Volume 6 • Issue 9 12

An Interview with Sean V. Bradley

Susan Givens, publisher of AutoSuccess, sat down with Sean V. Bradley, CEO of Dealer Synergy and pioneer of Video Search Engine Optimization to interview him about VSEO and what it can mean to dealers, now and in the future.

AS: Let’s get right into it — What does it mean to be “King of Search”?

SVB: Video Search Engine Optimization has dominated the industry. It is more powerful than regular Search Engine Optimization (SEO); it is more powerful than Search Engine Marketing (SEM / Pay per Click).

AS: What exactly is “Video Search Engine Optimization,” or “VSEO”?

SVB: VSEO is the management and distribution of rich media (i.e., videos) across the Internet. This management includes creation of the descriptions, metadata, keywords and category tags. This means your videos show up in natural placement on all of the search engines — not just the video search engines such as YouTube and MySpace TV, or future video sites like Facebook. VSEO is now breaking all boundaries and unifying search results for all of the major search engines — including Google, Yahoo, MSN, AOL, and Ask.com — through Universal Search.

AS: Where do the best leads come from?

SVB: The highest-quality leads come from a dealership’s Web site. All of the statistics point to this:

• Six percent closing ratio for an OEM lead (within 30 days)

• Eight percent closing ratio for a third party lead provider

• More than 70 percent of the traffic that third parties generate for dealers originates from search engines

• 16 percent closing ratio for a dealership’s Web site

AS: So, if the highest quality leads comes from a dealer’s own Web site, what are the different ways that dealers can drive traffic to their Web site?

SVB: There are several ways, including Pay Per Click (SEM), Organic Search Engine Optimization and Banner ads.

Pay Per Click (SEM) is not a good tier one initiative; after someone clicks the link, there is no residual value. You have to keep paying money to the campaign. There are a lot of dealers who are bidding on keywords, and, furthermore, third-party providers utilize SEM, and their greater resources and budget makes competing with them difficult. What is also interesting is that only 20 percent of people click the sponsored links.

Organic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is much better than SEM because it’s free, plus 80 percent of people will click natural versus sponsored links. The problem is that it takes between four to six months for organic SEO to “kick in” and have any relevant value. After the sites are built, they have to get submitted to the search engines for “ranking.” That process takes almost six months to take full effect and for a client see true relevancy. All I am going to say about banner ads is that they have about a .01 percent click through ratio. There are a lot better ways to spend your money on digital marketing.

AS: What would you say to the skeptics reading this?

SVB: It is what it is. There are always people doubting or saying something negative. Imagine if you were the person who passed on investing Starbucks because you preferred tea. With VSEO, a dealer can be in the top 10 listings on the major search engines, with organic results, and on the first page, guaranteed. VSEO can also do it in a fraction of the time conventional SEO takes to fully propagate. A dealer can see results in three to 14 days. Sometimes even within hours a dealer can have their videos show up on the first page of Google. Here are a couple of examples of VSEO results: Go to Google.com and type “Chevy Detroit” and watch what comes up — two thumbnails for the Dick Genthe Chevrolet dealership. Now go to Yahoo.com and type “Special Finance Indiana.” Two thumbnails show up on the first page. But what is amazing is that if you click one of those, they don’t drill down to another page — a video expands right there within the actual search listing!

The possibilities are surreal. Imagine if you were “Bradley Toyota” located in Bristol Pennsylvania (a suburb of Philadelphia). With a VSEO campaign, whenever someone types in “Bradley Toyota,” “Bristol Toyota,” “Philadelphia Toyota,” “Bristol Nissan,” “Bristol Honda,” “Bristol Ford,” “Philadelphia Nissan,” “Philadelphia Honda,” “Philadelphia Ford,” or any other combination of anything you want, your video testimonial (or any other type of video you want, such as a walk around, a commercial, or a guarantee) will show up on the first page, and it can happen immediately.

I ask the skeptics that are reading this a simple question: Imagine going to Google, AOL, MSN, Yahoo, Ask.com, YouTube, MySpace, Facebook or other search engine and typing in your dealership’s name, franchise or town, or anything that you can think of that the average or advanced Internet user would type to find you. How would you feel deep down when you saw a video testimonial of your direct competitor’s happy customers show up on the first page of your search results? It wouldn’t feel very good, would it? But it is happening right now as you read this interview; dealers are succumbing to other dealer’s VSEO campaigns.

AS: That sounds a little aggressive. Is that legal?

SVB: It is aggressive, but if you want the things that most people don’t have, you have to be willing to do the things most people aren’t to get them. And yes, this is 100 percent legal and ethical. I am not suggesting that you lie or mislead anyone. I just think a dealership needs to secure an opportunity, and secure visibility; if you are not visible, you are invisible.

AS: Would a VSEO campaign work for any dealer?

