2009 ASMA Report

2009 Automotive Search Marketing Architecture Study November 2009 Rev A

Terms of Use This report and data contained in this study are property of the Pasch Consulting Group (PCG). The ASMA logo is property of the PCG and cannot be used or reproduced on commercial marketing materials, website pages, blogs, emails, or any other digital or traditional media without the expressed written permission from Pasch Consulting Group. The study report can be freely copied and distributed for personal use, discussion, and collaboration for non-commercial purposes. Companies mentioned in this report that would like copies of the study for commercial distribution purposes can contact PCG for permission and reproduction services. Copies of the 2009 ASMA study will be placed online so that any typographical or data collection errors can be corrected once the study is published. When referring to the 2009 ASMA study in online publications, please use the following link: http://www.dealer-seo.com/asma/2009-asma-study.pdf If you would like to report any data errors in the 2009 ASMA Study, please contact the Pasch Consulting Group at 732-450-8200 and we will correct the online PDF version of the report. The online version will be not be available immediately. Changes to websites after this report is published will not constitute a reason to update the data charts in this study. We have copies of website screen shots as they appeared prior to this study on file to corroborate our data and research, © 2009 Pasch Consulting Group, LLC - All rights reserved. 2009 ASMA Study - © Pasch Consulting Group - www.dealer-seo.com Page 2

Defining The ASMA This is the second year that the Pasch Consulting Group has underwritten a study to assist car dealers with evaluating automotive website platforms and integrated search marketing tools. This year many website platforms were considered and 34 made it into the final report. The 2009 ASMA study has included new criteria to evaluate automotive website platforms in order to measure their ability to enhance the dealer's search marketing experience. With multiple choices for dealerships to choose from, it was decided that the automotive industry needed an independent review of website technology providers. This year's report has expanded the scope of the original report to include more factors that affect search marketing; SEO, SEM, and Social Media. To the degree that social media tools, SEM and off-site SEO strategies are evolving, we expect next year's report to show expanded offerings targeted toward social media. Choosing Companies for the 2009 Study The list of companies that are contained in the study were compiled from public web searches as well as submissions from platform providers. Invitations to website providers to participate in the study were emailed whenever possible. PCG also posted the details of the upcoming study on automotive industry websites and national Internet press releases. The companies represented in this report were sent questionnaires to complete. Some companies listed in the study elected not to engage or respond to the questionnaires. Some companies in this study may not have received our questionnaires. Attempts were made to contact each vendor by email and phone to make the study data complete. Blank data on certain charts reflects lack of participation, without fault. Some vendors specifically indicated that they would not participate in the study. Automotive website providers were not required to participate in the questionnaires. Those that did respond helped our study team confirm that we were reviewing their latest technology. 2009 ASMA Study - © Pasch Consulting Group - www.dealer-seo.com Page 3

As consultants to the automotive industry, we have worked first hand with a number of the platforms included in the 2009 ASMA study on behalf of our automotive clients. The platforms that we have not had previous experience with are not at a measurable disadvantage. Our scoring is based on public information, viewable website architecture as well as answers provided by website providers directly. When we had questions about any of the finalists, we made sure we called and had our questions answered by the company principals. ASMA Study Goals The goals of the ASMA study are to present data accurately and fairly and to present our perspective on how these website marketing platforms impact search marketing. Since SEO, SEM, and Social Media marketing is an evolving field of study, there are not many absolutes that exist. To that end, our final recommendations are also based on our experience with automotive marketing and proprietary measurements that are property of PCG. We encourage all automotive professionals who are using this report as a guide for a future purchasing decision to confirm our findings with your peers and the companies listed in this study. The data provided in the 2009 ASMA study can serve to guide discussions with automotive platform providers and be a foundation for an educated evaluation of automotive marketing platforms. Next year we hope to expand the ASMA report to cover mobile marketing applications, a review of integrated lead management and CRM tools and expanded real life testing scenarios that simulate a consumer experience. With your feedback, the ASMA report will continue to evolve . Brian Brian Pasch, CEO and Founder Pasch Consulting Group http://twitter.com/automotiveseo Facebook Page 2009 ASMA Study - © Pasch Consulting Group - www.dealer-seo.com Page 4

Search Marketing Terminology We have created a dictionary of automotive search marketing terms to help readers follow the commentary in this study. These definitions are designed to assist readers who are not familiar with the vocabulary of Internet Marketing consultants.  Off-Site SEO – Optimization activities that build external links and traffic to a website from an outside website source. Posting a news article on a third party website that has a hyper-link back to your website is an example of an Off-Site SEO strategy. Off-Site SEO can also include business directory listings, review website listings, press releases, blogging, bookmarking, social media, ezine articles, document sharing, videos, and microsites. On-Site SEO – Optimization techniques that are implemented directly on your website pages or on the web server. This can include keyword optimized readable content, internal hyperlinks, Page Titles, META Descriptions, Alt Tags, sitemaps, and RSS Feeds. Internal Hyperlinks – Links that you create between two pages on the same website. The hyperlinked text should be an important keyword or phrase that you want to cross-reference to a previous article that was written on your website. Internet links tell the search engines that you value your own content and also provide a richer experience for the reader. External Link Building – Activities that create hyperlinks on keywords and phrases in content or links in the clear, on websites that point back to your website. External links will vary in quality based on the website where the link is placed. Websites with a high value traffic score (i.e. Google PageRank) with relevant content to your website are the best candidates for creating valuable external links. Each link is a vote for your website based on the keyword or phrase that is hyperlinked. Websites that have a high number of relevant keyword links are rewarded with better placement in Search Engine Result Pages (SERP). Sitemap – A sitemap is a file that contains a list of all pages on your website. The sitemap file is best created as a XML data structure; recommended by Google, Yahoo and Bing. Google recommends that sitemaps be registered using their free Webmaster Tools. The registration is solely to help website owners determine if there are any errors in the sitemap file that may affect search results. In theory, the sitemap file will aid the search engine “bots” to find all your website pages in case your navigational structure is not easily followed to all site pages. SERP – Is an acronym for Search Engine Result Page and refers to the data that is displayed by the search engines after you submit a search. The SERP is a combination of paid listings (sponsored links) and organic listings (natural). Each search engine uses a different algorithm to determine the data displayed on a SERP. 2009 ASMA Study - © Pasch Consulting Group - www.dealer-seo.com Page 5

