Dear CarExpert reader, firstly we wish to thank you for what has been a truly tremendous year in 2022 and although it is not yet over, we are set to make some small and some not-so-small changes to the website as we head in to 2023.
For those of you that have followed us here from CarAdvice days, let us tell you a little story as to why we are all here.
From 2006 to 2016, CarAdvice grew to be the largest new car site in the country and became a household name for many car lovers and those looking for their next new car. It also had the unenviable badge of being the second highest referrer of traffic to CarSales. Why does that matter?
Basically, car buyers would use the website to find what car to buy, then head to CarSales to begin the transactional component of the journey.
From the outset with CarExpert we were conscious to learn from those lessons and as such the strategy had always been to build CarExpert into Australia’s best new car research tool, but also follow the pathway through to transaction.
This is why we purchased PriceMyCar back in August and why you have seen the gradual transition to the buy and sell focus points. It’s also why you may have noticed a number of roles on our careers page that are dealer related.
Our mission statement is to become the most trusted experts in car ownership, enabling confident decisions.
In 2022 we won brand and website of the year and Paul and Alborz also won Entrepreneur of the year in the media category in Sydney.
All of this being the case, CarExpert heads into 2023 with the following major changes:
Major increase in staff
As we approach the close of 2022, CarExpert has almsot 40 full time staff. As it stands we have over 20 open positions for full-time staff that need hiring before July 2023, with more roles to add from August. This significant investment in the very best people will set us up to continue our growth trajectory and head toward an IPO circa 2024.
Significant investment in our content team
We are substantially increasing the size of our core editorial team and also extending the content input from external sources. You may have already seen some familiar faces returning and some new faces will arrive early in 2023.
This will lead to an uplift in the amount of content we produce in terms of news, reviews, comparisons etc., but will also see us create dozens of ‘content hubs’ that are currently being designed and worked on.
These hubs will be significant in size and encapsulate the major discussion and information points around a particular topic (e.g. EVs) with supporting video and tools. A one stop page with everything you want to know on one topic.
Update to the news & review template
We have been redefining and redesigning our news and review templates to be easier to read and less cluttered while also providing more data and content in a more user friendly way. This evolution of our review template and design will see us try a few new things along the way as well.
Investment in data driven content
We have always used algorithm driven custom data content creation tools for sections of the CarExpert website and going into 2023, we are expanding that functionality significantly with major development investment into utilising data (such as the Sold Price Report, sales data, other data sources) to bring about seamless integration.
As an example, if you’re reading about a Ford Ranger, all the data around its sales volume, average sold price last month, current deals etc., will all become seamlessly available in every article about that vehicle.
Automated Comparison Tool
From day one we have built CarExpert to be a comparison and discovery tool between vehicles. All our showrooms, reviews and data points are designed in such a way that they can quickly be put side by side, section by section (e.g. interior of Ford Ranger vs Toyota Hilux) which is exactly what we intend to do when we launch our comparison system in 2023. This will allow you to compare multiple vehicles side-by-side and see the difference in everything from stats to our thoughts on interior and how they drive.
Changes to our advertising products
As most of you well know, our no display-advertising mantra had been part of our launch strategy since 2020. Since then the business has evolved from contextual text links to using our own imagery, video and other creative for display advertising to great effect.
Soon, we will also be using creative from OEMs themselves in certain spots on the website. This will not lead to significant number of ads on one page but it may take some of you by surprise. The reason we are doing this is predominantly due to where we have identified these creatives to have a meaningful impact and aid the user journey in the purchase process.
We will continue to be an independent voice in the automotive industry and steadfastly steer clear of sponsored content or any opinions that aren’t our own. This will continue to set us apart from our competitors.
Ask an Expert/Q&A to be surfaced for public use
Much like the comparison tool, our Ask an Expert section has been one of the most useful features for new car buyers, whereby they ask detailed questions and we give detailed answers as to what car they should buy and why. We have answered thousands of these questions since launch.
Up until now, these Q&As have been kept private but we are bringing them to public use and best of all, building a system to allow the community to answer questions from car buyers with the input of our experts here as well.
Integration of dealer system into CarExpert
As part of our acquisition of PriceMyCar and its amazing tech platform, we are bringing the technology to CarExpert itself, so there is full integration from reading a review through to submitting a lead and getting a call from someone at CarExpert itself to answer any questions before being connected to the best source of purchase.
From the founders and our entire team at CarExpert, we wish to thank you for your continued support and patronage. We are always open to feedback and keen to hear your thoughts and ideas around what we can do better and what features you would like to see us develop.
