Archives for November 2018

Just saw that Google released Web.dev today, to perform SEO audits.

Running them on our OEM mandated DDC site, along with a lot of my competition, is showing a severe trend of poor performance, slow load times, along with a number of other issues. Some are provider caused, some are from us.

I’ll be fixing what I can, but something tells me I will not get anywhere with bringing up the page load issues Google is mentioning.

Run your website through and report back to the dealer forums.

Here’s a thread that for some reason has yet to find its death…

As I mentioned on #refreshfriday last week, over the last several days or so I’ve been presented a QR code over a dozen times. I scanned each one – I couldn’t resist!!. Maybe it was only out of curiosity, but I also did it because there was a relevant CTA behind the QR code – scan to leave a review, scan to register your product, scan for a list of accessories to match your purchase, etc. 

Maybe they were before their time? Maybe I’m just crazy… the below post from Phil Penton is several years old now but still gets commented on. Check it out! –  https://dlrfr.sh/QRCodesINorOUT

Will QR codes make a comeback? 😉

-Kershner

——-

QR Codes…  has this been a hot topic lately.  I was never completely sold on QR codes.  I look at my entire family and only my sister and I figured out how to use them.  My father, for example, has a smartphone and if you asked him to scan a QR code, it might take a couple of hours for him to figure it out (the need to download an app is their biggest drawback in my opinion).   My mother – I don’t think she owns a smartphone, so she’s out.

“But Phil, their old.”  Maybe they are. But I’m a techie and so is my sister.  We get it and we still don’t use them, other than to say we gave it a try.  If I look at my closest friends, they don’t use them.  They all have fancy smartphones and I bet only a few have the software installed.  (It’s probably because I told them how to do it).

I have always said text messaging is for the masses.  It may not be cool or flashy… but you know, even my father and mother can text.

These articles put an interesting twist on the future of QR codes and NFC.  Industry titan Google is stepping out of the QR Code game.  I think that says something.  Will they be the first of many?  Most likely not, and QR Codes will stick around, but there may be better technology out there soon.

Google Kills Off Those Little Square Codes You Scan With Your Phone (GOOG)

Google Throws Its Weight Behind NFC – Tech Europe – WSJ

Google Ends QR Code Initiative – PCWorld

Guess we will see how it all works out.  If you have any thoughts about QR Codes and their importance, please share them with me.  I really want to like them 🙂

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I’m back in retail after being on the vendor side (which I think everyone in retail should do at least once and vice versa) for nearly two years.  Prior, I spent 14 years on the retail side mainly in Internet/BDC/eCommerce/Dig Ad.  Around 2010, I was struggling how to measure ROI of classified vendors [insert joke here].

Leads didn’t make sense so started focusing on their cost per VDP.  Back then I was holding AutoTrader to under a dollar and Cars.com to $.85 and really used that through 2016.  During that time, if they wanted a package up-sell I needed to see that cost stay the same or lower for it to make sense and ultimately keep the product.

Fast forward to 2018 and it looks like my stores (same group I was at prior) are running just below $.70 per VDP view with both AutoTrader and Cars.com (CarGurus is quite a bit lower per).

My question to you is do you use Cost Per VDP as a KPI and if not, what do you use in 2018? Analytics/Referrals, Leads, Actions on site, etc?

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