Earlier this year I wrote an article titled, “SEM to Dealer VDP Pages Is Like Throwing Money Out of The Window”. This article created a small stir in the industry because of its title, although its true intention was to ask dealers to take a deeper look into their website solution.
As of September 2013, 35% of all traffic that comes to a car dealer’s website is via a mobile device. 98% of those car dealers are paying for a BROKEN mobile solution and don’t even know it. Google predicts by the end of 2014, this traffic will be nearing the 50% mark.
Mobile first, desktop second. This should be the focus for car dealers today and their internet strategy.
Being in the industry and always keeping a close eye on our competitors, let me show you some examples of exactly what I am referring to. Let it be known I am not “picking on any one provider” – I am just reporting the facts that this is an industry-wide problem hurting dealers and costing them business.
There are a variety of ways you can test your current website provider. Take a look at some quick ones using the largest website providers in the industry.
Website Provider: KPA – TKCARSITES
Search word in Google on a mobile device “Elmhurst Toyota”
Link clicked – “Preowned Inventory”
Moral of the story – This particular website is not mobile compatible, and only redirects ALL clicks to the mobile website home page. ALL clicks from search results, as well as emails opened from a mobile device, leaves customers with a poor experience trying to view a full version website on a mobile device.
Website Provider: Cobalt – (New Flex Website)
Search word in Google on a mobile device “Zeigler Chevrolet”
Link clicked – “Service Specials”
Moral of the story – This particular website is not mobile compatible and also uses a redirect to the home page strategy. There are plenty of specials on this website, but the user just can’t see them! There are a few pages like “hours and directions” that land on the correct mobile page, but 95% of the website is mobile-flawed. Another major disadvantage to this platform is the fact that the vehicle details page does not have the ability to capture a lead! Really?
Website Provider: DealerFire
Test: Link check of ALL pages available on a mobile device. (see below)
Moral of the story – This particular website fails the mobile compatibility test by looking at ALL links available to a consumer. The majority of this website does a decent job redirecting links to the correct mobile pages, but many pages do not load the mobile version. Custom pages that were built on this platform do not load the mobile version. Custom pages that have been deleted by the dealer still show up in the Google Index results (example – www.toyotaofnaperville.com/toyotathon)
Website Provider: Vinsolutions
Search word in Google on a mobile device “Ray Skillman Ford”
Linked clicked – “Click on ANY Link, NONE of them are mobile compatible”
Moral of the story – This particular website has about 1% mobile compatibility. The only page that loads correctly is the “url -web address” to this website from a mobile device – enough said. Imagine running a pay-per-click campaign for this dealer on a mobile device – can you say “nightmare”?
Website Provider: Dealer.com
Test: Link Check of ALL pages Available On a Mobile Device. (see below)
Moral of the story – This particular website only has a few pages that render properly from a mobile device while 95% percent of the pages do not load at all when doing a link test! Also, all of the advertisement slides built for the desktop version of this website could not be viewed on the mobile home page, resulting in additional lost opportunity.
Website Provider: Dealeron
Search word in Google on a mobile device “Hare Chevrolet”
Linked clicked – “ALL links do not work with exception of main Inventory”
Moral of the story – This particular website gives you a mixed bag as to what you might find when clicking on a mobile link. Some pages go to a mobile format and don’t give you what you are looking for (example – hours and directions); some pages load the full version of the website (buy here pay here), and some load the correct page (new & used car inventory). After performing a link test, 98% of this website is not mobile compatible. All custom pages built on this platform and desktop home page graphic advertisements do not adapt to the mobile version, resulting in missed opportunity and poor user experience.
If there was more time in the day, I could show numerous examples of other website providers (there are about 70 of them) with broken mobile solutions, causing consumers a poor user experience and car dealers a ton of opportunity. Ever wonder why your leads are down?
Here’s The Tip: 98% of car dealers have a website with a “broken” mobile solution. If you are looking to have one that works, then let me introduce you to the first website provider to market with an ADAPTIVE MOBILE website solution that works 100% of the time, PGI Auto and Dealer Lab.
Author: Dave Page – Member Dealerlab.com / Dealer e-Process