It's been discussed for years by some and is finally starting to be accepted by most. Content may be king in search engine optimization, but the key to getting the most challenging terms is link-building. Without valid, quality, relevant inbound links, the best content in the world will not rank for the high-volume keywords on the search engines.

It's that simple.

We will be doing a webinar on Wednesday morning to address the issue, but here are some tips you can use to get started today.

• - Build a blog. And then another. And then another. - The biggest challenge dealers often have when doing their own link-building is having the time to create and maintain multiple blogs. It's a must - putting all of your content on a single blog will not be as effective in link-building because additional links from the same domain start to lose their effects.
• - Social Bookmarking - No, I'm not talking about Twitter and Facebook. Those links are worthwhile for SEO for other reasons other than link-building. Social bookmarking is using many of the thousands of sites out there that generate followed, indexed links to various websites. The process is tedious because it's a numbers game, but each individual bookmark can normally be generated very quickly.
• - Article Syndication - Sites such as ArticleBase offer a directory where people can take their content and republish it across other channels. This is a technique that is secondary and complimentary to blogging - you post to your blogs, get the posts indexed in the search engines, then syndicate to the article directories (often using different anchor text in the links).

We will be discussing other link-building techniques in Wednesday's webinar. Be sure to check it out!

It's been discussed for years by some and is finally starting to be accepted by most. Content may be king in search engine optimization, but the key to getting the most challenging terms is link-building. Without valid, quality, relevant inbound links, the best content in the world will not rank for the high-volume keywords on the search engines.

It's that simple.

We will be doing a webinar on Wednesday morning to address the issue, but here are some tips you can use to get started today.

• - Build a blog. And then another. And then another. - The biggest challenge dealers often have when doing their own link-building is having the time to create and maintain multiple blogs. It's a must - putting all of your content on a single blog will not be as effective in link-building because additional links from the same domain start to lose their effects.
• - Social Bookmarking - No, I'm not talking about Twitter and Facebook. Those links are worthwhile for SEO for other reasons other than link-building. Social bookmarking is using many of the thousands of sites out there that generate followed, indexed links to various websites. The process is tedious because it's a numbers game, but each individual bookmark can normally be generated very quickly.
• - Article Syndication - Sites such as ArticleBase offer a directory where people can take their content and republish it across other channels. This is a technique that is secondary and complimentary to blogging - you post to your blogs, get the posts indexed in the search engines, then syndicate to the article directories (often using different anchor text in the links).

We will be discussing other link-building techniques in Wednesday's webinar. Be sure to check it out!

Over the next 3 days we will be updating regularly with "the takeaways" from the various speakers at the Digital Marketing Strategies Conference in Napa. Dealers who were not able to attend can refer to Driving Sales to see what we're learning. You can also watch the 4 keynotes live when they happen at Driving Sales TV.

Glenn Pasch discussed reputation management. It's a subject that often gets beaten up because it truly is a hot topic, but the ideas that Glenn is sharing are fresh, true, and useful from a "hands-on, real-world" perspective. No "rainbows and butterflies" here, just hard-hitting stuff that dealers can apply today.

Here are some of the more unique takeaways:

"Reviews beget reviews"

The psychology makes sense. Few people want to be singled-out. When there are 5, 10, 50 reviews available for a particular business, people are more inclined to get involved than they would if they were going to be one of the first ones out there.

The more reviews you get, the better off you'll be and the more likely people will be willing to participate.

"Write your script like a human being."

Most give the advice of "ask for them" when referring to reviews, but few go into detail of how. Glenn takes the subject by the horns and tells us the simple advice of "script like a human."

In other words, whether it's on the phone from the BDC, in an email, or in a real mailer, our best chance of getting a review when we ask for them is when we actually ask for them from a human perspective.

"Attack - Go into offensive mode."

Waiting around for a need to do reputation management is silly. Eventually, everyone will need it. If you're sitting there with 4 reviews and a 4.5-Star rating, you're not safe. Now is the time to go on the offensive.

