ISM
06-22-2008, 03:23 PM
SEO & SEM Explained
Visitors at your dealership website arrive there in one of two ways:
Search engine optimization (SEO or organic search) and
Search engine marketing (SEM or paid search).
Both approaches generate website traffic, but to maximize return on investment (ROI), what the visitor sees when they land on your site from the two different sources should be different as well. The methods utilized and the goals defined for a successful hit from each approach have very important differences. The focal point of SEO is directing web traffic to your home page, while SEM that directs visitors to a landing page can be a good deal more profitable. SEM landing pages that are very specific offer significantly more control, but both approaches are essential for optimal conversion.
The purpose of developing a landing page is to drive higher-quality traffic to your web site through a search engine. This targeted landing page is very much different from your generic home page in that it is specific to what the visitor has just seen on the search engine results page (SERP) with a specific offer.
The SEO Experience
Visitors to your dealership generally have a very specific car, bike, boat or RV in mind, let's say a Toyota Corolla. They drive onto the lot distracted by the fresh balloons floating on all the clean, low mileage Certified Used Cars. As they enter through the front door the shiny new Prius, Camry, Matrix, Yaris and Avalon catch their attention. The Tacoma reminds them of the last home improvement project that required renting a truck and they admire all the room for the kids in the Sienna. When they're greeted by a salesperson if they didn't forget why they came, surely the vehicle of interest may have expanded to at least one other option.
The "home" landing page of your web site is much the same. Most SEO-focused home pages (http://www.toyota.com/) must cater to search engine bots in addition to browsers that are not shopping for a specific vehicle. The focus is on attracting any and all shoppers for all of your offerings; every vehicle Toyota makes, not on the Toyota Corolla this family had in mind.
Search engine algorithms are not easily controlled by the Internet Sales Manager, the dealership or Toyota to drive business to their specific web site. Search engines are designed to scan a site's home page first and rank it as the most important page based on the relevancy of the search term entered by the shopper. For optimal organic results, the webmaster focuses on the broadest terms possible in the interest of attracting the widest possible audience. The net result is a home page focused on general terms to attract traffic with little or no regard for conversion rates. A high ranking home page is focused on visibility great for the Toyota shopper, but by design less effective for the Toyota Corolla shopper.
The SEM Experience
This same family driving on to the very same Toyota dealership in search of their Corolla has quite a different experience in the search engine marketing, or Pay-Per-Click world. In this scenario this family finds itself instantly sitting inside the vehicle they're shopping for, without the need to drive through the lot and bypassing the other vehicles on the showroom floor. This family is now sitting inside the vehicle with a focus on buying this particular car. This is the targeted, SEM landing page (http://www.toyota.com/corolla/features.html).
Where this family has a very specific vehicle in mind the Toyota Corolla keywords found by the SERP's are now Toyota Corolla, LE, XLE, S and XRS models. This family is likely further along in the buying process perhaps having eliminated all other Toyota models. Like this focused family, the SERP's are determined by the keywords and the SEM experience is more direct and more profitable for the dealer because the shopper has a specific request.
Using paid listings or Pay Per Click gives the dealer total control over the search results displayed after the users click. This landing page might be the Toyota Corolla, or even to specific models, new and used that you have in your available for sale in your current inventory. Most landing pages are designed to sell a specific product or service during that visit. As you know, EBay actually sells vehicles on the Internet, but few if any dealers do. So what good is a landing page to the Internet Sales Manager? A highly desirable used car will not only draw attention to that specific vehicle if used for a landing page, but also draw the visitor to your site.
Your Web Analytics software provides accurate tracking of every page of your site and while it is not perfect, the accuracy is far more reliable than any other marketing media. Landing pages are easily modified for the content that visitors see and can be customized based on the source of the traffic, the capabilities of the visitor’s computer or browser software, their behavior during the particular visit and their past history of interactions with your site. Countless content variations can be created and managed at little or no cost for a landing page optimization test. There simply are no landing page optimization experts, but at the end of the day all that matters is what your visitors respond to. And it’s these experts that you deal with everyday that will help you to perfect your work.
Landing pages offer an introduction to everything web sites are about, from structure to click-through, so it’s an ideal environment for an Internet Manager looking to learn and easily measure results. This page is more action-oriented and it serves the dealer well to take advantage of the Corolla shopper’s mindset. After all, the closer I am to the car I want the more likely I am to call the dealership or send an Internet lead to request more information.
