Company Profile

Since 1984, the Used Car Dealers’ Association (UCDA) has aimed to provide a fair used vehicle buying experience for both consumers and dealers. 

What started with a small group of independent dealers has now become an organization of nearly 5,000 members across Ontario. UCDA members enjoy a variety of benefits, including legal services, lien registration, garage insurance, and official bills of sale. Buyers are also entitled to advantages, such as mediation services and the OMVIC Compensation Fund, to assist them should something go wrong when they purchase a car. 

The Challenge

On their webpage, ontariocars.ca, UCDA members post car listings that buyers can search based on location, brand, and other specifications. 

Dave Aelick, a member services adviser at the UCDA, explained there was a need to increase traffic to the webpage organically. “We wanted content that would direct people to our website through Google,” Dave said. 

The proposed solution was an automotive blog, blog.ontariocars.ca. Here, the UCDA would publish articles on the latest cars on the market, vehicle maintenance tips, upcoming trends in the industry, and more. Now they just needed writers to create this content. 

Dave determined they needed a writer who understood the UCDA’s goals for growth and could connect with their audience through familiarity with the automotive industry. This person would also need to meet frequent deadlines to create a steady stream of content. Luckily, the UCDA didn’t have to look too long to find exactly who they needed. 

Finding Lori

Dave came across Lori Straus’s work in the UCDA’s dealer-focused automotive magazine, The Ontario Dealer, for which she wrote one or two articles for most issues from 2013 until early 2019. This proved to Dave and his colleagues that she could produce quality content. 

Being happy with the writing they found in The Ontario Dealer, the UCDA didn’t need to look any further: they’d found their new writer. 

The Experience

“Working with Lori has been pain free,” Dave said. 

Lori grew up in a family dealership and was therefore familiar with the industry. This background allowed her to produce informed content that was free of technical jargon the average consumer may not understand. 

Something Dave really appreciated about Lori’s work was her attention to detail and formatting style. “She always includes relevant keywords, and the articles are edited in a way that is favourable to Google,” he said. “It’s made my life much easier!” 

Lori’s work ethic means that content is always delivered on schedule. “I don’t have to chase Lori for any of the content I need. Everything arrives on time,” Dave said. 

Dave also mentioned that Lori’s attitude makes their partnership flow smoothly. On rare occasions where the UCDA wanted something changed in an article, a quick request was all it took. Dave said, “It was a simple email to Lori saying ‘Can you fix this?’ And that always happened in a timely fashion.” 

Results

On average, Lori and her team supply eight articles per month for the UCDA’s blog. The frequent article turnover has produced a steady growth in the number of visitors to ontariocars.ca. 

The wide variety of topics across the articles means readers can gain all kinds of automotive knowledge to help inform their next used car purchase. 

Looking Forward

Since Lori began writing for the OntarioCars blog in 2019, Dave and his colleagues have been consistently satisfied with the work Lori has produced. “For me, it’s been an excellent working relationship,” commented Dave. 

When Lori Straus expanded her business into Lori Straus Communications, the UCDA continued working with Lori, accepting work written by other writers on her team and edited by Lori. 

Dave has also recommended Lori’s services to colleagues in other fields who are looking for a writer. 

Get in Touch With Lori

Whether you’re looking for regular content creation, or you want to just talk about possible projects, Lori’s happy to chat with you to see how she and her team can help. Fill out the form below, and she’ll respond within one business day.