Dealership Websites

Over the past few weeks, we’ve had a few of our auto dealer website clients have asked what we are doing to keep up with the advances with HTML 5.  Since it seems to be a topic of concern for multiple dealers, I wanted to share what DealerOn is working on.

First, most people that are asking about HTML 5 are concerned about how their website will look on iPhones, iPads and other Apple devices.  Since Apple excluded Flash compatibility from their platforms, they are using HTML 5 as their preferred direction.

While DealerOn dealership websites do use some Flash, we are moving away from the technology.  When a site uses Flash, visitors to the site who don’t happen to have the right Flash version installed get a screen telling them to update their plug-in.   We’ve found that this dramatically increases bounce rates for a page or site.

Currently, Mobile devices constitute roughly 10-15% of a well-optimized dealer website.  Over half of this traffic is from devices that will not use Flash.  For a fee, DealerOn can build a completely Flash free site for those dealerships that see a large amount of their website traffic come from Apple products.

For others concerned about HTML 5, I want to point out that the technology is still classified as being under development.  It has not been released by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), which is in charge of developing and instituting standards for the Internet.

DealerOn’s current major technology focus includes implementing all of the latest web technologies.  Once HTML 5 is released for stable public use and major web browsers start conforming to its standards, DealerOn will begin to ensure our websites are HTML 5 complaint, across the board.

As always, please feel free to contact DealerOn with any questions about our technologies, products, or online marketing tools.

True to its nature, the Internet is changing again.  2012 should see the emergence of new domain suffixes like .eco, .love, and .god.  And of course, this isn’t without some controversy.  This will open a ton of possible domains, which could either make the Internet more intuitive (you’d know what type of site you were going to if it have the domain suffix .god, for example) or confusing (who gets control of john.smith?).  There are currently 21 domain suffixes in use right now like .com, .org, and country suffixes.

A small non-profit organization, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), will be responsible for determining which sites have the rights to which domain suffixes.  The organization will start accepting applications from companies and governments, though the application process costs $185,000; organizations that are able to operate a domain also have to pay ICANN $25,000.  For controversial domains, ICANN plans to use “morality and public order” as their guidelines for approval.

I’m curious…what do you think of this opening up of domain suffixes?  Would you want your auto dealership website to have access to a .auto or .dealership suffix?  Even if it had a large cost attached to it?  Do you think it will make the Internet more intuitive or confusing?

Most auto dealerships have already realized that when their car dealer website takes too long to load, a lot of web users will click off and find what they are looking for on a different car dealership’s website.

Just in case the potential loss in sales hasn’t been incentive enough to ensure your dealer site loads quickly, Matt Cutts of Google has announced that Google is going to start taking the load time of a website as a factor in their search engine rankings algorithm, beginning sometime in 2010.

Aim for your each page to load in less than 10 seconds, maximum–the quicker the better.  This means you may have to limit the amount of flash you use on your site (flash also doesn’t rank as well in search engines), keep big files like images, auto-play videos, and sounds to a minimum, and use a car dealer website provider that builds fast loading sites.

The longer your site takes to load, the more web visitors will click off, the more conversions you will miss out on, and ultimately, the less cars your dealership will sell.  And starting soon, the lower you could rank in Google.

While I was at the NADA Convention in New Orleans this past weekend, the biggest news I heard was the announcement by General Motors (GM) that they plan to close 400 dealerships yearly until 2012.  According to Left Lane News, the company hasn’t decided what will determine which dealerships will be shut down, but “the automaker will base its decision on the age of the dealership, location, volume, and customer satisfaction.”

This is scary.  Not only do GM dealerships have to worry about having to close their doors because of the down economy and lack of sales, but it appears as though they will also have to worry about being shut down by their OEM.  While GM may not say so, you know that if your dealership can remain profitable and move more metal for your OEM than your competitors are, your chances of being shut down are drastically reduced.  If your dealership wants to increase the number of cars you sell, you need to make sure you can be found where your customers are looking: online.

Your dealership NEEDS to have an EFFECTIVE website.  Your customers are using the Internet to find their next vehicle; in fact, 80% of new vehicle buyers use search engines while researching their purchase.  If you don’t have a dealership website, you are missing out on 80% of potential sales.

Not only do you need a site, you need one that ranks well in search engine results.  Since only 10% of Google users ever click onto the second page of search results, if your website doesn’t appear on the first page, you’re missing out on 90% of potential sales.  42% of Google users will click on the first listing, so just being on the first page isn’t always enough.  You need to be at the top.

Sales are becoming more and more difficult to come by, so making sure your dealership can be found online is more important than ever before.  If your dealer site isn’t bringing leads and sales into your dealership, it’s time you rethink who your website provider is.  You can’t afford to lose any more potential sales.

Just like you, I’m always trying to do what I do better.  I’ve recently been reading The Corporate Blogging Book by Debbie Weil for a bit of a “back to basics” blogging lesson.  I came across a few good reminders, and wanted to share some with you.

Blogs are used for so many different purposes, but here are some of my favorite uses for auto dealership blogs.

• Customer Evangelists – Every dealership has those customers that think the world of your dealership and wouldn’t dream of ever doing business anywhere else.  Recruit them to write a brief testimonial as to why they believe your dealership is the best.  Imagine the power this could have over a potential buyer researching your dealership.
• Status Alerts – Is your dealership awaiting the arrival of a new model line?  Maybe you’re building on to the building?  Either way, blogs are a great way to keep your potential customers aware and updated on the status of things going on in your dealership.
• Marketing – This one seems pretty standard, but it’s a huge reason behind creating a blog for your dealership.  It often makes your business seem more transparent and, when done correctly, will hopefully increase sales for your dealership.  Your blog should complement the marketing done by your dealership.
• Community Building – Cover community events that your dealership is involved in.  Sponsor a Little League team?  Let your readers know how the season is going.  Know of any fundraising or community events that your dealership employees are involved in?  Let your community know about it by maintaining a community calendar or just writing about it on your blog.
• Customer Relations – On the rare occasion you have an issue with a customer, blog about it…but only after you’ve resolved it.  This way, you can explain how your dealership was able to make a situation right, something that potential customers are very interested in.  No business is perfect, so when yours isn’t, show your customers that you know how to fix it.

How does your dealership use their blog?