Auto Dealerships – It All Starts With Your Website
Auto Dealership Marketing
Most every automobile dealership has a website these days. Even with the rise of social media, websites remain a cornerstone of auto dealership marketing. But is your website performing the way it should? Or is it just a static business card on the internet? If you need to get more out of your dealership website, here are some ways to take it to the next level.
Quiet Design
The Attention span of an online human is 7 seconds. The attention span of a goldfish is 8 seconds. Design is changing because users are changing. In the near future, part of the Google algorithm will rank based on clean design. If the ultimate goal of your website is to convert visitors into showroom buyers, make it easy for them to find what they want. Design for the mobile screen first, desktop screen last. Don’t be a page slob. FOCUS. Less is more. Avoid going link nuts. Organize intuitively. This isn’t hide and seek. Use video. Video takes a lot of content and quiets down the page. Bottom line, it’s not you. Its them. Get your ego out of the way. Don’t let the industry evolve without you. To get started, ask yourself 4 questions:
- What’s the one goal of each page?
- What are the other guys doing?
- Who is your audience? Get to know them.
- Is your messaging and content integrated with how they got to your site?
Make Your Automobile Dealership Website Responsive
Not too long ago a dealership website just needed basic content, simple navigation and a few back links to secure its ranking in the search engines. No more. Today a website must be responsive, meaning that it looks impressive on a smartphone, tablet, laptop or desktop computer. In fact, 83% of all mobile users say that it is important that a website work well across all devices. If your website visitors have to “pinch and scroll” on your site, then they will leave and find another site.
Add Videos to Your Website
According to comScore, a company that compiles internet statistics, 100 million internet users watch an online video each day. Many of these are funny YouTube videos, but many are promotional or explanatory videos on business websites. Not only do videos make a website more engaging, they influence buying decisions. Users become emotionally involved while watching a video. Live action videos, such as someone showing pleasure while driving an automobile, create trust, and that sways potential buyers. In fact, retailer Stacksandstacks.com found that website visitors who watched a product video were nearly 150% more apt to buy that product than visitors who did not watch the video.
Collect Leads on Your Website
What happens to the visitors who come to your dealership website? Do they read a few pages, click on a few links and then leave never to be heard from again? This is lost business. Capture online visitors by adding a call to action (CTA) on every page of your website. A CTA is usually written as a command, such as “Sign Up Now” or “Download Now.” It is clear and concise and tells users what to do.
When visitors complete a call to action, such as filling out a form to receive a newsletter or entering an email address in exchange for a downloadable buyer’s guide, they are giving you their contact information. Stay in touch with them by sending vehicle promotions, price discounts, holiday greetings and more via texts, emails and newsletters.
Gather Customer Feedback through Website Surveys
Surveys are an easy way to gather customer feedback and find out what they want from your dealership. They can answer questions about pricing, current stock or customer service if they have already visited your dealership. They can answer questions about finding or not finding what they need on the website itself if they have not yet stepped inside your dealership. Keep questions short and simple to encourage more participation.
Measure Website Results with Analytics
Analytics is the process of interpreting data patterns and using that information to garner better insights and make more informed decisions. When it comes to your dealership’s website, this means looking at how visitors interact with the site and seeing how this correlates with sales statistics. Installing real-time analytics code on your website lets you track sales numbers by marketing channel (natural search engine traffic, social media traffic, email traffic and more). It also helps you predict user behavior, determine purchasing patterns and more. Google Analytics is the leading web-based analytics system and is easy to install and use.
Are you ready to increase your dealership’s sales numbers? If so, then contact us. We create a connected car buying experience by offering dealerships a more streamlined sales and finance process. See what we can do for you today.