Innovative Solutions to Drive the Growth of One of California's 15 Best Technology Innovators
AutoWeb (Formerly Autobytel)
Autobytel wanted to establish itself in a highly competitive market with unique products and services. That’s where DPL came in the picture.
The Client
Founded as Auto-by-Tel LLC in 1995 and renamed to Autobytel Inc. n 2001, AutoWeb is a California-based automotive media and marketing services company.
It partners with automotive dealers and manufacturers, offering them marketing opportunities. Through Autobytel.com and other sites such as UsedCars.com and AutoWeb.com, the company also delivers comprehensive automotive research and purchasing experience.
AutoWeb has cemented its name in its industry. In 1997, it was the first internet company to have its ad played during the Super Bowl. It was also chosen as one of the 15 best technology innovators at the 2007 California Innovation Awards.
As of August 2022, AutoWeb is part of One Planet Group, an equity firm that owns online tech and media businesses.
The Problem
AutoWeb has always prioritized innovation since launching its operations mid-1990s. However, it felt that its then-current renowned consulting and services provider was not able to help it address its current challenges.
Therefore, the company was in the market for a new technology partner. Specifically, an agile, cost-effective IT services provider.
With their partner’s expertise, AutoWeb wished to create web platforms and powerful reporting tools that allow it to expand its business and keep its edge in the market.
The Solution
Tapping into our experience in the automotive sector and search engine marketing (SEM) expertise, we assembled over 10 teams of 75 skilled personnel. In addition to developers and QA engineers, architects, backlog managers, UI/UX professionals, and business intelligence (BI) experts were on board.
With over 15,000 hours of work per month dedicated to this project, we were able to integrate SEM technology into their infrastructure. Improvements to the UI/UX and integration of BI solutions further supported AutoWeb to achieve its business goals.
DPL used a mix of technologies, including but not limited to ASP.NET, MVC, SQL, Javascript, HTML, and Perl. With these, we delivered the following to support our client’s goals from this project –
- Multiple environments for development, testing, and staging new features
- A highly customized Content Management System (CMS) to enable marketers to create rich, dynamic websites with a few clicks
- Hardware load balancers for routing the traffic of millions of PPC users every month
- A powerful reporting tool that ensures executives gain better visibility into revenue vs profit, and oversee the cost of ad campaigns
The impact
As AutoWeb’s largest outsourcing partner for six years, DPL was able to support the company’s position as a leader in online automotive leads.
Between 2011 to 2016, we were able to –
| 2011 | 2016 | |
|---|---|---|
| User Clicks Per Month | 1 million per month | +3.6 million per month |
| Conversions | 90,000 | 300,000 |
| Revenue | $1.1 million | $5 million |
In addition to handling a monthly ad spend of $4.5+ million, DPL’s teams further improved the website response of Autobytel.com to load in 2.8 seconds.