SVB: Absolutely. Every dealership would benefit t from a VSEO campaign. Around 87 to 97 percent of Americans go online before they ever set foot into a dealership, so to be on the Internet makes a ton of sense. It is the most efficient and popular way for people to communicate, not to mention that Internet advertising cuts a dealership’s average cost per sale over 50 percent. We just covered that the most powerful way to drive traffic was through Search Engines and VSEO

AS: How difficult is it for dealers to initiate a VSEO program?

SVB: It’s easy to shoot a video and upload it to YouTube or other video engines; however, it is difficult for a dealership to upload in volume to make it effective. For example, we have a state-of-the-art video production facility and proprietary, patent pending software and technology. With these tools, we can do in minutes what it takes a team of people a full week’s worth of work to do. This technology allows us to create amazing video content. For a sample of our video production capabilities, type “Drew Finnie” into YouTube. Our clients include the Walt Disney Company, Sony and Buena Vista, so our video production needs to be at the caliber of Sony, Disney and Pixar. We can also watermark toll-free numbers, as well as URLs onto the video; create custom keywords, descriptions, metadata and tags; automatically upload to all of the video engines; and consistently and methodically create videos and upload them every month. We also provide a FREE digital video camera to the dealership, as well as advise them on what videos they can easily create at their dealership, such as testimonials, bios and walk-arounds. We are first to market with VSEO. My partners are literally the people who invented “Video Search Engine Optimization.” There are a lot of dealers who are operating on antiquated technology and bad advice. Regular SEO and SEM are obsolete next to VSEO. All of the search engines are consolidating to Universal Search. Video content is Platinum or Diamond to the search engines, where regular SEO or SEM is bronze or silver.

AS: Are there any other companies that are offering VSEO?

SVB: Absolutely not. We are first to market. I have been writing about VSEO for almost a year now in various national and international publications. VSEO has been the hot subject for me to talk about at every major event where I have spoken, including the JD Power Internet Roundtable, more than 41 NCM and NADA dealer 20 groups in the last 10 months, and to 1,000 dealer principals and GMs in less than a year. And VSEO has been the main intrigue. Dealer Synergy has gone from a consulting and training company to a full-blown technology powerhouse, and I will be conducting a workshop about VSEO at the upcoming Synergy Sessions in New Orleans. We estimate that we are at least a year-and-a-half ahead of the entire world with this technology. As I mentioned before, most dealers are still trying to figure out regular SEO and SEM. But dealers have been working with SEO/SEM for over seven years now! That’s not something new; VSEO is, and it’s powerful.

AS: What types of videos should dealers have for their campaigns?

SVB: Dealers should have a diversified library of video content, such as: • Testimonials of their happy clients (These are the best videos, I believe)

• Walk-arounds of vehicles by the dealership — NOT the OEM

• Biographies of its managers, salesman, Internet/BDC team, etc.

• Messages from the owner/GM stating, “Why buy here.”

• Community involvement videos

• Videos showing the dealership, interior/exterior/inventory/service/sales, etc.

• High-end commercials or high-end animation (From our studio)

• Funny videos

• How-to videos (how to buy a car, lease vs. finance, what to look for in a dealership, how to properly maintain your vehicle, etc.)

There are also Competition Annihilation videos. If you are a Ford dealership, for example, get one of your very happy Ford clients who switched from something else to give you a testimonial about how much better the Ford is than their old make, and how your dealership is the best in the area. With a VSEO campaign, when someone goes to Google.com and types in that other make of car in your city, your video testimonial of your happy customer pops up, saying how wonderful a FORD is over that other brand!

AS: Are there any guarantees?

SVB: Absolutely! We guarantee first page results and exclusivity. AS: What type of campaigns can a dealer initiate for VSEO? SVB: There are six main campaigns that a dealership can participate in, per franchise: New Car, Pre Owned/Certified Pre-Owned, Finance/Special Financing, Fixed Operations (Service/Parts), Public Relations, and the Competition Annihilation Package (this, of course, is the most popular package).

AS: Is this just for car dealerships?

SVB: Absolutely not! We are working with several large automotive vendors and technology providers in the industry. My partners are in many other verticals. My focus is automotive, which means franchised and independent dealerships, OEMs, automotive vendors and automotive technology providers.

AS: How can someone find out more about VSEO?

SVB: They can go to www.dealersynergy.com, call 888-3-SYNERGY, or they can sign up for the upcoming Synergy Session in New Orleans May 13 - 14 at the W Hotel by visiting www.synergysessions.com. I will be presenting a workshop and demonstrating the full power of VSEO. Sean V. Bradley is the CEO and founder of Dealer Synergy. He can be contacted at 888-815-9409, or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Susan Givens is the publisher of < herf"=http://autosuccessonline.com/">AutoSuccess Magazine. She can be contacted at 866.855.6616, or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .