Create a car dealership website: Tips for a professional online presence

How do you go about buying a product yourself? The first step is usually a search on the Internet. And it's no different when buying a car: even before customers enter a dealership, they look for information online. Current DAT studies show:

  • 97 percent of new car buyers use an online source as a source of information when choosing a vehicle. 
  • In addition to online exchanges (59 percent), retailer websites (53 percent) and search engines (35 percent) play a key role.

For you, this means that regardless of whether you run a regionally oriented car dealership or offer your services nationwide - if you cannot be found on the Internet, you do not exist for potential customers. And a good car dealership website is your figurehead or digital business card.

And not only that - professionally designed, it can be your best salesperson. But what does a professional car dealership website need? And how do you get started? This guide provides the answers.

What does a professional car dealership website need?

For many people, it is easier, more convenient or quicker to access a car dealership website than to get in a car and drive a few kilometers to get information during fixed opening hours. Some people don't want to call straight away, but prefer to search anonymously first. 

Your retailer website can be accessed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, regardless of opening hours. Interested parties and potential customers can find out about your company, your products and services as well as current offers at any time.  

That's why a website for your dealership is not a nice gimmick, but your digital employee. To exploit this potential, you need more than just a stylish design. Below we highlight the most important criteria that your dealership website should have.

Responsive design: Ready for mobile users & all end devices

A modern car dealership website must be convincing on all end devices - be it on a smartphone, tablet, laptop or a large desktop screen. This variety of devices makes responsive design indispensable. It ensures that your content adapts dynamically to the respective screen size. Text remains legible, images are optimally displayed and navigation remains intuitive - regardless of which device your visitors use to access the website.

But it's not just about appearance and user-friendliness. Search engines such as Google prefer car dealership websites with a responsive design. This means that a responsive website can bring your dealership considerably higher up in the search results and thus also increase your visibility and reach.

Smart interfaces: Automatic data updates made easy

Make sure you have a good database of your vehicles so that the search functions also lead to results. With the connection to interfaces such as DAT and JATO, your vehicle data, such as technical data and information on special equipment, is always up to date. 

Combined with an intuitive input mask, maintaining your website is child's play: New offers, current information, different contact persons or changed opening hours - you can inform interested parties and customers about such changes immediately via your own website. 

Your digital showroom: perfect staging around the clock

A picture is worth a thousand words - and in a digital showroom you can present yourself from your best side, because you can perfectly showcase your dealership, your team, your customer benefits, your products, services and offers. High-quality vehicle photos, interactive 360° views and videos create an experience that motivates people to visit your dealership. 

Online visibility through SEO: Being found instead of staying searched for

Car dealerships that have a website and can therefore be found via search engines such as Google or Bing have a better chance of drawing attention to themselves and their offer and winning customers.

In technical jargon, this is called search engine optimization (SEO) - the art of getting your website to the top of the search results. Basic SEO measures include incorporating relevant keywords (search terms) and choosing a professional provider that guarantees fast loading times for your website. 

Your website, your data: securely hosted & GDPR-compliant

Especially when dealing with sensitive information such as inquiries, contact details or financing requests, the security of customer data is fundamental. This starts with the choice of a secure hosting provider: your car dealership website should be hosted on servers within the EU in order to meet the highest data protection standards.

In addition to technical security, legal compliance also plays a key role. A complete and legally compliant privacy policy and a correct legal notice must be seamlessly integrated into your website. These elements not only create trust with your customers, but also protect your dealership from legal consequences. 

Your car dealership website as an all-in-one sales platform

However, a professional car dealership website should be able to do more than just present vehicles. In conjunction with a car dealership software, it can become the central hub for your entire sales process and, with the appropriate technical functionalities, even a digital car dealership. 

An all-in-one solution such as the AUTOMANAGER. Here is an overview of its most important functions:

  • Vehicle management: Your vehicle portfolio - including prices, images and technical details - is automatically synchronized with the car trading software and published on over 50 vehicle exchanges such as mobile.de or AutoScout24. Changes? No problem: updates are done with just one click.
  • Lead management: Organize your lead management professionally, because customers are spoiled by the big e-commerce providers with "now, here and now" offers. You should therefore use professional tools such as AUTOMANAGER to manage and support your incoming leads and control the associated processes, including controlling. This allows you to react quickly, pursue sales opportunities in a targeted manner and improve your closing rates.
  • CRM system: Maintain your contacts and use the platform to plan and execute your dealership marketing using personalized campaigns. Reminders about maintenance intervals or exclusive offers? There is limited space for this in advertising campaigns. On your dealership website, on the other hand, you as the owner can provide all the information you need. 
  • Online sales: Offer your customers the opportunity to enquire about or purchase vehicles directly on your website. For example, offer a live chat or video consultation on your website. This makes it particularly convenient and easy for customers to consider your vehicle offer remotely.
  • Trade-in: For around 10 years, more and more start-ups have been poaching in the trade-in and vehicle purchase territory. Take advantage of the success of such companies. With AUTOMANAGER , your customers can determine the value of their current vehicle in just a few steps - a perfect basis for making the decision to sell or buy a new vehicle easier. 
  • Interfaces: With the integration of DAT or JATO data, you can offer your customers technical specifications, optional extras and all relevant information and details. 

The AUTOMANAGER turns your car dealership website into a powerful sales platform and offers you all the tools you need for a modern car dealership - all from a single source.

Step by step to your own car dealership website

With the AUTOMANAGER you can easily create the website for your car dealership in just a few steps. The process is intuitive and specially tailored to the requirements of car dealerships. All you need is some basic information - the rest is taken care of by AUTOMANAGER.

It's as simple as that:

  1. Choose a domain: Opt for an individual subdomain such as autohaus-mustermann.dein.auto. This will make your online presence unique and immediately recognizable.
  2. Customize design: Choose from professional website templates for your car dealership and adapt colors, logos and layout to your corporate design - no prior knowledge required.
  3. Add content: Upload vehicle offers, images and company information via the user-friendly wizard. Contact forms, opening hours and special offer pages can also be easily integrated.

Are you still missing professional vehicle pictures? No problem! With the integrated AUTOMANAGER picDesigner you can edit car images, optimize backgrounds and showcase your vehicles perfectly - for a strong first impression on your website and in online portals.

  1. Activate functionalities: Activate tools such as the vehicle market, trade-in options or lead management to turn your website into a digital sales platform.
  2. Publish your website: With just a few clicks, your car dealership website goes live - responsive, GDPR-compliant and immediately available for your customers.

Have a professional car dealership website created or create one yourself?

Ultimately, it is not important whether you create the website yourself or have it created - what matters is that the result is professional. However, you don't have to expect expensive agencies or long project times. 

With digital tools like the AUTOMANAGER you can also create a professional website yourself - without any programming knowledge. You save time and money and retain control over your online presence. It's so easy that you don't need a third-party provider. 

A professional car dealership website becomes your online employee

A modern car dealership website is not a "nice-to-have", but a tool with which you can actively earn money. Provided you keep the site up to date and adapt it to market requirements as they arise. 

With tools like the AUTOMANAGER you can ensure that your online presence not only looks professional, but also works efficiently. Contact us today and we'll show you how to maximize the potential of your dealership website.

Any more questions? Would you like more information? We look forward to hearing from you.

Feel free to contact us today to discuss your challenges and to learn more about whether Automanager is the right tool for you.
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