The more I research about the ever-changing state of website affairs, the more opportunities I see for our clients to dominate. With that said, consistent website manipulation, changes, updates, graphics, link-building, content-writing, and search optimization takes significant time and even more know-how.
How shoppers consume information and pursue their purchases continues to evolve and we want our loyal readers and followers to be ahead of the game. So ask yourself these four questions and make sure you have the right pieces in place to stay atop the online search leaderboard. Here is the start of your Website Checklist:
1) Does every primary navigation page on my website answer a customer’s specific question?
Each page on your website must evolve into a FAQ page for the customer, otherwise, it must be a well-constructed product page with value statements and easily-accessible info regarding pricing, specs, and availability. You can set sub-headline within the page as actual questions, and proceed to incorporate both written and video answers underneath that sub-headline.
2) Do I have legitimate strategies for tracking conversion paths, optimizing websites with content, and building campaigns that will feed traffic to specific pages on my site?
Someone needs to be consistently writing new content, updating the page architecture, reviewing the paths in which shoppers peruse your site, and monitoring your search positioning. If no one internally is looking out for you, less people online will be looking at you.
3) Am I Local Directory Optimized (LDO)?
Google has made it very clear that retail organizations needs to have consistent Name, Address, Phone Numbers (NAP) across the countless online business listing sites to enhance your local search ranking. It takes time, consistency, or money to do it right. But if you aren’t optimized off your site, your site isn’t optimized well.
4) Do I have multiple follow-up processes dedicated to each different website channel in which a prospect contacts us?
While the results of your communication with prospects (hopefully) resides within the CRM, websites are becoming their own channels of communication. With the right tools, full text-based conversations, chat messages, and proactive push notification messaging can exist between your dealership and the customer. And the CRM is not involved. These process paths to convert website visitors to prospects (or engaged parties) must exist directly on the page. That means you must have text-based templates, chat transcripts, and processes built to leverage each opportunity differently. Someone who submits a lead on a new, VIN-specific vehicle from a VDP in your inventory should be handled differently than someone who submitted a lead from your used car specials SERP. Does your website allow you to source each page in which the web visitor submitted from? And once they do, are you identifying the differences in those prospects from your website, and developing processes and rules for each?
Many of you, our loyal clients, have worked with us for quite some time. We believe we’ve earned your trust, and you’ve told us as such. As DealerKnows has evolved from a team of well-regarded dealership trainers to a recognized consulting and training firm across multiple verticals, we are committed to improving ALL aspects of your online and in-store business.
We at DealerKnows have worked with teams internationally regarding improving communication between the store and the consumer through our in-store training and our Virtual Dealer Training programs. We’ve advised dealers (and vendors) every step of the way on technology, digital initiatives, management involvement, performance metrics, phone training, email templates, process improvement and more. With PriceMatrix, we’ve mystery shopped our clients’ competitors and delivered insightful monthly reports on how to remain price-competitive in their market. With TaskTeacher, we’ve helped monitor hundreds of Internet, BDC, and sales teams and held them accountable on their lead handling. As part of our DealerKnows Video Production services, we’ve conceptualized, written, filmed, and produced many viral videos for dealers and vendors to differentiate themselves in their market.
Ensuring that dealers make the most of their website processes, website manipulation, and digital assets is just one of the consultative ways we try to improve the online shopping experience for your customers. We don’t sell websites, but can certainly oversee your Website Checklist services that will help you capitalize on your current web properties. Either do this hard work yourself, or call us to help you. One way or the other, how you answer these four website checklist questions above will determine if your website remains a valuable piece of online real estate or sits on a vacant lot in foreclosure, barren of buyers. You decide what type of traffic you want.
