eCarList has launched a brand new Health Status report as part of our growing analytics suite. The new health status report will provide measurable insight into your dealership’s key marketing initiatives in one easy to read system.

Key areas of monitoring include:

	Operations Health of photos, pricing, descriptions, options, and videos.
	Distribution Instant insight into feed distribution that includes specific vehicle information transmitted to eBay, AutoTrader, and Cars.com.
	Pricing Consolidated view of pricing and aged inventory.
	Leads Track email and phone leads from all sources including eBay, AutoTrader, Cars.com, your website, and more.

Take a look at the all new Health Status now available inside your eCarList software account. Inside you will find a video tutorial showing how you can take advantage of this incredible new tool.

Need a Demo? Click Here or call (866) 766-5478

FINALLY! For all you dealers fumbling around in the darkness that is Social Media integration, it seems like somebody may have found the light switch…or at least turned on a night light.

Yesterday bing announced they would integrate Twitter updates in their search results. And because search engine land is more competitive than the NFC East conference, Google announced the same day that they, too, would integrate Twitter into their search results.

All of this is in attempts for the search engines to move to more of a “real-time” display of search engine results. Meaning, instead of typing in “Malibu Surf Report” and getting a PDF from 2003, you’ll now get real-time results from Tweeters on the sand in Malibu putting on their rash guards (in theory). This is a huge movement in the Search world, which has been really floating by over the years tossing around ideas of local search, vertical search and real-time search. Finally.

So what does that mean for you as an automotive dealer? It means getting your inventory on Google and bing directly…and in real-time.

How does it work?  The engines are going to crawl Twitter data no older than a week and display them in order.  What order?  AHHH, therein lies the question of all questions.  How does any search engine rank results - relevance and popularity.  So if your Tweet is relevant to the keyword search, and Tom’s Ford has more Twitter followers than Bob’s Ford, Tom is going to get the ranking for “2010 ford mustang”.

I am very happy to see things come together considering my last post, “YouTwitFace”, had the theme of a big thumbs down to dealership Social Media integration.  So for now, what I would recommend is promoting Twitter on your websites.  Offer incentives, coupons, car washes..whatever to people who sign up to follow you on Twitter and also facebook, who’s integration with the engines is just around the corner.

We’ll do our part by getting your inventory to Twitter.

Stay tuned.

Tweet ya later.

DALLAS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Carfax and eCarList have teamed up to help dealers more effectively market their online inventory.

Dealers using eCarList’s inventory management software can obtain Carfax information and make it available with their vehicles listed online. Used car shoppers get the information they need up front to make faster buying decisions.

“Our intent is to create a seamless user experience for online car shoppers,” said Len Critcher, eCarList’s CEO. “The Carfax brand is recognized throughout our industry and further reinforces the credibility of online data we provide. Forward-thinking dealers understand that the added value of the eCarList inventory management program helps generate sales and improve the online customer experience at the same time.”

Previous independent studies prove that cars sell faster and for more money when Carfax Reports are included with online listings. Subscribing dealers can purchase Carfax Reports directly from the eCarList platform. Online shoppers see vehicle history highlights like Carfax 1-Owner and reported accidents within the vehicle listing and get the full Carfax Report for free.

“Having Carfax Vehicle History Reports available through eCarList enhances the Park Place brand and helps us improve our customers’ experience,” said Frank Sobyak, director of Internet Business Development at Park Place Dealerships in Dallas, Texas. “Using these powerful tools we can easily identify the cars our customers want and reassure them that they’re getting only the highest-quality vehicles. Every vehicle we list on our site has a free Carfax Report to build customer confidence and support our fine reputation.”
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Our commitment to excellence in customer service continues as we launch the new eCarList Help Desk.

Two easy ways to use:

1. Simply submit a trouble/help ticket by emailing (support@ecarlist.com) and an account will be created for you.

2. Create your own account to track current, and past, ticket logs and have access to our growing eCarList resource help center.

Click below to view a brief video overview of the new Help Desk system.

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We recently launched a remarkable new product that automatically keeps your website up-to-date with the latest new vehicle rebates and incentives from the manufacturer.

Check out my quick video demo….

Download PDF: eCarList Automated Incentives

Real-time rebate and incentive data automatically matched to your website inventory.

• eCarList automatically updates your website with comprehensive incentive information tied to specific vehicles in your inventory.
• Display all programs available in your region within hours of release by the manufacturer.
• Instantly upgrade your website content to correspond with manufacturer advertising.
• Incentive information is displayed directly on your inventory and vehicle pages without frame-ins or pop ups.

PRESS RELEASE RE-PUBLISHED FROM - TOYOTA OF LEWISVILLE

Lewisville, TX - Toyota of Lewisville is excited to announce our new, redesigned website. The address will remain the same, but the look and function of the website has improved to make navigation easier and faster. We want to welcome you to the Toyota of Lewisville redesigned website at www.toyotaoflewisville.com.

