To say that your online presence is important is an understatement.
The way that potential customers learn about your business and find their way to your front door is constantly evolving, and in today’s digital age your website is one of the biggest parts in this online to in-store journey. Therefore, it’s absolutely imperative to keep your website up-to-date and provide the information customers are looking for on their digital path to purchase. But where does that time come from? The time you need to dedicate to your website to ensure it has the content your customers want is limited. Keeping your site current takes a lot of work and a lot of time, and time is a very precious commodity. Whether you run a repair shop with a non-stop service center or a thriving dealership with customer after customer requiring individual attention, you still need to find the time to give your online customers the same amount of attention. Knowing what needs to be done makes that time well spent and is a much better investment.
As an Implementation Specialist here at ARI, I work with dealers like you on a regular basis and I see firsthand all of the different hats you wear throughout the day as a business owner, manager, salesperson, accountant, and many more. Some of these hats may weigh a bit more than others, and others you may have to wear because no one else will. All metaphorical headwear aside, it’s hard enough to find time in your day to accomplish everything on your own job’s to-do list, let alone making time for website maintenance. The good news is, your website doesn’t have to fall by the wayside.
There are a few things you can do to ensure the success of your website.
First, identify the goals you want your website to accomplish. Next, assign the proper people to accomplish them. It takes an entire staff to run a successful store, and you should consider your website your online store. If you don’t have a dedicated website specialist, delegate the work amongst the staff to take the pressure off a specific person and avoid the work piling up. One person should be in charge of entering your inventory accurately and on-time. Another person, perhaps the service manager, can update the available services offered in-store and add them to the site. The sales team should be monitoring the incoming leads.
After assigning these rolls, learn what needs to be done behind the scenes of your website.
It’s possible that some of the most important things are getting ignored. Are you creating good, content-rich pages to boost your search ranking, or investing in a pay-per-click ad campaign to drive traffic to your store? If you’re busy running a dealership, chances are you’re probably not a full-time digital marketer or a search engine optimization specialist. Out of all of those hats, these may be the ones still be on the rack. But they don’t have to be.
Remember to take advantage of your resources!
As an ARI customer, you have a team of digital marketers waiting to help optimize your website for the best search engine results. Digital marketing may play the biggest role in getting potential customers to your site, but it’s typically one of the most misunderstood aspects of your online presence. You may not have the time to create your own online advertising campaign or make sure the content on your site is search engine-friendly. If you’ve joined us for any of our HelpForce webinars, you’ll know that it’s not something you can learn to do overnight. Getting into online marketing may very well create more questions than it will answer, but our experts are always here to help you find those answers. If you’re starting out on the journey to building your online presence, email us anytime at marketing@arinet.com and we’ll be happy to help put you on the right path!
