Others go to AutoTrader or Used Cars to find their vehicles.  They want to sift through the vehicles regardless of the dealer to find the car of their dreams (or at least one they want to buy).

Then, there are the customers who do not want to deal with dealers, at least for now.  They put in leads to generic automotive websites that ask for vehicle, name, number, and email.  They get quotes from the local dealers within the network.  These dealers purchase the leads from the third-party sites for $18-$26.

Dealers are now looking to make use of the same principles, but without the middleman.  Dealerships can create microsites that do the same things and accomplish the same goals without having to pay the high amount.  Most properly managed, marketed, and optimized microsites generate leads for about half of what the third party websites sell them for.

Please stay tuned.  As more information comes in, we will post more on the topic.  In the meantime, please keep an eye out, avoid the scams, and sell more cars.

Car Dealer Microsites

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

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

Dealer Refresh - Jeff Kershner’s excellent blog that offers car dealers a place to hear news and sound off about it.  Many dealers populate this blog on a regular basis, so it also acts as a forum for Internet Sales Managers to discuss issues and challenges.

Dealer ISM - A newer websites for Internet Sales Managers, it is quickly emerging as one of the best places to get up-to-date advice about being an ISM in today’s competitive internet auto market.

Internet Sales Managers by TK - TK Carsite’s articles designed to help Internet Sales Managers make good decisions and run their departments properly, regardless of who their automotive website designer is.

ISM Today - More of a media site, it offers interesting articles and press releases related to the internet business for car dealers.  Often updated, it is the first stop for ISMs looking for press releases about their industry.

Auto Dealers Network - A social network for those in the automotive industry.  Pretty much brand new, but still with great articles and greater insight.

Whether you are an internet sales manager looking for an edge or a GM looking for the latest trends to discuss with your ISM, these websites should offer the best information out there for you.  Be active, stay in touch, and absorb everything you can from these pages.

If you aren’t on top of things, you’re falling way behind without even knowing it.

Dealership Info

In more ways, it doesn’t.

What many dealers are finding is that they are getting leads that end up duplicating through their 3rd party leads.  What does this mean?  At least for new car leads, it means that the dealer is getting into a bidding war with other dealers because the people clicking on their ad are also clicking on other sites.

Is this good?  Of course.  A car buyer is a car buyer, regardless of how competitive their lead is.  Getting in front of someone who is interested in getting the best possible deal and who is willing to get multiple quotes from multiple sources is still taking a very inexpensive shot at earning their business.

Still, there has to be a better way.  This is where many paid marketing services earn their fees — in finding the searches, clicks, and conversions that the competitors aren’t targeting.  What does this mean?  It means that a good SEM compaign will yield not only more leads, but better quality leads because they are finding the keyword phrases that have limited, targeted traffic being drawn.

For car dealers, it isn’t just going after makes and models.  Sometimes the best campaigns target word combinations that are not always on the tip of the dealers’ minds.  Here are some common searches with which most dealers are not marketing.

“First Time Car Buyers” with a landing page that discusses the programs that the dealer offers for financing.

“Good Gas Mileage Cars” with a landing page that lists cars and the gas mileage of vehicles that the dealer offers.

“(metro area) Oil Change” with a landing page that lists specials for service.

 These keywords with very specific ad copy that denotes that they are clicking on a car dealer is the way to get inexpensive leads that convert into traffic and eventually sales.  Dealers that hire someone to do this (or do it themselves) are the ones who are getting the most out of their oranges.

Dealership Info

It’s a shame that many car dealer website providers don’t offer high quality custom automotive websites to their clients.  As car buyers, we want the simplicity of being able to click on and view the inventory immediately, but we also want something that speaks to the personality of the dealership.

 A website is often the first impression that a customer receives about a dealership.  It isn’t like people are visiting dealer websites every week.  Normally, we only do it when we are considering buying a car ever 2-4 years, so it makes sense that a car dealer’s website should show more about the dealership than just a listing of their inventory and a way to make contact.

 For many car dealer websites, it isn’t even easy to find a way to contact them.

An example of a good, attractive-but-not-too-flashy website is Pennsylvania Roush Dealers.  They make it easy to get to the inventory, but they still offer an opportunity for people to enjoy surfing the site and gathering information about the dealership.

