This is a cumulative list of the top 5 Automotive News Blogs that we like to check daily. You can use this list of Automotive Blogs to stay up on current Automotive News. It is very important as an auto dealer that you constantly stay up to date in the automotive world.  These blogs obsessively cover every angel of the Automotive Industry and are always on the most recent trends. They write about everything from new car releases to auto shows all across the country. Many of them also talk about industry changes and entertainment. If you are looking to find the latest car reviews and safety studies you can find them in these blogs as well. Visit each of the automotive blogs below and get up to speed on the latest automotive news!

http://www.autoblog.com/
http://www.autonews.com/section/BLOG
http://wot.motortrend.com/
http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/
http://www.businessweek.com/autos/autobeat/

If you have any additions you think would be useful this post please let us know and we will take a look and possibly add them to our list.

So you’ve heard about this idea called blogging and have done some research. You know that Automotive Blogs are good for attracting new car buyers and keeping your existing customers informed. Your Automotive Website Provider has created a blog on your website and now its up to you to make it successful (Many providers also offer Automotive Marketing packages to help you create content on your blog). There are some things you can do as an Automotive Internet Marketing Manager to help your blog become successful.

Create A New Schedule
One of the first things on your list of things to do should be to make yourself a new schedule. In order for your Automotive Blog to become successful you must first devote part of your schedule to working on it. If you don’t do this it can become very hard to stay organized and keep the content on the blog fresh. As a blogger I can’t tell you the number of times I have visited a blog where there is only a welcome post and a hand full of other posts. If people return to your blog to find more of what they like the first time they visited only to find the exact same posts, they may not try to return again. So revamp your schedule, leave some time for creating posts, and don’t fall off track.

Create Helpful Blog Posts
Writing blog posts that are helpful in the manner of answering a common question can be very useful. People read blog posts to gain knowledge and to become more skilled at the topics they are researching. A good example of this are people that search for certain issues they may need help with on their car. If you happened to write a blog post about how to replace your windshield wipers in 5 minutes or less, there is a good chance that people will be looking for help with a task like that. While writing your blog posts remember to make them relevant and helpful and they will not only show up on results pages but people will be more likely to return for more help.

Don’t Be The Only One Blogging
Nothing is harder than trying to maintain a blog by yourself. Make sure that you have someone helping you even if they are only proofreading over your posts. Since blogging takes dedication and time, your best bet is to find someone who will maintain the same duties as yourself.

Quality Over Quantity
Although this can be used in many ways throughout your life, it matters a lot when blogging as well. Especially since Google has made the recent “Panda” anti-content farming algorithm update. Writing less but making your posts count will make sure that people don’t have to weed through hundreds of “keyword” posts just to find the one that is useful to them. You can ensure your blog post is worthy by not publishing it right when your done writing. Have your partner read over your post multiple times and have them discuss it with you afterwords. After you have discussed your post sleep on it for a night and read it the next morning. This allows you time to find the troublesome areas of your blog post that you may have discussed and change them up.

Blogging is a vital part of any website, whether it be automotive or personal. Fresh content gets people to your site, but QUALITY content is what keeps them there. Remember these tips and be sure to come back to autodealershipmarketing.com for more industry related knowledge.

PS – Dust off that keyboard and get to work!

Writing is something that most people stop doing after they are done with school. Once you turn in that last paper most of us feel that we probably will not have to “write” again. Then we go out, get professional jobs and those classroom reports become business reports and proposals. While most professions involve some sort of writing, the life of a blogger involves a lot and each one of them has experienced a case of writers block.

How to Break Free of Writers Block

Writing takes time and research. When it comes to automotive blogging many of us rely on automakers to provide us with news but there are other ways to find content. Writing for a car dealership provides a blogger with numerous topics to write about, whether it be a dealership event or local event, employee profiles, make and models that are available or a brief history, the topics are virtually endless. At times though people get stuck in a rut and they can’t think of a good post to write, in that case try out the following tips.

