For those interested in learning more about the ins and outs of SEO, this Infographic by Blogging Pro really spells it out in stunning visual fashion. SEO is such an integral part of any car dealer’s marketing strategy that having a basic understanding can be helpful. With so many SEO and web providers out there claiming to have the best automotive SEO, being armed with knowledge is your best bet.

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This month marked the launch of Google’s new search index, called Caffeine. By now you’ve probably noticed an array of changes in search results pages. Among the changes included in this update are faster indexing of pages and quicker search results, both of which will be helpful for searchers and website owners alike.

With all of these new changes, let’s look at what website owners and SEOs in particular need to consider to take advantage of Caffeine.

Watch Page Load Speed

With faster indexing and results, it’s only natural that Google has made page load times more important than ever before. In the past, site speed hasn’t played too much of a role in rankings. But with Caffeine, if pages on your website are taking 2 seconds, or 3 seconds, or longer to load, you run of risk of being penalized. That said, don’t fret too much if your site isn’t the speediest. Google’s Matt Cutts pointed out that fewer than 1% of search queries will change as a result of incorporating site speed into Google’s ranking, and therefore fewer search results will be affected. Google also has loads of tools available to help analyze and improve the speed of your website.

Get On Board With Social Media

The speed of results and indexing has also fueled an emphasis on real-time Web results. As a result, producing a steady stream of fresh content on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter is crucial. Social media connections have never been more important as Google continues to leverage social media sites to curate the most relevant search results possible.

Quality Content and Promotion Reign Supreme

Producing quality content on your website or blog has always been important for improved search rankings. But with Caffeine, website owners needs to kick things up a notch and think of themselves less as marketers and more as publishers!

The Caffeine update has brought real-time results to the forefront of search, and this will ultimately boost relevancy and usefulness for users. With the incredible volume of content that Caffeine can consume, and the rate at which it can now consume it, publishing content on the Web has never been more exciting.

As Matt Cutts puts it in the video below, “Everything’s better with caffeine.”

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Each year Portland-based SEO David Mihm releases the results of his Local Search Ranking Factors survey. Along with 34 other respected SEO practitioners and marketers, Mihm outlines the most important, or heavily weighted, variables needed to rank competitively in local search. In total there are 69 factors considered and each can range from -5 to +5 in overall importance.

Guides to SEO ranking factors are not necessarily always spot on, but they do provide excellent insights from those that are intimately involved in the search landscape day in and day out. They’re also helpful for business that want to prioritize their marketing efforts.

The top five local search ranking factors for 2010 are:

1. General Importance of Claiming Place Page / Local Listing (+4.40)
2. Business Address in City of Search (+4.16)
3. Associating Place Page with Proper Categories (+3.91)
4. Volume of Citations from Major Data Providers + IYP Portals (+3.53)
5. General Importance of Off-Page / Off-Listing Criteria (+3.35)

The top five negative local search ranking factors are:

1. Negative Review Sentiment (Most Benign)
2. Negative Ratings
3. Location Keywords in Categories
4. (800) Phone Number on Website w/o Local Area Code
5. (800) As Primary Place Page Number

For more of Mihm’s thoughts and research on local search, check out some of his articles on Search Engine Land. For the full list of ranking factors, visit the Local Search Ranking Factors Report for 2010 now.

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Just last week Google announced one of their newest products, Google Buzz. Buzz leverages existing products but introduces all-new social functionality. Already Google has contributed to the social web with a number of other products, but Buzz marks an exciting new direction into social networking, despite being late to the game.

After only a week, reactions to Google Buzz have been mixed, and changes to the product are already underway as Google is addressing a number of concerns centering on privacy and security. But before we jump ahead, let’s look a little more closely at what exactly Google Buzz is all about.

What is Google Buzz?

Google Buzz is built right its Gmail, enabling anyone with a Gmail or Google Account to access Buzz. The benefit of this new social networking tool being built into Gmail is that users don’t have to add friends or search to see if their friends are already on Buzz. Instead, Buzz automatically follows the people you email and chat with the most. It’s integration with Gmail also easily enables quick sharing of content, such as photos, videos and links.