"We do business with people we like."

Don't skip Facebook. Don't skip Twitter. More and more people are getting involved with social media and using it as a venue for reviews is a very large key. People trust other people and therefore seeing their friends and relatives on Facebook or Twitter liking a business will make it that much more relevant to them.

People buy cars. When they decide the people from which they are going to buy, in many cases they do it based upon the recommendations of the people they know.

"Video testimonials are amazing."

Ask. The worst they can say is no. The best they can say is, "Of course!"

In the videos, which should be 30-second videos where you are asking customers questions on tape, you want to get people when they're happy and excited. In other words, right after they get their new car, that's the best time to grab them.

For more details on Glenn's training, we wrote him a review on the TK Carsites blog.

Over the next 3 days we will be updating regularly with "the takeaways" from the various speakers at the Digital Marketing Strategies Conference in Napa. Dealers who were not able to attend can refer to Driving Sales to see what we're learning. You can also watch the 4 keynotes live when they happen at Driving Sales TV.

Glenn Pasch discussed reputation management. It's a subject that often gets beaten up because it truly is a hot topic, but the ideas that Glenn is sharing are fresh, true, and useful from a "hands-on, real-world" perspective. No "rainbows and butterflies" here, just hard-hitting stuff that dealers can apply today.

Here are some of the more unique takeaways:

"Reviews beget reviews"

The psychology makes sense. Few people want to be singled-out. When there are 5, 10, 50 reviews available for a particular business, people are more inclined to get involved than they would if they were going to be one of the first ones out there.

The more reviews you get, the better off you'll be and the more likely people will be willing to participate.

"Write your script like a human being."

Most give the advice of "ask for them" when referring to reviews, but few go into detail of how. Glenn takes the subject by the horns and tells us the simple advice of "script like a human."

In other words, whether it's on the phone from the BDC, in an email, or in a real mailer, our best chance of getting a review when we ask for them is when we actually ask for them from a human perspective.

"Attack - Go into offensive mode."

Waiting around for a need to do reputation management is silly. Eventually, everyone will need it. If you're sitting there with 4 reviews and a 4.5-Star rating, you're not safe. Now is the time to go on the offensive.

"We do business with people we like."

Don't skip Facebook. Don't skip Twitter. More and more people are getting involved with social media and using it as a venue for reviews is a very large key. People trust other people and therefore seeing their friends and relatives on Facebook or Twitter liking a business will make it that much more relevant to them.

People buy cars. When they decide the people from which they are going to buy, in many cases they do it based upon the recommendations of the people they know.

"Video testimonials are amazing."

Ask. The worst they can say is no. The best they can say is, "Of course!"

In the videos, which should be 30-second videos where you are asking customers questions on tape, you want to get people when they're happy and excited. In other words, right after they get their new car, that's the best time to grab them.

For more details on Glenn's training, we wrote him a review on the TK Carsites blog.

Nearly all of the recent changes at Google, many of which have been well documented here, are pointing to a change in company direction. The most successful and profitable online advertising platform ever, Adwords, is slowly but surely being trended out with Google favoring the future of both search and Internet browsing in general: mobile and social.

TK's JD Rucker had an article featured in Fast Company that points to why we believe this and how Google is moving away from old-school search ads to more "iPad- and Android-friendly" styles of serving people the data they want.

As of now, the article has received over 70,000 views worldwide and has made the most popular stories section of Digg and other social networks. It is relevant to car dealers because our industry is extremely reliant on PPC advertising to deliver traffic. If PPC is on its way out, where will your traffic come from tomorrow?

Here are the key points in the article:

• Integration of Places and Reviews into Google's organic listings will reduce sponsored clicks. If that's the case, they must be hoping to replace that revenue with something else.
• Google recently moved the most fiscally successful Internet company executive of all time, Marissa Mayer, from leading their "bread and butter" search products department over to geo/local.
• Recent moves and hints of future moves indicate that Google is attempting to implement social media into all of their core products and services, including good ol' search.