Search Media Websites and Press Releases

Every car manufacturer has their own website where they post news topics at least weekly about what is going on in their company. There are news releases, press releases and videos readily available on these sites that are very helpful if you are in need of a topic. I personally use these every week when finding topics for blog ideas and most of the time they are very helpful. One of the benefits to using these fresh news stories for ideas is that many times they will be searched for and read about by people who are interested in that manufacturer. Thus the blog post will bring in reader traffic and in turn, sell more cars.

Maintain a Relationship with the Dealership

Maintaining a relationship with staff at the car dealership is vital to success in your dealership blogging. Whether you are employed at the dealership and converse with these people each day or if you are working in a marketing firm, it is important to keep up with daily dealership activities. The people who are in the car dealership every day are the ones who will have some of the best ideas for blogs and press releases, so listen to them.

Other Industry Related Blogs

Checking out other blogs for content is another great way to find topics. Personally, I check AutoBlog every single day. This is one great source for fresh automotive news and videos. Idea generation is key because once you get the wheels turning from ideas, your own personal writing stance comes through.

Here at Auto Dealership Marketing we try to find fresh ideas daily to bring to you to help make your dealership more successful. Feel free to leave comments about any ideas that you may have to help with new ideas for automotive content.

The overall idea for a blog is to get readers to read your content, but not just read it once, but to come back for it over and over again. I’ve found a few things that tend to drive people away from your blog and wanted to share them with you now. These tips and tidbits are not only good for auto dealer blogging but can be used for any and all type of blogging.
Remember your audience.
You’re writing for a group of people, as a business. Keep your personal life away from the blog unless it relates to your blog. There are times where it can be nice to have personal touches, like a long term staff member has a new baby, or returns from military service. People like to see a personal side, but don’t want to see your rants about getting a parking ticket for example.
Keep the titles relevant.
As more and more readers are using RSS readers to pile everything into an easy to read interface, titles matter. While you do want to catch their attention, having a title about something really big, and then an article about a car wash, quickly will disqualify yourself as a good writer, and annoy your readers. Keep the title related to the post.
Who are you again?
Your readers won’t remember you if you don’t update on a regular basis. Set aside a few moments every day to sit down and write. Even if it doesn’t make it to your blog, it is still good practice to sit down and think about what you will write about. Have a regular schedule and stick to it. Readers understand that sometimes you might miss a post, but add in a new post to make up for a missed post. Your long term readers will appreciate it.
State your background.
If you have an opinion that isn’t the most popular, explain a little bit of why you think so. If you are able to back up your reason with logic, you build credibility. Unless your blog is about that topic, posting more than a few posts about off topic areas, can quickly lose your audience.

Blogging is as blogging does, so be yourself and make sure your own personal style comes through. After all, you are the expert and your readers are looking to you as an example. Make sure that you are that example.

The big question with every blogger, is what do I write about to keep my readers coming back for more?  A few things that help to build a successful blog, is to write consistently.   Readers want to have content to find at a predictable schedule. You may be saying            “Well, I already know that… but what else can I do to get people to read my blog?”  Here are a few ideas…

Inspiration. 

Sometimes we’re looking too hard for things to blog about, and the simple solutions are looking right at us.  As we become more of an Internet society, we spend less and less time watching TV.  Turn on the TV, watch a few commercials, and see if they help give you ideas.  You might see a new take that a manufacturer had on their latest product.    Television has turned into a zoo of marketing, from product placement to shows that are actually long ads.

Community Anyone?

If you had a topic that worked a while back, why not tackle it again?  Odds are, something has changed and can be recycled into new content.   If many users have commented on a topic, you probably hit their niche.  Keep going with it.

Something different:

Having a guest author post on your site, can be a win win for all parties.  You can get traffic from their site visiting yours, and if you are able to guest post on their blog, you’re increasing readership across the board.  Another idea for something different is to do a giveaway.  Partner with a text marketing campaign.  Have your readers text in to enter for a chance to win an oil change, or car wash.  When they enter, they are now opt-ed into your text marking campaign.   It is a great way to target your readers, while increasing your readership.  They are more likely to tune into your posts if there is something different happening than just the same old posts.