Be responsive to the mobile
There has been a significant shift in the way people are searching the internet and if you are a car dealership the pressure is definitely on to move with the change and embrace the opportunity.
There has been a seismic shift towards website searches from mobile devices. These are devices in peoples pockets or hand bags and all research has shown that this searcher is likely to be buying very quickly and is far more impulsive that your PC or I-Pad browser who typically is at research stage only.
Years ago people rang 11850 from their mobile phone to find out the local dealer but today they have smart phones and use a quick search in Google to ask where they can get a product.
Because the mobile device searcher is so "real time" it is critical that your website is designed to be automatically responsive to serve this customer best , first time.
Bear in mind this customer will give you approx. 5 to 10 seconds to impress and deliver the information they want when they click on your website so no time to waste.
- Typically this customer knows or has just seen what they want
- They Google search to see where they can get it locally
- A local dealer website is served to this customer by Google as being the most relevant
- This customer clicks on your website and waits 5 seconds for you to deliver what they want
I would guess that they should be served with 5 BIG BUTTON options
CONTACT US
LOCATE US
NEW CAR
USED CAR
BOOK A SERVICE
All of the above should be clear and all serve the customer no matter what they are looking for . By putting CONTACT US 1st you are prompting the ultimate call to action but all buttons should lead to a measureable call to action for this impulsive customer.
You have now created a responsive website to the needs of a mobile smart phone user and these are the growing group of buyers as the pace in the motor trade builds again. Trust me IMPULSE PURCHASE is almost back again (Just saw my friend in a 161 , where can I get one, quickly?, where's my phone?)
The alternative to not serving these people with a responsive website and action home page carries some obvious and perhaps not so obvious penalties
The obvious penalty is that the customer never rings your dealership and you don't sell them a car
Perhaps the not so obvious penalty announced this year is that Google are ranking websites based on what they call mobile usability. A poor ranking means less visitors , less sales and more money that you will have to invest in SEO to combat their poor ranking.
In broad terms mobile usability ranking by Google will score your website based on what their customer was delivered to them on their mobile device when they opened your home page.
They will measure
- If viewing area of your website adjusted immediately to suit the viewers device
- If content flowed seamlessly and the customer did not have to adjust or pinch the screen to see it better
- If fonts automatically scaled to suit the device
- If the site had easy to touch buttons that were spaced out
- If the site contained visual design and motion that engaged with the visitor
- If your website was relevant and it satisfied the browser , remember Google can see the action that resulted on the browsers visit.
I hope the above shows that there is a new buyer in town , a one that wants to contact you quickly and on first delivery online they basically want your contact details.
These people are impulsive and want a car today so surely its best to look well when you meet them first online.
You can fill in the other details when they come to your showroom.
