What is the key ingredient that goes into a successful dealership website? SEO? Design? Ease of use? Given the time, I’m sure we could come up with a very long list of “ingredients†that could be argued as the most important. I’m sure if we conducted a poll the results would be quite telling. On the flip-side of that coin is the argument that no single “ingredient†is most important, but rather it’s the proper “recipe†of ingredients, carefully crafted and considered for each application that truly makes the difference. I, and others that fall into this camp would support the notion that only a finely designed site, supporting a well-crafted Brand, tailored to the given audience, with content rich organic terms, and just maybe a few secret ingredients added by your given provider, would be expected to perform as desired.
The question is; Is it really that simple? And the next question is; Can you really expect your website to stand on its own and perform? It seems only logical, that if it is true that, no single “ingredient†is the most important to your site, it should stand to reason that, no site, all alone, can be expected to return the optimum desired results! I would again argue that it is a great site, combined with a well orchestrated Social Media program, proper customer communication, just the right amount of advertising, and a commitment to community involvement that will ultimately reward a dealership with the website results they truly desire. Think about it. If your customers only hear from you when you want to sell them something...why would you be the person they would automatically turn to when they want to buy? What’s stopping them from Googling “car dealerships, My Town†vs. Googling “Your Dealership Name� Which result would you prefer they get? Most importantly, which customer will yield the highest margin? Ultimately, which will result in the website performance standards you really want?
Gone are the days where dealership marketing was as simple as newspaper, TV, and radio. As tempting as it may be, we have not simply moved to the days where an “awesome website†is the answer either. The buying public can find information everywhere. They DEMAND to be talked to and moreover, they DEMAND to be listened to. A proper marketing solution cannot be achieved with a single silver-bullet “ingredientâ€. Your website will not stand the test alone. The challenge comes in fine-tuning just the right recipe for your market, for your community.
We’d love to hear your ideas. Your recipes. What has your dealership done to push your website performance over the top?
