Ok, so your new website (or existing website) has been running for some time.  You've started to see improved traffic and more qualified leads coming through to your sales staff.

The basic optimization work is doing its job but you are wanting more and you ask yourself ... What more can be done to increase traffic to my dealership site?  Or how do we keep improving on our SEO?

WARNING! Stop reading now if you are afraid of doing hard work in exchange for great results!

To get more good traffic to your website you can..

Make sure that each and every page on your website is optimized correctly.  The right title, meta info, keywords, and copy/links on the page.

Define and implement your outbound and inbound linking strategy throughout your website.

Decide what new and fresh content will be added to your website, how often it will be added, where it will be added, and who will add it.

Actually do it and write the new/fresh content and add it to your site taking into consideration your outbound/inbound linking strategy mentioned above.

Find all the local business sites that matter like Google Maps, Yahoo Local, Insider Pages, etc.. (almost 10 in all) and make sure your business is listed correctly with up to date information.

On each of the business sites mentioned above ensure your process for handling negative feedback and how you will continue to get positive feedback over time.

Take advantage of social sites like Facebook and Twitter where it makes sense. You can waste alot of time with little results on these sites.  Or you can be efficient by knowing their place in your overall strategy and executing your plans wisely.

Don't overlook social bookmarking sites like Delicious.  If used correctly it's one more good stick in the fire.

Participate in classified site advertising, google base, oodle, and other inventory listing sites that may make sense for your product lines and market area.

Take the time to join in on RVing related forum and blog conversations, especially those on subjects pertaining to your market area or product lines you sell.

Join forces with your local campgrounds, RVing vacation destinations, and tourist attractions to provide something special for your potential joint customers.  The SEO 'link juice' you get from this can be worth every bit of effort.

Take advantage of micro or mini websites, but plan them out well with a pre-determined purpose in mind.

Use sites like Squidoo.com to create lenses about areas of RVing interests.  This serves both for SEO purposes and also new/fresh content.

In all seriousness there are at least 5 more things I could add to the list without even having to think about it, but I think you get the point ... there is alot of things that can be done to drive more folks to your dealership.

The botom line is that it takes work.  Whether you do it yourself or you hire someone like us to coach you along or do much of the work for you.  We are here to help if needed so let us know.

No matter what you do ... do something.  Get started right now!

We get the question alot ... How can I sell my rv parts and accessories on our website?

Of course the answer is as simple or complex as you want to make it.  First, let's review the different current known methods of doing it along with the pros/cons.

Distributor Solution

This is the most common that you see online.  You put a link from your website out to your 'branded' online parts store provided from your distributor.  Anything you sell from that you make a %. The pro is that it's easy to setup and run; requires little to no effort or cost on your part.  The cons are that your margin may not be what you desire and you really can't change or modify the way it looks or behaves.

At a recent NTP show an anouncement was made that NTP and Systems 2000 had formed a partnership for passing part/accessory data back and forth.  A great idea and we'll see how it pans out and evolves in the future.

Built In Storefront

Some website provider companies offer a built in module for you to sell parts/accessories on your website.  There are some providers that advertise this as a viable solution, but I havn't seen any of these in action yet.  The pro might be that it is built into your website and should look/feel like your site.  The cons are that you still need to have someone responsible for inputting and keeping up with all the data and photos.  Before jumping into this option I would take the time and make sure the system has all the necessary tools and features to process orders efficiently and compliments the way you want to do business.

Stand Alone Storefront

This is the one you are thinking of if you are looking at campingworld.com, rvpartsoutlet.com, or rvwholesalers.com.  This allows you to control your own destiny.  It's really a hybrid of the first two. One pro is that it looks/feels like your current website and your customers won't feel a difference using your website or your accessories storefront.  Another pro is that you'll have tons of products in their to sell.  The con is that it will require a ton of effort at your dealership to upload/manage the information and photos as you are essentially building your entire parts/accessories catalog online.  Keeping up with the constantly changing prices, specials, etc.. can be a challenging job by itself.

There are many different stand alone storefronts to choose from online.  Doing a quick search will return hundreds of options.  One we've found success with is www.Volusion.com.  Just make sure any solution you choose has the right tools and features to run things the way you need them to.