Another great one is Los Angeles Honda.  As you can see, there is no need to click on anything if you want to see the inventory.  For those who want to explore, it’s as simple as clicking the inventory closed and being able to navigate the site.

Car dealers, don’t make your websites boring.  Car shoppers, if you find a boring one, please let the dealer know.  If they aren’t told, they won’t know that they can improve their users’ experience.



Dealership Info

Between an influx of high quality dealer websites and an ever-growing list of independent sites entering the automotive market, it has become necessary for car dealers to pay for more than just a basic web presence.  Not being on the front page of Google, Yahoo!, MSN, and Ask is internet marketing suicide.

 TK Carsites has hired an automotive SEO marketing specialist to lead the new Search Engine Optimization team in their efforts to get their member auto dealer websites to the top of the rankings.  Honda websites such as Louisiana Honda, Johnson City Honda, Ventura Honda, and Portland Honda head up the initial efforts.

Toyota has the second most websites with Used Cars Minneapolis and Portland Toyota.  Rounding up the list of automotive seo websites is Simi Valley Car Dealers, Glendale Nissan, Los Angeles Kia, New Jersey Chevrolet, The Dalles Car Dealers, Portland Lincoln Mercury Dealers, and Harrisburg Ford Dealers, Hood River Scion Dealers.

 In this early stage, prices have not been set yet.  The market and the automotive seo business in general is in a state of constant flux.  It is difficult to guage how much effort it takes to achieve top rankings when the competition is so strong.

 By August, TK Carsites intends to have its advanced SEO service in place and ready for car dealers to contact them.



Dealer Internet Sales Managers

Car dealers are in an ultra-competitive virtual landscape and have perhaps the largest gap between the common understanding and the practical application of search engine optimization. As a former dealer, I understand that the standard operating procedure for solving any marketing and advertising problem is to throw money at it. With SEO, it can be a sad thing, as dealership owners, GMs, and even the Internet Sales Managers can be easy targets for companies promising the world for lots of money.

For car dealers currently exploring the area of SEO, a word of advice. Don’t fall prey to the thousands of dollars or setup followed by thousands of dollars or monthly maintenance. A good max would be $1000 up front, $500-$1000 per month per rooftop/website.

Automotive SEO has plans starting at $399 per month. Dealer.com does it for $500 or more. BZ Results can charge quite a bit more, though their quotes can be confusing.

Specialty companies like AutoOneMedia usually stay under $1000. The last quote I received from them was for $699 per month.

No matter who you consider, ask for references. Do searches on Google, Yahoo, and MSN for their dealerships. It only makes sense to be smart with the money.



Dealer Resources

When people want vehicle reviews, they visit Consumer Reports or J.D. Powers and Associates.

When they want invoice prices, they visit Kelley Blue Book or Edmunds.

When they want funny videos, they visit YouTube.

Despite these facts, so many automotive dealership websites are jam packed with extras that are a distraction at best, possible even a nuisance.  People visit car dealer websites because they have an idea of what vehicle they want.  Now they want to move forward and make contact.

Here is a list of the top 10 features that all automobile dealer web designers should emulate.

1) Easy to find features, especially inventory

If a first-time car dealer website visitor cannot find the most popular page on the website within 5 seconds after the page is loaded, the website is not doing its job.  The most visited page on a site is the used car inventory and it should be front, center, and obvious.  The inventory page is easy to find at New Jersey Chevy Dealers.  Other features listed below should be nearly as easy to find.

2) Simple navigation through inventory

Many websites offer rotating, interactive, guided tours of each of their vehicles.  They give every bit of information available from vehicle weight to ideal tire pressure.  While this information and the incredible show of technology is impressive, there should be a way to find the real info – year, miles, options, and price.

The used car inventory should be quick to navigate and quicker to filter, search, and sort.  New car inventories are slowly disappearing for reasons that will be mentioned below, but it too should be easy.  An easy inventory to navigate is Los Angeles Nissan Dealers.  Once a customer finds a vehicle of interest, they can take all of the 730 degree super car tours they want, but in the meantime, a well designed auto dealer web site should simply deliver what the customer wants – information.

3) Build and price features

The competitive nature of today’s new car market mixed with the ever-expanding knowledge base available to customers considering new vehicles has forced many dealers to open their options and not rely on in-stock vehicles.  Custom ordering and dealer locates used to be more expensive because of the trouble, expense, and timing issues.  Dealers would rather sell what they had available today.

