Back to Our Fortune 500 Discussion…
January 19th, 2009
I know I have mentioned that many of the Fortune 500s don’t have copy on the homepage, but when you check out some of these sites, there is really very little copy to be found anywhere. Especially guilty is the automobile industry. What? Do they think they will just get traffic, just based on brand alone? I know gas is coming down, but lots of folks are looking for a fuel efficient car. Take a look at the screen shot of a Google results page for the search term “fuel efficient car”. Not a single one of the Big 3 automakers are ranking on the first page. In actuality, they are not ranking in the first three pages!
Screenshot of SERP for 1-15-09
What should they be doing?
I’m thinking perhaps a little content on fuel efficiency on the pages featuring cars that are fuel efficient may be a good way to go. Since they are making no attempt at SEO (the whole reason we’re doing this series) its hard to tell what keyphrases they think would work for them. I’d love to have a list of the keywords these guys are going after, since they barely bother with metas, let alone copy or SEO in general, it’s a little hard to tell, but if they did their marketing homework, they would know that there are terms out there that are basically being ignored by the Big 3! These terms could be bringing them some traffic, and most likely, some much needed business.
Some Branding Problems
Chrysler is hanging on by a thread, so what do they use a large portion of their marketing budget for? A televised / print ad THANK YOU NOTE! Instead of spending that money on SEO, which could bring them customers looking to buy their product, they spent millions on something that actually damaged the Chrysler name. Good branding efforts, guys, you one upped the whole “lets take a private jet to D.C. to beg for tax payer dollars” fiasco. Instead , they could have used this money in a way that would enable them to rebuild their brand, and optimally, sell some cars. Wouldn’t you love to know what their sales stats are since that ad came out? They need some damage control and some advice on rebuilding their reputation!
How Can a Good SEM Help Now?
Let’s take whatever is left of Chrysler’s marketing budget, and devote it to some SEO strategies that would not only be much more cost effective, but would bring Chrysler into the 21st century marketing. Create meta tags, get some good copy on the pages, get the discussion on that blog TURNED AROUND, find something positive to discuss (Maybe the new design of the great looking Challenger? It’s not fuel efficient, but boy, is it pretty!). The point is, people shop online, it’s just a fact. They may have to go to a dealer to make a purchase, but they shop online, especially for a new car. They read reviews, check mileage ratings, compare models and makes to determine what will be the best fit for their needs. If you are not there to present your product, and the consumer does not find the information he wants, he looks elsewhere out of frustration. Why is it taking some of these companies so long to catch on?
