The Covid-19 pandemic caused a massive boost to digital connectivity, forcing businesses to shift online. The automotive industry is no exception, with consumers now actively searching for and buying cars online. This makes it essential for auto dealerships to have a bespoke website to provide a seamless and easy purchasing experience. With customers spending 59% of their car shopping time online, having an attractive and user-friendly website is crucial to capture and retain their attention.
It’s critical to have a bespoke automotive dealership website that provides the best shopping experience for consumers to stand out. This requires a unique and attractive design that prioritizes user experience (UX). By following these tips, your dealership can capture and maintain customers’ attention, ultimately leading to increased sales.
To make your dealership web design better, we’ve gathered different strategies to improve your auto dealer website design for attractiveness, functionality, and UX. These tips will help you make your website more user-friendly, informative, and visually appealing, ensuring a seamless experience for your customers.
Web Design Tips for Automotive Dealerships
By implementing these tips, you can establish your authority in the industry and build a strong digital presence that will set you apart from your competitors.
Keep the Navigation Simple and Smooth
One of the most critical factors in how visitors interact with your automotive website is its navigation. The menu should be easy to navigate and optimized for all shoppers, whether they know what they want or need help finding a vehicle. Keep the menu clutter-free, use dropdowns to formulate a navigation funnel, and make navigation titles clear and concise. Additionally, include a search bar, and ensure menu items are easy to read on mobile devices. Consistency is key, as shoppers should always be able to find what they’re looking for. The navigation should also conform to or exceed industry standards. An experienced audit can help identify and fix any problem areas. By optimizing your website’s navigation, you can provide a better overall experience and improve website performance.
Maximize Social Media to Build an Engaged Community
Social media is a powerful tool for reaching potential car buyers and building an engaged community. Customers can also leave reviews, and it’s essential to respond regularly. Creating engaging content across various social platforms is key to attracting leads, gaining feedback, and driving purchase decisions. Integrating social media into your dealership’s website is an effective way to boost traffic and customer engagement. This can be achieved by adding social buttons to web pages, showcasing new vehicles and inventory, and sharing exciting news such as new blog posts or testimonial videos.
Drive Site Traffic through Local SEO Strategies
One of the most important elements in driving traffic to your dealership’s website is search engine optimization (SEO). Local SEO is particularly important in targeting customers who use location-specific search queries, such as “car repair near me”. For instance, including your dealership on Google My Business can help you manage important business information and make your business visible on search engines and Google Maps. With 46% of searches including a local search reason, Local SEO should be a key part of your automotive digital marketing plan. Proper use of SEO can lead to increased leads and conversions, and including specific keywords such as the name of a manufacturer can help your dealership listing appear to potential customers.
Add Stunning Visuals
Visual content plays a significant role in purchasing decisions as humans are visual creatures and process large amounts of visual data every day. Although people do not typically buy cars within 90 seconds of seeing a photo of them, high-quality images and videos are still essential for creating an emotional connection with potential buyers. This can be achieved by providing high-quality images, specific shots of each vehicle, and walkthrough videos. Instead of using generic stock photos, using actual images and walkthrough videos of the vehicle is recommended. Optimizing images by increasing image quality and adding alt tags is essential for improving website SEO and accessibility.
Make your Site Mobile-friendly
Websites and online content must be mobile-optimized to meet the demands of consumers who increasingly browse on their mobile devices. Google now indexes the mobile version of a site before the desktop one. As a dealership, it’s crucial to ensure your website is mobile-friendly and operates smoothly on both desktop and mobile screens. A poorly designed mobile navigation menu can cause potential customers to become frustrated and leave for another site. Your site needs to look and function seamlessly on both desktop and mobile screens, and mobile navigation is a significant factor in designing a site that converts visitors into customers.
Include Enquiry Forms
When customers are interested in a specific car, they need to be able to contact a specialized salesperson quickly. While calling is an option, an online vehicle enquiry form is more convenient. It allows customers to get all the details they need about the car before visiting the showroom, saving them time. These smart enquiry forms can also be used to capture leads and convert them into clients later on. An interactive form can be used to request a brochure, information about the car, franchise, availability, or offer feedback. By implementing this feature on your website, you can easily gather data on the different types of queries that potential clients have.
Conclusion
A well-designed website can establish you as an authority in the industry and build trust with customers, while also keeping your competitors at bay. The future of car dealerships is entirely digital, and investing in a useful dealership website is essential to stay ahead. Customers expect a superior online experience, so the website should cater to various preferences and make the purchase process convenient. A state-of-the-art dealership website is the only way to outperform your competitors and stay relevant in the digital age.
If you need assistance with designing your automobile website, Creativ Digital can help. Our team of professionals has a proven track record of creating successful sites, with satisfied customers in Sydney and across Australia.