The official launch of Google Buzz was last Tuesday and it quickly rolled out across all Gmail accounts throughout the remainder of the last week. In addition to allowing users to easily share various types of content, Buzz also enables users to connect to other websites such as Picasa, Flickr, Google Reader, and Twitter, and bring content from these sites to the user’s followers all in one place on Buzz.

Thanks to its Gmail integration, Google Buzz also delivers updates to conversations, or responses to your posts, directly into your Gmail inbox. And, these updates are not the typical static email messages like those from other social networking sites. Instead, Buzz messages in your inbox are live conversations where comments appear in real time. Google Buzz is also available via mobile devices, so even if you’re constantly on the go, it’s always easy to share content.

Problems Surrounding Google Buzz

Google Buzz appeared to get a good start, and offered incredible functionality that made online conversion and content sharing relatively easy and convenient. But unfortunately, there were several flaws that quickly became apparent.

The first issue that concerned users was that once they opted into Google Buzz, there was no way to opt back out. In addition, Buzz automatically followed people that users emailed frequently, which is great for friends and family, but this feature also follows people that perhaps you wouldn’t want to follow, at least not publicly, such as clients and other relationships that users would otherwise need to keep private. Google also did not provide enough information on how to use Buzz, and failed to provide adequate documentation. Lastly, there was no easy and obvious way to modify user settings for Buzz.

While not every Buzz user had grievances, these inconveniences sparked outrage over the sloppy release of this product. Despite setbacks, Google has responded to complaints and concerns, and at the time of writing this post have already provided a number of major improvements.

Is Buzz Really a Facebook/Twitter Killer?

Some of the buzz surrounding Google Buzz is that it may become the social networking app of choice over Facebook, Twitter, and others. While the launch of Buzz had its fair share of hiccups, the folks at Google have been quick to respond to complaints and change their product. By acknowledging their mistakes and addressing concerns, Google is working hard to keep customers happy. Their lightening fast responsiveness also shows how committed they are to making this particular product a success.

Although Mashable claims Buzz has completely changed the game, after little more than a week in use it’s really anyone’s guess whether it will pose a threat to competing social media sites in terms of active users. However, users are already identifying unique opportunities to make Buzz a tool for productivity, research, and other uses.

Gmail will likely help make Buzz a competitive threat. With 38 million unique visits per month in the U.S. alone, Buzz is already larger than Twitter, but naturally still has yet to match Titter’s level of user engagement.

Web Strategy Matrix: Google Buzz vs Facebook vs MySpace vs Twitter

*Matrix courtesy of Jeremiah Owyang.

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There are countless variables that SEOs must contend with in order to attain competitive rankings. Getting to number one in the search engine results pages (SERPs) doesn’t require one or two helpful tactics, but numerous tactics and a sound strategy that will help a site battle countless competitors that are actively trying to rank above you.

Start Off Right

Time and time again, SEO can easily become an afterthought and it’s often included only after a website’s design and structure has been finalized. When this happens, SEO and usability could suffer. If rankings and the user experience begins to suffer, so too will conversion rates.

Website design can often impair search engine rankings, and SEO and design should go hand in hand from the start of the development process. If titles, headings, content, navigation, and inner page linking structures are finalized before SEO comes into the process, then the design of the website becomes impaired from the start. These components are keys to SEO and usability, so they should not be discounted or considered last minute.

Don’t Rely Solely on Flash

Flash is another huge topic of debate. Flash content is often praised by clients for its ability to provide visually appealing content and animation. Unfortunately, content developed in Flash is generally not readable by search engine crawlers at this time. While too much flash could pose as a roadblock to search engine rankings, that doesn’t mean websites have to be void of flash completely. A successful website design is one that balances eye-grabbing visual components with search engine friendly HTML and text-based content. The trick is capturing the best of both worlds!

