Every time a social network makes a change to their layout, design firms around the world groan about how they now have to redo a ton of different artwork. Social media is big business and companies will pay big bucks to look just right on their pages and profiles.…

Google has stuck with its story that the various components of Google+ and the +1 button don’t have an effect on search rankings. They have to. Once they admit that it does (as countless studies and tests have indicated), the flood of spam and blackhat SEO techniques will grow larger than it already has. This is…

I vividly remember a conversation I had with Wikimotive's Tim Martell back in 2008. Even four and a half years later, the conversation has remained in my mind. We were discussing the rise of social media. We both agreed that Facebook would be the big thing, but…

64 Google+ Marketing and Branding Tips for Car Dealers and Automotive Marketing Professionals – Plus Infographic!

We are compiling a list of Google+ accounts for anyone in the automotive industry. Testing shows that Google+ relies almost entirely on quality rather than quantity which makes it extremely important to network properly.

This is extremely important. Getting involved requires nothing, but the benefits (particularly by 1st quarter…

Recently, I called out a couple of vendors for selling a sub par product. I thought about it and decided that if my own services can’t stand up to that level of scrutiny, I have no business telling anyone else what they…

So you've created your dealership's Google+ Brand Page in preparation for the move from Google Places to Google Plus Local...but now what?  Here are some tips for optimizing your dealership's Google+ page:

Keep SEO in Mind: When putting information into the "About Us" tab, use…

Google recently released guidelines for their Google+ Local Pages, outlining what you can and can’t do with the main picture on your Local page. It is important to stay on top of these announcements from Google, make sure you read over these guidelines to make sure you aren’t hurting your local page, it could…

Just watched this embeded video after reading up on so many posts this past week.  One important take-away. We still have to manage our Google Plus and our Google Places pages separately. In the future, they will be combined. Not yet.

One thing I did notice this a.m. is that the home page link…

A few weeks ago I wrote about how Google was going to include items from Google+ in their regular search results when users were signed in, calling it “Search Plus Your World”. Now that users have had some time to get accustomed to it, I wanted to touch on how this new way of searching could benefit your car dealership’s local search…

In Google's latest attempt to make Google+ the biggest social network, they've integrated it into your search results.

Of course, this hasn't been done across all Google search results.  In order to see this integration, you must be logged into Google+ (though some have seen it simply logged into Google) and be using their secure search portal at https://www.google.com.  The company is calling this search update "Search Plus Your World" and…

Now that Google+ is open to businesses, many are trying to figure out the best way to utilize this new social media portal (including DealerOn).  I’ve gathered some of the more common mistakes that businesses are making to shorten the learning curve for auto dealerships.…

The wait is over! Google+ Pages are now available for businesses. Launched on November 7th, companies can now establish and expand their brand marketing efforts on the new Google+ social network. Google+ Pages offer a seamless integration into the world’s most popular search engine and the rapidly-growing population of G+ users. With a G+ Page for your business, you can…

You're Invited! The Roundtable, hosted by Tom Kain and John Miller of AutoDealerTarget is broadcast live each Tuesday night at 10pm EST. Once a week Tom & John will spend one hour on a Google+ Hangout with special guests from the automotive industry and dealership professionals in a roundtable setting, sharing great ideas, best practices and learning from many of the most successful and brightest minds in our industry. When: Tuesday Oct 11, 2011 - 10:00PM EST Place: Google Hangout, Live…

Since Google+ is so new, I asked everyone on our team at DealerOn to put together a list of resources for car dealers trying to wrap their minds around this new way of social networking (myself included).  Here’s a list of links/sites that we’ve put together.…