I’m not here to preach one way or another about dealership microsites because if used correctly they can be very effective.  I’d rather tell you a story and let you decide for yourself on how best to apply them to your dealership (if at all).

I had a dealer in New York call me about two weeks ago inquiring into our dealer websites and SEO.  The first words out of his mouth were, “can you build me a bunch of microsites”?  My regretful response, “why”, led him into a 5 minute seminar on microsites helping with SEO, creating additional SEO rankings and hundreds of back-links to his website.   He also shared his theory on how automotive shoppers “hate dealers”, and that by taking the dealer’s brand away from a microsite makes the customer feel more comfortable to fill out a lead form.

My experience with microsites started in 2004 when I started an online marketing agency providing SEM/SEO services to Retail Automotive.  We were one of the first (if not the first) companies to market Search to car dealers.  Our core product was in-fact a microsite….we called it an “SEO sub-site”.  The SEO sub-site was born out of necessity because our first client’s website provider refused us access to the backend of the website where we needed upload our SEO code and content.  The client wanted SEO and we offered SEO.  Their website provider did not.  So we developed a work-around…

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Watch Video:
http://www.automotivedigest.com/video/video.aspx?nid=1&videoIndex=457

DALLAS, Apr 01, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) –

Dave Hanson has been named vice president of Interactive and Creative Services at ecarlist, a leading software provider to the automotive industry.

Prior to joining ecarlist, Hanson was director of Brand Marketing at Yahoo! Inc., where he led partnership development and interactive engineering to produce marketing programs for the company and its top advertisers.

Hanson will be responsible for ecarlist’s full-service interactive and creative division, according to ecarlist CEO Len Critcher.

“Dave combines strong creative and interactive leadership with great expertise in online consumer experience,” said Critcher. “I am thrilled to add him to our executive team. With Dave leading our interactive group, ecarlist will be positioned to grow its online product offerings and provide unparalleled creative services to our increasing dealership base.”

Hanson noted that ecarlist is considered to be one of the most innovative companies in the industry.

“I am very excited to join a team that is already producing such dynamic and visually stunning websites,” Hanson added. “I look forward to bringing an even higher level of functionality and usability, while streamlining operations to support the company’s rapid growth.”

The Interactive and Creative Services division will serve as an in-house agency offering custom website design, video production, online-media-campaign creative services, search engine optimization, automated specials integration, interactive lead capture and a full suite of online website capabilities tied to ecarlist’s inventory management software.

“Consumers today turn to the web as their primary source for research,” explained Hanson. “As a part of that process, their impression of your company is determined almost immediately. We will produce websites that are effective in converting web traffic to qualified leads, while building trust in the dealership’s brand, which in turn drives revenue for the dealership.”

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