Keep It Structured

Another area that often is left to those designing the website is the URL structure. Once pages are created and named and navigation is in place, it often becomes difficult to overcome poor naming conventions. Again, it’s crucial that SEO is infused in URL structure from the beginning so that keywords can be included not only in high level pages, but also in deeper inner pages.

Embrace CSS Styling

Cascading style sheets or CSS can actually improve the SEO friendliness of a website’s design. If your website is done with tables, there’s no need to fret. But having external CSS can reduce the amount of unnecessary code on each web page of your site, thereby improving load times. This not only appeases users, but it also appeases search engine spiders since it allows spiders to crawl your website at a faster pace.

Give Images Some Attention

Images are always going to be used in some area of your website, and while search engines can’t understand the visual content within an image, that’s not to say images can’t be SEO friendly. Use ‘Alt’ tags to infuse images with textual information. By using a keyword-rich alt tag, search engines get a sense of what an image is about. In addition, other than a website’s logo, try to avoid placing text within images. Instead, use CSS to position text around an image. This will make image sizes smaller and easier to load, and it will also make that text crawlable by search engine spiders.

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Get your fix of automotive SEO information on this blog.

It wasn’t long ago when directory submissions were one of the most important tactics available to SEOs. But these days, link building has become more diverse, and directory submissions have lost their luster in response to emerging link building tactics that have involved blogging, bookmarking, and other social media marketing tactics.

With the continuing popularity and diversity of various social media sites, directories have continued to become less popular and less relevant. In addition, since the heyday of directory submissions, Google has changed their algorithm to account for the spam that typically plagues popular free directories. Google has also warned against using paid links for link building, and this also includes directory links.

While directories may have become less influential as far as Google is concerned, this is not to say that directories should be ignored completely. As fewer SEOs are relying on directories, they may be the low-hanging fruit you need to give your website an edge. The key is to find the right directories to submit to, rather than submitting to just any directory. By exercising caution, you can avoid the low-quality, irrelevant directories and take advantage of those that can still boost page rank and referrals.

The important factor to consider with directory submissions is that your link building efforts should include other types of link building, not just those acquired through directories. If you’re able to attain that diversity, through blogging, social media, etc, then your website should remain in competitive shape in terms of off-site optimization.

Before blindly submitting to massive amounts of directories, you’ll want to first do a little bit of research. Ask yourself whether or not a directory in question will provide adequate SEO value. If you’re targeting a specific area or demographic, there may be a directory available that caters to that specific target. Once you find a directory you want to submit to, you’ll most likely have to decide which category within that directory that you would like to submit to. This seemingly obvious task of choosing a category could become quite confusing. While many categories are temping, it’s best to think of the specific services your dealership offers and who you would most like to reach.

Another factor that regularly comes up when submitting to directories is the question of the reciprocal link. Many directories allow websites to submit their directory for free in exchange for a reciprocal link from your website. At first it seems like a small and reasonable price to pay, but reciprocal linking schemes could be harmful to your website’s optimization. Avoid these schemes at all costs!

Many directories today do not count significantly towards a website’s organic performance simply because they don’t offer relevant or high-quality links. That being said, harmful traits are often obvious, and with a little bit of intuition and research, directories remain worth looking into.

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Get more automotive SEO tips and advice on this blog.

As the year comes to an end, we’ve witnessed one of the most turbulent economic periods in recent history, and it has crippled the automotive industry. The past year has seen a dearth in new car sales, changing buying preferences, and large automakers fall from grace. All automakers are not only conscious of what they’re spending when it comes to advertising and marketing, but they’re also increasingly conscious of how these channels can influence their brand image and consumer perception.

Top Dealer SEO recently had the pleasure of attending the 2009 LA Auto Show prior to its doors opening to the public. As a result we got to see firsthand the exciting new concepts and new cars of 2010 and 2011. But what was also exciting for us was the chance to see how automakers were marketing these new vehicles in light of recent economic challenges.

