Car Dealer Websites

More and more car dealers are starting Google AdWords, Yahoo! Marketing, and Live Sponsored Search accounts.  They plug in their keywords, make their bids, and wait for the links.  In many ways, it works.

In more ways, it doesn’t.

What many dealers are finding is that they are getting leads that end up duplicating through their 3rd party leads.  What does this mean?  At least for new car leads, it means that the dealer is getting into a bidding war with other dealers because the people clicking on their ad are also clicking on other sites.

Is this good?  Of course.  A car buyer is a car buyer, regardless of how competitive their lead is.  Getting in front of someone who is interested in getting the best possible deal and who is willing to get multiple quotes from multiple sources is still taking a very inexpensive shot at earning their business.

Still, there has to be a better way.  This is where many paid marketing services earn their fees — in finding the searches, clicks, and conversions that the competitors aren’t targeting.  What does this mean?  It means that a good SEM compaign will yield not only more leads, but better quality leads because they are finding the keyword phrases that have limited, targeted traffic being drawn.

For car dealers, it isn’t just going after makes and models.  Sometimes the best campaigns target word combinations that are not always on the tip of the dealers’ minds.  Here are some common searches with which most dealers are not marketing.

“First Time Car Buyers” with a landing page that discusses the programs that the dealer offers for financing.

“Good Gas Mileage Cars” with a landing page that lists cars and the gas mileage of vehicles that the dealer offers.

“(metro area) Oil Change” with a landing page that lists specials for service.

 These keywords with very specific ad copy that denotes that they are clicking on a car dealer is the way to get inexpensive leads that convert into traffic and eventually sales.  Dealers that hire someone to do this (or do it themselves) are the ones who are getting the most out of their oranges.

Dealership Info