Most can no longer rely on their stock.  This shift in thought allows the consumer to pick their dealerships based on merit and proximity instead of searching inventory after inventory to match their desired vehicle.

Build and price features on new car dealer websites, such as the one at Louisiana Honda Dealers, allows this to happen.  Versus just listing what vehicles they have on their lot, they are encouraged to list all possible vehicle configurations.  Dealers have access to these vehicles one way or another.  They might as well offer them to their customers.

4) Credit applications

Online credit applications on dealership websites are not just for those with special financing needs.  Today’s world of faster transactions demands that people, even those with great credit, have their financing prepared and ready to sign when they get to the dealership.

The days of 8 hour car transactions are, for the most part, over.  If a dealership isn’t ready with a simple, fast, and secure credit application on their website, they just aren’t ready for business in the 21^st century.  A great example of an easy to find, interactive and well designed credit application can be found at Toyota Dealerships in Minneapolis.

5) Digital brochures

Customers used to come to dealerships with newspapers, poorly ripped out clippings from newspapers, notebook with information scrawled on a page, or a combination.

Many car dealer websites now have digital brochures.  These are printable pages with vehicle information and pictures, plus contact information all on one nice sheet.  Great digital brochures can be found at Portland Lincoln Dealers.  A paper clip or a back pocket are all that is needed for a car shopper to have a full day’s worth of knowledge and notes as they embark on their car buying adventures.

6) Quick Quote

Again, this goes back to the desire for instant information.  Some customers do not want to search for vehicles.  These “Let me tell you what I’m looking for” customers want a way to be in and out of a dealership’s website within a couple of minutes.  Properly position quick quote buttons make this possible.

A dealer website with a well positioned and simple enough quick quote button is Los Angeles Honda Dealers.  It was built by Auto Dealer Websites.

7) Specials

We love specials.  It’s part of human nature.  Having coupons and specials for one or all departments is one of the reasons people go to certain web pages.  Even if they already plan on visiting a particular dealership, they may go to the website just to see the specials.

8 ) Service and Parts contacts

Not everyone who visits an automotive website are there to buy a car.  All of the different departments need some level of a presence.  Service and parts are the two most common departments that people want.

Some websites have a simple contact form.  Others add coupons.  There are some that have a fully interactive and feature laden parts and service pages on their site.  An average version is normally all that is needed – something with a little information, a few coupons, and a contact form should be plenty.

9) Map, hours, contact information

It seems like a no-brainer, but it happens.  Dealerships spend hundreds or thousands of dollars per month for a great looking website that doesn’t offer an easy way for visitors to contact them.

It really does happen.  No samples will be given here, but they do exist.  Here is a sample of a good one at Los Angeles Kia Dealers.

10) Information about the dealership

The vast majority of customers don’t care about the history of a dealership, any of its departments, or any of the people who work there.  Still, there are those who do care, and for these people, it is important to have “about us” pages.

They shouldn’t just be fluff pages.  There should be information that would be of interest to those who read every word on a website, like the one at Portland Honda Dealers.

FINAL NOTE

Car dealer websites normally get one opportunity to make a lasting first impression.  It is imperative that they are customer build and completely different from anybody else.  Many dealers opt for template websites hoping to save a little money.  When it’s taken into account that the profit from one extra car deal per month is normally more than the difference between a template and a good custom site, one has to question the logic of going generic.

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Read more car buying tips here, but please forgive the shameless and pathetic self-promotion of some of my sites using gibberish.  I wish that Google made it easier for good sites to make it to the top without stooping so low, but hey, someday, right:

Auto Dealer Web Design is one of the most important parts of running a good dealership.  Car Dealers should use good Automotive SEO to get their sites to the top.  Oklahoma Car Dealers, Oklahoma City Car Dealers, and Used Car Dealers should offer Purchasing Advice, Car Buyer’s Guide, and Vehicles Available to their customers.

Vehicle Purchase Secrets on Digg Articles, Hyperlinkomatic, and Netscape Articles offer Car Buying Tips about Flaming Tailpipes on Lincolns in Oklahoma.

A Used Car Search of Car Dealer Websites by Dealer.com yields Buying Tips - Cars and Car Buying Tips and Secrets.

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