Vinsolutions/DealerOn/Dealer.com or cobalt for website?

[sryan]

Our dealership is looking to change websites. We are a GM dealer

We use Vinsolutions for our CRM tool and are thinking about switching from the upgraded Cobalt site to a Vinsolutions/DealerOn or Dealer.com site

Which site(s) do you guys recommend????????????

Would anyone recommend staying with the upgraded performance website of Cobalt?

Thank you very much

 

[cmjerry4531]

My recommendation would be to switch websites. I'd also suggest moving your Cobalt site, since you have to keep a basic one, to a new domain, and putting your new site on the old domain. This website is attached to a lot of your local accounts, and has authority already built up.

The benefit of going with a VinSolutions website to match with your Vin CRM is the Vin Lens tool. If used properly you can gain another sale or two a month. Even so, there are quite a few good website vendors out there:

Dealer.com
Vinsolutions
DealerOn
Autofusion
MotoWeb
Dealerpeak

I'd recommend taking the time to read about SEO, and web conversion before picking a company. That way you can make your decision based on your own beliefs, and not marketing hype. Regardless of the company above, though, you should do pretty well.

 

[CarDealerWA]

Another vendor to add to that list is DealerLab.com. I am a Car Dealer in WA and have now been utilizing their services for about a year now and have seen tremendous online growth with my website and seo traction. My online leads have also accelerated, so I have been experiencing more opportunity in my sales/service/parts departments. My sales and RO's are up month over month. I would recommend contacting Dealerlab.com for a bid and more info.

 

[Chris Cachor]

I'd also recommend that whichever vendor you choose, make sure they have a strong mobile site and social login. I think DDC is probably the furthest along in this area.

 

[Daniel J. Mondello]

Dealer.com </story>

 

[padams212]

We switched to Dealer Lab a few years back from Motorwebs. It was probably one of the best things we've done in our digital marketing strategy in a long time. Their support is amazing and their turn around time is incredibly short compared to what we've dealt with in the past, especially with Cobalt. Their website is Auto Dealer Websites | Dealer Marketing Services | Car Website Design. They are worth checking out.

 

[bustin dailey]

We switched our primary site to vinsolutions and moved our cobalt site to base and changed the domain earlier this year.

The VIN site is far nicer, and more customizable. It converts better overall, and as stated, the VINlens tool is handy for keeping tabs on what your customers are looking at.

W-K Chevrolet | Sedalia MO Chevy Buick Cadillac GMC & Used Car Dealer < VIN site

New & Used Car Dealer in Sedalia, MO | W-K Chevrolet Buick GMC Cadillac | Serving Warrensburg and Columbia < Cobalt site

 

[Aussiewebmaster]

The biggest thing is to avoid any Flash elements - it amazes me how many still use Flash and it does not show in iPad or iOS devices

 

[Manny Luna]

Don't count out DealerFire, they do a great job too.

Look for exclusivity, this could help too. So many good options to choose from.

Good luck and feed off of everybody's expert advice here

 

[padams212]

I was reading over this thread last night and I realized that my original post sounds like I am advocating against Motorwebs. This was not my intention, I only referenced Motorwebs in my post to give a general time line of where we were in 2012 and where we are at now. While I do enjoy the relationship we have built with DealerLab and I feel that they are an excellent web provider I want to make it clear that you should not rule Motorwebs out in your search. The relationship a dealer has with their web provider is crucial and some partnerships work better than others. We have built a great one with DealerLab but Motorwebs is also a great company to work with and has an amazing staff dedicated to your Digital Showroom's improvement!