We wanted our customers to have a better user experience when they visited our website. So the new website has a brighter, more visually appealing look and feel. The company has also uploaded more photographs of the vehicles. There are more advanced options to help you find the exact vehicle you are looking for. We took an innovative approach by creating the website with dynamic colors in the icons which resemble the characteristics of an smart phone.

“eCarList dealer websites help reach an audience of highly-engaged potential buyers,” said Dave Hanson, Vice President, interactive and creative services, eCarList. “The new Toyota of Lewisville website is a more engaging and faster loading user experience with better vehicle search, integrated social media, and compelling eCarList AutoReel video content.”

“We are very excited to show proof of the eCarList platform’s results in regards to SEO,” says Terrence Gordon, Vice President, search and media, eCarList. “Our limited use of flash, dynamic inventory SEO and overall improved search engine indexing has given our dealers more exposure out the gate with the option to upgrade to even more aggressive SEO if necessary.”

The new website will allow clients to research different vehicles in a virtual showroom atmosphere. The virtual showroom will provide a range of multimedia presentations that show 360 degree interior and exterior views by eVox technologies. This is the next best thing to actually taking one of our cars for a test drive.

Rene Isip, owner of Toyota of Lewisville said, “We are always focused on being on the leading edge of 21st Century Marketing and the new website brings together lightening fast inventory load times, low prices and great Toyota products and even our Facebook, YouTube and Twitter pages. With cars like the Prius, Toyota has always been a technological leader and our dealership is headed down that same path with this new website.”

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eCarList had the pleasure of hosting its semi-annual meeting yesterday at the Hotel ZaZa in Dallas.  Our growing team gathered to reflect on past successes and get focused on future initiatives.

I want to thank every member of the growing eCarList team for making yesterday’s meeting such a success.

The other night, I’m watching the Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien do his famous “In the Year 3000″ routine in which he and his sidekick, Andy, make ridiculously silly predictions about the future.  One of Conan’s predictions was, “In the year 3000, You Tube, Twitter and Facebook will merge into one massive time-wasting website called, ‘YouTwitFace‘.   Apart from it being hilarious, it got me thinking.  Is Social Media being taken seriously, or do we have just another Internet micro-bubble on our hands?

I personally believe social media used in the right capacity can be beneficial to you both personally and professionally.  I have a Facebook account, a LinkedIn account and I belong to a couple Automotive social networks.  I use Facebook on my iPhone when I find myself waiting for my car to get washed or my steak to get to medium-rare.  LinkedIn has done absolutely nothing for me, but I know people who rely on it heavily for business networking.  I don’t have a MySpace account…because, well I’m a male above the age of 15 and I don’t play in a band…yet.

Now what about car dealers?  Tweeting?  Really?   (more…)

Do you consider yourself a progressive dealer?  Is it something innate, or learned?  I consider myself a pretty successful guy…or at least strive to be one, but I know people who still sit around watching COPS all day playing the lottery and eating Long John Silvers.  With major companies crumbling because of bureaucracy, stubbornness, fat-dumb-and-happy-syndrome…or all of the above , wouldn’t you assume that dealers more than ever would focus on bettering their processes to push themselves out in front for the new generation of car buyers?  You would assume.  As do I.

I want to talk about my favorite dealer to-date.  His name is Brian Hoskins…from Brian Hoskins Ford in Pennsylvania.  Why do I like Brian so much?  Aside from the fact he’s a super likable guy, Brian Hoskins is Brian Hoskins, yes the owner.  And he is INVOLVED.  Brian Hoskins cares about his store and shows concern about the future, and has genuine ambition to be the best regardless of how big or how small his store is.

Before Brian came to us, he had one of those OEM “Here, Use This”  Dealer Websites.  The site was convoluted, hard to navigate, outdated, mundane…and worst of all it had zero rankings on Google - even when you searched for “Brian Hoskins Ford”. (more…)

I joined eCarList nearly three months ago and have yet to write a single blog post — a fact that our president reminds me of frequently.  So, here goes.

First, some background: I came to eCarList because I saw an amazing opportunity to transform the way the automotive industry markets itself online starting at the local dealer level.  The internet has matured greatly over the past 10 years, but quite frankly, car dealers have lagged behind.  There are a handful of companies that build websites for the industry and I think most are doing their clients a disservice.

I have directly been a part of the web transformation, having worked at internet giant Yahoo! since 1999.  My experiences in marketing, branding, website usability, and online consumer behavior have shaped the way I think about selling cars and promoting dealerships online.

eCarList is a rare find in the automotive space; it’s a company that gets it.  I am fortunate to now lead such a remarkable team of talented designers, front end engineers, and project managers.  They understand the automotive market, yet are light-years ahead of what the industry is accustomed to. (more…)