I have business card metal envy....I have to see how I can create wine bottle business cards....equally as difficult to get through security!

Joe

When I talk about conversion for car dealer PPC, I am not just speaking about just traditional Google form submission conversion code. When a dealer sends a click to a landing page, I believe it should be more of a dashboard of choices. We should not assume that people are ready for any single task.

A consumer may click on a 2011 Toyota Camry PPC ad to get a phone number to service their vehicle. They may think they want a 2011 Camry but when they see the payment terms on the landing page, they may want to compare what used Camry's cost. They may want to download a PDF brochure. So, why assume what the consumer wants.

Thus, testing designs that engage any action that is brand enhancing and part of the ultimate conversion funnel.

If you listen to calls associated with PPC tracking numbers, many people call to see if the car is in stock and to check on price. Of course, service calls are part of the mix.

So landing pages should encourage calls, and some data published by Dealer.com would say that they prefer to call then submit a lead.

Landing pages should have easy navigation to service, used cars, new cars, etc. A consumer dashboard that is clean and not too narrowly focused. This will reward your investment in the click.

While you are bringing up the point that consumers from a PPC action may be likely to return to your website, would you consider adding a few customer testimonial video links on a landing page to allow them to see how their peers were treated?

Terrence, great post and Title. Dealers need both SEO and SEM for a comprehensive digital marketing strategy. There is no doubt that SEM produces immediate traffic, however it does not guarantee that the investment and traffic will be profitable.

I would like to add that SEM is only effective if the clicks are taking consumers to proven landing pages that convert on the click. The automotive industry is just waking up to landing page conversion optimization, and Larry Bruce has been like John The Baptist preaching to the deaf.

I believe that dealers who want to increase their market advantage in 2011 will need to increase resources to inspect their analytics and work on conversion testing. These are two of the top 5 things dealers need to prioritize this year.

Just as a bad SEO strategy is a waste of money, pumping thousands of dollars of Adwords spending to send shoppers to the home page of the dealership website or to an inventory listing page can be a big waste of money. I see this basic setup all the time.

In 2011, I would like to see more dealers understand that conversion of traffic, SEO and SEM, must be the next step in the evolution of automotive advertising. SEM has great control and instant traffic but it takes skills that most companies are not offering dealers to do a real controlled A/B test on landing page designs.

PCG is starting a free 8-week SEM study on February 15th to start educating dealers on how to setup, test, measure, and refine their PPC spending. I totally agree that PPC should be used by all dealers, and they should test the broad high volume phrases like "used cars", "used ford", "used nissan", "cars for sale", "toyota dealers" with a conversion focus.

Are dealers interested in learning more about Adwords? 110 dealers signed up for this free 8-week training program to date, so I would say that your article is right on the mark.

DealerRefresh members can still sign-up until February 1st at http://www.automotivesemstudy.com for this free study.

Patrick, great article and thank you for sharing this data. I firmly believe that call tracking education and strategies are so important for measuring the return on branding, marketing, and advertising investments.

Here is the truth. Fox should have done their facts. This is a news blunder.

http://www.cashforclunkersfacts.com/bill/fox-news...

The video is misleading. The "blue" website that they are showing is not for consumers. It is ONLY for dealers to submit sales into the Federal System.

The consumer website is green. So the entire discussions is misplaced and mis-informed. Consumers DO NOT submit any information online.

It is a shame that FOX did not do their research ion this one.

This does pose a security issue for car dealers since that warning applies to their computers. However, this is standard messaging for anyone who has a secure login to a Federal networked database system.