Critique my website?

[AWW_Spencerport]

Anyone willing to go through my website and offer suggestions for anything I can do better?

Used Car Dealership Rochester New York - Cargo Vans, Work Vans, Astro Vans | Angelo's Wheels

 

[yagoparamo]

It is hard to 'critique', whats better, whats worst, etc.

But I can tell you by looking at my sites that:

You should have a really good about us pages with lots of photos of your people.
You should have great directions pages and info.
You should have an external blog, but also an internal blog where you add anything and everything you would out in social media (FB doesn't get indexed in Google, your blog entries will).

 

[Ryan Thompson]

I agree with you on the "about us" pages Yago. How many dealers do we see with some canned description their web provider has used hundreds of times. Not the web vendors fault. Dealers most of the time do not give this any thought and say "just put whatever, let's get this thing live"

About us is a great place to share your story, highlight some positive reviews and add some search engine friendly content.

Any examples you could post of dealers that are doing it right with about?

 

[ryan.leslie]

I agree with you on the "about us" pages Yago. How many dealers do we see with some canned description their web provider has used hundreds of times. Not the web vendors fault. Dealers most of the time do not give this any thought and say "just put whatever, let's get this thing live"

About us is a great place to share your story, highlight some positive reviews and add some search engine friendly content.

Any examples you could post of dealers that are doing it right with about?

Totally agree with you Ryan. I had the pleasure of speaking with someone from a dealership group that you would all instantly recognize as a leader the other day. Their Staff Page was getting a ton of traffic.

I can't comment on the whole "about us" experience, but here is an awesome example of a meet the staff page. Click in and look at these bios and VIDEOS for each employee.
Davis GMC Buick | Meet our Medicine Hat Sales, Service and Management Staff | Medicine Hat Car Dealership

About.com put out a "trust factor" study in July that offered an interesting insight into consumer behavior pre-purchase. Here is a great quote from Laura Salant the Director of Research:

“With the high volume of information at consumers’ fingertips, not only is trust a valuable filter, it is a prerequisite for consumers to even enter the purchase funnel."

The study went on to say that 84% of respondents reported they will not engage with a brand until trust has been established.

Would you rather call in and ask for the used car department... or would you rather ask for John Corlett, the guy from my same hometown that drives the '76 Sierra and rocks out to Journey? How can you not trust a guy that publicly admits he rocks out to Journey?

 

[yagoparamo]

I agree with you on the "about us" pages Yago. How many dealers do we see with some canned description their web provider has used hundreds of times. Not the web vendors fault. Dealers most of the time do not give this any thought and say "just put whatever, let's get this thing live"

About us is a great place to share your story, highlight some positive reviews and add some search engine friendly content.

Any examples you could post of dealers that are doing it right with about?

This one has an "expanded" about us section with several pages including a community involvement page/blog that is different than the regular blog (which is to the left side in the menu):

Our Dealership

 

[Robby Wilson]

I would be inclined to agree with most others posters here having a solid "about me" section. It lets people attach a face to a dealer and helps drive traffic and give your prospects a more neighborly vibe.

Also, just as a general rule, you can run a fine line between lots of customization and having a boring manufacturer template that we are all far too familiar with. Its easy to go overboard with tons of widgets, flash, Java Plug ins, etc. Some dealers get too extravagant and their page ends up looking like a promotional website for a group of 14 year old cheerleaders.

Interesting info from Ryan on the "trust factor". I have heard similar concepts from academia as far as marketing effectiveness is concerned, and it jives with my recollection. All important things to consider when you are talking with your developer. There is nearly always a disconnect between customer expectations and the final product that is submitted by the developer for approval. The more information you give them the better off you will be with the final result.

 

[cmjerry4531]

You need to do some link building. You currently only have 2 domains pointing at your website. A typical dealership will have 20-100 domains linking to them. So, I would contact any vendors that you utilize, as well as any local organizations you support, and ask them to create a page on their website about your business that links back to your home page. That's the easiest way for a car dealership to build some links.

I'd also recommend adding some actual text on the homepage relevant to your keywords. It looks like you are targeting "Rochester Used Cars," so write something about why people in Rochester should come to you for used cars.