TAKE POLL OEM Site Only Versus Custom Dealer Site

[Bill Simmons]

I know that there have been other threads on this subject before, but I could not find them to bump back into discussion. I'm curious to see poll results of how many of us use our required OEM sites as the dealership's primary website.

In our dealer group, we have a mixed bag. Some of our stores use only the OEM sites and due to sales volume see no value in having the expense of another website. Other stores have the OEM site but do not support it and promote only their custom sites. Personally, I would prefer to see all of our stores have another site other than the OEM site. Some of the hoops we have to jump through to get custom content on the factory sites can be frustrating at times. For example, it took three weeks and many emails just to get Google Analytics code installed on two of our GM sites. Craziness.

What frustrations have you had using only the OEM sites? Are there pitfalls to having two websites for one location? How have you overcome them? Please share your thoughts on the subject and I hope we can all learn from the discussion.

 

[csabatka1]

Bill - I'll be speaking to this slightly at #DSES, more so the why. In pursuit for screenshots for my presentation, it literally took me 4 clicks to find 2 competing dealership with the EXACT SAME website.

With an OEM solutions it's harder to build your brand, your message, changes take longer, you're stuck within their framework or limited layouts, SEO struggles, etc, etc. In the end, your website looks and performs nearly identical to the competing store right down the street.

We're the only industry out there that feels the need and reliance to website laziness. We want someone else to do it for us.

We're a heavy custom website group, in fact, that's all I did for my first year. In-house dealer websites. With a custom approach I'm able to really focus on user experience and build the site how a customer/shopper uses it.

We still have the 6 required manufacturer websites. We don't spend a lot of time maintaining them. We allow the vendor to do that for us. We don't 'bury' the site in search results, just allow it to simply take position in rankings from competition.

With a good custom website partner/vendor, they can shoulder most of the updates, changes, etc, so the heavy lifting isn't on dealership personnel, it's on the pros.


In the time it took you to get get a should be 5 second Google Analytic install done, I could have designed and rolled out a brand new website for you.

 

[craigh]

Ditto ^

I started my career creating custom websites for an automotive group that got fed up with OEM and other crappy vendor options.
Once we broke down the walls and they realized how much freedom there was we were finally able to start building websites that do far more than help customers - we now have countless tools for dealers to better understand their online presence, customers on the website, etc.

For me it's less about how long it takes and how difficult it is to customize an OEM site and more about how little functionality those sites offer and how far behind they are in things like analytics, consumer insights, inventory display options, etc.

 

[JessicaRuth]

Great debate and question @Bill Simmons

I think that you're in good company with being frustrated with OEM mandated sites.

 

[skutchhenks]

I'm definitely on the same page as everyone here. We all share the same problems with OEM mandated sites. From the OEM perspective though, they feel mandating a website/partner is crucial for the whole of their dealer network. The primary reason is because (the majority) 80% of their dealers are WAY behind the times on digital and they need OEM support. Problem there is you alienate and hinder progress from your upper 20% of dealers which happens to be the largest sales, highest volume, most progressive segment of your dealer network. If I could give some advice to any OEM's reading this, you have to ALSO provide the advanced tools to the upper crust. Let the eagles soar higher and higher, and just make sure the sparrows don't starve.

Now in a perfect world a dealer's custom website or digital solution/provider should have the ability to meet criteria set by OEM's to be approved/certified. I think consolidated analytics is really what the OEM wants, so just require it. The other end of it would be incentives and integration with merchandising, but any web developer can easily work off an API or content network as required by the OEM.

I would do custom web-based integrated platform in a second for nearly all of the technology utilized in a dealership, but the problem is the OEM requirements and integration with other systems/vendors make it too cumbersome and costly. Which means I have to work in the boundaries of which vendors can ride the thin line in the middle of both worlds and make the best of it. The best OEM solution for a dealer partner in my experience is Dealer.com, both the OEM and dealer can truly do whatever they need, very flexible and customized if needed. The best OEM dealer solution from my experience is hands down Toyota, they have a wide-range of vendors dealers can choose from and they also don't hinder dealers with ridiculous co-op $ penalty standards.

 

[Stefan]

I don’t believe the answer is as simple as yes or no. In my opinion, few things should be taken in consideration before making a decision:

1. Is your store in a highly competitive market or single point?
2. Are you a store focusing on new, used or both?
3. Do you have someone to constantly create quality custom content and maintain the custom website?

In addition to these questions, one should be thinking 24-36 months out. Do you think that 24-36 months from now the OEM will still allow additional websites? If the answer is no, is it worth investing the money and time in a secondary website?

How about Google... 24-36 months out, will Google still rank these websites?

 

[Bill Simmons]

Thanks for the feedback everyone!
@csabatka1 I will not be at DD so will miss your presentation. Would love to see the deck afterwards if you could email it to me?
@Stefan Great feedback Stefan! There are a lot of factors involved in the decision. Hopefully we will never get to the point where the manufacturers tell us they will not allow something though.
@skutchhenks Agreed all the way. If all of our manufacturers gave us the flexibility that Toyota does, there would be no need for this thread and poll. The others, GM specifically, not so much.

 

[KevinO]

I've worked on both sides of the aisle. No matter what your SEO will suffer with two websites. You'll confuse the hell out of Google let alone the consumer. I started with a dealer who had 2 websites. I talked them into going to one and within a couple of months increased organic traffic & sales x3. Left the dealership 2 years ago. Went back and visited & found they switched back to two. guess how they are doing?

 

[Alex Snyder]

There are tons of capable enough people who can handle a custom website, but time and time again those folks leave.

In my 5+ years at Dealer.com I've assisted custom-design-minded dealers in coming up with some really cool ideas. That has been a really fun part of the job.... until I go back a year or three later to see a slide show that hasn't been updated in months, stale specials, and a blog with the latest article being 2 years old. That bums me out to no end

When I call those groups/stores the answer is always the same: "_______ left us and we're still searching for his/her replacement." So, it isn't just that most dealers aren't digitally-minded that OEMs feel the need to step-in. Even the best jobs can fall apart, in time, without the right people.

 

[Scott Zagurski]

Hey Bill, thanks for starting this thread a new. A truly custom web site is a myth, unless you have a developer build one for you. Or if you are like @csabatka1, who is talented in making something different. (He is probably referring to my two websites being exactly the same). Our websites are indentical for a reason and we sell a lot of cars.

Website, true custom development is not something to enter into lightly. If you have the stomach for it, you can create a competitive advantage. The odds of that advantage being sustained for more than a year or two is slim. There will always be a better mouse trap. I am making a custom website myself right now. It is painful for sure, risk - reward. If you need any advice, I can tell you about my custom journey in further detail.

Take care