When you think about all the things your website does for you - from keeping your hours to housing your available inventory to giving potential buyers a deeper look into your dealership - it’s obvious why it’s such a crucial part of your business. It’s as much the face of your business as the sign out front. And the craziest part? You might have no idea who these buyers are that browse your website because they might not have reached out yet - so it’s important to have a website that can help close the deal for you. Think about it as your “soft” salesman, keeping leads warm until they’re ready for one of your main guys to step in and close.
And having an updated design and modern functionality may not seem like the most important thing you need to worry about - but 78% of buyers do say it will influence their perception of your dealership and the experience you’ll offer. If your website is a mess - shoppers may worry that the experience in your dealership might be a mess too. And no buyer wants that. This purchase is one that they are looking forward to - and they don’t want to make it more difficult than it needs to be.
We know you don’t want that either - so here are some things to keep in mind:
Build a Mobile Friendly Website
More and more buyers are checking out bikes on the go. They see a bike riding down the street or sitting in a parking lot that they’re interested in - and they’re automatically whipping out their phone to look it up. Same thing in their free time. Waiting to pick the kids up from school? Let’s see what bikes are available.
Mobile traffic on Cycle Trader went up by 17% as compared to this time in 2017. I don’t know exactly what your website analytics look like - but I’m guessing your numbers went up too. As for the buyers - 64% consider mobile functionality an important feature of a dealer’s website. They want the convenience - and anything you can do to fuel their passion, we’re all for.
Call Out Your Most Valuable Assets
Mobile traffic on Cycle Trader went up by 17% as compared to this time in 2017. I don’t know exactly what your website analytics look like - but I’m guessing your numbers went up too. As for the buyers - 64% consider mobile functionality an important feature of a dealer’s website. They want the convenience - and anything you can do to fuel their passion, we’re all for.
Call Out Your Most Valuable Assets
Buyers come to your site to check out bikes - so it’s no surprise that 69% of buyers said that your vehicle detail pages are the most important thing on there. So when you are thinking about where to devote your time, that’s a good place to start. And the great thing is, the effort you put in here can be used in the other places where you advertise your listings - so by spending a decent amount of time here, you can actually knock out your listings across the board. We call that a win win.
The next closest page of importance at 18% is your Homepage. And that makes sense. Your homepage gives them a look at your dealership and what you have to offer. They may be able to see service or sales deals, interesting testimonials, etc. Having good info here helps set you apart from other dealers in the area that may carry similar inventory. Offer new rider classes? Have a group of moto-mommas who race nearby and buy from you? Putting on an event in a few weekends? This is the place to tell them. Homepages are the place for the not-so-humble brag.
While the Contact Us page may seem like a very important page from your perspective, only 6% of buyers felt the same - and it’s because buyers know how to get ahold of you if they want to talk. The page that shocked us with its lackluster love was the Service Page. Only 2% of buyers felt this was the most important page, which we guess makes sense since so much of our traffic is active buyers and they aren’t thinking about service now, but since service is such an important part of their bike’s future - we thought it might get some more votes. With that said - and this doesn’t happen often - despite what the data says, we would recommend putting some time into your service page. While buyers might not feel it’s the most important page - we’d bet that they rely on it more than they’re letting on here. Tell them why your service department is the one to keep them on the road longer - and, in case they’re new to riding, help them understand what milestones they should expect.
Keep In Mind Why Buyers Call - And That Might Not Be A Good Thing
The next closest page of importance at 18% is your Homepage. And that makes sense. Your homepage gives them a look at your dealership and what you have to offer. They may be able to see service or sales deals, interesting testimonials, etc. Having good info here helps set you apart from other dealers in the area that may carry similar inventory. Offer new rider classes? Have a group of moto-mommas who race nearby and buy from you? Putting on an event in a few weekends? This is the place to tell them. Homepages are the place for the not-so-humble brag.
While the Contact Us page may seem like a very important page from your perspective, only 6% of buyers felt the same - and it’s because buyers know how to get ahold of you if they want to talk. The page that shocked us with its lackluster love was the Service Page. Only 2% of buyers felt this was the most important page, which we guess makes sense since so much of our traffic is active buyers and they aren’t thinking about service now, but since service is such an important part of their bike’s future - we thought it might get some more votes. With that said - and this doesn’t happen often - despite what the data says, we would recommend putting some time into your service page. While buyers might not feel it’s the most important page - we’d bet that they rely on it more than they’re letting on here. Tell them why your service department is the one to keep them on the road longer - and, in case they’re new to riding, help them understand what milestones they should expect.
Keep In Mind Why Buyers Call - And That Might Not Be A Good Thing
If a buyer can’t find the information on your website, they might give you a call - which is great news, right? Well - yes and no. Yes, because now you have the opportunity to talk with them, hopefully turning them into a qualified lead, and bringing them into your dealership. But also no - because from a best practices point of view - the digital buyer expects to be able to find what they are looking for on your website and can sometimes be annoyed if they have to call looking for additional information.
The majority of buyers on Cycle Trader said they would call either about a pricing question (40%) or to check the availability of the bike (48%). In our opinion, this is information that should be included on your website. While we understand that sometimes getting your inventory updated in real time can be tough, including a price should be the standard. If you want to read more about why we think including a price is so important - you can check out our article all about it here.
The experience that a buyer has on your website could determine if they are choose to do business with you. That can be tough to hear if you haven’t spent a lot of time on your site - but there’s no time like now and the power of websites is only growing.
The majority of buyers on Cycle Trader said they would call either about a pricing question (40%) or to check the availability of the bike (48%). In our opinion, this is information that should be included on your website. While we understand that sometimes getting your inventory updated in real time can be tough, including a price should be the standard. If you want to read more about why we think including a price is so important - you can check out our article all about it here.
The experience that a buyer has on your website could determine if they are choose to do business with you. That can be tough to hear if you haven’t spent a lot of time on your site - but there’s no time like now and the power of websites is only growing.
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