SERP Asset Classes – A Search Engine Results Page (SERP) has been evolving to show a number of different media types (asset classes). When consumers do a search on a search engine, they are likely to see website listings, images, videos, a news alert or a map. Dealers need to ensure that their search marketing strategy includes content in all five asset classes. Page Titles – A text summary of the page which is part of the HTML file for each website page. The Page Title is often shown in a SERP underlined with the META description underneath. Page Titles should be unique and apply to the content of the page. Since page titles are shown in a SERP, they should be crafted to achieve a balance of SEO keyword goals and call to action. An ideal Page Title is not longer than 70 characters. META Description – A short description of a web page which is included in the HTML coding and is not visible on a web page. The META description normally shows under the Page Title in a SERP. META descriptions are often one or two short sentences that should also be a balance between keyword optimization and consumer call to action. Social Bookmarking – Submitting a link of a website page that you like to a bookmarking website. These websites allow you to add a short description and tags for your personal use and for others to see. Bookmarking websites include Del.icio.us.com, Mixx, Reddit, StumbleUpon, Technorati , and Digg. When done properly, these bookmarks can deliver links and traffic to a website and can be part of an Off-Site SEO strategy. (Top 20 Social Bookmarking Websites) 2009 ASMA Study - © Pasch Consulting Group - www.dealer-seo.com Page 6

Ezines – Websites that allow experts to post non-sales articles that serve to educate as well as provide content for free syndication. Each article site has different rules, but authors are allowed at least one link back to their website which can be beneficial in Off-Site SEO efforts. Popular articles, if syndicated on other blogs, normally include a credit link back to the author’s website which, in most cases, can add multiple links to their website. An example is www.ezinearticles.com . SEM –An acronym for Search Engine Marketing which is used to describe pay-per-click or paid advertising methods. This type of advertising relies on paying for ad placement on the major search engines. This is also referred to as Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising. Google Analytics - A free tool which is offered by Google to track visitors to your website. The data from each visitor is categorized by many factors which can help dealers determine the effectiveness of their search marketing strategies. The data collection process requires a small tag to be placed on the website code pages. You can only view analytics data from websites that you own and can place this code tag on its pages. (Google Analytics Signup) RSS Feed –An Acronym for Really Simple Syndication. AN RSS Feed is actually a text file that is updated when a new article is created on a website. The RSS Feed is equivalent to a dynamic table of contents; a pointer to your website pages. The RSS format is standardized so that these files can be consolidated and published around the Internet. Theoretically, if all blogs and new websites sent their RSS feeds into one place, and consumers could search that composite feed, you would have an independent search engine. Your blog RSS feeds would be registered with some of the best consolidators which include www.technorati.com and www.blogcatalog.com . 2009 ASMA Study - © Pasch Consulting Group - www.dealer-seo.com Page 7

Companies In 2009 Study The 2009 ASMA study included 34 website platform providers and were included regardless of their endorsement or cooperation in the study. The range of services offered by each company varies so we have chosen criteria that can properly evaluate the basic infrastructure of a car dealer website platform. The vendor websites that we reviewed to evaluate their technology are listed in Table A1 and A2. The study participants are listed alphabetically on the following two pages. For each company included in the study we reviewed at least three production websites to confirm the technology that is currently used by their clients. In some cases we found that multiple versions of their platforms exist with varied degrees of compliance. In these cases, we evaluated their most compliant platform which is most likely their latest implementation of their software. Table A1 (sorted alphabetically) Company Site 1 Site 2 Site 3 ADP/BZ Results ronduprattford.com toyotaofwaldorf.com teddynissan.com All Auto Network billkaypontiac.com reinaintlauto.com gartnercars.com Autofusion leavensvw.com toyotasantamonica.com circleautogroup.com Auto Lot Manager lambertgm.com autoshowdeals.com serpentinichevy.com ClickMotive jeffwylerflorencehonda.com primeinfiniticars.com rollinghillsnissan.com Cobalt capitalcadillac.com kiaofcoatesville.com rohrichlexus.com Dealer e-Process schepelcadillac.com gillespiechevy.com grossingercitytoyota.com Dealer Fire briggsauto.com mundaymazda.com kiaofchattanooga.com Dealer Impact nyhyundai.com holmesauto.com russdarrowtoyota.com Dealer Peak beavertoninfiniti.com westliefm.com rontonkinhyundai.com Dealer.Com longotoyota.com bmwseattle.com checkeredflag.com DealerConnection co.dealerconnection.com candmford.dealerconnection.com johncmiller.dealerconnection.com DealerHD bmwoforlandpark.com lombardtoyota.com chevy.rizzacars.com DealerON nashvillesuzuki.com cavalierportsmouthford.com diamondvalleyhonda.com DealerServe cannonnissan.com tobymurrynissan.com wendleinfiniti.com Dealerskins grandledgeford.com napletonmercedesbenz.com metroinfiniti.com DealerTrend jwford.com earnhardt.com renotoyota.com eBizAutos murraybmwofdenver.com lexus-jacksonville.com infinitiofscottsdale.com See next page for additional companies included in the 2009 ASMA Study . Not all companies asked to be included in the study or were willing to participate. We obtained publically available data to complete our charts as best as possible, to give the broadest picture of website providers on the market. 2009 ASMA Study - © Pasch Consulting Group - www.dealer-seo.com Page 8

Companies In 2009 Study (continued) Table A2 Company Site 1 Site 2 Site 3 Ecarlist.com straightlineautomotivegroup.com toyotaofplano.com northtexasnissan.com Higher Turnover marlinmotorsva.com seautobrokers.com planetauto.biz Izmo Cars michaelkiaofgroton.com rickcasehonda.com* eastbaybmw.com Liquid Motors iraaudi.com karlflammerford.com mywhalingcity.com MJMI reydelvw.com raycatenabmw.net bridgewaterinfiniti.com Nexteppe huntingtonhondacars.com lousobh.com grantmotors.net Portratz Partners metrofordny.com harrcjd.com Pure Dealer meadowlandsnissan.com mainlinehonda.com bridgewatervolvo.com Reynolds & Reynolds appletreeacura.net projeep.com jacksonvillehyundai.com Search Optics miramarvw.com sunroadauto.com keyescars.com Smart Web Concepts stocktonhonda.com nissanoffolsomlake.com carmichaelhonda.com TK Carsites marlboronissan.com pohankachevrolet.com/ infinitiofnorwood.com/ VinSolutions inskeepford.com mykcford.com britishmotorexotics.com/ Wilson Software Corp pearlautosales.com diamond2autosales.com grantmotors.net World Dealer findlaytoyota.com findlaykia.com daywestliberty.com XI Group marcmotors.com williamsnissanpa.com springfieldtoyota.com * Originally this was ww.rickcase.com and was changed to www.rickcasehonda.com which was where we evaluated the inventory module. The three production websites listed for each company were obtained in one of three ways: • Provided by vendor • Vendor's published website case studies or published client list • Google search for vendor name Not all vendors responded to the additional questionnaires that were emailed for their participation. Some vendors specifically indicated that they did not want to participate in the 2009 ASMA study. In cases where we did not have a confirmed answered to a question, the response area is left blank. Graphical Design & Conversion Rates The dealer websites in Tables A1 and A2 are not being graded for their graphical designs or their ability to convert a lead once a consumer arrives to the website. The ability to compare conversion rates between different platforms is beyond the scope of the 2009 ASMA study. We recognize the importance of conversion but have not yet determined how we might fairly test and rate conversion metrics. 2009 ASMA Study - © Pasch Consulting Group - www.dealer-seo.com Page 9