Visitors at your dealership website arrive there in one of two ways:
Search engine optimization (SEO or organic search) and
Search engine marketing (SEM or paid search).
Both approaches generate website traffic, but to maximize return on investment (ROI), what the visitor sees when they land on your site from the two different sources should be different as well. The methods utilized and the goals defined for a successful hit from each approach have very important differences. The focal point of SEO is directing web traffic to your home page, while SEM that directs visitors to a landing page can be a good deal more profitable. SEM landing pages that are very specific offer significantly more control, but both approaches are essential for optimal conversion.
The purpose of developing a landing page is to drive higher-quality traffic to your web site through a search engine. This targeted landing page is very much different from your generic home page in that it is specific to what the visitor has just seen on the search engine results page (SERP) with a specific offer.
The SEO Experience
Visitors to your dealership generally have a very specific car, bike, boat or RV in mind, let's say a Toyota Corolla. They drive onto the lot distracted by the fresh balloons floating on all the clean, low mileage Certified Used Cars. As they enter through the front door the shiny new Prius, Camry, Matrix, Yaris and Avalon catch their attention. The Tacoma reminds them of the last home improvement project that required renting a truck and they admire all the room for the kids in the Sienna. When they're greeted by a salesperson if they didn't forget why they came, surely the vehicle of interest may have expanded to at least one other option.
The "home" landing page of your web site is much the same. Most SEO-focused home pages (http://www.toyota.com/) must cater to search engine bots in addition to browsers that are not shopping for a specific vehicle. The focus is on attracting any and all shoppers for all of your offerings; every vehicle Toyota makes, not on the Toyota Corolla this family had in mind.
Search engine algorithms are not easily controlled by the Internet Sales Manager, the dealership or Toyota to drive business to their specific web site. Search engines are designed to scan a site's home page first and rank it as the most important page based on the relevancy of the search term entered by the shopper. For optimal organic results, the webmaster focuses on the broadest terms possible in the interest of attracting the widest possible audience. The net result is a home page focused on general terms to attract traffic with little or no regard for conversion rates. A high ranking home page is focused on visibility great for the Toyota shopper, but by design less effective for the Toyota Corolla shopper.
The SEM Experience
This same family driving on to the very same Toyota dealership in search of their Corolla has quite a different experience in the search engine marketing, or Pay-Per-Click world. In this scenario this family finds itself instantly sitting inside the vehicle they're shopping for, without the need to drive through the lot and bypassing the other vehicles on the showroom floor. This family is now sitting inside the vehicle with a focus on buying this particular car. This is the targeted, SEM landing page (http://www.toyota.com/corolla/features.html).
Where this family has a very specific vehicle in mind the Toyota Corolla keywords found by the SERP's are now Toyota Corolla, LE, XLE, S and XRS models. This family is likely further along in the buying process perhaps having eliminated all other Toyota models. Like this focused family, the SERP's are determined by the keywords and the SEM experience is more direct and more profitable for the dealer because the shopper has a specific request.
Using paid listings or Pay Per Click gives the dealer total control over the search results displayed after the users click. This landing page might be the Toyota Corolla, or even to specific models, new and used that you have in your available for sale in your current inventory. Most landing pages are designed to sell a specific product or service during that visit. As you know, EBay actually sells vehicles on the Internet, but few if any dealers do. So what good is a landing page to the Internet Sales Manager? A highly desirable used car will not only draw attention to that specific vehicle if used for a landing page, but also draw the visitor to your site.
Your Web Analytics software provides accurate tracking of every page of your site and while it is not perfect, the accuracy is far more reliable than any other marketing media. Landing pages are easily modified for the content that visitors see and can be customized based on the source of the traffic, the capabilities of the visitor’s computer or browser software, their behavior during the particular visit and their past history of interactions with your site. Countless content variations can be created and managed at little or no cost for a landing page optimization test. There simply are no landing page optimization experts, but at the end of the day all that matters is what your visitors respond to. And it’s these experts that you deal with everyday that will help you to perfect your work.
Landing pages offer an introduction to everything web sites are about, from structure to click-through, so it’s an ideal environment for an Internet Manager looking to learn and easily measure results. This page is more action-oriented and it serves the dealer well to take advantage of the Corolla shopper’s mindset. After all, the closer I am to the car I want the more likely I am to call the dealership or send an Internet lead to request more information.