Get your dealership website designed by a professional

In the digital age, your website will most likely be the first point of contact a potential customer has with your business.

Not only that, but it is often the first opportunity they have to form a lasting impression of your business, so it is vital your website is contemporary, intuitive and fresh. People are internet-first shoppers these days and a poorly designed, clunky and unattractive website is not only a bad advertisement for your business, it will actually cost you business.

Employing a professional web designer to create a new website or do an all-important refresh of your existing site pays huge dividends. It might seem like an additional expense, but your website is part of your brand; it creates an image of who you are and what you want customers to know about you, your product or service.

It’s also a complex process that involves graphic design, coding, and technical expertise to achieve the best results – something you won’t get by making a website on the cheap. Here’s what a professional web designer can do for you, why it’s important and what you need to know.

Tire Store — Express Oil’s website (powered by Ezytire) has clear links for customers to schedule appointments, search for tires or contact a location.

Design is crucial

Given 15 minutes to consume content, two-thirds of people would rather read something beautifully designed than something plain, while almost 40 percent of people will stop engaging with a website if the content/layout is unattractive. If your website appears messy, amateurish and confusing, the simple truth is that people will leave and go somewhere else. The subliminal takeaway is that “if your business doesn’t care enough to have a decent website that looks professional and is helpful to an online visitor, then chances are you won’t care much about me as a customer.”

The best websites are uncluttered and have fresh, modern, graphic design elements, professional-looking images and easy-to-read, attractive text. It’s surprising how often an ugly, hard-to-read font or clashing colors can turn a visitor off and prompt them to browse somewhere else. Your site’s homepage should tell the visitor who you are and what you do at a glance, using both images and words.

It has to be easy to use

Proper navigation enables users to move easily and quickly through a website. That means creating web pages and hierarchies that are intuitive so that most people clicking through can find what they need with the least amount of effort. A web designer will help you create a site that has tabs and pages organized in a way that works best and will make sure there are multiple ways for a person to get to important information such as contact details, product lists or online booking forms. No one wants to spend time going round in circles trying to find basic information.

More than half of people think “thorough contact information” is the most important element that is missing from many company websites, and 44 percent of website visitors will leave a company’s website if there’s no contact information or phone number.

Your web designer will make sure the right elements are in the right place. They’ll make sure that clicking on the logo always takes a viewer to the home page and that there is a call to action and contact details on the home page and at other points throughout the site.

Fully responsive

Mobile devices now account for nearly two of every three minutes spent online, so your website has to work effectively on a range of platforms, including cell phones. So if your site isn’t mobile responsive, people won’t hang around.

Almost 40 percent of people will stop engaging with a website if images won’t load or take too long to load, so it’s import your site functions quickly.

Customers also expect to easily find all the functions they need. Your web designer should be able to integrate important elements like an e-commerce section and online booking system. If a customer can easily and quickly book an oil change or wheel alignment and buy tires or accessories at the touch of a button when they are on your site, they are much more likely to do so.

SEO friendly

“Search Engine Optimization” is a specialist area that requires a professional. It’s about making sure your website ranks highly in Google searches. If you don’t know what you are doing, it is very easy to make mistakes and your website will suffer. A web designer will make sure your website’s code adheres to Google standards and fix anything that could compromise your site’s search engine ranking, such as errors, broken links and slow page-loading speed.

There are lots of technical details a professional will be able to get right, like compressing images to make sure they load faster, giving you advice on strategic keywords to use and making sure headings and information are in the best place to allow search engines to easily find your site, improve your search engine ranking and give your website a stronger online presence.

Not only that, the ongoing support a professional web design company can give you can be worth its weight in gold. Tireweb Marketing is a web development company specializing in retail and e-commerce websites for the tire industry. They can be contacted at (212) 634-4846 or through their website www.ezytire.com. For more helpful web design tips, see Traction News’ story on hints to boost sales.

Jingjing Qiu

Get your dealership website designed by a professional

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