As a rule of thumb, every page of your dealership website should have a call to action… a short sentence or two inviting your readers to take the next step.
The importance of calls to action, or CTAs, cannot be overstated. You can’t make the assumption that website visitors will know what actions you want them to take or engage in those actions of their own accord. You need to give them a little nudge in the right direction if you wish to achieve your marketing goals.
But what kinds of CTA does your dealership website need? Where should you position them? And what steps can you take to ensure your CTAs are effective? Here are some tips from the Get My Auto team.
Types of CTA
Your CTAs should reflect your marketing goals; whatever you’re trying to achieve through your dealership website, that’s what your CTAs should encompass. Here are some examples of a few common goals you might set for your dealer website, and how they might translate into CTAs.
- Make an appointment. Invite readers to either call or use an online form to make an appointment with your sales reps, or in your service center.
- Contact us. More generally, you can invite readers to call, email, or fill out a form to ask any questions that are on their mind.
- Sign up. If you have a dealer newsletter, you might consider a CTA inviting your users to subscribe.
- Visit the dealership. Some dealerships have general CTAs inviting buyers to come down to the showroom or the lot; this isn’t necessarily bad, but it can be difficult to monitor and measure results.
CTA Locations
As for where to include CTAs, our answer is simple: Include one strong, clear CTA on every page of your website. Don’t just use them on the home page; remember that you may have some visitors who find you via Google and don’t come in through the front door, instead accessing the site through one of its sub-pages.
CTA Tips
As for how to ensure effective CTAs, here’s some general advice.
- Keep them brief! A good CTA is one or two sentences at the most.
- Aim for simplicity. Invite your readers to do one thing in each CTA; don’t muddy the waters by offering too many choices.
- Include strong verbs in each CTA. Those action words are key.
- If you’re inviting readers to call or email, make sure you include the appropriate contact information.
- Highlight the benefits. Invite your readers to take a certain action, but also explain why they should take that action. What’s in it for them?
- Don’t hesitate to experiment with different fonts, colors, and messaging, always tracking your results and determining what works and what doesn’t.
Learn More About Effective Dealership Marketing
CTAs are critical to an effective dealer website. For more guidance crafting your dealership’s Web presence, reach out to Get My Auto today and ask about our range of SaaS solutions!