Auto Dealer Monthly, September 2014

VIEWPOINTS MAILBAG KEEPING THE BEAT TO JIM ZIEGLER Great article as always Th e Car Business According to Bob Dylan August 2014 Page 8 Right on the money with a little folk rock added in Th anks Reverend Jim Ken Rosenfi eld via Web SWITCHING WEB PROVIDERS TO JIM ZIEGLER We always enjoy your articles Big Dawg We switched to a large national website provider in January Very disappointing Promises were made results are not anywhere near where they should be Can you recommend a small boutique company that really cares How do we fi nd someone who is worth the money It is a lot of work to switch website hosts We sell 35 to 40 units a month in a small farming town How much money should we spend on average on SEM SEO Our current provider says we need to increase our spend by thousands Jeff Anderson via email Hello Jeff Im truly excited to hear from you As Ive written repeatedly its up to you the dealers to monitor your results and hold these vendors accountable Th ey are not advertising ITS UP TO YOU THE DEALERS TO MONITOR YOUR RESULTS AND HOLD THESE VENDORS ACCOUNTABLE THEY ARE NOT ADVERTISING SOURCES THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR CREATING QUANTIFIABLE BUSINESS 6 AUTO DEALER MONTHLY SEPTEMBER 2014 sources Th ey are responsible for creating quantifi able business I am pleased you elected not to listen to the excuses misdirection and double talk some of these companies are using Instead of dazzling us with brilliance theyre baffl ing us with bullcrap As I told you on the telephone were not going to mention any specifi c vendor or provider in this reply and even though I was able to recommend some smaller boutique companies I feel are more effi cient and accountable once again I cant recommend any specifi c company in print All I can say is you made a wise decision when you decided to measure the results Jim DOUBLE DOWN ON SF TO GREG GOEBEL I know the standard recommendation is for new car dealers to have a separate special fi nance site Should the site appear to be completely separate or is it OK for customers to know its part of the dealership Jeremy Davis via email Jeremy thanks for the email Actually in most cases I recommend that new car dealers have two standalone SF sites one branded and one blind Th e branded site usually would involve the dealerships name and the word credit So John Jones Motors would create a site called JohnJonesAuto Credit com for example Th e site could be linked to the primary site but ultimately its sole purpose is to encourage the customer to complete a credit application A good example of how to do this is our 877CarCredit com site which uses a two step application Th e fi rst step simply captures the visitors contact information Th e blind site is designed exactly the same way as the branded site with one exception Th is site should be built around a geographical reference commonly used in your market and it should not reference a dealership In my old market of Evansville Ind it could have been EvansvilleAuto Credit com or TriStateAutoCredit com Th e purpose of this site is to attract shoppers that would not normally consider your store due to the make s you sell For example a dyed in the wool Ford owner may never consider going to a General Motors or Toyota dealership Th is site can attract those shoppers that your branded site would never reach Greg LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD To appear in Octobers Viewpoints please answer the following question Do you support Randy Reed of Randy Reed Automotive in his opposition to the Affordable Care Act provision requiring coverage of emergency contraception in employee health plans Submit your answer to Editorial Director Gregory Arroyo at gregory arroyo@ bobit com The magazine also welcomes any comments or questions pertaining to articles in this issue Responses may be edited for space and clarity Auto Dealer Monthly