On-Site SEO Architecture The Google SEO Starter Guide, a free PDF document produced by Google, gives readers a primer on the basics of Search Engine Optimization. The document has a limited scope and only focuses on the basics of on-site SEO. After reading the Google guide, you will see that they give advice on: • Page Titles • META Descriptions • URL Design Google does not give any weight to META "keyword" tags and has recently confirmed that they ignore the META keyword tag on each website page. This is not to say the study of keywords or their use in content is not important, just the META keyword tag used in website programming in not a factor in how your website pages rank. Other search engines may not ignore the META keywords tag, so it is good not to leave it blank until further confirmations of its role by Yahoo and Bing. Page Titles Page Titles should reflect the content of page and should contain keywords that a consumer would type in to find your website page. Page Titles should not be more than 70 characters and should not be constructed like a perfect sentence. An example of an optimized Page Title for a dealership selling a 2010 BMW 328i Convertible in Boston could look like: 2010 BMW 328i Convertible For Sale Boston | BMW 3 Series Massachusetts META Description META Descriptions are short sentences that describe the contents of the web page. In the case of the 328i detail page, the META Description could be: 2010 BMW 328i Convertible Arctic White for sale in Boston from BMW of Peabody. Drive to Peabody and save on a new BMW 3-Series convertible. The META Description should not be longer than 150 characters. Some of the dealer websites we reviewed contained keyword spamming. This is an abuse of the META Description and Keywords tags. If dealer websites were found with keyword spamming, it shows a lack of oversight from the website providers. We strongly advise against this practice. 2009 ASMA Study - © Pasch Consulting Group - www.dealer-seo.com Page 10

Optimized URL In our study, an optimized URL pertains primarily to the car inventory list module and the detail pages for each car. The car detail pages should have a URL structure that enhances search matches for a particular year, make, and model. In the example below, the optimized URL has the year, make, and model as part of the URL page name. Optimized URL: http://www.usednissanboston.com/boston-used-2009-Nissan-murano-vid46738634-PR15070 Non-Optimized URL: http://appletreeacura.net/Preowned-Inventory.aspx?InventoryId=21003587 301 Redirect To prevent penalties of duplicate indexed content, a website should choose which version of their URL they want to index. For example, www.paschconsultinggroup.com and http://paschconsultinggroup.com are both valid domain names but the URL's should resolve to only one version of the URL name. A 301 redirect is often used to redirect all users to the "www" version of a website. Google SEO spokesperson Matt Cutts recommends that a 301 is placed to prevent " Canonical Problems," and we concur that it is good to have this in place. ASMA Basic SEO Scoring Based on our experience in the Automotive SEO field and guidance from Google's SEO Starter Guide, we have created a basic website compliance grid pertaining to inventory car detail pages. We scored each automotive platform based on four criteria listed in Table B. Table B has five colored section of vendors, grouped by their relative rankings for SEO architecture. All vendors in the top scoring group (green) should be viewed as equal in their ability to satisfy the four basic criteria. Eight companies scored perfectly on these four criteria. When one of these criteria was not met, we had to decide which criteria had the most weight on organic search results. We chose to overweight Title Tags and META Description tags as the two most important criteria, followed by the optimized URL, and lastly the 301 redirect. We believe that an optimized URL helps significantly with "long tail" organic searches for car detail pages. However, Google Webmaster Tools tracks and alerts webmasters on duplicate Titles and Descriptions. Good META description tags also become a call to action message in SERPS. 2009 ASMA Study - © Pasch Consulting Group - www.dealer-seo.com Page 11

Table B - SEO Basic Scoring Inventory Detail Pages 301 Optimized Redirect Optimized URL HTML Title Optimized HTML Company on Inventory Tags Description Tags Green Section Represents Dealer Fire Y Y Y Y Perfect Scores Dealer.Com Y Y Y Y (alpha ordered) DealerON Y Y Y Y DealerTrend Y Y Y Y Y eBizAutos Y Y Y Blue Section ecarlist.com Y Y Y Y Represents Non Optimized TK Carsites Y Y Y Y Inventory URL's. VinSolutions Y Y Y Y These companies Smart Web Concepts Y Y Y N are "contenders" Autofusion N Y Y Y and can compete and overcome ClickMotive N Y Y Y inventory Cobalt N Y Y Y disadvantages with other SEO Dealer e-Process N Y Y Y strategies. Dealer Peak N Y Y Y DealerHD N Y Y Y MJMI N Y Y N N Purple Section Nexteppe N Y Y Represents Non XI Group* Y Y N Y Optimized META ADP/BZ Results* Y Y N Y Description Tags. All Auto Network* Y Y N Y Dealerskins* See note See note missing N N Higher Turnover N Y N Tan Section Portratz Partners N Y N N Represents Non Optimized META DealerConnection N Y N Y Description Tags Dealer Impact N Y N Y and URL Names. World Dealer N Y missing N N Liquid Motors N N N Yellow section shows platforms Izmo Cars** N N N N with no Reynolds and Reynolds N N N N consideration for basic SEO Search Optics N N N Y architecture Wilson Software N N N N based on ASMA criteria. Auto Lot Manager N N missing Y DealerServe N N missing N Pure Dealer N N missing N 2009 ASMA Study - © Pasch Consulting Group - www.dealer-seo.com Page 12

Special Note - DealerSkins Inventory Architecture The Dealerskins platform "frames in" Inventory pages on the menu controls that consumers use so on the surface it looks like the pages are not on the main website. However, the pages are on the website. If you look in the sitemap, they link to pages that have optimized Page Titles and URLs. The special problem here is that their sitemap contains broken links to cars that are no longer in inventory. Their attempt seems to be to create index-able pages using a sitemap, but it seems that they are not updating the sitemap on a regular basis. Why frame in the inventory from your own website? If you go to a Dealerskins website like Napleton Mercedes Benz and go to their used car page, the URL is this: http://www.napletonmercedesbenz.com/used-inventory/ That page has an iframe which is listing cars from the same domain. <iframe height="0" width="826" src="http://www.napletonmercedesbenz.com/inventory/invHistory.cfm?lcid=346043&t ype=2&state=modellistings&80/used-inventory/" style="border: 0 solid black" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" name="historyFrame" id="historyFrame"></iframe> This is an inefficient design and creates an interesting dilemma in evaluating this platform. From a user standpoint, the activity does not show a changing Page Title or Page URL. So, does Dealerskins have pages that have Optimized Page Titles and URL's in a sitemap? Yes. Are they implemented in a way that causes unnecessary navigation and broken links? Yes. You will have to decide if this technology and implementation are suitable for your dealership. It seems like an outdated construct that was tweaked when it just should be completely re-written. Which is Better? Blue Section vs. Purple Section As previously stated, the primary difference between the blue and purple sections of Table B is that one has optimized URL names and the other does not. Some professional might argue that the Blue and Purple sections are equal. Others may argue that the Purple is better than the Blue since it is easier to correct. We are ranking the Blue section ahead of the Purple. This is an area of the report where the data has to be interpreted by the dealer and confirmed through their own testing. Since we are talking about inventory pages, manually fixing META description tags is not practical. ** Izmo cars contacted us to say that they do have inventory modules that are fully compliant on other client websites such as http://www.rickcase.com/roswell-hyundai 2009 ASMA Study - © Pasch Consulting Group - www.dealer-seo.com Page 13

