As the owner or manager of a used car dealership, you obviously want buyers to come down to your showroom or lot. Before they visit you in person, though, most consumers are going to spend some time doing online research. They’re going to look up the information they need to determine whether your dealership is really the best one for them. Of course, this includes a stop at your dealership website.

That website needs to make a powerful and positive first impression. If it doesn’t, some of those consumers may take their business to a competitor. The question is, what should your used car dealership’s website look like? There are a few core components you’ll need to make sure you have in place.

What Every Used Car Website Should Have

Here are a few of those critical elements.

Contact information. We recommend having your dealership’s phone number and physical address on every page of the website. This is partly for SEO reasons, but also because it makes it so much easier for potential buyers to call you, or to plug your dealership into Google Maps as they come to see you in person.

Links to review sites. Hopefully, your dealership has received some positive feedback from online review sites like Google or Yelp. It’s a good move to have review links on your site, as it shows transparency and provides potential customers with social proof. This simply makes your dealership seem more trustworthy.

Links to relevant social media profiles. Your used car dealership doesn’t necessarily need a presence on every single social media platform, but we do highly recommend Facebook. Also, though it’s not a social media site per se, Craigslist is a good channel for used car dealerships to use. Include links to these online assets on your dealership website.

Educational resources. Your website should help buyers feel more confident doing business with you. One way to make that happen is to provide them with articles and FAQs that guide them through the car buying process. We really recommend a blog, where you can educate buyers about everything from financing to auto maintenance.

Rich content. Photos of some of your vehicles can obviously be enticing, but video is even better. A simple clip of a sales representative showcasing some cars, or welcoming buyers to the dealership, can really humanize your dealership, making it feel more personal.

Calls to action. Every page of your site should have a simple and clear direction for the readers—either to call you or to come down and visit you to see some cars!

Get a Hand with Your Marketing

For used car dealerships in Orange County, savvy online marketing is crucial—and that goes beyond having a decent website in place. To learn more, or to get hands-on assistance, we invite you to contact Get My Auto today. We are seasoned marketing pros who work exclusively with used car dealerships, and we’d love to help take your marketing to the next level!