Are you ready for the changes that are coming? Have you prepared for the changes that are already here? One way to do it is to watch the videos that JD is posting on Driving Sales every day. The next video, part 2 in his series about taking advantage of Google's changes, should be posted any time. Yesterday's video regarding the adjustments people should be making to their Google Places profile can be found on this post titled "Google Places Change: Step 1 - Clean Your 'House'".

Watch it and check Driving Sales every day as JD posts a new one, and don't forget to read our blog about Automotive SEO.

Nearly all of the recent changes at Google, many of which have been well documented here, are pointing to a change in company direction. The most successful and profitable online advertising platform ever, Adwords, is slowly but surely being trended out with Google favoring the future of both search and Internet browsing in general: mobile and social.

TK's JD Rucker had an article featured in Fast Company that points to why we believe this and how Google is moving away from old-school search ads to more "iPad- and Android-friendly" styles of serving people the data they want.

As of now, the article has received over 70,000 views worldwide and has made the most popular stories section of Digg and other social networks. It is relevant to car dealers because our industry is extremely reliant on PPC advertising to deliver traffic. If PPC is on its way out, where will your traffic come from tomorrow?

Here are the key points in the article:

• Integration of Places and Reviews into Google's organic listings will reduce sponsored clicks. If that's the case, they must be hoping to replace that revenue with something else.
• Google recently moved the most fiscally successful Internet company executive of all time, Marissa Mayer, from leading their "bread and butter" search products department over to geo/local.
• Recent moves and hints of future moves indicate that Google is attempting to implement social media into all of their core products and services, including good ol' search.

Are you ready for the changes that are coming? Have you prepared for the changes that are already here? One way to do it is to watch the videos that JD is posting on Driving Sales every day. The next video, part 2 in his series about taking advantage of Google's changes, should be posted any time. Yesterday's video regarding the adjustments people should be making to their Google Places profile can be found on this post titled "Google Places Change: Step 1 - Clean Your 'House'".

Watch it and check Driving Sales every day as JD posts a new one, and don't forget to read our blog about Automotive SEO.

"Yes Mr Dealer, I did."

If you would have asked me 2 years ago how much a dealership would be willing to spend on their search marketing, I would have said the savvy dealers that recognized SEO and PPC as necessities would pay up to $1500 a month. Most wouldn't pay more than $500.

Times have changed. Competition is stiff for car dealers as more are bidding on Adwords and more are finding success in SEO. The biggest challenge we faced as a marketing company in 2009 was in maintaining our top position in the automotive SEO world with products that could be priced under $1000.

I'm here to tell you, my friends, that many dealers recognize that what would once be considered an outlandish number to pay for search engine optimization is simply not that much anymore when you consider the ROI.

This is not a pitch. The next section of the article will sound as if I'm pitching you a product, but stay with me and you'll see where I'm getting at shortly.

The BEST SEO = Unimaginable ROI

Many dealers have heard the pitch that says they'll double or triple their traffic through SEO or PPC advertising. In 2008 and 2009, that was possible, as there were dealers getting 500-1500 unique visits per month.

Today, getting an increase of 1000 targeted visitors through strong SEO can equate as such:

1000 visitors * 5% lead conversion * 20% closing rate = 10 sales * $1400 F/B gross = $14,000 additional profit.

You would ask, "But Jim, why would I spend $4000 to get $14,000 gross? That's not that great."

I would reply, "Oh, did I say $4000? That is the price of TK Power Elite SEO. Those numbers I just gave you are typical for our TK Power Premium SEO at $1500 a month."

And That's When it Hits Me

For years, I have been answering the question of "how much would a dealer spend on SEO" with a flat answer. In 2008, I would answer the question as $500. In 2009, I would have bumped that up to $1000. In 2010, many dealers are spending several thousands of dollars a month on PPC, and yet we would hesitate when we had to tell a dealer that it cost $2000 a month for top-level SEO.

