A test in traffic and optimization

I have a "student" that is learning to use squidoo for affiliate marketing.  Since it is a given that automotive SEO is fairly week we are going to time how long it takes a lens about Tulsa Chevrolet Dealers to show up for those terms.  It is doubtful that it will get much traffic seeing how there are only around 400 searches per month for "tulsa chevrolet dealer" and the deriviatives.

Squidoo has almost instant built in optimization but we are going to test with 5 anchor links and using a book marking tool that I have to drive a total of around 200 links over the next 5 days.

I will post here daily on the results as we wach it climb the SERPS...

tulsa chevrolet dealer, squidoo.com, automotive seo

Getting Your Game On - DrivingSales online

DrivingSales to your offline business may be tough to do online unless you develop a disciplined approach in capturing and following up with leads. Lately I have been working with a new company called DrivingSales that does exactly that help those in the car business to build their business.

We discuss many different aspects of the automobile business and Internet marketing is one of the biggest discussions. We are a valuable resource for those that are looking to expand in the automotive industry. Make sure you check us out..

drivingsales

Testing for Conversion

Currently I am working with an "apprentice" on maximizing squidoo lenses for conversion.  Our first niche we are concentrating on is "special auto finance Tulsa".  The reason we chose this was for the fact that the competition is very low, the conversion payments are ok and to help build a case study to use to sell these services to auto dealers. 

Affiliate marketing is fun but developing a business around serving others for me is more rewarding.  So combining the two is a natural thing for me.  I do ok as an affiliate marketer, know the car business and have deep contacts from being involved with an automotive social network.

Just recently I was even publshed by one of the larger print publications in the auto industry with an article dealing with using social networking to sell cars and services.  Lots of exciting things I just hope the calls quit comming in from people trying to hire me as an internet sales manager.

Trading out = leverage of assets

I am in the process of creating a new site to market business to business internet marketing services too.  I need some graphics made so I traded some squidoo lenses out for graphic design.  Now she is runing away with the content and will slowly take away Tulsa Bad Credit Car Loan and Tulsa Chevrolet keywords.

Sometimes you just find niches to exploit in interesting ways.

tulsa bad credit car loans, bad credit car dealer tulsa, squidoo

Getting out of Mainstream Niches

One of the most often overlooked niches by affiliate marketers is the B2B niche.  I am not starting to launch some campaigns that will run to target business to business sector most notably small local businesses.

With the economy is as bad shapes as it is in now it is the time to capitalize on these on these markets to help them expand their reach.  I have been researching some affiliate networks that will help accomplish this goal while at the same time be affordable enough for it to be a minor investment for them and achieve ROI at the same time.

It will be fun to see if I can pull this off and make it profitable both for me and the businesses that choose to engage these products and services.

b2b affiliate marketing, affiliate networks, business to business niche

Reviews Sites as a Traffic Source

I cannot believe I have been ignoring this blog for so long and really do apologize to people that have visited looking for information on traffic arbitrage.  First let me start by saying that PPC traffic is way over rated in sponsored search results.  If you are going to "buy" traffic with ppc you are better off to stick with the content network unless you are still working on Search Engine Optimization for your keywords.

You will realize way more value from SEO than PPC.  PPC is a crutch for a poorly optimized site or fresh landing page.

One thing I have have ben playing around with using is rating sites to drive traffic.  These can be huge tools to drive optimized traffic for your keywords and building up your SEO.  A topic though that gets some attention though is why are dealer reviews mostly negative.  And a there is a good discussion going on at an Automotive Forum regarding this.

Maybe it has a lot to do with how people that work for car dealer employees respond when the dealership makes a mistake.  That industry has a lot to learn still...

review site traffic, automotive forums, dealer reviews

Usergenerated Content - Squidoo.com

I love using various user generated content sites, while this is not traffic arbitrage it is still worth noting here.

I use Squidoo.com to make landing pages that are very keyword targeted and use them a lot in my job as an Internet Sales Manager, One of my favorite ones is geared to a competing dealership name, Golden Isles Nissan.

Yesterday the General Manager there complained to my boss and it was funny after taking the time to explain to him what I have built. It basically presents some of the used Nissan cars and trucks I have in inventory. The two GM thought I was actually messing with Golden Isles Nissan's main site. Funny stuff..

These sites are basically Dealer Micro Sites that provide a huge branding message for me.