The Web seems to be playing an increasingly important role for automakers, despite the diffciulty larger companies have in maneuvering to address the most current tech trends. But preparing for a new car launch, in particular, is moving closer to becoming an online event. From expandable ads on high-traffic websites like Yahoo! and MSN to developing elaborate video webisodes, automakers are looking for innovative ways not just to be optimized for search engines or to have a mere presence online, they’re also looking for branding and increased engagement.

One aspect that was clearly under plenty of consideration by OEMs was social media. Keeping consumers engaged online isn’t easy, especially when the economy is keeping most consumers away from car dealerships. The best example of social media’s use at the LA Auto Show was from Ford as they used it to build anticipation for the launch of the 2011 Ford Fiesta. The success of their social media campaign, called the Fiesta Movement, was evident from the frenzy of excitement from automotive journalists upon the car’s unveiling. The wall of the Ford exhibit even displayed Twitter conversations about the new small car.

While mingling with the public relations and marketing personnel that were dispersed throughout the show, it was evident that not many automakers have come quite as far as Ford in regard to social media marketing. However, that’s not to say that social media was not on the minds of marketing executives.

For instance, companies such as Acura and Hyundai have activity in the social media landscape. But when asked who coordinates such efforts or who oversees social media strategy, the answer was not clear. It seems that such responsibility is often broken up and given to public relations, marketing, and/or outside agencies. Any activity in social media is better than none at all, but clearly it’s unlikely that such an approach would yield a successful grassroots campaign on the scale of the Fiesta Movement.

Some automakers can get away with minimal social media activity and participation. These are companies such as MINI that have passionate consumers building communities, Facebook fan pages, and other properties on their behalf to communicate and socialize with other MINI enthusiasts online. That being said, social media was still on the radar at the corporate level. MINI’s Yvonne Malmgren explained that a coordinated social media strategy was not currently in place at the brand. And while they may not be an active participant in social media, Malmgren did identify one important role that social media is currently playing at MINI – research. Companies large and small don’t need to create expansive friends lists on Facebook or send out a hundred tweets a day like Guy Kawasaki to benefit from social media. One benefit that often gets lost in the hype is that listening is just as important as talking, and gauging the pulse of conversation online is just as valuable as starting conversation.

By comparison to Ford, another one of the lesser active OEMs in social media is Mazda, which is something they certainly intend to change in the near future. David Harris, Group Manager of Digital Marketing at Mazda North America, alluded that Mazda has reached a bit of a turning point when it comes to social media, particularly amid the launch of the sporty 2011 Mazda2 compact.

For starters, Mazda is interested in reaching out to both automotive and non-automotive bloggers to foster different perspectives on Mazda vehicles. Ultimately, social media has the power to reach automotive journalists, car bloggers, enthusiasts, as well as existing Mazda owners, but one of Mazda’s important requirements with any type of marketing is that the Zoom-Zoom attitude and passion for the driving culture is clearly conveyed. “We don’t sell appliances. They sell appliances,” Harris says while pointing in the general direction of the Toyota exhibit, “We sell cars.”

In addition to fostering a driving culture within online communities, Harris points out that, “Social media is about listening and conversations, not shouting and selling.”  Interestingly, during an earlier discussion with Scott Monty of Ford, that same lesson was also highlighted. Unfortunately, this is what many car dealers sometimes fail to realize, but that’s quickly changing.

Amid the poor economy and rampant job losses, Harris also pointed out some of the added benefits to social media for car dealers. By getting dealer employees to participate online, it has the potential to curb turnover, improve moral, and it can boost the productivity of the sales staff during slow periods.

When buying a car, the relationship between the customer and the dealer ultimately revolves around price. But as Harris added, social media gives dealers an opportunity to create a relationship that’s about more than just a dollar amount.

Social media in the automotive industry is truly a natural fit. Evidence of that is the highly successful debut of the 2011 Ford Fiesta. When it comes to promoting new products and driving consumers to trade shows, activity on blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, etc., is highly cost effective. But as we’ve discussed previously, there really are also endless opportunities. After visiting with automotive executives from the LA Auto Show, one thing is certain – social media activity in the auto industry is soon going to go into high gear.

