3,468 viewsIn the digital age, it’s crucial for car dealerships to have a strong online presence. An intuitive and user-friendly automotive website attracts customers through a smooth and simplified browsing experience.
Here are the 10 features that make a dealership website stand out:
#1
A High-Performing Website
User experience, security, loading speed, content relevance, and mobile adaptability are among the important selection criteria for your consumers in terms of SEO. These criteria can significantly impact website performance, digital advertising efficiency, and visibility in search engine results pages.
Websites need regular evaluation for their overall performance by third parties and comparison with industry best practices.
By incorporating these best practices and staying updated with the latest SEO trends, you enhance your website’s visibility and drive organic traffic to your car dealership.
#2
Build and Price and Online Sales Technology
Some consumers prefer to start their purchase online and complete the transaction at the dealership… or vice versa! Others are ready to make a 100% online purchase, a practice they already engage in with other industries. By offering online tools that guide them throughout their new or used vehicle purchase process, you assist them in making a transparent decision, providing a comprehensive and simplified experience.
Your consumers demand the autonomy to, without leaving their homes, configure their ideal vehicle, add accessories, explore financing options, precisely calculate prices including the trade-in value of their vehicle, submit a credit application, and save their preferences in their favorites for later review.
#3
High-Quality Photos
You do your best to showcase the vehicles at your dealership. Why not do the same on your website? And remember, you only have a few seconds to grab consumers’ attention and guide them towards your VDP.
The appearance and look of a vehicle—these are two criteria that significantly influence your consumers’ purchasing decisions.
Stand out by enriching your content with detailed interior and exterior views, a multi-angle overview of each model, and 360-degree virtual tours for a complete immersive experience.
>> Incorporate into your website the largest selection of Canadian vehicle photos.
#4
A Comprehensive and Always Up-to-Date Inventory
To provide a quality consumer experience, your website inventory must be consistently up-to-date and synchronized with the prices and promotions offered at the dealership. However, this is far from simple when dealing with a large number of Vehicle Description Pages (VDPs) to maintain or generate.
Start by selecting a platform that automates your imports/exports of new and/or used vehicles, whether they come from your Dealer Management System (DMS) or third parties, while offering you the flexibility to manage your inventories independently. It should also provide various features allowing you to save time in the daily management of your online inventory (pre-established templates according to your standards, video integration, addition of customized warranties, etc.).
#5
A Website that Reflects Your Brand
The first impression always matters. When a customer walks into your dealership, you strive to make them feel comfortable, finding a clean, well-organized, personalized environment that quickly and easily provides the information they seek.
Your online site is an extension of your dealership. The impressions you make online should mirror those in your physical store.
Invest in a design that aligns with the unique identity of your brand, a clean streamlined interface, Smart Responsive technology that adapts to mobile devices, simple and intuitive navigation, and easy access to information about the vehicles and services you offer.
#6
Data Security and Privacy
As a consumer yourself, you want the right to control the personal information you share on the web. Your customers too.
By protecting their private information, you provide a transparent digital experience, increasing their trust in your brand. The more different software providers you have, the more challenging it becomes to ensure optimal data protection across all platforms.
Therefore, your website must have a comprehensive and robust firewall that safeguards all the personal data of your customers, for which you hold responsibility.
In the province of Quebec, since September 2023, Bill 25 mandates Quebec companies to obtain informed consent from their users before utilizing their browsing data for profiling purposes. Although this measure is not yet mandatory in the rest of Canada (but is likely to be in the near future), it remains a decisive criterion to consider if you aim to retain and reassure your consumers.
#7
Communication Tools for Everyone
Each customer has their preferred method of contacting you. Some prefer filling out a form and waiting to be contacted, while others prefer speaking directly with an online agent. Some even prefer interacting with a chat system.
By implementing an instant messaging system on your website, connected to your CRM, managed by specially trained agents and available 24/7, you never miss an opportunity and improve your customer follow-up.
The earlier you engage with your prospects, the more you can guide them in their decision-making process, establish an effective relationship of trust, and increase your chances of influencing their decision.
#8
Optimal Advertising Integration
To maximize your marketing efforts, your website must seamlessly sync with your advertising campaigns continuously. For instance, Facebook dynamic ads can be directly linked to your inventory, providing a consistent experience to potential buyers. By leveraging technology and capitalizing on the integration between your website content and various advertising platforms, you ensure increased reach and relevance of your messages.
These integrations optimize the efficiency of your digital advertising, leading to more qualified opportunities directed to your website.
#9
Always-Available Technical Support Service
To ensure you have a high-performing website, your web solution provider must offer you quality support service.
Most providers grant you access to a phone number or a support portal enabling you to contact the support team for any technical or website-related inquiries. You can track the progress of your request resolution in real-time immediately after submitting your query.
Now, imagine if this dedicated support team were available 24/7, responding promptly to your concerns… And if, in addition, you had access to comprehensive documentation or free webinars to help your teams enhance their knowledge about the tools – that’s hitting the jackpot!
#10
An Omnichannel Strategy for an Optimized Customer Experience
Markets and consumer habits have evolved. Nowadays, your visitors gather information about vehicles on the market, primarily through the internet using numerous sources (websites, blog articles, social media, videos, etc.). They read customer reviews, receive emails, may choose to visit the dealership, or contact you through different channels. They start their buying process online, pause, and resume either at the dealership or vice versa… With so many options and possibilities, how do you ensure nothing slips through the cracks? How can you ensure that the customer experience they encounter will be consistent across all existing touchpoints?
To provide a seamless customer experience, you can’t rely on your website alone. You must utilize maximum data to personalize interactions. If your customer data is always up-to-date and accessible across all your dealership tools, you can then personalize their experience based on their purchase history, behavior, and preferences to increase engagement rates.
For this to be achievable, your different tools need to be interconnected within an ecosystem that automatically syncs this data, allowing you to personalize the consumer’s purchasing experience regardless of their touchpoint.
Because you take into account all available customer information, you’re able to offer vehicles and services that truly cater to their needs, fostering a relationship built on trust and loyalty.
