| Does Your Website Suck? |
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| Written by Brett Stevenson |
| Friday, 09 October 2009 00:00 |
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Ok, raise your hand if you feel like your dealership’s website is the best it can be. Maybe the best test of this is to ask yourself how many vehicle sales you can directly attribute to your site. How many customers shopped the cars on your site, contacted you through your site, did some negotiation with your online folks and then walked in the door to finish the deal? Is the answer 50? Is it five? Is it none?
You have to decide for yourself if your website is performing well. Inside this issue you will find some website providers and other web resources that are on the cutting edge of dealership website design and functionality. Ideally, you should feel confident that your provider is up to speed in technology and search engine optimization. If you provider has not significantly changed your site in two or three years, they are riding with obsolete technology and you are missing out.
Having said that, before you make the jump to a new provider or make any major changes, go online and search for info on the providers you are considering. Former customers will often tell you what to watch out for and how to make best use of that vendor. Every company can give you groovy testimonials from super satisfied customers, but it is better to talk to customers that aren’t on the brochure. If there is a vendor you want to consider, try searching one of their customers—see how their search engine optimization is working for the customer’s site. Are they coming up near the top in the normal organic search for a term that fits that dealership? If they are nowhere to be found on the search list, there may be a question about the vendor’s search engine optimization. Visit the vendor’s customer’s site and search through the site like you are interested in buying a car. Does the site do what you want it to? Can you easily find what you are looking for? Is it easy to contact the dealership? Does the site persuade you to interact with the dealership?
Remember that your website is a 24/7 salesperson for your dealership. Since most people search dealership sites before they ever contact a dealer, you need to get their attention to be in the buying conversation. Get ready for 2010 now. Get your internet strategy for next year in place before the end of this year and you will be rolling while your competitors are just starting to get their strategy planned. Nail the competition next year using the internet.
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