In the early days of the internet, websites were created with the desktop experience in mind. Mobile sites were an afterthought. Today, all websites are developed to be used on any device—desktop, mobile, or tablet—and the best websites are designed to be mobile-first.
Justin Brun and Ben Koller, co-founders of Dynamic Beacon, presented at last month’s Navigate conference on the importance of creating a dealership web experience that’s mobile first. In their presentation, Why Mobile First Design is Mission-Critical to Your Dealership Success, Justin and Ben cover tips and tactics for improving your dealership’s web presence—from optimizing your website for mobile, to mobile email best practices. You can download their entire presentation deck here.
Quick takeaways from Navigate 2019: How to optimize your Google My Business profile
One of the many tactics that Justin and Ben covered in their session was the best ways to use Google Business Profiles. Optimizing your Google My Business (GMB) listing is a quick, easy, and free way to improve your dealership’s mobile experience and complement your dealership website. According to Google, updating business information in your GMB listing can help your business’ local ranking on Google and enhance your presence in Google Search and Maps.
There are a number of ways you can enhance your GMB listing:
Categories
- This tells Google what type of business you are (car dealership) and any other important details, such as you’re a franchise Toyota dealership with repair services, for example. Filling out the categories completely will help improve your rank in those categories.
Attributes
- Your opportunity to boast about the dealership amenities you offer, such as rental vehicles or a café available to customers. Take the time to list out all the amenities that could appeal to a wide range of customers.
Messaging
- Customers who view your GMB listing on their phone can message your sales team directly from the GMB with one click. Make sure you update your listing with the right phone number or contact information to receive messages.
Google Posts
- By combining graphically rich elements along with supplemental copy, you can deep link to landing pages on your dealership website directly from the GMB. This is a good way to drive traffic to a particular landing page for a new offer, sale, or feature.
Reviews
- We all know receiving customer reviews (and managing them) are important. But your reviews also inform how Google ranks your GMB page. Encourage customers to leave reviews throughout their experience with your dealership.
Photos
- Photos are also an important part of creating an optimized GMB listing. According to Google, businesses with photos on their GMB get 30% more phone calls and 42% more direction requests than those without photos. Justin and Ben suggest having fun with photos. Take photos of your dealership and with your customers, but also encourage your customers to take their own photos. Think about creating a unique photo opportunity at your dealership that will draw people in to take their own pictures, such as posing with a unique car or a selfie against a photo backdrop. When you send that post-sale email asking for reviews and feedback, use the opportunity to ask customers to post photos of their experience to your GMB listing.
Didn’t attend Navigate in Boston, but still interested in the content? Join us on November 19 for a free virtual dealer education summit to see a selection of the most popular sessions. Sign up today!