Editing Static Page Titles & Descriptions In addition to inventory details pages, evaluated in the previous chart for SEO architecture, all dealer websites have static pages that also should be optimized. By static pages, we refer to pages that do not always have changing content on a daily basis. Examples of static pages are "About Us", "Directions", "Service Appointments", etc. On average, there are 20 static pages on a basic car dealer website. Every page on a car dealer website is important for search marketing. Consumers shop for OEM parts, service, and warranty information every day. If a dealer has the ability to optimize the Page Titles and META descriptions on their static pages, they have a distinct advantage as compared to platforms that have fixed, repetitive Page Titles and Descriptions. Example of Static Page Optimization If you search Google for "BMW service coupons Naples" you will notice that Germain BMW has a static page that is shown on page one of Google results. The "printcoupon.jsp" page has the words "BMW", "Service Coupons" and "Naples" in the Page Title. The words "Service Coupons" are also in the META description tag. The combination of these two tags, the URL, and the page content give Google all the clues to match up this search with that page. Platforms that allow dealers to carefully optimize each page on their website are giving their customers the ability to fine tune their search marketing keyword goals with content and tags. As important as this may be, many platforms in the 2009 ASMA study do not allow users to update their own Page Titles and META descriptions on static pages. Some vendors provide this service through their technical support department, which is inefficient but can resolve SEO compliance issues. Adding Content On The Fly In addition to the stock pages that come with a standard website installation, dealers today are learning that they need to add new content pages to their website on a regular basis. Content SEO strategies show that by writing about the car they sell, dealers can increase search traffic to their website. Less than 25% of the automotive platforms in the 2009 ASMA study allow dealers to add their own content pages. This functionality is similar to a blog which can add unlimited number of pages on a website. Table C, shows which platforms allow their customers to add pages off the primary website navigation without practical limits, like a blog. 2009 ASMA Study - © Pasch Consulting Group - www.dealer-seo.com Page 14

Table C - Functionality: SEO Editable Pages & Content Creation User Editable SEO Tags on Add New Pages on Custom Naming of New All Static Pages the Fly Page URL's ADP/BZ Results All Auto Network Autofusion AutoLotManager N N N Carbase.com Y N Y ClickMotive Y Y Y Cobalt Y Y Y Dealer e-Process Y Y Y Dealer Fire Y Y Y Dealer Impact Dealer Peak Dealer.Com Y Y Y DealerConnection DealerHD Y Y Y DealerON Y Y Y DealerServe Y N N Dealerskins Y Y Y DealerTrend Y Y Y eBizAutos Y Y Y ecarlist.com Y Y Y Higher Turnover N Y N Izmo Cars Y Y Y Liquid Motors Y Y Y MJMI Y Y Y Nexteppe Portratz Partners N N N Pure Dealer Reynolds & Reynolds Y Y Y Search Optics Smart Web Concepts Y Y Y TK Carsites N N N VinSolutions Y Y Y Wilson Software N N N World Dealer Y Y Y XI Group N N Y 2009 ASMA Study - © Pasch Consulting Group - www.dealer-seo.com Page 15

Check Unique Page Titles & Descriptions In Table C1, we analyzed one website from each vendor to see if they utilized best practices on the important dealer static pages. We looked for unique page titles and META descriptions on pages like service, parts, used cars, warranty, and specials. This is to check if the vendors practice what they preach. One way to see how well a vendor implements a dealer website is to check the pages using the "site:" command in Google. This command lists all the pages that it has in its index. It shows the Page Titles and Meta Description tags. If we found over 6 pages with the same Page Title tags or same META Description tags, we considered that a failing grade (N). Do You Allow Your Clients To Fail Basic SEO Tests In Table C, we listed which platforms have editable tags. The data in Table C1 checks to see if these platform vendors make sure that their clients utilize these features. The question that can be raised is controversial. Do companies publish a website with duplicate page titles and META descriptions and hope that the client changes them, or should they deliver a Google compliant SEO platform day one? From the data in Table C1, you can see all levels of compliance on websites that are in production today. In the example on the right, you will see that this website has Unique Page Titles but the META description tag is duplicated on every page shown. Google recommends unique META Description tags that pertain to the specific content on the page. In this example, it is clear that the Parts Page should have a different description from the Directions Page. 2009 ASMA Study - © Pasch Consulting Group - www.dealer-seo.com Page 16

TABLE C1 - Presence of Unique SEO Tags on key Static Pages (sorted alphabetically) Unique Static Unique Static Page Page Titles Descriptions Site Used For Review ADP/BZ Results Y Y ronduprattford.com All Auto Network Y Y billkaypontiac.com Autofusion Y Y leavensvw.com ClickMotive Y Y jeffwylerflorencehonda.com Cobalt Y Y capitalcadillac.com Dealer e-Process Y Y schepelcadillac.com Dealer Fire Y Y briggsauto.com Dealer.Com Y Y longotoyota.com DealerConnection Y Y co.dealerconnection.com DealerHD Y Y bmwoforlandpark.com DealerON Y Y nashvillesuzuki.com DealerTrend Y Y jwford.com eBizAutos Y Y murraybmwofdenver.com Izmo Cars Y Y michaelkiaofgroton.com Nexteppe Y Y huntingtonhondacars.com Search Optics Y Y miramarvw.com TK Carsites Y Y marlboronissan.com AutoLotManager Y N lambertgm.com Dealer Impact Y N nyhyundai.com Dealer Peak Y N beavertoninfiniti.com DealerServe Y missing cannonnissan.com ecarlist.com Y N straightlineautomotivegroup.com Higher Turnover Y N marlinmotorsva.com Liquid Motors Y N iraaudi.com MJMI Y N reydelvw.com Portratz Partners Y N metrofordny.com Reynolds & Reynolds Y N appletreeacura.net Smart Web Concepts Y N stocktonhonda.com VinSolutions Y N inskeepford.com Wilson Software Y N pearlautosales.com World Dealer Y N findlaytoyota.com XI Group Y N marcmotors.com Pure Dealer N N meadowlandsnissan.com Dealerskins N N grandledgeford.com 2009 ASMA Study - © Pasch Consulting Group - www.dealer-seo.com Page 17

