Car dealers, in the present era, are realizing the importance of a strong online presence in the highly competitive automotive industry. They can capture a wider audience with a well-designed and optimized website because it will increase sales volume. Also, online visibility is important for expanding the market of target customers and keeping the market strong against potential competitors. Hence, the selection of an automotive website design is important for a car dealer because it will build credibility and trust.
Keep reading to learn more about the meaning and importance of a car website design for car dealerships.
What is Automotive Website Design?
Automotive website design is the process of creating a website for a car dealership or automobile company to display and provide information about the cars to potential buyers. It is surprising to see that about 95% of customers use the internet as their primary source of information before buying a car. Therefore, the car dealer website design should be structured and optimized in such a way that it helps keep visitors engaged.
Automotive website builder focus on creating visually captivating and elegant car website designs for customers. This will help to differentiate from competitors and streamline the purchasing process for the customers. Moreover, the car dealer can create a strong digital presence for itself which makes a significant difference in getting success.
Importance of an Effective Automotive Website Design
Online car shopping is becoming more common which is reshaping the overall automotive industry. Therefore, car dealers must give more importance to creating the best automotive website design to survive the high competition in the industry. Moreover, they must offer an excellent digital experience to customers that meets their expectations and bridges the gap between online research and physical store visits.
Here are the importance of an effective auto dealer web design:
- An optimized and well-designed website can increase online traffic, converting viewers into potential buyers.
- Creates brand trust, reliability, and professional impact on the audience converting them to potential customers or repeat buyers.
- Shoppers can compare car models, prices, availability, reviews, and feedback on the car dealer from a well-designed and optimized website.
- Streamlines user experience with easy navigation and clear inventory display.
Key Elements of a Best Automotive Website Design
A car dealer website design should have certain necessary features to make it more optimized and well-designed. The following are the key elements that car design websites should have:
1) Including Clear Images and Crisp Messages
If a car dealer wants to stand out in the highly competitive automobile market, then it needs to attract customers. Hence, building a website will require the website designer to incorporate clear and high-quality vehicle images with attractive and short messages. Customers will be attracted and engaged with the website’s intuitive layout. Also, those who value experience and quality along with the price will always look for these elements on the car dealer’s website.
2) Mobile Optimization
About 33% of car shoppers spend their time on mobile devices to get information about cars. Hence, an auto dealer website should be mobile-optimized for a seamless navigation experience on all mobile devices like mobile phones and tablets. If the car dealer website design is not mobile-optimized, then it will not appear in SERPs. Furthermore, it affects the car dealer’s business negatively because of a lack of visibility.
3) Add a Store Locator
Many website visitors prefer seeing a physical store location before they proceed to browse through it. Therefore, adding a store locator is one of the main features determining an automotive website design. Moreover, the foot traffic of the automotive website will be increased in impactful ways, ultimately increasing the sale volume of the dealer. This information will make it very easy for prospective customers to get in touch with the car dealership. Here is the information that should be included in a store locator:
- Store contact number
- Store address
- Pins for all the stores in the city
- Ability to find a store in a particular location
- Global geo-location with a link to Google Maps
4) Embedded Graphics and Videos
A car dealer website should have high-quality videos and graphics of the car models to attract customers and give them a real-time experience. An optimized automotive website design can become the unique selling point of the car dealer. Therefore, the auto shop website design should include car videos and graphics that address the customer’s pain or problem, highlight the USP, touch on the benefits, and explain their process. As an efficient website designer, providing automotive website design examples will help car companies understand what graphics and videos to include to make the website more attractive.
5) Make Navigation Easier for Visitors
The automotive website design inspiration should revolve around making it easier for customers to navigate the website. It will improve user experience and they can easily find what they are looking for in a website. For instance, customers looking to buy a car should easily find out about the car’s specifications from the website. It will make them stay on the page for a longer time lowering the bounce rates. Moreover, easily navigable conversion sites will increase conversion rates for the car dealer.
Best Practices for a Car Dealer Website Design
A car detailing website design’s aesthetics is important because it acts as the foundation of sales for a car dealer. Here are some of the best practices for maximizing leads and sales through strategic website design elements:
1) Call-to-Actions Best Practices for a Car Dealer Website Design(CTAs)
Calls-to-action (CTAs) are an indication for site visitors to take the next step in the buying funnel. These CTAs may include a “Book a Test Drive” button, “Schedule a Service” button, or “Contact Us” button. These clickables should be strategically located all over the website but mainly at pages that receive more traffic such as the car model detail pages, service pages, and homepage.
The tone of a CTA should be concise and directive, which should compel a response on the spot. For example, a button like “Check Availability” or “Get a Quote Now” is visible and lets potential buyers get in touch with the dealership easily. One of the ideal locations to place CTAs is in the header section of the automotive website, on the listing of inventories, or after the users view specific models of cars.
