Playing by the Rules

Two of the increasingly hot topics discussed this year are around the listing order displayed within Trade Me Motors and the usage of keywords. I am personally a big fan of internet neutrality and all it means for internet service providers and consumer access, however even in the big wide web world there still is the requirement for a few rules. If you have some free time Google J C Penney and Samsonite,  look for articles around the manipulation of search results. What we see on the web is dictated by the search engine we use for a number of reasons. The web is huge and so full of content that without the search engines indexing algorithms and a basic knowledge from your PC about your search behaviour you would never get relevant results along with some much targeted advertising. 

 Doug Pierce of Blue Fountain Media examined J. C. Penney's ranking on Google.

Companies like Google draw a strong distinction between those practices and techniques that are set to deceive search results commonly called ‘black-hat’ services and ‘white-hat’ approaches that are offered by legitimate SEM consultants. Everybody wants a more prominent web presence, but this has to be achieved within a set of rules and boundaries. Without this, consumers of the web will lack any relevant return on their search results. In the J. C. Penney case organic search results, those that are not ranked and displayed due to advertising payment were manipulated by the termination of hundreds of web sites links to the J. C. Penney website along with the wide spread use of keywords. The end result was J. C. Penny ranking higher is search results for Samsonite than the Samsonite companies own web site. Google took direct action against J. C. Penney and dropped their average search results from appearing in the first 1 or 2 down to a ranking around 52. Now that must have hurt.

Marketplaces are also open to the same practices and are generally policed in the same way search engines patrol the web. The goal is to always keep the consumer happy and coming back time and time again. For a site like Trade Me Motors there are a number of reasons why consumers keep returning. There is a feeling of immediacy and urgency around the auctions, and the classified listings content should be new and fresh. This is even more important now with mobile devices penetration growing giving customers ubiquitous anytime anywhere access. With each returning visit you never want to disappoint.

  

Keywords are a very efficient way of improving the quality of your Trade Me listings and being found within the keyword searches. The thing to remember about Trade Me Motors is that the keyword search is used both for keywords, and models. For any word or words entered into this field, the complete content of the listings are searched for results. This is hugely powerful.  There are broadly four types of keywords that you should consider when writing comments for vehicles. First, what features does this vehicle have and second, what benefits are standouts like safety, fuel economy, manual and a great first car etc? Third, make sure you include any common miss-spellings or miss-formatting of the model. An common example is including CX7 within the text for a Mazda CX-7. Lastly, list any selling point you have available from your dealership, like free nationwide delivery. A good clue as to what keywords are being used within the search field is to start typing then and you will see the most popular search terms automatically display. This is the ‘white-hat’ approach to keyword usage, and is all fine. What is tightly controlled by Trade Me is the  ’black-hat’ , predatory approach with the use of competitor makes and models keywords to gain an advantage within the search results and attract more people to that listing using lists of various car models. There is nothing worse than trying to search for a make and model and having the returned list containing unwanted results due to the incorrect use of or predatory targeting of keywords. This does not keep consumers engaged viewing your stock.   

 

On Trade Me, the listing order or ‘sort order’ as it is sometimes called is based on a calculation that contains a number of variables. Two of which is the date listed and the number of views a listing has generated. Above these there are two paid positions available at the top of all searches, the first being the Super Feature with the large post card images and the second being the yellow boxed Feature Listings.  Going back to my previous point that customers keep returning due to the listings always appearing fresh and new, this sort order is very important. The age old question of refreshing stock on the site reduces this experience with the returning of old listing to the top of the sort order.  If all dealers engaged in this practice, thousands of listing per day would re-appear at the top of the sort order and the newer listings would be quickly lost. At this point, nobody wins. Customers are also like train-spotters and quickly become dissatisfied with dealers whose vehicles keep returning to their watch lists. They also notice vehicles that have been sitting on Trade Me for long periods of time, that suddenly appear with a fresh date at the top of their searches –this can cause suspicion, and mistrust of that dealer.

So even though the internet is the largest non-owned entity in the world and for most part it is unregulated, the nature of it means that it does impose some of its own self-regulation. For the same reasons these guidelines are also in place for trading market places to ensure the best possible experience for the users - unless you happen to be a German living in a Coatesville mansion. 

The View From The Cheap Seats

When you live and breathe the internet and emerging trends each day it is easy to forget that from the outside it can seem ever-changing and confusing.  Sitting in the back row of the recent Autotalk Digital Dealer conference in Auckland and listening to the presenters and feedback from the floor, you can see why sometimes messages can appear to be a bit mixed.  However, when looking at the essence and trends presented, they were all very similar and relativity easy to understand.  Let me step through a couple as I saw them.

The internet and online selling is becoming more and more competitive and as a dealer you need to take two clear basic steps to ensure that you remain successful.

