Your dealership’s website will likely be the first exposure buyers have to your business; long before they set foot in your showroom, they’ll stumble across your home page. That puts the impetus on your website to answer some of the questions buyers are likely to have about who you are and what you do. Simply put, a good dealership website informs—which means, at the bare minimum, answering the following five questions.
What do you do?
This might seem obvious; what you do is sell cars! But your website can get a little more specific. For example:
- Do you sell used cars only, or some new inventory, as well?
- Do you sell vehicles only from certain manufacturers?
- Do you specialize in a particular type of vehicle, like pickup trucks?
- Do you also have a finance center? BHPH options? A service center?
Make sure your dealership website outlines all the ways in which you serve buyers.
Where are you located?
Based on your website, buyers should have no trouble locating your used car lot. Some tips to keep in mind include:
- You should provide buyers with your full NAP information—name, address, and phone number.
- Ensure that your NAP information appears consistently across every page of your website.
- For local SEO purposes, it can sometimes be helpful to identify nearby landmarks… for example, are you located near a major intersection or shopping center?
What sets you apart?
What’s your elevator pitch? What’s your value proposition? What sets you apart from the competition?
Yours is not the only used car dealership in town, so one question your website should always answer is: Why should buyers choose you over one of the other dealerships?
What do past buyers say?
Before they visit your showroom, buyers need to feel like they can trust you. The best way to build trust is by offering some social proof in the form of testimonials and reviews. Make sure your used car dealership website provides some insight into the kind of experience past buyers have had.
What’s the next step?
Now that someone has visited your site, what would you like them to do next? Make sure every page of your site has a clear call to action. This call to action might be:
- To call you and ask for more information.
- To make an appointment for a test drive.
- To fill out an online form to receive additional data.
- To sign up for your email list.
Each page of your site should have a compelling CTA, informing your buyers of the next steps they should take.
Is Your Website Doing Everything It Should?
Ultimately, for used car dealerships, a website needs to fulfill several functions—generating leads, garnering conversions, and enhancing the dealer’s brand. This all starts when you design your site around answering these key questions.
To learn more about building an effective dealership website, reach out to the software team at Get My Auto.