Your Favorite Metric

[Mitch Gallant]

Lead conversion. It's closer to end result. Both suffer from many externalities. Certainly not an either or however if I were to crack open a report, conversion would be the first of the two I'd consider. Both are definitely worthy as KPI's yet too many people value VDP's without understanding what insight they're trying to find. Doesn't mean it's less important, just less understood.

 

[emilymoore]

In a world of "posted pricing", I rely on a combination of VDPs and map views as key performance indicators. Since we post our pricing up front, our form conversions are naturally lower, but that doesnt mean that our website is ineffective.

 

[Jeff Kershner]

One measurement the big sites like(d) to push was the SRP. The search results page - the page right before the VDP. How many people never go directly into the VDP?

Of course the performance of a vehicle wothin the SRP of a listing site, yields a much different performance than it does on your dealership website.

There are some website providers that would include conversion links on the vehicles of the SRP. It was surprising to see the number of conversions happening on the page right before the VDP.

 

[tomwhitejr]

One measurement the big sites like(d) to push was the SRP. The search results page - the page right before the VDP. How many people never go directly into the VDP?

Of course the performance of a vehicle wothin the SRP of a listing site, yields a much different performance than it does on your dealership website.

There are some website providers that would include conversion links on the vehicles of the SRP. It was surprising to see the number of conversions happening on the page right before the VDP.

So what you are saying is that my first thought on the facebook thread - direct correlation between unique visitors to a website and resulting sales - is accurate??? All I know is that when my unique visitors (and sometimes visits) is UP, my sales follow... every day, every time, without fail, no exceptions... And it's been this way for as long as I can remember... Seems like an ultra simple metric and that it should be more complicated, but for me and my business, this holds true ALL THE TIME...

 

[MannyLuna]

Aside from sales and gross, what metric do you like to track most?

Goals set, without goals what is there to track?

 

[Christine Plunkett]

I'd rather gnaw off my own arm than give a company my name, email, and phone number. I'm not the only one. Leads give dealers the warm, fuzzy feeling that everything is working, but customers like me will pop up as a VDP tick and a floor up - never a lead. Ever. If I had to choose, I'd be more excited to see my VDP count rise than my form submission rate.

 

[Bill Simmons]

We get an email from one of our factory reps this morning with "exciting news!" The exciting news is that they sent out an "email blast" to 2.2 million people last night. I'd love to know the unsubscribe and open rate on that bad boy. And we wonder why people do not want to fill out forms and give us a valid email address.

 

[Dustin Postma]

I would never tell anyone how or what to look for in a website but I think so many miss the point of metrics and why they are looking at what they are looking at. I think the single most important part of analytic data on your website is the "Funnel". This will allow you to see where people go and they where they go from there. Its not all about the VDP or conversion because it all comes down to a vehicle that the "session user" is willing to buy and the experience they see on your website. So if you are giving the customer a great digital experience and they are moving through all the proper conversions on your website, and I am not just talking about filling out a form or visiting a single VDP but the entire experience. It ultimately comes down to them finding the right car that they like and also at a great price or a willingness that you will work with them on price. So to focus on once single point conversion is setting yourself up for failure from the beginning. If you pay very close attention to how the customer utilizes your website you will be able to adjust to make your site even that much better, thus a conversion that sells the car!!!

 

[Jeff Kershner]

Great response Dustin. Bravo.

 

[Carluminati]

Agreed Jeff. My biggest accomplishment was getting the dealer to pony up the big bucks and get a better website with awesome VDP's. I've known VDP to be the Holy Grail for a long time (been in Internet Car Sales since 1998). VDP's create showroom traffic, phone calls, and email leads. The more VDP views, the more cars sold. Period. Since our migration to a new site a few weeks ago with awesome VDP, traffic and e-leads have exploded.