Local and Statewide Searches We decided to do a few basic searches on the automotive brands, popular models, and local city names that pertain to the websites in this test. This is where the rubber meets the road, as some would say. To be fair, some dealerships are benefitting from their town name embedded in their domain name. Car dealer websites should be optimized for their brand, models, and the local communities that they search. These are not high volume search phrases but they are high converting search terms. We would recommend that the dealer have an optimized content page for every town in the PMA. Search on Brand, Model, and City Where Dealership is located Table C2 has some data that is expected, but eight dealer websites did not show up for a search that included their own city name and a popular car model. This table is confirmation just how far we still have to go as an industry to ensure that dealers show up for basic keyword searches without having to use PPC advertising. Example Search Phrase: Nissan Altima Marlboro Search on Brand, Model, and Nearby City Table C3 is an eye opener because it shows that many dealers have not optimized their website for local city names. In this table, we picked a local city not more than 10 miles from the dealership. We did a search for the brand, a popular model, and that nearby city. Only three websites came up on Google Page One for a significant nearby city name. Example Search Phrase: Nissan Altima Framingham Search on Brand, Model, and State Table C4 broadens the search to see which platforms are competing on the State level. Eight of the 34 website platforms came up for their brand, a popular model, and their state name. Statewide searches can be a good source for organic leads, especially when consumers are searching for used cars and willing to drive to find the exact car at a great price. Example Search Phrase: Nissan Altima Massachusetts 2009 ASMA Study - © Pasch Consulting Group - www.dealer-seo.com Page 18

Table C2 - Search in Dealer City (Ideal is position 1, 2, 3 or 4) Brand + Model + City Page 1 Position Site Used For Review All Auto Network Buick Lacrosse Downers Grove 1 billkaypontiac.com Dealer e-Process Cadillac DTS Merrillville 1 schepelcadillac.com Dealer.Com Toyota Camry El Monte 1 longotoyota.com Izmo Cars Kia Spectra Groton 1 michaelkiaofgroton.com Nexteppe Honda Accord Huntington 1 huntingtonhondacars.com TK Carsites Nissan Altima Marlboro 1 marlboronissan.com Dealer Peak Infiniti G37 Beaverton 1 beavertoninfiniti.com Smart Web Concepts Honda Accord Stockton 1 stocktonhonda.com Dealerskins Ford F150 Grand Ledge 1 grandledgefordlincolnmercury.com Autofusion VW Jetta London ONT 2 leavensvw.com Cobalt Cadillac DTS Smyrna 2 capitalcadillac.com Dealer Fire Dodge Caliber Topeka 2 briggsauto.com Liquid Motors Audi A4 Peabody 2 iraaudi.com DealerON Suzuki SX4 Nashville 3 nashvillesuzuki.com Higher Turnover Buy Here pay Here Virginia Beach 3 marlinmotorsva.com ADP/BZ Results Ford Mustang Dixon 4 ronduprattford.com ClickMotive Honda Accord Florence 4 jeffwylerflorencehonda.com MJMI Volkswagen Passat Edison 4 reydelvw.com eBizAutos BMW X3 Denver 6 murraybmwofdenver.com World Dealer Toyota Camry Henderson 6 findlaytoyota.com DealerConnection Ford F150 Fairbury 9 co.dealerconnection.com DealerTrend Ford F150 Reno 9 jwford.com Reynolds & Reynolds Acura TL Fletcher 9 appletreeacura.net AutoLotManager GMC Envoy Cuyahoga 10 lambertgm.com DealerHD BMW X3 Orland Park NOT THERE bmwoforlandpark.com Search Optics VW Passat San Diego NOT THERE miramarvw.com Dealer Impact Hyundai Elantra Queensbury NOT THERE nyhyundai.com DealerServe Nissan Sentra Greenwood NOT THERE cannonnissan.com Portratz Partners Ford F150 Schenectady NOT THERE metrofordny.com VinSolutions Ford F150 Greenfield NOT THERE inskeepford.com XI Group Nissan Altima Sanford NOT THERE marcmotors.com Pure Dealer Nissan Altima Hasbrouck Heights NOT THERE meadowlandsnissan.com ecarlist.com Independent Dealer straightlineautomotivegroup.com Wilson Software Independent Dealer pearlautosales.com 2009 ASMA Study - © Pasch Consulting Group - www.dealer-seo.com Page 19

Table C3 - Search in Nearby Town (Ideal is position 1, 2, 3 or 4) Brand + Model + Nearby Town Page 1 Position Site Used For Review World Dealer Toyota Camry Las Vegas 3 findlaytoyota.com TK Carsites Nissan Altima Framingham 5 marlboronissan.com Dealer e-Process Cadillac DTS Crown Point 10 schepelcadillac.com All Auto Network Buick Lacrosse Naperville NOT THERE billkaypontiac.com Dealer.Com Toyota Camry Rosemead NOT THERE longotoyota.com Izmo Cars Kia Spectra Long Hill NOT THERE michaelkiaofgroton.com Nexteppe Honda Accord North Port NOT THERE huntingtonhondacars.com Dealer Peak Infiniti G37 Tigard NOT THERE beavertoninfiniti.com Smart Web Concepts Honda Accord Lodi NOT THERE stocktonhonda.com Dealerskins Ford F150 DeWitt NOT THERE grandledgefordlincolnmercury.com Autofusion VW Jetta Toronto NOT THERE leavensvw.com Cobalt Cadillac DTS Vinings NOT THERE capitalcadillac.com Dealer Fire Dodge Caliber Manhattan NOT THERE briggsauto.com Liquid Motors Audi A4 Salem NOT THERE iraaudi.com DealerON Suzuki SX4 Clarksville NOT THERE nashvillesuzuki.com Higher Turnover Buy Here pay Here Chesapeake NOT THERE marlinmotorsva.com ADP/BZ Results Ford Mustang Sacramento NOT THERE ronduprattford.com ClickMotive Honda Accord Oakbrook NOT THERE jeffwylerflorencehonda.com MJMI Volkswagen Passat New Brunswick NOT THERE reydelvw.com eBizAutos BMW X3 Lakewood NOT THERE murraybmwofdenver.com DealerConnection Ford F150 Hebron NOT THERE co.dealerconnection.com DealerTrend Ford F150 Carson City NOT THERE jwford.com Reynolds & Reynolds Acura TL Mountain Home NOT THERE appletreeacura.net AutoLotManager GMC Envoy Munroe Falls NOT THERE lambertgm.com DealerHD BMW X3 Naperville NOT THERE bmwoforlandpark.com Search Optics VW Passat Lemon Grove NOT THERE miramarvw.com Dealer Impact Hyundai Elantra Rutland NOT THERE nyhyundai.com DealerServe Nissan Sentra Grenada NOT THERE cannonnissan.com Portratz Partners Ford F150 Scotia NOT THERE metrofordny.com VinSolutions Ford F150 Strington NOT THERE inskeepford.com XI Group Nissan Altima Springvale NOT THERE marcmotors.com Pure Dealer Nissan Altima Newark NOT THERE meadowlandsnissan.com ecarlist.com Independent Dealer straightlineautomotivegroup.com Wilson Software Independent Dealer pearlautosales.com 2009 ASMA Study - © Pasch Consulting Group - www.dealer-seo.com Page 20

