It’s official: Most Internet access takes place on mobile devices, not desktop computers—which means that your dealership website has to be mobile-ready if it’s going to be effective at all.
That’s not mere speculation, either. Google has formally announced that, starting this summer, websites that aren’t optimized for mobile may actually incur search engine penalties—that is, lost rankings. In other words, a website that’s not made for mobile could cause your dealership to have diminished search engine visibility.
Our advice? Consider your mobile website to be your primary online home; your desktop site can be seen as secondary. And as you seek to make your mobile website better, make sure you’re doing everything you can to boost engagement from search engine users.
Boosting Engagement for Your Mobile Site
How is this done, exactly? There are a few steps dealerships should take to drive mobile engagement:
- Focus on speed and performance. The average user will only wait three or four seconds for a website to load—and if your mobile site takes longer than that, you’re going to lose traffic. Run speed tests and make sure your site is built for quick, no-fuss performance.
- Scale down content. Mobile users need to be able to see all the important information without scrolling through your site—so make sure all the pertinent stuff appears above the fold. This might mean weeding out some superfluous content or removing some unnecessary images.
- Ensure strong calls to action. Another key to engagement is providing your users with a clear sense of what you want them to do. Every page of your site should have a strong and concise invitation for the user to take action—calling you, emailing you, or visiting your showroom. Put your CTAs about the fold, as per our second tip!
- Include your contact information. We recommend putting your dealership name, address, and phone number on every page of your mobile site. Why? Partly for local SEO purposes, but also so that users can very easily call you or navigate to your showroom, straight from your mobile site.
- Offer value. Your website content should provide some sense of how the user can benefit from visiting your dealership. This means making prominent display of current sales or promo items. Offering some online-only discounts or coupon codes can also be an effective strategy.
Get More Business Through Your Mobile Site
Ultimately, your mobile site should be a 24/7 sales machine, generating new customers for your dealership. The best way to make that happen is through increased mobile engagement.
We’d love to talk to you more about how to design a dealership website that’s sleek and effective, among mobile and desktop users alike! Contact the automotive marketing specialists at Get My Auto today and be sure to ask about our website design app! Reach out to Get My Auto at your next convenience.