Car Dealer Websites

It sounds like such a generic statement in today’s world of Internet domination, but car dealers need their websites to flow.  What does that mean, exactly?

Any website, automotive or not, must have a sense of purpose.  It must be designed in a way that customers can go there, achieve what they want to accomplish, browse for further opportunities, and leave satisfied.  So often, dealership websites are nothing more than a complex mess of links and doorways into other areas that do not fulfill the needs of the consumers.

Every website needs to be clearly marked with the important buttons painfully easy to find.  Take a look at Portland Toyota Dealers.  See how long it takes to find these items:

1) Inventory

2) Hours and Directions

3) Finance Applications

4) Parts and Service

5) Contact Methods on Every Page

This may seem redundant compared to previous posts, but I found through traffic statistics that the original post was too long for most to spend time reading, so I’ve simplified it.  Have your websites built with the customers and the search engines in mind.  The search engines are easy — give them content and text links and they will do their job.

Sometimes, consumers are not so easy.

Building a Car Dealer Website

It’s getting much better.  It has been for a couple of years now.  To be honest, it couldn’t have gotten any worse.

Auto dealers in the Midwest part of the United States have been notorious for keeping a low internet budget.  Many are still sinking their money into television, radio, newspapers, and billboards.

Some blame it on the lack of internet users in the Midwest, but this is just not true.  Because of the availability of high-speed internet connections just about anywhere, even in rural areas, a higher percentage of people are going to the internet to do their automotive research and pre-shopping.  In fact, someone with internet access who lives more than 100 miles from a major metropolitan area are MORE likely to search dealer inventories and make inquiries online rather than drive to the dealership.

I came across an absolutely wonderful car dealer 15 miles outside of a metro area in the Midwest last year.  They had been in business for over 50 years and sold over 200 cars per month.  When I saw their website, I was appalled.  When I learned that they were paying $40 per month for it, I was shocked.

When they switched to a higher end, automotive specialist website design firm, their sales increased over 20% almost instantly.  Still, it was almost like pulling teeth trying to get them to make the move.

After I left that dealership, fully pleased that my work there was done, I started looking at other dealers in the area.  While none of them had the $40 websites, many had $400 websites.  Nothing wrong with a little cutting corners, of course, but a few more hundred dollars would increase sales there by 5-15 cars per month as a low estimate.  At a conservative $2000 front and back gross, that’s $10,000 to $30,000 more in profit per month.  If they paid an extra $1000 per month to get a quality automotive website, their return on investment would be 1000%-3000%.  It should be a no-brainer.

I’m not picking on the Midwest.  There are dealers across the country who do not spend much money on their internet presence.  It just seems more prevalent in the
Midwest.

If you are not spending a minimum of $700 per month on your website, your website is probably not attracting the leads necessary to really be effective.  Is it possible to have a great $300 website?  Of course!  It’s also possible to find a 200 year old copy of the Declaration of Independence at a garage sale.

Car Dealer Websites