(Frankfort, Ill.) – January 13, 2010 – Dealer HD is pleased to welcome the Indiana-based Circle Buick Pontiac GMC dealership to their nationwide client list with the launch of their website this week (circleautomotive.com).  Circle Automotive is starting their relationship with Dealer HD’s advanced websites and automatic manufacturer incentives.

With Dealer HD dealer web sites, customers have access to a variety of features, which assist in their online automotive shopping experience.  Some of these features include Car Builder HD, full-motion video reviews, Vehicle History, automated manufacturer rebates and incentives, Car Finder HD and Live Chat.  Circle Automotive, along with all other Dealer HD clients, will also benefit from Dealer HD services such as quarterly site updates and one, dedicated account manager for their account.

“Circle has been absolutely wonderful to work with in the website development process,” said Justin Duff, Dealer HD National Sales Director.  “We are looking forward to working with more closely now that the site is live engaging them with more of Dealer HD’s product offerings.”

Circle Automotive represents three GM brands in Northwest Indiana.  They join the Dealer HD team leaving automotive web competitor, Dealer.com.

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Dealer HD is an Automotive Website and Solutions Provider serving clients Nationwide. Located in the southern suburbs of Chicago, the Dealer HD team has over 100 years of combined automotive experience.  Dealer HD provides customizable dealer web sites with a comprehensive admin tool that collects dealer leads, allows the quick and easy editing of website content, inventory modification and more.  Dealer HD makes sure your dealer website is ready for mobile applications, social networking, and all future web innovations.

(Frankfort, IL) – December 23, 2009 – Dealer HD is proud to welcome the Indiana-based Harbor Cars Group to their group of nationwide clients with the launch of six sites this week.  Harbor Cars is taking advantage of the full-range of web services Dealer HD offers, such as advanced websites, SEO (search engine optimization) practices and other additional features.

With Dealer HD dealer web sites, customers have access to a variety of features, which assist in their online automotive shopping experience.  Some of these features include Car Builder HD, full-motion video reviews, Vehicle History, automated manufacturer rebates and incentives, Car Finder HD and Live Chat.  Harbor Cars, along with all other Dealer HD clients, will also benefit from Dealer HD services such as quarterly site updates and one, dedicated account manager for their account.

“We are excited to start work with the Harbor Cars Group,” said Justin Duff, Dealer HD National Sales Director.  “They are a great addition to our growing client list and we’re looking forward to helping them enhance their online presence.”

The Harbor Cars Group represents eight brands, three rooftops and six websites across north west Indiana.  They join the Dealer HD team leaving automotive web competitor, TheNetLab.

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Dealer HD is an Automotive Website and Solutions Provider serving clients Nationwide. Located in the southern suburbs of Chicago, the Dealer HD team has over 100 years of combined automotive experience. Dealer HD provides customizable dealer web sites with a comprehensive admin tool that collects dealer leads, allows the quick and easy editing of website content, inventory modification and more. Dealer HD makes sure your dealer website is ready for mobile applications, social networking, and all future web innovations.

We’ve heard this saying before.  In today’s tough economic climate it rings more true than ever.  Now it seems there’s no free breakfast or dinner either.  I got wind today that Cobalt is now charging dealers for their FREE web sites.  They had been promised that these sites would remain free at least until April when further negotiations would take place.  Some dealers have expressed frustration HERE.  Looks like they were billed starting in December of 2008.  I really can’t blame GM for doing this.  They have no money left and are giving close to 7K dealers a free service.  Assuming they got a great rate at $300 per month…it equates to $2,100,000 per month in savings.

Now where do GM dealers go from here?  Most already barely use their cobalt site and just keep it because its free and they are promised a few manufacturer leads here and there.  My advice is to get rid of the Cobalt site and use that $300 to add products to your current web provider.  Things like Live Chat or New Car Video Reviews are very cost effective ways to increase leads and customer time spent on your web site. You could also increase your spend on Paid Search to reach a few extra HUNDRED customers a month.  

When cutting costs for your dealership the internet should be the last thing you trim.  It’s the backbone of your digital marketing plan.  You need to make sure that you invest heavily in the right company with the right products that you can maximize your online potential.  The quantity of leads is definitely way down. It’s very important to make sure you can extract the ones you do have and turn prospects into buyers. Make sure your dealer web site has the right tools to do this.