Table C4 - Search in Brand, Model and State (Ideal is position 1, 2, 3 or 4) Brand + Model + NEARBY State Page 1 Position Site Used For Review TK Carsites Nissan Altima Massachusetts 2 marlboronissan.com Dealer Peak Infiniti G37 Oregon 2 beavertoninfiniti.com Dealer e-Process Cadillac DTS Indiana 3 schepelcadillac.com Liquid Motors Audi A4 Massachusetts 3 iraaudi.com Cobalt Cadillac DTS Georgia 4 capitalcadillac.com DealerON Suzuki SX4 Tennessee 5 nashvillesuzuki.com ClickMotive Honda Accord Kentucky 6 jeffwylerflorencehonda.com World Dealer Toyota Camry Nevada 8 findlaytoyota.com All Auto Network Buick Lacrosse Illinois NOT THERE billkaypontiac.com Dealer.Com Toyota Camry California NOT THERE longotoyota.com Izmo Cars Kia Spectra Connecticut NOT THERE michaelkiaofgroton.com Nexteppe Honda Accord New York NOT THERE huntingtonhondacars.com Smart Web Concepts Honda Accord California NOT THERE stocktonhonda.com Dealerskins Ford F150 Michigan NOT THERE grandledgefordlincolnmercury.com Autofusion VW Jetta Ontario NOT THERE leavensvw.com Dealer Fire Dodge Caliber Kansas NOT THERE briggsauto.com Higher Turnover Buy Here pay Here Virginia NOT THERE marlinmotorsva.com ADP/BZ Results Ford Mustang California NOT THERE ronduprattford.com MJMI Volkswagen Passat New Jersey NOT THERE reydelvw.com eBizAutos BMW X3 Colorado NOT THERE murraybmwofdenver.com DealerConnection Ford F150 Nevada NOT THERE co.dealerconnection.com DealerTrend Ford F150 Nevada NOT THERE jwford.com Reynolds & Reynolds Acura TL North Carolina NOT THERE appletreeacura.net AutoLotManager GMC Envoy Ohio NOT THERE lambertgm.com DealerHD BMW X3 Illinois NOT THERE bmwoforlandpark.com Search Optics VW Passat California NOT THERE miramarvw.com Dealer Impact Hyundai Elantra New York NOT THERE nyhyundai.com DealerServe Nissan Sentra Mississippi NOT THERE cannonnissan.com Portratz Partners Ford F150 New York NOT THERE metrofordny.com VinSolutions Ford F150 Indiana NOT THERE inskeepford.com XI Group Nissan Altima Maine NOT THERE marcmotors.com Pure Dealer Nissan Altima New Jersey NOT THERE meadowlandsnissan.com ecarlist.com Independent Dealer straightlineautomotivegroup.com Wilson Software Independent Dealer pearlautosales.com 2009 ASMA Study - © Pasch Consulting Group - www.dealer-seo.com Page 21

Improving Your Local Search Visibility The data in charts C2, C3, and C4 show that for many dealers there is ample room for improving local search optimization. If dealers are looking to increase their local search visibility, we have listed a number of free ideas that can be leveraged with only the investment of their time. 1. Create/Verify your Google Maps listing. Make sure that the data is correct, and in the description box, make sure you list the brands and services that you offer. While you are updating your Google Maps listing, use a call tracking number so you can see how many calls come in a month from Google Maps; you'll be surprised. Do the same for Yahoo and Bing. 2. Leverage Free Business Directory Sites. There are a handful of free business directory websites and review websites that appear often in search results for car dealers. There are hundreds of websites that give links, but only a few directories that actually appear on Google Page One or Two. Make sure you create/verify your business information. MerchantCircle.com for example, allows dealers to upload photos, videos, press releases, and even blog posts. Make sure your dealership has a free listing on: a. www.merchantcircle.com b. www.insiderpages.com c. www.judysbook.com d. www.yelp.com e. www.superpages.com 3. Create Content Pages For Every Town in Your PMA. These pages can contain testimonials from customers living in each town. Each page can feature the convenience of shopping at your dealership and how far a ride it is, door to door. With the right SEO architecture, you can ensure that your dealership shows up for every town search in your area that also includes your brand name. 4. Proposal Link/Banner Marketing With Local Businesses. Many dealerships have strong ties to other business owners in their communities. Consider creating banner ads that you can run on community websites. These links from local sites help to establish a good neighborhood of local links for your brand. Also ask that all charitable contributions be mentioned on the charity website with a link back to your website. Links from high quality .org and .edu websites are great for SEO. 5. Leverage Social Actions With Press Releases. When your dealership does local community events, leverage the event with good Internet press releases. These news alerts create the opportunity to add local town names to content that also contains your brand and dealership name. 2009 ASMA Study - © Pasch Consulting Group - www.dealer-seo.com Page 22

Marketing Modules & Tools The scope of software modules offered directly by each company in this study varies from providing only a website platform to companies that offer a suite of modules to cover various related aspects of search marketing. These additional tools can include CRM Software, Google Adwords Campaign Management, Internet Lead Management (ILM), Email Newsletters, and Video Integration. It is well understood that vendors can offer integration points with third party vendors and readers can contact each company to see who are their preferred integration partners. Table D shows which companies offer their own tools for direct integration into their platforms. For example, if a vendor does not have their own CRM tool but has integration a third party product, their grid will show a "No" answer for providing a CRM tool directly. Table D will then accurately reflect the scope of software services offered by each vendor. Looking Forward To 2010 In next year's ASMA report we hope to expand the scope of the ASMA study to evaluate the integrated modules offered by each vendor. This would be a considerable increase in the time needed to complete the study. We may develop a mid-year report that evaluates specific tools like CRM, ILM, and SEM management tools which are also an important part of the overall decision in choosing a website provider. The time savings that can be achieved through tightly integrated operations modules can be significant. This is often overlooked in purchasing decisions, since dealers can be lured into focusing on hard costs only. We also will be looking into mobile marketing and mobile web applications and their impact on search marketing and increases in direct leads and sales. 2009 ASMA Study - © Pasch Consulting Group - www.dealer-seo.com Page 23

