Case Study: Automotive Search Engine Reputation Management
One of the most important aspects of having a complete Internet marketing strategy is controlling your reputation online. As consumers get more savvy and turn to user reviews as a portion of their buying decision, making certain that the good ones can be found and the bad ones are hidden can be the difference between good sales and bad.
Then, there are times when controlling the search engines for your name goes beyond just making sure that your reputation is strong. Sometimes, it’s a matter of driving off 3rd-party lead sites, competitors, and listings that include competitors and 3rd-party lead sites.
Marlboro Nissan (a Boston Nissan Dealer), TK Carsites (an automotive marketing firm), Hasai (us) and Pasch Consulting Group (an automotive SEO firm) have mastered the art of “owning Google”.
So, how did they do it?
Google is smart. Trying to fool them is something only attempted by the foolish. Instead, Marlboro Nissan, TK Carsites, and PCG used the oldest “trick” in the Google algorithm book: quality. Rather than try, as most, to spam their way to controlling the first page and beyond on Google for the search term “Marlboro Nissan”, they did everything that Google told them to do. They offered quality content, quality pages, and a few other tricks to play Google’s game by its own rules.
1) Power of 5 Websites
As a website client of TK Carsites, Marlboro opted to use the Power of 5 website platform for their marketing. The platform separates out the individual profit centers and gives them a website of their own. Unlike simply using microsites, the Power of 5 platform combines the 5 (in Marlboro’s case, 6) domains seamlessly, giving it the look, feel, and functionality of a single website while offering up multiple, quality URLs for the search engines to index.
In the screenshot above, you’ll see that positions 1, 2, 4, and 8 are domains that are all a part of the entire Power of 5 web presence. They are ranked for the term “Marlboro Nissan” as well as other keywords specific to their purpose. The Used Cars Power Page is ranked #4 for “Marlboro Nissan” and has everything that a consumer would need to buy a pre-owned car from them. The page also ranks for several other terms, including “Used Nissan Boston”, to drive traffic from people not looking specifically for Marlboro Nissan.
With unique, quality content on each page that is geared to tell both the search engines and consumers what the focus of the page is, it’s a win-win for everyone.
2) Microsites
Marlboro Nissan also acquired the services of Brian Pasch and his team at Pasch Consulting Group to create lead-generating microsites. With a strong working relationship between TK Carsites and PCG, it made sense to select him as their microsite provider.
Positions 3 and 5 are PCG microsites. There are several throughout the search listing for their name, but these sites also draw traffic from other local and even national keywords to enhance Marlboro’s web presence beyond their primary website and to give them multiple ways to generate leads.
3) Social Media
Positions 7, 9, and 10 are social media properties created and controlled by Marlboro Nissan and Hasai. They are ever-evolving accounts that are active and give a strong presence to Marlboro on the Web 2.0 sphere.
As the accounts grow and the engagement increases, these properties will not only help control the searches, they will also help to generate traffic and leads.
4) Ratings
Oh no! There’s a domain visible on page one that Marlboro Nissan doesn’t control. Sitting at #6 is DealerRater, a site that is the thorn in many car dealers’ behinds.
For Marlboro Nissan, this is intentional. Why? Because it’s a user review site that has Marlboro Nissan listed with 4.9/5.0 stars after hundreds of reviews. That, my friends, is something that you WANT people to find out about you, which is why Marlboro has chosen to not only let it stay on their searches — they promote it on their sites!
Who wouldn’t?
Beware…
There are many companies out there offering services to car dealers and other businesses claiming to be able to not only control the first page of searches on Google and beyond, but to do so without the dealer getting involved. This is, for all intents and purposes, impossible without spamming. While they may be effective for a short time, the search engines will eventually figure out the game (as they always do) and squash it without warning.
Take your reputation seriously, but make certain that you are hiring companies that use proper techniques that fall in line with the search engines’ requirements. Otherwise, you’re taking a huge risk to simply save a few bucks.
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Read more about Social Media Strategy on this blog.
One Response to “Case Study: Automotive Search Engine Reputation Management”
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Jim,
I was a pleasure to work with you on this project and your warning in the final paragraph is so important. There are companies claiming to be Automotive SEO experts and their own website doesn’t rank on Google Page 1 or 2 for the same phrase.
There are others that claim to control Google Page One for their clients that really is just a facade; a sall pin pops that balloon.
Working to create quality content, as you stated, along with the right domain strategy, is a powerful solution indeed.