Recently, I finally realized I was answering the question wrong. When asked, "how much will a dealer spend on SEO," I can't spit out a number. I have to ask the question to our SEO department, "what will the dealer get for the SEO they purchase?"

So, I did. Our SEO department is currently the largest single department in our company. Our SEO, which has been considered top-notch for years, has evolved into a fine-tuned machine with more people, processes, and activity than any other in the company.

I asked them to show me stats. I called dealers. I looked at what an average dealership could reasonably expect if we them a complete, no-holds barred, earth shaking Elite SEO product that kept them constantly expanding their market and owning the search engines.

We came to the conclusion that the ROI and work involved dictated a $4500 price tag. I dropped it to retail at $3499 and started pitching it.

What's the Point?

Would you spend $50,000 a month on SEO? You would if it could generate $250,000 in gross profits. Unfortunately, no SEO on a single dealership can deliver that, but you get my point. When dealers ask us about price and compare vendors to one another, they are doing a disservice to themselves. The real question for anything - SEO, websites, social media, classified listings - is simple:

"What is my ROI? What will my cost of acquisition be with Power SEO?"

Now you're asking the right question.

Understanding the Numbers

Our biggest obstacle today is selling against PPC. Yes, PPC can deliver clicks. But are they "additional" clicks. I was looking at a report the other day that showed me a dealer was getting over 1000 clicks a month from $1200 PPC budget. I wasn't sure what to say because the conversion rates were great and they were selling more cars than what $1200 worth of SEO could do for them, so I went to JD Rucker.

He looked at the reports and noted that over 40% of the clicks were coming from the dealer's exact name and another 20% were coming from variations of the name. While there are benefits to buying the dealership name, JD told me that these weren't 1000 additional clicks but rather closer to 300.

People that search for you by name want to buy a car from you. Yes, the traffic will be high. Yes the conversions will be high. But if you're really wanting to see what the ROI is on a PPC campaign, you must parse out the clicks for you by name because there is a very easy case that can be made that the vast majority of those who clicked on the ad would have clicked on your organic #1 listing anyway.

In 2011, we are recommending to all of our dealers that the establish a Digital Marketing Strategy. We’ll be talking more about it in the weeks to come, but no strategy works if you don’t understand the numbers.

They say, “You can’t manage what you don’t measure.” I say, “You can’t measure if you don’t cut through to the core of the numbers.” That, my friends, is the key to success in 2011.

"Yes Mr Dealer, I did."

If you would have asked me 2 years ago how much a dealership would be willing to spend on their search marketing, I would have said the savvy dealers that recognized SEO and PPC as necessities would pay up to $1500 a month. Most wouldn't pay more than $500.

Times have changed. Competition is stiff for car dealers as more are bidding on Adwords and more are finding success in SEO. The biggest challenge we faced as a marketing company in 2009 was in maintaining our top position in the automotive SEO world with products that could be priced under $1000.

I'm here to tell you, my friends, that many dealers recognize that what would once be considered an outlandish number to pay for search engine optimization is simply not that much anymore when you consider the ROI.

This is not a pitch. The next section of the article will sound as if I'm pitching you a product, but stay with me and you'll see where I'm getting at shortly.

The BEST SEO = Unimaginable ROI

Many dealers have heard the pitch that says they'll double or triple their traffic through SEO or PPC advertising. In 2008 and 2009, that was possible, as there were dealers getting 500-1500 unique visits per month.

Today, getting an increase of 1000 targeted visitors through strong SEO can equate as such:

1000 visitors * 5% lead conversion * 20% closing rate = 10 sales * $1400 F/B gross = $14,000 additional profit.

You would ask, "But Jim, why would I spend $4000 to get $14,000 gross? That's not that great."

I would reply, "Oh, did I say $4000? That is the price of TK Power Elite SEO. Those numbers I just gave you are typical for our TK Power Premium SEO at $1500 a month."