Table D - Integrated Modules Vendor Offers Vendor Offers Their Integrated Vendor Offers Direct Own CRM/ILM Adwords Video Integration Modules Management Services ADP/BZ Results Y Y All Auto Network Autofusion AutoLotManager Y Y Y Carbase.com N N Y ClickMotive Y Y Y Cobalt Y Y Y Dealer e-Process N Y Y Dealer Fire N Y Y Dealer Impact Dealer Peak Dealer.Com Y Y Y DealerConnection DealerHD Y N Y DealerON N Y Y DealerServe Y Y Y Dealerskins Y Y Y DealerTrend N Y Y eBizAutos Y N Y ecarlist.com Y Y Y Higher Turnover N N N Izmo Cars Y Y Y Liquid Motors N Y Y MJMI Y Y Y Nexteppe Portratz Partners Y Y Y Pure Dealer Reynolds & Reynolds Y Y Y Search Optics Smart Web Concepts Y Y Y TK Carsites N N Y VinSolutions Y N Y Wilson Software N N N World Dealer N N Y XI Group Y Y Y 2009 ASMA Study - © Pasch Consulting Group - www.dealer-seo.com Page 24

Off-Site SEO & Social Media The role of Off-Site SEO is vitally important for a successful search marketing strategy. Table E lists the companies that offer SEO services directly to their customers , but we admit that the chart is not a reflection of the competency of the SEO services offered. Once a dealer website platform is optimized, (on-site SEO) the heavy lifting for search engine optimization starts. This include linking building and traffic generation strategies that have to be carefully implemented. This year we did not have the resources or testing methodology defined to evaluate link building, content building, and traffic statistics for companies that are offering SEO services to their clients. An additional complication in measuring Off-Site SEO services is that in many cases the SEO practitioners are reluctant to share what is included in their monthly SEO fee. There is no true transparency in what is included in a car dealer’s monthly SEO fee. Despite these challenges, car dealers must understand that without off-site SEO, the award winning platforms in the 2009 ASMA study can be easily eclipsed by any of the runner-up platforms. Off-Site SEO must be in every car dealer’s search marketing budget. The reason is clear: stagnant websites with no measureable increase in content, links, and unique traffic will drop in relative rankings. Therefore, if your current website provider does not offer SEO services, you need to investigate the companies that offer competitive Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies. Social Media Services New to automotive marketing in 2009 was the importance of utilizing Social Media to connect with consumers in new ways. In its simplest form, dealers need to get in the path of consumers and listen to what they are talking about and build themselves as a trust agent. Tools like Facebook, Twitter, and Ning are just some of the buzzwords that dealers must comprehend as they add Social Media costs to their marketing budget. In the 2009 ASMA study, only a few companies are offering social media marketing and we expect that number to grow in next year's report. The difficult task for car dealers in 2009 will be to decide who to trust to set up their social media strategy because it is NOT like any other previous strategy employed by car dealers. If you pick the wrong partner, you'll not only waste money but you will risk alienating your potential market. Example: Tweeting every new car that is listed in your store is NOT using social media properly. Adding every car sale, promotion, and "hot" car as a post on Facebook is NOT using social media properly. 2009 ASMA Study - © Pasch Consulting Group - www.dealer-seo.com Page 25

Table E - Company Direct SEO/SM Services Company Offers Company Offers Direct Social Media Company Offers Content SEO Services Services Writing Services ADP/BZ Results Y Y Y All Auto Network Autofusion AutoLotManager Y N N Carbase.com Y Y Y ClickMotive Y Y Y Cobalt Y N Y Dealer e-Process Y Y Y Dealer Fire Y Y Y Dealer Impact Dealer Peak Dealer.Com Y Y Y DealerConnection DealerHD Y Y Y DealerON N Y Y DealerServe Y Y N Dealerskins Y Y Y DealerTrend Y Y Y eBizAutos Y N N ecarlist.com Y Y Y Higher Turnover Y N N Izmo Cars Y Y Y Liquid Motors Y N Y MJMI Y Y Y Nexteppe Portratz Partners Y Y Y Pure Dealer Reynolds & Reynolds N N N Search Optics Smart Web Concepts Y Y N TK Carsites Y Y N VinSolutions Y N N Wilson Software N N N World Dealer Y Y Y XI Group Y Y Y 2009 ASMA Study - © Pasch Consulting Group - www.dealer-seo.com Page 26

Social Media Video & Microsites Graphics Document Blogs Portals Review Press Releases Websites Paid Bookmarking Advertising Portals Industry Main Ebay/AT/Cars Websites Website Off Site Internet Traffic Generation Car Dealers must come to terms with the fact that their automotive business is an "Internet Business." They can no longer pigeon-hole online activities to an Internet Department. Automotive retailers must place their dealership brand in the path of consumers. The paths that consumers may travel to get to a dealership website are many, as shown in the diagram above. These paths include SEO, SEM, Social Media, and Third Party Automotive Portals. The skills to place a dealership in the path of the online consumer are new to the automotive staffing model. Once On-Site optimization and conversion studies have fine tuned the physical dealer website, investments are needed to drive traffic from the channels shown in the above diagram. Dealer principals need to determine if adding headcount for an Internet Marketing Specialist is the best choice or is it more cost effective to hire consultants. Dealers have the opportunity to use this study to help select the best tools and partners to help them with their overall search marketing strategy. Since search marketing and social media tools are in their infancy, this is a learning experience for everyone involved. Regardless of the ever-changing strategies and tools available to dealers, business owners cannot wait to be an early adopter less they risk being over-run by their competitors. 2009 ASMA Study - © Pasch Consulting Group - www.dealer-seo.com Page 27

Awards Based on the analysis of the companies listed in this year's study and production websites used for evaluating their technology , we are pleased to recognize the companies that are providing car dealers with the best tools for search marketing and search engine optimization. Since any individual website can be optimized to the highest degree of compliance, we hope that we have raised the bar for all companies who seek to assist dealers with their search marketing needs. Last year only two companies were recognized for excellence and this year there are eight that pass our ASMA standards. Nine Industry Leaders Award This year we created the 2009 ASMA Industry Leaders Award to recognize nine outstanding companies that should be on the short list of any car dealer looking for an Internet marketing platform. Companies that fell short of receiving an award this year should also be considered based upon your needs as well as new technology that was not ready for the deadline of this study. Three Merit Awards In every field of commerce, the pursuit of excellence is often rewarded with a single trophy like a Gold medal in the Olympics. In the case of automotive website platforms it would be hard to consider one of these top nine companies as the overall winner. The needs of dealers can vary and elements of design, personality , and implementation often muddy the water for determining what is considered the absolute best. Poll any large group of car dealers and you will find both positive and negative comments about the same vendor. Politics aside, we believe that three companies have earned a special merit of distinction based on our evaluation of their platforms and also what we have seen online. These awards are meant to recognize the efforts of companies that are innovating and listening to the needs of their customers. They are not static companies and competition is at their core. These three special merit awards are: Most Comprehensive Search Marketing Platform Search Marketing Innovation Super Charged Search Marketing 2009 ASMA Study - © Pasch Consulting Group - www.dealer-seo.com Page 28