2) Lead Capture Forms
Lead capture forms are crucial for lead collection, but creating too long forms is not good as users will get disinterested easily. A good automotive website design consists of a name, phone number, email, and perhaps the message or the question that consumers have. Sometimes long forms are completed by fewer people and a potential customer may refuse to fill a form. Therefore, a website design should incorporate multi-step forms where people complete the information in small sections.
3) Inventory Management
One of the major automotive website design inspirations is to include an inventory management system to show real-time inventory. Customers are supposed to know what stock is currently available, including description, price, and quality images. An updated, real-time feed about car models makes sure that customers can make their purchasing decisions. Such important aspects of managing the inventory should include providing filters that would allow a user to search by model, price, year, etc.
4) Integrating Customer Reviews and Testimonials
Customers who read the testimonials and reviews of other buyers are always more confident about which product or service to buy. The use of real-life customer testimonials is an effective way of convincing potential buyers about the authenticity of the dealership, its customer service, and the durability of the products sold. Moreover, to ensure the audience is always engaged when consuming content, satisfied customers should be asked to give a review on the website. Therefore, incorporating a separate clickable like a ‘reviews’ button keeps customers on the website.
5) Live Chat Functionality
The automobile business is constantly evolving which makes it very competitive. Therefore, a good website design is necessary, which should include a live support service through a live chat feature for convenience. Regardless of whether visitors have questions regarding stock status, funding, or services, a live chat guarantees they receive instant help. It also plays an effective role in lead generation for the organization to provide an effective way to interact with the prospects.
How to Select Automotive Website Designers?
Choosing the right automotive website designers is essential for creating a robust automotive website design that enhances the online presence of the car dealer. Apart from web development, the website designer should also have vast knowledge of the automotive industry. Below are the key factors to consider while selecting an automotive web designer:
a) Industry Knowledge
An automotive website designer should have vast industry knowledge to create an attractive and optimized car dealer website design. It will help them to create better websites because they will have a complete understanding of which industry-specific features to incorporate. Apart from this knowledge, they should also understand specific customer requirements and pain points while buying a car.
b) Incorporation of SEO Best Practices
The automotive website designers should be experts in incorporating SEO best practices to optimize the website. Otherwise, the website will not be visible on prominent SERPs like Google and the dealership will not get brand visibility. Also, the incorporation of SEO best practices will help the car dealer to attract local customers which will have a positive impact on their overall sales.
c) Portfolio and Reviews
One of the important aspects of car design websites is to incorporate customer portfolios with their reviews. A car website designer should incorporate specific clickables that display good customer portfolios to enable prospective customers to make a buying decision. Also, positive reviews and testimonials should be checked to get a sense of communication, reliability, and brand credibility.
d) Customizable Solutions
An automotive website designer should offer customizable solutions to the car dealership. It will help build a robust car dealer website design because of constant upgrades and changes to fit the customer’s requirements. Moreover, it will help ensure the incorporation of industry-specific knowledge in the website to give as much information as possible. Also, some website designers provide free automotive website design as a sample to show how they can customize the solutions.
How Spyne Helps in Automotive Website Design?
Sypne.ai is used to streamline the design and functionality of automotive websites innovatively. Here is how Spyne helps to create an attractive and optimized automotive website design:
1) AI-Powered Image Enhancement
Spyne.AI can enhance photos of vehicles with AI which retouches vehicle images for automotive websites. Visuals are key during car buying and Spyne makes all the vehicle photos as professional, clear, and beautiful looking as possible. Moreover, it also increases user satisfaction and plays a vital role in selling.
2) 360-Degree Virtual Tours
Spyne allows car dealerships to build full-circle virtual tours for customers to view cars from all perspectives online. This way, potential buyers feel that they are establishing a certain level of trust with the company. At the same time, they get as much information regarding a vehicle as they would if they were in a showroom.
3) Faster Vehicle Listings
Spyne’s AI-enabled tool streamlines image acquisition, image processing, and uploading of vehicle images. This has helped to decrease the amount of time to put new vehicles on the website which gives the dealership constant updated stock with less work.
4) Custom Branding and Templates
Spyne has the flexibility to create custom brands for individual car dealerships. Furthermore, branding is very important for every car dealership to make their website look professional and appealing. This assists in building the dealership’s brand and also makes sure that the website has the same marketing as the dealership.
5) Automotive Website Design Templates
Spyne provides automotive website design templates for making creative automotive website designs. It helps to make attractive images of car models which will keep the visitors engaged. Also, it will help convert visitors into potential customers and eventually increase sales.
Final Thoughts
Overall, as an automobile dealer, it is important to choose the best automotive website design to boost the business. It will help the business reach out to potential customers with an attractive website. Also, converting the auto sales website design matters for conversion and brand visibility in the SERPs. Hence, automotive dealers should have an optimized website for business expansion.
