Online listing services help dealers
drive web traffic and sales By Ralph Ebersole
Third party sites open the door to your virtual showroom
Any person in the business realm can tell you that in today's world, having a web site is crucial to success. But they'll also tell you that the real challenge is not creating a web site, it's what you do with it, and most importantly, how you attract more quality traffic to it.

Today, dealers are reporting that they value email leads from their own web site more than any other source. Taking this insight into consideration, it's vital that dealers take a closer look at the online opportunities that can maximize their online presence and drive more high-quality leads to their web site.

More and more, dealerships are joining the online marketplace. In fact, a recent survey conducted by the NADA indicates that 94% of all new car dealerships now feature a website. But that's only the first step when it comes to driving traffic and sales. Industry studies show that a very small percentage of online new car shoppers visit a dealership's site first. So, where are shoppers going? Research shows their first stop is often a third party website or listing service like cars.com.

According to recent studies, nearly half of all online shoppers visit an online listing service as the first step in their buying process. Due to multi-million dollar advertising budgets, these sites are attracting more car shoppers than ever before. And that's why advertising with an online listing service can prove a smart decision for dealers. As one dealer stated, "We seek to advertise our website as much as anything else. We hopefully draw people to our site, and let it do its magic from there." Dealers report that more than half of all visits are generated by advertisements and vehicle listings on online listing services.¹

With sales opportunities like this at stake, every dealer should maximize their relationship with an online listing service not only to generate leads, but also to drive traffic to their own site. Here are some tips dealers can follow to ensure they get a fair share of traffic.

• Know where your dealership's traffic is coming from.
When you understand your site's traffic, it's easier to develop a plan of action to increase hits. Be sure to get traffic reports from your web service provider as well as your online listing services to determine the number click-throughs each source contributes to your website.

• Streamline the shopping experience between the listing service and your site.
Once a shopper finds your site on a listing service, you don't want to lose them. These few pointers will help simplify the shopping experience and close the deal.

• Be sure there are easy-to-find links to your dealer site from several areas on the listing service. Options may include the dealer locator page, your virtual showroom page or inventory detail pages. This will help capture more traffic regardless of where the customer is in their shopping process.
• Take advantage of all your listing service's link options, including banner ads. Recent analysis of cars.com showed that, on average, dealers using a banner ad product like PowerPositions were able to double the amount of thetraffic to their site from cars.com.


• Clearly merchandise all inventory and tell every vehicle's story with accurate pricing, descriptions and multiple photos.
• Make sure all vehicle information is consistent between your site and the listing service.

• Measure your progress monthly.
When you measure your traffic coming from your online listing services, you are able to make adjustments along the way that maximize your advertising on all sources.

As the occurrence of online car shopping grows, the relationship between dealer sites and third party sites like cars.com will become increasingly important. After all, they provide dealers with a direct avenue to connect with their consumers, increase their website traffic, and generate more qualified leads.

1. Magid Associates, Inc., "Dealer Understanding and
Evaluation of Online Merchandising," December 2004.