Chrysler, GM and Nissan are Tops in Online Search Visibility

iCrossing Study Ranks Paid and Natural Search Visibility of Automakers

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., July 30 -- iCrossing, a global digital marketing company, today announced the findings of the Vertical Visibility Index: Automotive, the first in a series of studies analyzing the paid and natural search media visibility leaders within specific industry verticals.

iCrossing found that Chrysler, GM and Nissan North America are doing the best job of taking a synergistic search engine marketing approach, with the highest scores for combined visibility. Ford leads for natural search visibility and Hyundai has the greatest paid search visibility for the keyword set analyzed.

KEY FINDINGS

-- At the OEM level analysis, Ford Motor Company has the largest natural visibility share of market with 22%. They are followed by General Motors Corporation (17%), Chrysler LLC (15%), American Honda Motor Company (11%), and Mercedes-Benz USA (8%). Together, these top five companies make up more than 70% of the total natural search visibility share of market.

-- At the brand level, Ford has the highest visibility for a brand with 18% of the natural search visibility market share, followed by Chrysler (12%), Honda (10%), Pontiac (8%), and GMC (6%).

-- Of the top 25 keywords by search volume, eight keywords had no visibility for any brand: used car, buy a car, race cars, muscle car, car search, auto loan, car loan, and used car prices.

-- Ford Motor Company and Toyota Motor Sales USA are the only OEMs with visibility on the top volume keyword, "car".

-- Of the Top 50 Most Visible URLs based on 1st page natural rankings, automobiles.honda.com has the highest position (22nd) for this keyword set within the brand URLs, followed by pontiac.com (40th), fordvehicles.com (47th), and toyota.com (49th).

-- For the study keyword set, Hyundai Motor Company has the greatest paid search market share of Google paid search with 30%, followed by General Motors Corporation (22%), and Chrysler LLC (17%). Together, these 3 OEMs have almost 70% of the overall paid search market share on Google for the automotive keyword set.

-- Combining the information from natural and paid search analyses, Chrysler LLC, General Motors Corporation, and Nissan North America are doing the best job of approaching search engine marketing with a synergistic approach.

  The complete report can be found at http://www.icrossing.com/research

  About iCrossing

iCrossing is a global digital marketing company that combines talent and technology to help world-class brands find and connect with their customers. The company blends best-in-class digital marketing services - including paid and natural search marketing, Web development, social media, research and analytics -- to create integrated digital marketing programs that engage consumers and drive ROI. iCrossing's client base includes such recognized brands as Epson America, Toyota, Travelocity and 40 Fortune 500 companies, including The Coca-Cola Company and Office Depot. Headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, the company has 620 employees in 15 offices in the U.S. and Europe.