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Top Dealer SEO will be profiling more automotive advertising initiatives here shortly.

One of the most exciting programs at the LA Auto Show is the Los Angeles Design Challenge. This competition has become an important fixture of the show, and gives Southern California-based design studios a chance to flex their creative muscles.

Audi is one of many entrants in this competition, and they have used social media to give them the slight edge. Rather than simply running with their own creative direction, Audi has turned to Facebook and other outlets to gauge what direction their design should take.

This year’s Los Angeles Design Challenge revolves around communication and technology in the car as the theme is “YouthMobile 2030.” As such, communication tools are the focus of all the competing designs. It’s therefore no surprise that Audi prominently features social media messaging tools and mobile broadband within the car’s design.

The most exciting part of this competition is getting a glimpse into the future of automotive design. It’s doubtful that we’ll be seeing Audi’s eOra and eSpira concepts on the road anytime soon, but in 20 or 30 years it is certainly possible to see elements of these car’s design and technology in showrooms. In the meantime, check out the designs at the upcoming LA Auto Show or see more images below.

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As always read the latest in automotive social media on this blog.

URLs are crucial building blocks within any website. The URLs that your website uses enables users to move from one page to another, and helps to organize your site’s content into organized sections. URLs also remain important for on-site search engine optimization. Changes to URL structure can significantly impact your SEO performance, and URL content should not only mesh with information architecture and website organization, but they should also include important keywords that relate to specific pages. Whether you’re considering changing URL structure or considering a redesign, here are several areas to consider.

Length

Generally speaking, the shorter the URL the better. Not only does it become easier for the user if the URL remains somewhat memorable and understandable, but it also should feature helpful keywords that provide a relevant description of what’s on the page without extraneous syntax or words. Keeping URL structures shorter also prevents them from being cut off if a user tries to copy and paste the URL, for example if they want to email it to a friend.

Content

The URL structure should include descriptive keywords for several reasons. First, if the page is present in search engine result pages (SERPs) search engines often bold keywords that match a user’s query, thereby accentuating the search result and improving click-through. Additionally, concise keyword-rich URLs are also easier to work with since you can find specific pages easier, as opposed to pages that have URLs filled with unhelpful, irrelevant numbers or letters that don’t correlate to the content.

Case Consideration

URLs may include uppercase letters, lowercase letters, or both. As a result, mixing these elements together can create unnecessary confusion. The general good practice is to use lowercase letters throughout the URLs and stick with them. If old pages are discovered that use uppercase letters apply a 301 redirect to point old pages to the appropriate new page with lowercase letters.

Separating Words

While debate may continue, search engines do not officially have preferences for hyphens versus underscores when it comes to separating words in URLs. Generally speaking a hyphen is considered more user-friendly, and therefore seem to be preferred by most SEOs. Stick with either of these and avoid other characters that may hinder SEO.

Consistency

One of the most important factors is also one of the easiest to diverge from. Consistency in your naming conversions will help to eliminate confusion between those working on the website, but most importantly consistency will help users understand how content on your website is organized.

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Read more about off-site SEO tactics soon.

Today is the first of many individual profiles we’ll be writing about here at Top Dealer SEO for specific car dealers and their marketing efforts. Practitioners of automotive SEO and car dealer marketing are more innovative than ever before and occasionally we’ll be highlighting specific dealers and their unique marketing tactics. After all, seeing creative online marketing tactics being implementing is always better than simply being told about them!

First up is a Boston Nissan dealer that has begun to strongly embrace social media. As we’ve discussed here on Top Dealer SEO in the past, video can play a monumental role in dealership marketing and specifically in SEO and online reputation management. This video from Marlboro Nissan shows just how easy it is to make an entertaining video, without high production costs and without simply rattling off specials. Show-off exciting new models or highlight the expertise of individual employees. This video also shows clever cross promotion which further shows the endless potential that lies within online video.

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