First Things First

Before you start down the road on any of these solutions I encourage you to ask yourself the BIG question... What is my purpose for wanting to sell accessorries on my website?  We all know the answer right?  You want to make more money.  Sell more stuff.

The next logical questions are...

• What will it take for you to actually make money (be profitable) at selling online? Consider up-front/ongoing cost, resources (people), profit margins, etc..
• Can you offer a competitive price? Comparison shopping is as easy as click, click on the Internet. Not having competitive pricing not only loses you a sale, but even worse can hurt your credibility online.
• How will you advertise you have an online storefront or are you thinking of just 'cherry picking' the folks who are currently coming to your website?

What to do ... What to do...

So, you've answered the questions and now you've figured out that you can make money at this.  The next step is to start thinking like your customers.  Think about things that interest them.  Think about the sales process and at what point can you upsell?  Put yourself in their shoes.  Here are some proven ideas to get you started selling products through your website and make money doing it!

Get Started

Sounds simple doesn't it? Yet, why do so many folks ask questions and get educated only to think that somehow knowledge by itself puts more money in the bank.  Knowlege only ads value when you put your knowlege to work.  So..

• Get a simple stand-alone store on your website or ask your website provider if they have a comparable module you can use.
• Start off with 10, 20, or 30 of your best selling/margin products.
• Get good photos, maybe a how-to video, some testimonials on each product, and tell folks how each product can help them.
• Advertise with simple ads on your website.
• Watch it work ...you'll get results if you follow the steps.
  

Pakcage Your Products

One competitive pricing strategy is to make up your own special product packages.  Maybe each package has 3 to 5 different accessories.  Much like the manfucturer has option packages.  Do the same on a simpler more cost effective scale with your accessories and see what happens.  Offering product packages changes the way shoppers compare you to others allowing you to hold better margins all because you cared enough to put together a total solution for your customers.

Email Responsibly

Email your current customers with new products and special offer, but don't spam them.  Make it a timely valid offer with info on how this particular product will help them in some way.  Solve a problem for them?  Make life easier for them? You can even keep your email copy simple and link back to your website for the special offer.  It allows you to reuse the web page offer on your site and email plus it gets them back to your website.

Accessorize Your RV

I remember back in 2007 when I purchased my first RV.  I even purchased from a dealership who was using our RV website design service doing my best to support our clients.  Believe it or not at the time of sale I wasn't even offered any accessories.  I had spent time looking online and knew of at least 5 different goodies that I wanted.  Now, they probably had their reasons for not offering, but I can't imagine I'm the only one who wants goodies with their RV.  What if when you listed your inventory on your website you could also list a few popular accessories to add-on or accessorize their RV.  What if you could even allow your website shopper to choose from those accessories and get a complete quote on the RV and accessories?  Be it a solar panel, step rugs, assist handle, hitch, bug screen, or slide toppers.  I've seen this in action on a dealer's site and it works.  It's simple ... just give folks the opportunity and you'll be surprised.

Let me know how you progress by adding your comments below.  Have you found something that works or doesn't work?  Let me know...

If you are interested in how we might be able to help your dealership be successful with selling accessories online or if you have questions about being more successful with your website itself just let us know by emailing us through our contact link.  We are here to help.

Looking to hire an Internet marketing in-house?  Follow these simple suggestions to help make the process more efficient and get the best results.

Email Marketing – This is really huge.  You have a tremendous captive audience from previous customers and all your web leads. You have advantages over your competitors.  Get these in advantages in front of customers and prospects.  It will produce results.

Social Media Marketing – This takes time to do it right, but because of your market reach there is a large upside potential.  This includes blogging, content building, Facebook, social bookmarking, etc.

Optimization – We know that our websites have s a good SEO foundation as well as some advanced strategies already in place.  Things should always be progressing and having someone to build links both internally and externally would produce results over time.

Analysis – Having close eyes on your results and spending (ROI)  You’ll want to identify specifically what is to be tracked and also require actionable analysis.

The first three things I mention have elements that cross over to one another so it does make things easier and a blended strategy.

Finding the right person will be key.  If you are hiring someone with experience then you’ll want to get detailed explanation of what they been successful at AND have failed at.  Any good online marketer has failed and more than once.  They’ve tried things have haven’t worked which helps them find what doesn’t.  I’ve interviewed enough folks in this industry to know that knowing the buzz words and actually knowing how to accomplish something are two very different things. If you'd like help during the interviewing process let me know.