 

Step one is your overall web presence and for most of us this is centred on a company website.  As we all know a website alone means little without customers viewing its content.  To drive the public towards your website there are a number of options; two options which were discussed during the Digital Dealer were:

·         Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) - This allows any search engine like Google to view and understand the content of your website. The better search engines understand your website the more chance you have of being found by customers searching for content, or in most cases, vehicles or company details. Don’t be scared to ask your current website host about SEO and how they have optimised your site. The answer should not sound complicated.

·         Search Engine Marketing (SEM) – This is generally “paid-for” promotion of your website through the use of Google Adwords where your website is listed as an advertisement above or beside the organic/nonpaid search results. To not waste money on SEM you really need to seek expert advice or do a lot of research. The tools available are very good but can take a while to get your head around.

 

Step two is leveraging a market place like Trade Me to drive customers towards your website and ultimately in the door.  Just like the broader internet, Trade Me is highly competitive but there are a number of simple tools and features that can be used to guarantee a strong presence.  To achieve a similar result as SEM gives you on the web, products like Super Features guarantee top of search presence at a fixed priced with a large format.  As per any sales cycle, from this point you need to start closing the options down for the customer. This was presented by AutoPlay in that moving the customer back to your own more controlled website with the offer of additional information or video is advantageous.  By making this a simple link you remain far more in control of the customers experience.

 

Neither of the two steps above can be run in isolation and how you balance your spend across both is a tactical decision for your business and one it would be difficult for me to be seen as unbiased on.  In essence it comes down to calculating the best value for money and if you are an AutoBase customer ask your Account Manager for a full breakdown of your listings statistics to understand what traffic your spend is driving. Your website provider should also be able to similar information.

A Winter Focus

In the past, the change of seasons and the move into winter saw a dramatic change in shopping behaviour.  Nowadays this change is less pronounced, as potential customers are doing more and more shopping from the couch without braving the weather.  What this winter will see however is the growing trend in what has been coined as ‘the second screen’.  This trend has huge benefits for the industry and now is a good time to review if you are ready and optimised to take advantage of this to maximise those winter sales.

So what is the second screen? Over the years we have all been bored to death with TV and have generally understood that keeping up with a Shortland Street storyline only requires 1% of a person’s mental capacity.  Now most people are using the other 99% to surf the web with only one ear and eye on the TV.  In our house it’s Facebook, Pinterest and Trade Me for her and watching the daily tech news on You Tube for me.  Laptops and the widespread adoption of personal home based WIFI networks started this trend and now with cheap tablets and smartphones which require no time to boot or connect to the internet this trend has accelerated.  People also prefer using tablets (like an iPad) because booting a laptop up makes you feel like you are still at work.

Taking advantage of this captive audience should be no harder that reviewing your current online strategy and ensuring that it is sharp and focused.  The questions to ask are these: 

• Am I maximising my current spend and how is it split?
• Is my spend giving me the maximum online exposure to potential customers?

The split of this spend is very important and depends on your overall business strategy and brand value.  If you are a highly branded business with high brand awareness, you can justify a larger spend on Search Engine Marketing (SEM).  This is rather a huge topic, but at the core, if you do gain a position on the first page of a search, there still needs to be a drive for the person to click on your website link, and generally this is the power of your brand over the others listed.  For example, I could spend a fortune on Google AdWords and SEM to become listed on the first search page on Google for banks, however due to the fact that David’s Bank has no brand recognition, few people will click on my link.  SEM can be very effective if done right and the correct search terms selected but it does put you up against the big boys in the industry with generally a little more resource.

Next is the spend in open online market places like Trade Me.  These sites are highly competitive and to a point can be manipulated in a very similar way as SEM works on the wider web.  Like SEM, it is no secret that the more you pay the more you get; the main difference is that you are leveraging the value and appeal in the vehicle along the positives that purchasing from your dealership brings.  You do not need to have high brand recognition to be successful.  I am not saying that having a successful brand on places like Trade Me is not an advantage - it is, but as a second step when it is more relevant to the buyer.  As I have just got off the phone to Richard, I will use his company as an example:  I have found a list of Toyota Vitz’s I like, one is with Richard Howell Motors.  A while back I lived in Taradale and Richard is well known and respected within the local community; now at this point his brand is really starting to work its magic.  In this case also, a little more has been spent on the listings within Trade Me to also make it standout.

If you are not sick to death about hearing about the importance of mobile and mobile web sites, you will be by the end of this year.  Last year was the year of the mobile, this year is the year it really matters for business.  Not only should you have a smartphone now for handling enquiries at 10pm on a Saturday night, I hate to say it, but you have to have a mobile web site for your business.  Many articles have been written quoting mobile usage statistics, but don’t waste your time reading them - it’s here now.

Finally ensure that you do keep your online presence updated with any marketing or sales initiatives you have planned during winter and take advantage of that second screen your prospects are holding during Shortland St!