I don’t think I’ve ever talked to a dealer that didn’t want to increase the conversion rate on his/her dealership website, but many seem to leave most of the “how” to their website provider. Lead conversion, the act of turning a website visitor into a known contact, essentially boils down to psychology. Knowing how people think and what motivates them to interact with your dealership website can help you create a site design that will help facilitate more lead conversions.
To get you started, here are some of the basic website visitor biases. Keep these motivations in mind while looking at your website. What can you change to help lead website visitors into your dealership’s sales funnel?
All My Friends Are Doing It: The Bandwagon Effect is one we’ve all dealt with since childhood. The more people that do something, the more likely others are to follow along. One way to use this motivation on your dealership website is to add positive dealership reviews to your VDPs. Show potential buyers that others have had great experiences buying from you, and it can increase the chances that they will want to do so as well.
Highlight It: Things that stand out from the background are more likely to be remembered, according to the Von Restorff Effect. As long as you maintain an esthetically pleasing look to your website, go for contrasting colors on your Call to Action (CTA) buttons and any specific information you want to be remembered. Just be sure to use this technique sparingly – if everything “stands out”, nothing will. This is a great area to A/B test, if your dealership website provider allows you to do so.
Pictures Are Better: A picture is worth a thousand words – this old saying isn’t too far off. The Picture Superiority Effect means that images are more easily recognized, recalled, and powerful than text alone. Not only are your pictures giving information to potential customers before they read your content, they will stay with them long after they leave your site. This alone makes it worth a second look at your inventory photos, especially the first image you show. Does it present that car or truck the way you want it to be remembered?
These seemingly simple psychological biases, when applied to your dealership website, can have a huge impact on the lead conversion rate. Check with your dealer website provider – are they taking any of these into consideration when giving you best practices?
