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More and more I hear about search sites and why or why not dealers use certain ones over others. Cars.com and Autotrader.com, I understand why a dealer would use them - they have a ton of traffic. Other sites like Automart.com have their magazine as well, but other sites, is it really worth it to pay them to post on their sites when, in the larger scheme of things, no one goes to them? Maybe, just maybe, if you can get some great search engine traffic out of it, it would be worth it. But how many of these sites are SEO? How many autotrader.com or cars.com vehicle pages actually show up in Google? You can post on Craigslist for free, as you can with other sites. Or you can create your own site and generate more traffic just through SEO and referrals than you could paying a search site for traffic they can’t produce.

I think a lot of the issues are that internet managers and those in charge of the “internet department” at dealerships just aren’t doing their homework. In the end, search sites really are for generating hordes of email leads. Search engine sites are really about exposure. Users use these sites to window shop, and more will contact a dealer through the phone or with a live visit, rather than email. So the question then becomes, which is best to use? The ones who can produce a lot of traffic to your listings, or the ones who charge less, but don’t offer much exposure at all. There are plenty of sites ripping dealers off because they don’t understand how things work, and what is real value and what isn’t. You, as a dealer, may get a great deal, but you don’t realize that you are getting a great deal because that site needs your inventory to help boost their own traffic.

Just look at these numbers… is it really worth it to get into bed with other sites unless you can get something else out of it? Click for bigger view on Quantcast.

Look at the last 3. There was spike at one point, which could have been from anything, but other than that, they don’t do much better than the bottom two. Automart.com has their great magazines also, adding some value. Vehix, from my experience, also works with local advertising on cable, or something along those lines. But carsdirect.com, what do they offer? How many other search sites are out their that are strictly search sites with not much else going on? Granted, these sites may offer more that I just don’t know about, but if you’re only getting with them for the online searches at their site, is it worth paying hundreds of dollars a month or tying into a contract? You could do just well with a good designed search site of your own and feed off the search engine traffic. Plus, you can even make a buck or two more selling ad space on it!

Tags | autotrader.com, cars.com, classified, search, stats, websites