Web Lever Blog on Internet Marketing

Innocently Dangerous

Written by Bill Thursday, 01 September 2011 09:41

I’m pretty angry this morning, and I’m going to vent some of that anger in my blog.

Yesterday I encountered, yet again, an Auto Dealer who has been mistreated by their PPC Ad Agency. Actually, forget “mistreated,” they were screwed over, duped, disrespected and robbed.

So, without naming names, I’m going to layout how this happened and continues to happen every day.

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Mobile Car Shoppers Are Growing

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Written by Bill Tuesday, 19 July 2011 11:38

A surprising stat just published by JumpTap today:

When consumers want to learn more about a vehicle or car maker, they are reaching for their mobile devices at an astonishing rate. Data released today from a study from Jumptap, the leader in targeted mobile advertising, and based on data from comScore, found that traffic to mobile automotive sites is increasing at a much greater rate than their online counterparts. While visitors to online auto sites are growing at 30 percent year over year, visitors to mobile auto sites have grown 463 percent, more than 15 times the rate of growth for online visitation.

One of the important factors evaluated in Web Lever's Internet Lead Generation Scoring of Chicagoland Auto Dealers was the mobile website. Not surprisingly, most Dealers' websites automatically serve a version tailored for mobile devices when the visitor is using a smartphone, but about 25% of the Dealer websites were found to not serve a mobile version.

As confirmation of the Jumptap data, Web Lever's own internal data on Search Advertising for Auto Dealers indicates that well over 10% of the high quality "clicks" available to an Auto Dealer placing ads on Search Engines are clicks from Smartphones.

If your Dealership website isn't meeting the needs of Smartphone users, you are definitely missing an opportunity.

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Smartphoners - Photograph This!

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Written by Bill Wednesday, 10 November 2010 15:39

If you're a smartphone owner - iPhone, Droid, RIM etc., then scan this QR Code and see what it does.

QRcode

(You may need to google the phrase "QR Code" to get the instructions for scanning them with your phone.)

"QR" stands for Quick Response, which doesn't help you much. Google and other supporters of this technology want these codes to start popping up all over the place, and the idea is anyone with a smartphone can get quick information on the spot when they encounter one of these codes. For example, a restaurant could post one in their front window, then upon walking by you could use your phone to quickly view their menu and what the reviews on Yelp are saying.

So, will this take off?

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Website Analytics

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Written by Bill Tuesday, 09 November 2010 14:16

Many of the business owners I speak with are hearing about Website Analytics for the first time when I"m describing the high level process for gaining customers using the Internet. I've not found a good resource anywhere that summarizes the essence of Analytics in a quick and succinct manner, so I've created a short video for that purpose.

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You’re Blowing Your Money

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Written by Bill Thursday, 08 July 2010 13:01

You’ve given your Internet Marketing service permission to be a slacker, to play around and have fun at your expense. Yup, you most likely have. 85% of the B2B companies I have reviewed have done just that. So, chances are you have too.

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Systematic Growth (or, Are You Still Beating Your Sales Team?)

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Written by Bill Thursday, 03 June 2010 14:29

Perhaps the delusion that most easily slips into our thinking is that growing the business is, at the end of the day, primarily a responsibility of the sales team. After all, if last quarter’s top line goals weren’t met the obvious reason is the sales team didn’t come through, right? And the solution is more highly-energized people, knocking on more doors, delivering more proposals, and following up more often.

Well, of course there’s a certain truth to that, but if it is adopted as a growth strategy you will quickly exhaust its ROI potential.

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Just Married: CRM & Email Marketing

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Written by Bill Friday, 28 May 2010 16:10

Is it a match made in heaven? Infusionsoft is charging ahead with their “Email 2.0” program, and occupying a very interesting position in the Internet Marketing arena. Let’s take a closer look at what that’s about and whether it makes sense for small and medium sized companies in Technology industries.

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What Internet Marketers Know That You Don't

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Written by Bill Tuesday, 25 May 2010 16:28

In all aspects of your business, including your online marketing efforts, your challenges are: 1) you must decide where you are going (goals), and 2) you must choose the route you will take to get there (strategy). Ho hum, that seems like clichéd advice; you should consider it anyway. Doing so will put you in the upper echelon of Internet Marketing effectiveness. This White Paper provides the 4 simple steps most businesses overlook when launching an Internet Marketing program. It's a free download after registering a username.

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ReachLocal & The "Gang of Three"

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Written by Bill Tuesday, 25 May 2010 08:55

The Internet Marketing company, ReachLocal, went public on Friday, with an IPO that raised less than originally hoped. The NY Times article on the event wasn't glowing, pointing out that the share price and capital raised came in far below the expected range. So, is ReachLocal headed for success in the long term?

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