Winner of the 2009 ASMA Industry Leader Award (no specific order) 2009 ASMA Special Merit Awards Most Comprehensive Search Marketing Platform Search Marketing Innovation Super Charged Search Marketing 2009 ASMA Study - © Pasch Consulting Group - www.dealer-seo.com Page 29

2009 ASMA Special Merit Awards Most Comprehensive Search Marketing Platform Award Dealer.com was chosen for this special award in 2009 for the significant updates to their platform since we last reviewed their technology in 2008. Since our last study, Dealer.com has improved their inventory listing module and opened up their platform for customers to add unlimited pages of content on the fly. Dealers can also update the important titles and tags for each page on their website which was formerly handled by their technical support team. Dealer.com Total Control Dominator (TCD) tool which manages pay-per-click campaigns is truly innovative technology which simplifies the process of creating an optimized pay-per-click marketing campaign. Dealers who are looking for direct integration for Google Adwords and automated campaign creation based on inventory status (new or sold) should consider the technological advantages that TCD offers to reduce manpower and manual errors. Dealer.com has been criticized in the past about the SEO strength of their platform and to their credit they have addressed all the concerns that we had in last year's report. Third party consultants can now work inside the Dealer.com platform to optimize Titles, Description, and add unlimited optimized content pages with direct placement on the main navigation menu. The ability to integrate third party SEO consultants into the dealer's overall marketing strategy takes away any previous concerns that Dealer.com was not opening up their platform for marketing collaboration. Of the 34 platforms reviewed in the 2009 ASMA study, only Dealer.com had a fully compliant search marketing platform that included highly integrated technology for CRM, ILM, Video, and Google Adwords campaign automation. Dealers looking to consolidate search marketing tools and costs should consider the latest platform enhancements from Dealer.com. The 2009 Dealer.com platform is not the same old platform that dealers may have tested years ago. The cost savings that Dealer.com offers in consolidated data tracking and reporting should not be dismissed. Congratulations to Mike DiCecco and the Dealer.com team for listening to the marketplace and making the right changes to your comprehensive platform. 2009 ASMA Study - © Pasch Consulting Group - www.dealer-seo.com Page 30

2009 ASMA Special Merit Awards Industry Innovation Award Dealer Trend is a company that has been under our radar until recently. Dealer Trend has been developing an award winning platform for car dealers and we love it. This newcomer to the automotive website playground has actually been amassing clients on a slow pace as they finalized their technology platform. In addition to scoring perfectly on all the basic criteria on the 2009 ASMA SEO checklist, Dealer Trend has a few unique capabilities that are perfectly timed for content based search marketing and SEO. Their automotive website platform capabilities include an integrated WordPress Blog, the ability to change themes and car detail layouts on the fly, and unlimited content creation. We are not aware of any other website platform that can change their overall skin at the touch of a button. They have taken the WordPress methodology to automotive websites with amazing results. To seal the 2009 Innovation award, Dealer Trend created the industry's first publically available, robust WordPress Inventory plug-in which can empower stand alone microsites and blogs with current dealer inventory. This technology has just taken "thin" WordPress microsites and transformed them into robust marketing and lead generation tools. We congratulate Mike Fitzpatrick and the Dealer Trend team for their attention to detail and providing a compelling reason to investigate their website platform. 2009 ASMA Study - © Pasch Consulting Group - www.dealer-seo.com Page 31

2009 ASMA Special Merit Awards Super Powered Search Award TK Carsites was not an award winner last year , but what a difference a year can make. Its previous website platform technology implemented framed inventory which places car listings outside of the dealers primary website. This year, TK Carsites has released a number of major improvements, including a Google SEO compliant inventory module, embedded blogging , and dynamic homepage banner graphics. The TK homepage can change banner advertising messages based on which search terms a consumer uses to reach the dealer's website. TK Carsites "Super Powered Search" award was based on their utilization of search marketing strategies that are not leveraged by other automotive website vendors. Microsites and landing pages are not new to the search marketing community, but how TK Carsites implements these two strategies delivers unparalleled results. In addition to their cutting edge on-site SEO tactics, the company also offers off-site SEO services and social media marketing tools that generate traffic formerly unheard of in the industry. Of all website providers reviewed in this study, TK Carsites is the only vendor we consider who is pushing the SEO and Social Media envelope. As independent SEO consultant, the Pasch Consulting Group, strives to keep pace with the latest in SEO strategies and methodologies. TK Carsites is a worthy competitor and a thought leader in Internet Marketing. Brian Pasch, CEO of the Pasch Consulting Group has stated publically "TK Carsites is the only website provider that I do not look forward to competing with on SEO and Social Media." We congratulate Richard Valenta, JD Rucker and the TK Carsites team for the technological accomplishments in their new platform as well as leading the way for SEO and Social media innovations. 2009 ASMA Study - © Pasch Consulting Group - www.dealer-seo.com Page 32

List of Third Party Tools Since this report will be utilized by car dealers who are considering a purchasing decision, we selected list of companies that offer complimentary services to the automotive platforms reviewed in the 2009 ASMA Report. • Vauto - Vehicle Pricing, Appraisal and Stocking Tools - http://www.vauto.com • Dealer Socket - Automotive CRM Tools - http://www.dealersocket.com • DealerUps - Automotive CRM Tools - http://www.dealerups.com • HomeNet - Automotive Inventory Management & Marketing - http://www.homenetinc.com • AVV - Automotive CRM/IRM - http://avv.com • Higher Gear - Automotive CRM/IRM - http://www.highergear.com • CAR-Research - Automotive CRM/ILM - http://www.car-research.com • Response Logix - Internet Lead Management (ILM) - http://www.responselogix.com • Sega Systems - Craigslist Posting Services http://www.segasystems.com • BDC in Motion - Dealer training services which includes BDC setup, sales training and Internet Department workflow and process documentation. http://www.bdcinmotion.com 2009 ASMA Study - © Pasch Consulting Group - www.dealer-seo.com Page 33

http://www.automotivewebsiteawards.com	47
http://www.asmaawards.org	22

2009 ASMA Report

by Brian Pasch on May 18, 2010

Accessibility

Categories

Tags

Upload Details

Usage Rights

2 Embeds 69

Statistics

2009 ASMA Report — Document Transcript