And That's When it Hits Me

For years, I have been answering the question of "how much would a dealer spend on SEO" with a flat answer. In 2008, I would answer the question as $500. In 2009, I would have bumped that up to $1000. In 2010, many dealers are spending several thousands of dollars a month on PPC, and yet we would hesitate when we had to tell a dealer that it cost $2000 a month for top-level SEO.

Recently, I finally realized I was answering the question wrong. When asked, "how much will a dealer spend on SEO," I can't spit out a number. I have to ask the question to our SEO department, "what will the dealer get for the SEO they purchase?"

So, I did. Our SEO department is currently the largest single department in our company. Our SEO, which has been considered top-notch for years, has evolved into a fine-tuned machine with more people, processes, and activity than any other in the company.

I asked them to show me stats. I called dealers. I looked at what an average dealership could reasonably expect if we them a complete, no-holds barred, earth shaking Elite SEO product that kept them constantly expanding their market and owning the search engines.

We came to the conclusion that the ROI and work involved dictated a $4500 price tag. I dropped it to retail at $3499 and started pitching it.

What's the Point?

Would you spend $50,000 a month on SEO? You would if it could generate $250,000 in gross profits. Unfortunately, no SEO on a single dealership can deliver that, but you get my point. When dealers ask us about price and compare vendors to one another, they are doing a disservice to themselves. The real question for anything - SEO, websites, social media, classified listings - is simple:

"What is my ROI? What will my cost of acquisition be with Power SEO?"

Now you're asking the right question.

Understanding the Numbers

Our biggest obstacle today is selling against PPC. Yes, PPC can deliver clicks. But are they "additional" clicks. I was looking at a report the other day that showed me a dealer was getting over 1000 clicks a month from $1200 PPC budget. I wasn't sure what to say because the conversion rates were great and they were selling more cars than what $1200 worth of SEO could do for them, so I went to JD Rucker.

He looked at the reports and noted that over 40% of the clicks were coming from the dealer's exact name and another 20% were coming from variations of the name. While there are benefits to buying the dealership name, JD told me that these weren't 1000 additional clicks but rather closer to 300.

People that search for you by name want to buy a car from you. Yes, the traffic will be high. Yes the conversions will be high. But if you're really wanting to see what the ROI is on a PPC campaign, you must parse out the clicks for you by name because there is a very easy case that can be made that the vast majority of those who clicked on the ad would have clicked on your organic #1 listing anyway.

In 2011, we are recommending to all of our dealers that the establish a Digital Marketing Strategy. We’ll be talking more about it in the weeks to come, but no strategy works if you don’t understand the numbers.

They say, “You can’t manage what you don’t measure.” I say, “You can’t measure if you don’t cut through to the core of the numbers.” That, my friends, is the key to success in 2011.

We posted initially about the changes that Google made last week here on Driving Sales and now we will go into more details about what it means to dealers.

Is your SEO up to snuff? Ranking well for the "money terms" has just become much more important as Google Places and reviews from sites across the Internet are now attached to many of your search results. This is currently only appearing in high-volume general searches, not for searches of your dealership by name, but as they they continue to tinker we expect to see these changes universally.

There are currently 4 different types of search results (that we've found) but the one illustrated in the video is perhaps the most important to dominate (other than owning your name, of course). Check out the video and feel free to comment or ask questions. We'll be monitoring this thread.

We posted initially about the changes that Google made last week here on Driving Sales and now we will go into more details about what it means to dealers.

Is your SEO up to snuff? Ranking well for the "money terms" has just become much more important as Google Places and reviews from sites across the Internet are now attached to many of your search results. This is currently only appearing in high-volume general searches, not for searches of your dealership by name, but as they they continue to tinker we expect to see these changes universally.

There are currently 4 different types of search results (that we've found) but the one illustrated in the video is perhaps the most important to dominate (other than owning your name, of course). Check out the video and feel free to comment or ask questions. We'll be monitoring this thread.