.  How are you all molding your site nav to best benefit SEO and user experience?

Smartphones now account for more than half of searches in many countries including the US.  At the same time, local businesses are typically aware that their business needs to show up on Google Maps.  What many don't realize is that the Google Maps app and Apple Maps app both rank in the top mobile apps used by US smartphone owners.

Car dealership general managers will often conduct searches of their business to see how they show up in SERP's (Search Engine Results Pages).  But few will open up their preferred maps app on their smartphone and conduct the same searches.  Seeing as mobile searches have surpassed desktop searches in the US, and these apps are among the highest used, it would make sense to double check a maps app for verification.

Therefore, a quick and easy tip for any business, including auto dealers, would be to search for their business using a maps app to ensure that their business name, address, phone number, and hours appear correctly.  If this information appears incorrectly or in an odd way, it's time to go back and double check the business' Google+ Pages listing as well as their Yahoo! Local listing to make sure that the information is making it's way over to the maps app in the correct fashion.  If changes to either of these profiles don't seem to update on the app, it may be time to contact Google and/or Apple and see if the issue can be expedited.

Having an accurate maps listing on desktop is now less than half the battle.  Have you checked to see how your map listing is represented on mobile apps?

Erich K. Gail, COO of the Cardinale-Group of Companies, gave a great interview the other day at the 2015 Denver Automotive Summit.  He spoke about how the Cardinale-Group has become the #5 (now #4) Highest Sales Volume eDealer in North America through ZMOT Auto!

Gail stressed the importance of a dealer-first focus with a management-driven culture.  This enables ZMOT Auto techniques to be fully utilized without ridiculous amounts of spend.

During the interview, he also touched on using a CRM as a nucleus for attribution, having a custom inventory and investment tool, mastery of phone skills, continuous training for associates and management, and, of course, a strong commitment to zero moment retail.  All these things together make up a dealership group that is fully enabled to take advantage of ZMOT Auto techniques.

Finally, Gail stressed the importance of family within the Cardinale-Group, mentioning as an example how every employee and manager have books they must read along with the rest of the group to help everyone grow to their fullest potential.  This kind of mindset fits in perfectly with the zero moment way of doing things, with the most unified and best possible staff ready to utilize the fully weaponized strategy provided by ZMOT Auto.

Watch the full interview here:  http://cbtnews.com/2015-denver-automotive-summit-erich-gail

Although digital marketing has been around for some time now, it's exponential growth in being used by a majority of businesses is relatively recent.  There is a danger that many "old school" marketers may one day be rendered worthless due to lack of digital skills and knowledge.  However, another danger exists of new, digitally driven marketers not knowing the ropes of traditional marketing enough to take full advantage of the channels available.

Traditional marketers have built up techniques, nuances and best practices over many years.  Just because digital skills are now relevant and in demand does not mean that this wealth of marketing knowledge can just be ignored.  Although people consume marketing through many new digital sources, the visual art of branding a company is still key.  The trick is combining this old knowledge with digital skills that help these practices adhere to the rules of new media.

Although having digital skills is a must in today's advertising environment, classic principles such as a basic sales funnel, awareness advertising versus zero moment of truth delivery and telling a story with a brand still apply.  The digital marketing landscape can only be best utilized when classic marketing principles are adapted.

Old-fashioned marketing and storytelling is just as important today as it has ever been.  What are some "old school" ideas that you all use to compliment your digital marketing efforts?

Facebook advertising can be an effective way to raise awareness about a brand, build credibility by way of social proof, and drive traffic to sales and contests.  However, many dealerships still don't see the value of, or participate in, Facebook advertising.  This is a piece of the marketing puzzle that warrants another look by those who have decided that it is not worth the investment.

Before Facebook became available on the stock market, a business could reach most or all of its users with a post.  Enhancements to Facebook’s algorithms since their IPO have made it so that unless a post happens to go viral, only the top 20% of the people who seem to have an affinity for a business will ever see it's post.

In order for an automotive dealer to increase the number of Facebook users that will see their messaging, paid campaigns such as promoted posts are in order.  While people browsing Facebook aren't necessarily going to be customers that are ready to purchase, a business can increase it’s chances of getting their ad in front of in-market buyers thanks to the relatively thorough targeting options available for Facebook advertising.  Age, location, and a host of other parameters can be set to help get posts to the right people.

The people that respond to Facebook advertising might not always be Zero Moment shoppers, but then again they might be!  For those that buy ads and promoted posts on Facebook, how do you use it?

Marketers, business owners and general managers are inundated with requests from all sorts of marketing agencies seeking to gain new clientele.  Many companies start up based around a certain hot advertising technology.  However, blindly following the latest digital marketing trends can result in an outdated marketing plan and wasted spend.

Of course, being aware of the automotive marketing landscape is going to help dealers determine which pieces of marketing they will need to help sell their cars while trying to remain cutting edge, within reason.  Having an agency on your side that handles every aspect of your advertising (rather than dealing with a variety of vendors) can be of help, since the agency likely will vet digital marketing trends on your behalf before incorporating it into your marketing plan.

The algorithms that search engines and social networks use often make for a tricky landscape since the techniques for their effective use are going to change along with them.  However, before jumping on the latest digital marketing trend regarding these engines and sites, one should try and get a feel for how useful these products and techniques will be if the algorithms change again.

All in all, the latest digital marketing trends will always form a confusing and constantly changing landscape.  A basic rule of thumb is that if the product or service came to one's attention in an unsolicited fashion, approach with caution.  What are some ways you all filter through the noise to find legit new approaches to marketing?