Getting traffic to your Vehicle Details Pages (VDP) is important, but turning that web traffic into real prospective customers for your dealership should be your ultimate goal.
Unlike ecommerce websites where the transaction is likely to take place immediately online, buying a car typically requires a much longer, more involved purchasing process, as prospective new customers search for the right car, with the right features at the right price. And many times, those prospective buyers are referencing your vehicle details pages to gather this information.
However, more often than not, many dealerships are generating enough traffic to their vehicles details pages but those pages are failing to convert those prospects into real, warm leads for your dealership’s sales team.
Why? Read on! In this blog, I’ll cover the five most common reasons your vehicle details pages are failing to convert.
Unfavorable Reviews
Online reviews from other car buyers about their experiences at your dealership can make or break traffic to the dealership’s website. And negative reviews are possibly the most damaging in terms of hurting conversions as they can prevent potential customers from even considering browsing your inventory.
Even if the car buyer looks past the negative review initially, it may prevent them from submitting their contact information once on the site.
Misleading Calls-to-Action
Do your visitors know exactly what it is you’d like them to do once they’ve arrived on one of your vehicle details pages?
Don’t leave your prospects guessing. Utilize relevant call-to-action throughout that guide your visitor on what you’d like then to do next.
Use colors that stand out from the rest of your site as well as calls-to-action text that conveys exactly what the user can expect to happen once they click. “Click Here” and “Submit” are not very descriptive and don’t provide the assurance your customers need.
No Trust Signals
Convincing visitors to submit their personal information online is becoming increasingly more difficult as all of us combat spam, and some of us deal with identity theft. It’s important to disclose a privacy policy and use other trust signals, like security badges from 3rd party vendors on any page you use to collect information.
Limited Conversion Opportunities
Not all website visitors are willing to submit their personal information online, even with trust signals being displayed. Having your telephone number displayed prominently is a great way to give a potential customer an additional way to communicate their interest in one of your vehicles.
One common issue I see on many dealership websites is a lack of alternative conversion methods, such as a phone number or email address, near the primary contact forms. Including the phone number at the top and bottom of the page is also recommended, but it should also be placed near a form as an alternative option for someone who is unwilling to submit information online.
And don’t forget – the sales phone number should also be displayed in a different color than the service phone number so that a quick scan of the page would be sufficient to identify the number the customer should call.
Asking for Too Much Too Soon
In terms of conversion forms, less is more.
Having too many fields, especially required fields, in a form can deter your customers from submitting information. Short forms convert better, so keep the number of fields limited to the absolute minimum and then do the work of following up to gather more information.
Also, consider your customer base and determine whether your potential clients are more prone to submit email or telephone contact information.
Aside from preventing these common mistakes, the best way to determine what works for your website and your prospects is to test, test, test. From landing page forms, to calls-to-action, to page copy, fonts, images and more. It’s absolutely critical to test, analyze and continuously optimize your dealership’s vehicle details pages in order to drive traffic and generate conversions.
