Websitegrader.com and Compete.com

[JesseJ]

I'm sure most of you are familiar with one or both of these sites. They are both fairly new to me. I recently ran some analytics using these tools on our website lathamford.com. I'm downright upset at the results.

I've been discussing the possibility of a switch to Clickmotive's Fusion platform with one of their reps. He actually reads these forums I believe so he may see this. He sent me a link to a dealer who uses their platform boardwalkaudi.com. Naturally I ran that website through the same analytics and the results blew my mind.

My question is...is this an apples to apples comparison. The population discrepancies may play a huge part. Is there anything to lead me to believe that a switch to a new platform could bring our website even half of the traffic of this audi website or are there just a lot of things to be tidied up with the website we have?

 

[Alex Snyder]

I'd put more stock in Websitegrader than Compete for a dealership website. Compete just doesn't have the granular data that is transposed of local markets. It is good for national websites/businesses like Best Buy or comparing BMWUSA.com to AudiUSA.com.

In May of 2008 a similar situation came up: BZResults - Don't fall for this junk! | DealerRefresh

As for Websitegrader, it is a nice tool to give you guidelines on how to setup your site. It can give you some areas to concentrate on, but is not a long-term solution for having a "perfect" website for Google algorithms. I'd argue it is more about proving you have the best product moreso than whether you have the most anatomically correct Google spider garden.

 

[joe.pistell]

Jesse,

Forget all that junk. Look at the total number of visitors to your site vs. the number you sell. You only sell 1% to 2% of your visitors. Adding 5% more visitors (from a new site) may only produce 0-2 more sales.

Ask yourself... What do your customers want?

They want you to tell them a great story about the Ford Edge you're selling. It's the VDP's (Vehicle Detail Pages) you need to improve first! In great detail, compare the VDP's of your current site and look at VDPs of Fords from the other vendors.

Start there 1st.

 

[JesseJ]

Joe,

I definitely agree with you. We need work in that area. Interestingly enough our direct Ford competitors nearby seem to be deficient in that process as well. Our current website also gives us about a sentence of space to work with for a description.

 

[JamesKovacs]

Jesse,

I completely agree with Alex and Joe. The only thing I would add to Joe's comment is that you can increase your Sold/Lead ratio from "1% to 2%" by having stronger conversion tied in with a stronger search strategy. If your competitors have the same VDP problem that you currently have, you can gain added advantage by going with a stronger website platform. If you have additional questions, please let me know.

Thanks.

James Kovacs
ClickMotive
[email protected]

 

[stevenc317]

Joe,

I completely agree. Sometimes I think people get to wrapped up in the specifics. Sometimes you just need to step back and ask "what do the customers want?"

Jesse,

Forget all that junk. Look at the total number of visitors to your site vs. the number you sell. You only sell 1% to 2% of your visitors. Adding 5% more visitors (from a new site) may only produce 0-2 more sales.

Ask yourself... What do your customers want?

They want you to tell them a great story about the Ford Edge you're selling. It's the VDP's (Vehicle Detail Pages) you need to improve first! In great detail, compare the VDP's of your current site and look at VDPs of Fords from the other vendors.

Start there 1st.