If you hire someone green you’ll spend less, but their ability to be productive will take some time.  We’ve found that you need to have a pretty aggressive pay scale over a two year period so that as they learn and apply you keep in sync with their marketability.  If you don’t you risk having to start over.  Like any hiring decision it’s the balance.

Don't be afraid, but don't do it blindly either.  It's about preparing for the results you want to achieve and then find the right person who can help you get there.

One of the online marketing sources that we trust just published a great article on The Secrets of Successful Company Blogs.  Follow the link here...

http://boagworld.com/site-content/successful-company-blogging

and you'll find a wealth of proven knowledge on what will work well and what won't.

At the end of the day they make a great point ... the reason that most blogs fail is because attention and priority are taken away from the blog.  In other words you stop updating your blog.

Because there is much confusion about blogging and rv social media marketing in general InteractRV is soon to announce a service to help your dealership be successful with your social marketing efforts.

Look for more to come soon!

The Internet Super Highway is much different than the highway your shoppers and customers use to get to your dealership.  You might get a number of opportunities to make a lasting impression as a prospect drives by your lot multiple times, but what about the shopper on the Internet … how many times do you get to make a lasting impression with them?

Most RV Dealership owners take great pride in their physical lot.  Many times spending millions of dollars to build outstanding sales and service facilities … and thousands each year on maintenance, landscaping, comfortable waiting rooms, and general upkeep.

Yet, even with over 80% of their shoppers and customers going to their website before setting foot on their lot … they’ve settled for a same old looking website that really doesn’t give their shoppers a lasting impression.

The Po!nt: Don’t expect your shoppers and customers to give you their business if you don’t give them a lasting impression with your website. Use your website to build trust and confidence in your future prospects and current customers.  Make your website look and feel like who you are as a dealership.  Not branding your website may be losing you sales!

So, you've got your website all cranked up and ready to go for 2009.  You've gone over it with a fine tooth comb and the traffic is coming in.  You begin to watch your web stats to see where your website traffic is coming from.

While most is coming from search engines you notice that very little or no traffic is coming from the manufacturer website's for the brands you sell.  Not so great ... you think to yourself.  Curious, you hop over to one of the manufacturer website's and put in your local zip code to see how your dealer info comes up.

What you find makes your lunch turn over in your stomach.  There is your dealership name with only a phone number and address, but no email address and no website link.

Think this is abnormal?  Unfortunately, it isn't, but don't get too discouraged.  With a little effort you can get this changed and start putting the manufacturer's you represent to work for you and stop flushing leads down the drain.

The PO!NT: If you haven't reviewed all your dealership information on the manufacturer and supplier website's you represent, now is the time. Make a list and get someone to go through each manufacturer website using the dealer locator and make sure your dealership address, phone, email, and website are correct!

When you put a RV you have in inventory on your website the goal is that many potential buyers will come to your website and see that RV. The longer that particular RV is displayed on your website the more the potential buyers will bookmark that page and the more search engines will find that page and list it in their search results.

So, what happens to those visitors that try to get to that page after that specific RV has been sold and removed from your website? 4 out of the 5 competitors I reviewed either show an ugly page not found or show errors all over the page.

The best scenario would be to identify what the sold RV was and redirect the visitor to a listing of similar RVs. Unfortunately, once the RV is removed from the website you can no longer 'know' what the RV was.

So, what we did years ago was the next best thing ... when someone tries to go to a RV/page that no longer exists we show them a friendly looking page that kindly tells them...

'The RV you are looking for is no longer available however you can look through our new and used RV selection to find one that might meet your needs.'

During a recent tracking study we did we learned that a RV Dealer moving 400-600 units per year ... that on average 15-20% of all website traffic was trying to get to pages/RVs that were no longer available. That may seem high to you, but understand that each of the individual RV pages that we produce for our dealer sites are highly optimized and a large percentage of website traffic is coming directly to those specific RV pages. Let me repeat ... ALOT of traffic coming to our dealer sites looking for a specific RV ... talk about highly qualified traffic.

So, for our dealers using the InteractRV website marketing system this is already taken care of for you, but at least now you know how it is being handled. For those of you not using our system I might take a look at the 10-15% of traffic that you might be turning away from your dealership.